Need help deciding on the CNC Shark
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brendadavis711
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:43 am
Need help deciding on the CNC Shark
My husband and I have a custom woodworking business in Maryland and we have not yet bought a Shark. We have been offered a job to replicate a desk with intricate carvings but will only be working from pictures and will not be able to use the touchprobe. Wanted to know if anyone has had any luck with v carve and putting in scanned drawings to replicate. I was told by Stan at Rockler that it is possible but difficult. Any ideas before we decide to take on this job and buy this machine. Can this machine do this kind of stuff? Need some of your input, PLEASE.
Re: Need help deciding on the CNC Shark
There are a few things to consider:
What type of carvings are you trying to replicate? Are the V-carves or are they 3D (2 1/2D)objects?
If they are chip carved patters in the wood, shapes carved into the wood's surface, then it would be possible to replicate most of it. You will need to become very familiar with the software to see if will do what you want. Fortunately there is a way for you to test drive the software by down loading it from VECTRIC for free. The download is fully functional except you can't generate carving files for a machine. You can do everything else, including seeing what a 3D preview would look like.
If they are 3D carvings, then that would be more difficult, not impossible, but very difficult to get the reproduction exact.
I recommend you try downloading both V-carve and Aspire software to see if it will do what you need.
For a more in depth opinion, you are probably going to have to share the desk photos here.
BillK
What type of carvings are you trying to replicate? Are the V-carves or are they 3D (2 1/2D)objects?
If they are chip carved patters in the wood, shapes carved into the wood's surface, then it would be possible to replicate most of it. You will need to become very familiar with the software to see if will do what you want. Fortunately there is a way for you to test drive the software by down loading it from VECTRIC for free. The download is fully functional except you can't generate carving files for a machine. You can do everything else, including seeing what a 3D preview would look like.
If they are 3D carvings, then that would be more difficult, not impossible, but very difficult to get the reproduction exact.
I recommend you try downloading both V-carve and Aspire software to see if it will do what you need.
For a more in depth opinion, you are probably going to have to share the desk photos here.
BillK
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brendadavis711
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:43 am
Re: Need help deciding on the CNC Shark
Bill,
They are 3D. In Fact, the carvings are a reproduction for a museum of the president's Resolute Desk that is in the Oval office.
They are 3D. In Fact, the carvings are a reproduction for a museum of the president's Resolute Desk that is in the Oval office.
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spinningwood
- Posts: 191
- Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:28 am
Re: Need help deciding on the CNC Shark
The shark is capable if the desk components can fit in it's work envelope. You will need to upgrade to Aspire (or equivalent) for 3D modelling and carving. Aspire provides the tools to create models from pictures.
Neither CNC machines (shark or any other) nor Aspire are "push the button and magic automatically happens" types of solutions.
Creating quality work takes skill and experience. It takes time to develop that skill and experience. Once you have the skill and experience, recognize that creating high quality 3D models from pictures is a lot of work. If you have already bid the job, you may come to find you have significantly underbid the work.
Trying to learn to operate the machine and to create complex 3D models in the sofware while facing a looming deadline is a good way to lose a customer and maybe wreck your marriage. Just my opinion.
Vectric has good tutorials on 3D modelling with Aspire on their website. Look through those to get an idea of what you are signing on for.
http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/ ... orials.htm
Ed
Neither CNC machines (shark or any other) nor Aspire are "push the button and magic automatically happens" types of solutions.
Creating quality work takes skill and experience. It takes time to develop that skill and experience. Once you have the skill and experience, recognize that creating high quality 3D models from pictures is a lot of work. If you have already bid the job, you may come to find you have significantly underbid the work.
Trying to learn to operate the machine and to create complex 3D models in the sofware while facing a looming deadline is a good way to lose a customer and maybe wreck your marriage. Just my opinion.
Vectric has good tutorials on 3D modelling with Aspire on their website. Look through those to get an idea of what you are signing on for.
http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/ ... orials.htm
Ed
Re: Need help deciding on the CNC Shark
The Resolute Desk does have a lot of 3D carving work. The Shark or any other cnc is capable of 2 1/2D carvings since a straight bit cannot reach around the back, so there would be a lot of hand carving also required.
It would be a lot of work to go from pictures also. The software is capable of taking a photo and turning it into a vector drawing, but from a carving on wood there would be a ton of CAD clean up work to do. Every grain line in the wood would show up as a vector.
So it would be a big learning curve and it would help you get there, but just like any tool in your shop, don't expect it to do the entire project for you.
It would be a lot of work to go from pictures also. The software is capable of taking a photo and turning it into a vector drawing, but from a carving on wood there would be a ton of CAD clean up work to do. Every grain line in the wood would show up as a vector.
So it would be a big learning curve and it would help you get there, but just like any tool in your shop, don't expect it to do the entire project for you.
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brendadavis711
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:43 am
Re: Need help deciding on the CNC Shark
I thank you for all your advice and respect your opinions. That is why I am here. Thank you for putting is out there and straight forward thats the way I like to hear it. You are right when you say trying to do a massive project under a learning curve with massive time restraints is not the way to do business and thank you for bringing me back into reality. It is a great offer but wishing I had someone close like one of you guys that has the experience working the machine to do the carvings. Would love to work with someone on this project. A huge project with great notariety but when you cant deliver makes you look like a fool if you say yes. I will still buy the shark but take the time to learn and will be back for some advice. Thank you. Brenda Davis, Davis Family Creations, www.davisfamilycreation.com,443-964-4182