I saw this being carved on youtube. I would like to try this. How can I make this happen on my machine.
This type of thing is called âCNCâ. The last section of the setup manual that came with your Snapmaker explains how to set up the CNC module. In Luban, you want the fourth tab from the top (the one with the symbol that looks like an inverted inkwell with âCNCâ written on it in little tiny letters).
Youâll also need a piece of wood (softwoodâpine, spruce, or firâis typically cheapest).
As for where to get the file for that specific dragon relief, I have no idea.
Hopefully, thatâs enough information for you to be able to formulate more specific questions for the more knowledgeable people here to answer.
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Umm, thanks Ellory but with all due respect, I know what a CNC is. I also know I need wood. Maybe I did not ask the question clearly. I see in the snapmaker brochures there are examples for relief carvings, V-carving, engravings etc. Iâm assuming that is these items are in the brochure, that the SM 2 is capable of milling it.
Since there are many SM 2 owners before me, I was hoping I could get information as the how to accomplish this on the SM 2 from people who have already done it.
That dragon relief I attached was meant to be an example.
Sorry @BillR94, I read your post the same way @ElloryJaye read it. Itâs hard to tell what level of skill people on the forums have. We get everybody from âWhat does CNC mean?â to âI hand edited my GCode to fix some Luban bugs, but need some helpâ.
Have you attempted the CNC sample (the triangle/circle/square button in Luban above the settings gear)? Itâs admittedly not very challenging, but thatâs sort of the point.
From the manual (scroll down past the image), there are different modes of CNC carving:
So that sort of 2.5D carving is going to be in relief mode. Youâll need to find a gray scale image that you like, and import it. Generate the GCode, and look at the tool path to see if itâs doing what you think it should be doing.
Does that help?
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Yes, that is very helpful. I have 3D printed the vase and I have milled the phone holder so far. I have not tried the laser yet. I followed the instructions that was provided in the manual that came with the printer.
Ohhhh ⊠see I didnât know that was there. I thought the book that came with the machine was it. Maybe ElloryJaye was right after all.
This makes much more sense.
Check out Arnold Cruzâs stuff. Heâs more active on FB forum but has some good guides: Photography, Horology, and Audiophilia - The road to nirvana
Luban is pretty limited.
To really do cnc you need to use a 3rd party program. Fusion 360 is the most popular and was free for hobbyists but now theyâre changing some of what you can do for free. Havenât quite figured out what that will mean for Snapmaker users.
For reliefs youâll need to use imagetostl in Fusion or image to lithophane website to convert photos or grayscale images to something that Fusion can work with.
Easel by Inventables is great for v-carving signs and logos and things like that.
A couple video links:
-S
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That is really helpful. Thank you.
Hello Bill, one free and capable program that I can recommend is Carbide Create, which is free and capable.
I would also recommend their video tutorials to get up to speed in an hour.
Another useful set of video productions using Carbide Create is the series from Winston Moy. He is a skilled user of Carbide products and a great tutor.
Hello. I am trying to use Carbide Create for CNC instead of Luban. I am a newbie with SM2.0, however, I was able to create some simple vectors through Luban. The problem I am having is creating gcode in Carbide Create which will work with SM. All four post prosessors included with CC do not give workable gcode. Any suggestions?
I have used CC direct from my Mac running Catalina Os. The SM1 had no need for any kind of post processor⊠it worked directly for me. I donât know if SM2 is set up differently and does require a post processor for CNC.
EDIT:
This may be of some use to you if you are on a Mac.
Thank you Jepho, I will try this.
Thank you Jepho. Iâm working with win10.
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Oops! Sorry Paul; I have been seeing far too many Mac users of late and I got a bit confused. 
I feel sorry for you having to use Win10 so I found a free code sender for you. 
Thanks. I just forgot that âlittleâ detail. Iâll check it out right now.
Havent tried Carbide yet, but one thing to note is SM and Luban are particular about file types. Gcode for cnc needs to end in .cnc. Laser .nc.
-S
Thank you sdj544. Now I know what post processor to look for.
By the gcode needing to end in .cnc or .nc, I meant that you just have to change it in the filename. Itâs not anything special that you need to look for in a post processor.
Luban and Snapmaker do use a version of Marlin - which are a particular set of commands.
-S
Thanks -S. I understand what you meant. I was just thinking that choosing a post processor that already saves the file as .cnc would save me a step. I know myself well enough that I would forget to rename the file!