I’m trying to take a flat cnc file downloaded online, and wrap it around a cylinder so I can carve a relief into a wooden cylinder. The problem is, Luban just thinks I want a flat relief carving so is there any way to wrap in Luban?
Are you setting the job up as a 4 axis job? (And do you have a rotary to carve it that way?)
Yes I have the rotary module and I’m in 4 axis carving. I used it to machine a perfect cylinder. Now I want to carve a relief into the cylinder using a flat 3d object
You should be able to set up the job as a 4 axis job, with the correct length and diameter of the cylinder you made. Then just add the picture to the job. Is the file already converted to a 3d relief map or it is just a 2D picture?
Yes, but Luban thinks I want a flat carving using the rotary module. It doesn’t wrap the file.
Can you post up pics of your job setup and the file you are trying to wrap?
When you create the toolpath, you need to also set the Target Depth, standard is 2mm. The heightmap values seems to be multiplied by this value so that’s the deepest depth in the picture and everything else is calculated in relation. 2mm or 1mm would be flat on the surface, i.e. 10mm would go rather deep into the material.
Unfortunately Luban’s GUI is full of problems with showing the result, so you can’t change the Target Depth after creating the tool path (you can, but you will not see it in preview). Switching back to Edit and changing it there, then recreating the result and you can see it in the simulation, switching off the Toolpath checkbox.
Of course your picture should be a heightmap (greyscale picture where each pixel is the height of the final model at this point).
When you say you’ve downloaded “a flat CNC file” - can you show the link? What file is it, a “CNC file” can be a GCode file for example.
Should be a heightmap (grayscale bitmap file) or a STL model for example.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1678114988/the-prancing-pony-sign-3dstl-file
Here is the link. I don’t know if it’s possible to carve this into a cylinder without drastically editing the geometry. It’s an STL file.
So it’s not a CNC file. It makes all the difference.
OK, as far as I have understood Luban it can only use either a heightmap or a READY STL file. “Ready” means, you have a 3D model which is already the final form you want to carve.
What you want is to wrap a 3D model around a pole and expect Luban to do the work for you - that is too complicate for that purpose.
But Luban can use a heightmap of a flat made 3D model and wrap it around a cylinder. Here’s a tutorial how you can use Meshlab (free/open source) to create a heightmap from your relief STL model:
And the second possibility is to change your 3D model in a way that it is already wrapped around a cylinder. Here’s a way using Blender (free/open source):
or:
or:
or:
This one shows how to use a heightmap to create a 3D engraving (only the first 3 minutes are of interest, the rest is how to “engrave” something in a Blender model, this is a texturing thing only, not useful here):
So with this you get a 3D model from a heightmap you maybe downloaded and then you can use Blender modifiers to wrap it or change it in any way you want and then give the final model to Luban.
Don’t forget, what I’ve tested, Luban create better results not using a heightmap you created on your own but using a STL model and create the needed heightmap on it’s own. If you create a heightmap and load it, you need to adjust it exactly so that you get no seam and also experiment with the Target Depth setting to get the result you want.
These methods above should make it possible to get your flat STL file with a slight relief to wrap around a cylinder so that Luban can take it and carve it.
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