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Mesh Cam & Engraving

PaulProe

Senior Member
I have a project that involves engraving the dome top of some automobile knobs. The part has been modeled in Alibre and I need to generate GCode for a Bantam Mills 'OtherMill'.

Bantam suggests a workflow of exporting an STP file from Alibre into Fusion 360 Personal, then using that to generate the GCode. The export/import process in Fusion creates some issues with the usability of the model and the text to be engraved. Looking for a different solution, I found 'Mesh Cam' on the Alibre site & forum.

I downloaded the demo ( I am using Alibre Pro) but when I start to run the package, it seems pretty basic. It will mill but I don't see the features I would expect to run an engraving tool and trace the letters of the part. The letters are .093" tall and the 'legs' are about .015 wide x .015 deep. Way too small for a mini end mill.

Looking at the Mesh Cam info, the training videos on the Alibre site won't run. The 2nd video does run but the first and last will not produce the video file to view. I can't find them on YouTube, so I am left to try and interpret whether it will work. Is anyone familiar with Mesh Cam and can you offer comments on its usability for this purpose?

My first impression, it is pretty basic, but I am a newbie to CAM so don't know what is normal. Am I better served to try to work out the bugs with import/export and use Fusion for the CAM part of the project? Bantam says their post-processor for Fusion works well.

Thanks

Paul
 

Cator

Senior Member
Hello Paul,
I'm starting to use Meshcam to do my projects with the Shapeoko and so far it has been the simplest and most practical tool to get results immediately. If you attach an example file of what you would like to do, I'll try to understand if it's really what it can do to your case. An example with similar characteristics is enough, I don't want to put you in trouble with confidentiality agreements. I hope I can help you! Greetings
 

PaulProe

Senior Member
Thanks, Cator. I've attached the Alibre model and a picture of one of the configurations.

Paul
 

Attachments

  • Knob_Engraved.AD_PRT
    7.3 MB · Views: 16
  • Heater Fan.png
    Heater Fan.png
    232.5 KB · Views: 8

Cator

Senior Member
Hello Paul,
In my experience, MeshCam struggles to handle this kind of thing. But I'm posting this link from which you can download a program that allows you to simply manage text engravings. I hope it can help you as I think your pieces to be engraved are already printed. I hope this helps, but if in the meantime I find other solutions I will let you know!

https://www.scorchworks.com/Fengrave/fengrave.html

Greetings,
Francesco
 

WillAdams

Member
Another option for engraving, if you have a DXF of the part/area in question is Carbide Create --- while the new v7 is tied to Carbide 3D machines (ob. discl., I work for Carbide 3D) v6 as noted at:


is freely available (but unsupported), for doing engraving w/ it and no Pro license see:

 

srjacob

Senior Member
I''ll throw my $.02 in here. This looks like the perfect application to 3D print. Convert to an .stl file, and send it out to a 3D printing house. I usually go to craftcloud.com, but there are lots of other places. They can also do the colored lettering for you. I have a 3D printer (Prusa I3), but it won't print lots of engineering-grade materials or multicolor stuff, so I just send that out.
 

PaulProe

Senior Member
I don't know, but don't think they've resolved the surface finish issues on 3D printing. At least not with the machines available to me. The labor to turn them to a glossy finish of the injection molded knob would price the parts out of the market.
 

JimCad

Senior Member
Never tried it but a workmate was saying that using Acetone or Nail polish remover and quickly washing off is used to get a smooth finish after 3D printing.
As I said . . . . . . I've never tried it.
Jim
 
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