ShopBot, boardCAD and Surfboards

[Klemwild]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to find out a few things about ShopBot and how well it might be able to make a Western Red Cedar surfboard. I have a shape, designed in boardCAD (www.boardCAD.org) and I have access to Solidworks to detail the construction method.

Is it possible to the boardCAD file (.brd) to ShopBot or would it be better just to design in Solidworks or Rhino.

Hoping this opens a can of worms.

Karl

[navigator7]

Does your program export as .stl, .wrl or dxf?
http://www.annaguirre.com/wp-content/uploads/can-o-worms.gif

[gc3]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to find out a few things about ShopBot and how well it might be able to make a Western Red Cedar surfboard. I have a shape, designed in boardCAD (www.boardCAD.org (http://www.boardCAD.org)) and I have access to Solidworks to detail the construction method.

Is it possible to the boardCAD file (.brd) to ShopBot or would it be better just to design in Solidworks or Rhino.

Hoping this opens a can of worms.

Karl

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=133344 :eek:

Gene Crain

[kenz]

BoardCAD has a CNC version that ouputs G-code. I haven't used it yet, but it's worth a try because it's way easier to design a board in BoardCAD than in Solidworks or Rhino.

[Klemwild]

Thanks guys,

I had read that the unreleased version of boardCAD was able to generate G-Code. I was hoping to find someone who's used boardCAD to do that.

It's great to see that someone has used a ShopBot to make surfboards. Thanks Ken and Gene.

boardCAD models in NURBS as I understand it and will export in STEP, DXF or STL.

My next hurdle is to figure out how to model the board I have designed from a production standpoint. I've made a board by hand that is hollow with a glue up veneer bottom sheet. The piece that I'd make on a ShopBot would have the deck and rails from boardCAD but then a channelled bottom to hollow the board onto which a thin veneer could be glued. Now how the heck can I do that?

Ah, the plot thickens.

Karl Miller

[kenz]

Are you doing something like this:
http://www.hollowsurfboards.com

If so, that's a whole different story. BoardCAD and Shape3D are designed for a solid core and output toolpaths for the whole top and bottom of the board. But with the STL file, you could isolate just the rails for toolpaths using another CAM software. As far as the internal cross members, you might be able to export cross-sections from BoardCAD.

Have you considered using a foam core? You could attach the wood rails to a foam blank, machine it with BoardCAD, then vacuum bag the deck and bottom veneers on. Blend the veneer to the rails with a little sanding and your done. Seems like it would be a lot easier, probably be lighter, and have a better flex pattern.

[Klemwild]

Thanks Ken,

The board that I've prototyped is basically 4 - 7' - 4"X6" cedar posts laminated together. I then carved the exterior shape of the board by hand (boardCAD does this on the computer) and carved out the board from the bottom surface leaving longitudinal ribs. I then used a thin veneer, 4mm I think, as the bottom surface.

That's basically what I'd like to do. I think structurally it works very well as the bottom surface is continuous and it allows the main part of the board to be made from one piece of wood (or many glued together).

Karl

[kenz]

Sounds like a lot of sawdust!

I took a look at BoardCAD, and it will definitely work. You can design the channels into the bottom of the board in BoardCAD. I haven't tried the CNC version yet, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work for the toolpaths. If not, any other CAM software would do the trick.