Aother how would you do this

[gerard]

I have a vacuum forming mold machine that I use to create paving stones, usually, someone brings me a model that they want a mold of, I place it on the machine, make a mold of it, cast it in plaster, and tool it to make the final model for the mold, then I go on to create a mold based on the final model.

that be said, someone asked me if I could make a mold of a giant pawprint, and I was wondering, is it possible to create such an item on the shopbot, what software would be most suitable for it, the pawprint would have 3 or 4 pads just like aan animals foot, but in an animals foot, there is some egree of rounded edges, so it seems that as the machine was carving this, it would have to address it as a 3d sort of image, rounding down the edgesm additionally, the model would require a bit of an angle on the sides so as to be able to demold the final piece, rather than being a 90 degree angle, probably more like 85 degrees or so.
so my question is, how to go about a project like this with the shopbot.

[ryan_slaback]

If it were me, I would consider buying one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Plain-Paw-Print-set-Step-stone-concrete-plaster-Mold_W0QQitemZ230190222301QQihZ013QQcategoryZ20511 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[gerard]

Ryan, I took a look at the link you posted to back up your suggestion, and while it is generally easier to buy as opposed to make, it can become cost prohibitive, the molds that are selling on ebay for $16 a pair but unfortunately, the size is extremely small, plus in buying as opposed to making, I am limited to what others have to offer, if I were able to make the model myself, I could offer much more variety without having to spend so much on each individual model

[Brady Watson]

Gerard,
To answer your question, yes - this is something that you can do on the Bot in just about any size you can dream up. Your best bet would be to hire someone to create a model and toolpaths for you to cut out of a given material. ArtCAM is probably the right tool for the job. If you don't want to make that investment, just pay someone to do the file for you. Grant Bailey, James Booth, and me, call all do this.

If you have already created a master by hand, it can be scanned either with the ShopBot probe or send it out to be laser digitized. Either way, you'll need access to good software to set it up properly for machining.

There are very few things that you cannot machine on a ShopBot...it's a perfect vacuum mold maker


-B

[ernie_balch]

We made a sign with 3D paws. I can look for the file if you want.
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