Help this Forum Grow by File Sharing!!!

[Joey Jarrard]

Keith and I have had this talk on 2 occasions. This forum can grow by leaps and bounds if the regulars here would start some file sharing. Keith told me this is what made the engravers forum grow so fast. This is a young forum and has come a long way since Jim introduced me to it. We can keep some of the passer bys here if we share more. I would love to see a sharing thread, a how 2 thread and more. This is a great site and can help so many. I have learned so much from SMC that I have started to implement on my own forum. The CNC community here has the potential to be so much larger.

For the serous craftsman this is a great resource. It is easy to get around in, you know the poster by name (this is what I like most about it). No fowl language is permitted, unlike other forums.

Support the creek as well as the CNC Forum at the Creek. Make a file to share!

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Even though I don't have a machine yet (I'm starting a MechMate very soon) this sounds like a great idea. I know I'll need all the help I could get. Once I'm up and running and have a clue I would love to pay it back to this site especially since this forum is the one that got me started!

[Joey Jarrard]

Kurt thanks a ton man, I hope all goes well with the build keep us posted.

I know all will have files that are there own but it could be a simple as a house sign with a blank for a v-carved house number.

[Dan Hintz]

Joey,

While I've never been a big file sharer on SMC, that has been due to the fact that none of my work is either 1) Of interest to others (personal photos and such), or 2) Of public nature (e.g., etched company logos).

With the incoming Stinger, however, I imagine that will be changing. The first project I have picked out to test the machine will be public-worthy... it involves metal cutting, and I think will make a very nice, high-end gift when finished. This project cannot be done in an ad hoc fashion and will require CAD files. These are easily shared, and I intend to do so.

We run into an issue, though, and that's one of common file format. For the laser engravers, Corel CDR files have become de rigueur, and only occasionally do people post Adobe AI files (which are easily, if not necessarily correctly, translated using Corel). Everything else is done as a GIF, JPEG, TIF, etc.

So what CAD file format(s) do we support here for the best cross-platform use? DWG? DXF? That's pretty cross-compatible, but what about 3D files? Things get a little more interesting due to all of the packages out there, many with proprietary file formats. Maybe Keith and I can hash some of this out at the next meeting at Angus'.

I have a great interest in 3D files, so I'm thinking about putting together a tutorial to make creating them a little easier for the average user. But time will tell...

In the end, I'm not sure if I agree with Keith that the file sharing was what really got the engraving forum going. Yes, it pulls in the newbies as they can be more readily run with little prep, but in the end I think it was the growing number of people with machine time/experience who were willing to freely share what they've learned in succinct terms newbies could understand. After all, in the end people want to do their own projects using tried and tested techniques proven to work, not just recreate what others have done.

There are quite a few files in the engraving forum, but other than a few "That's really cool, can I have the file?" bits, people want to know how it was made, how long it took, what techniques were used, etc. I think that is what we should be shooting for here... the files/pictures should show what words can not adequately describe, but shouldn't be considered the end game.

That's my opinion, anyway...

[Joey Jarrard]

Dan file formats will be a issue. But most software will import and export in many different formats. A standard 3D format is STL.

[james mcgrew]

how can we post an .stl?
jim

[james mcgrew]

Compressed frog stl and was able to upload!!

[Dennis OBrien]

Sure makes it easier on the rest of us when you answer your own question

Now, to Dan's point - for the newbies a quick tutotial would go a long way. I took the file, right clicked on it ..........

[Dennis OBrien]

If this works, you will find attached a test file that my buddy whipped up for me to prove to him I could take is an .STL file he was doeing for me to make a sand casting pattern.

Here goes.....well actually I ran into an "invalid file" reply when I tried to save it.

Stay tuned..............

[Dan Hintz]

Dennis,

The D files I was thinking of leaned more towards the faux-3D, like the reliefs, rather than the full 3D objects. Still, diggin' the tree frog...

[Joey Jarrard]

First day and we have a file. Also Keith started a thread. This kind of thing will help the new ones out of the dog house. You have to make the wife something she likes the first week or you may see your cnc on eBay.

[Dan Hintz]

Does it count if I make a really big 2.5D image of jewelry?

[Joey Jarrard]

Yes Dan the image of the surface if in a file that we can open can then be arrayed and make a cool texture or some type of detail moulding. It's not your new wife's ring is it. You may not live to see your machine.

[Keith Outten]

Any file that isn't supported as a direct upload can be zipped and attached to your post. The real advantage of zip files is that they can be up to 2 meg files.
.

[Dennis OBrien]

Any file that isn't supported as a direct upload can be zipped and attached to your post. The real advantage of zip files is that they can be up to 2 meg files.
.

All rightie then, let's try this! Can you guys import/open it? I attached a .jpg for comparison.