Gargoyles

I am helping my neighbor build a game table for his Dungeons and Dragons group. He thought it would be a nice touch for the corner blocks on the aprons to be carved with the faces of gargoyles, orks, dwarfs or whatever critters are native to the realm. The center line of the faces would be on the outside corner of the blocks as opposed to the flat surfaces. Seemed like a CNC project to me.
Have any of you fine folks done something of this nature? Know anyone you could suggest?
Thank you !!


Jim

Very doable...what CAD/CAM software do you use so folks can make suggestions for obtaining or creating the graphics to carve?

Neighbor has access to and is familiar with several professional level CAD programs so if we know what program/format is going to be needed I think he can come up with it.
What would be some of the most popular? Don't some of the machines require proprietary software? It's cool to watch but other than that my knowledge of CNC is ziltch.

Vectric VCarve Pro and Aspire are both very popular for modeling and creating tool paths for cnc routers.
David

Typical CAD programs excel at 2D work and certainly can be used to come up with the outline of the graphic you want to use. But those outlines (vectors) have to be imported into software like the Vectric applications that David mentioned to be manipulated into the form that you want them to appear on the project...anything from a simple 2D outline to a complex 3D carving. (Vectric is just an example...there are a number of applications that folks use for these things) That creation then gets turned into what are called toolpaths...instructions to the machine about how to cut with whatever particular tooling is intended to be used. Those instructions are then output to a file in a format that the target CNC machine will read and execute. Only that last part is "proprietary" to the specific CNC machine. Someone with the level of experience necessary to manipulate the graphics to the level you want will know what to do and will do that with the software they are familiar with.

The bottom line here is that your idea has merit. It just needs the right resources to make it happen.

Step one is the artwork. I suggest looking to see if you can find something close on Etsy or CGTrader. You will want a bas relief. A full 3D object requires a bit of editing to flatten for carving. It takes a lot of practice and skill to sculpt on the computer unless you are only looking for low poly quality. High quality sculpting involves far too many triangles for most software packages. Many use packages like ZBrush, Blender, Maya, Mudbox or other programs geared for this. I would watch some of the videos on youtube showing speed sculpts and you will start to appreciate the skill to create the art. If you are up for that, give it a whirl. If not, post an ad on CGTrader and hire someone to make it. There are tons of people from other countries that do this. I have hired some Russians before. Once you have the artwork, the CNC work is a piece of cake.

If you have an actual object you could hire someone to scan it as well. There are free options for your phone as well, but I am not sure how well they will work. I know of many scanners that will fit the bill, but that is not always cheap since most of the handheld scanners run around $30k+.

CGTrader has a number of these..... probably best to find a STL or 3DS file if you want to use on a CNC as to be able manipulate on a piece of software that can use this as a 180 degree XYZ cut/shape for CNC. Other formats will work but possibly considerably more work.

https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models?keywords=gargoyle

Just checked out CGTrader, looks like a great resource, thanks