Line drawings or getting / generating one.

[Sam Rodriguez]

All,
Curious what / how do you.
As an example.: Cutting foam. to fit a gun or camera equipment. (Again just an example)
I have the case. I have the foam and parts to be fitted.
whats would be your best advice for creating the cut file. in the past I have scanned the parts.(at least the best I can some parts just cant be scanned)
then in photoshop or similar I create a drawing that follows the path I want cut. usually ending up with a DXF file.

This method usually takes forever. any others? how do you?

Fwiw. the cut files I end up with are pretty complex shapes. not simple squares and circles. so drawing them on the fly isnt really an option.
again the above is just an example but in the past for foam I usually just hot wire the inserts. so just to give one example fo my hotwiring, see the link to one past project. I hand draw the lines and mod them as I deem necessary.
then I cut out the part from heave stock. then I hot wire cut them. wouldnt this be nice If I could just use the laser?


TIA.
Sam

[Kev Williams]

I don't cut foam but for items I need to scan to create vector files for any reason- such as to create a basic silhouette (from a gun, etc), or to create a verbatim replica of an original something (restoring old watchbacks for example), I just put the original on the flatbed scanner of my $65 Canon printer, scan it into Corel, lock the image, then just trace it by hand with the pen tool. Most items really don't take that long... (to me anyway)-- Note that I can scan anything that will fit on the flat bed-- for guns and other 3D items I'm usually fine with just leaving the lid open, but for a better scan you just need a 9x12-ish x 6" or so deep box with a white interior. And the scan results I get into Corel are dead-to-rights the exact size as what was scanned.

An option to hand tracing is to make what you scanned as black as possible using your photo program, then do a Corel Trace in B/W mode to create the vector file (or use a better trace program if you have one, after 24 years I still use Casmate)

Back in the early 80's I was hand-digitizing logos and custom text into an Apple IIe computer using a mouse tablet. "Taking forever" was an understatement, yet at the time, the only alternative was carving pantograph masters into plex with a soldering iron. --and I almost forgot photo engraving, which worked great but just added costs down the line...

Which brings me to parts you can't scan- can you hand-trace the parts, then scan your hand trace? (some idea of your needs would help!)





.

[Sam Rodriguez]

@KW,
Thanks for the reply. For those cant scan options. I too hand trace then scan my trace. ( even if in multiple parts. ) My projects are forever changing. I find I use my lasers (mostly hobby related)
for making tools and or parts contained in other projects. thus helping me get across the finish line easier and or faster. sometimes the lasered part is the finish line.

I find I spend more time drawing the parts than lasering them. I bounce back between photoshop, autocad and sketchup. My lasers (2 of them) uses Lasercad. which to say the least? is horrific. I suppose I just need to get better >> thus faster at using the line tool in Photoshop. Would be nice to just scan and output to a line drawing. then convert to dxf or whatever.

For a real world example of things I'd still like to do:
I have several tool boxes housing things ranging from simple hand tools to electronics and to machinists tools. Some are those roto-molded plastic boxes. over the years the foam inserts rot away.
Would be nice to be able to quickly/easily (this is the time consuming part imho) cut them on the laser even if the laser produced the jig for cutting on another machine like a router. as I often do.

Thanks!
-Sam

[Keith Downing]

Two options I see for a "quicker" solution.

First, would be to over generalize the shape (for instance, just using 2 rectangles to make the shape of a camera), then cut a test piece in cardboard or paper; and adjust your design to fill in the extra spaces as needed.

Second, would be to photograph the item on a white background, and then use photoshop or corel to get the shape outline; and scale it accordingly.

The second option would be a better solution in a lot of cases I would think. Though you do have to get a photo that is perfectly square to avoid skewed edges that aren't symmetrical or correctly shaped.

[John Lifer]

Pencil, a piece of plain paper and Item placed on top of it. Draw the outline with the pencil. Take paper and scan on flat bed scanner. import and trace in corel.
Works. A Direct scan of item works, but not as well for me and my scanner. Too much distortion and shadows. For me the fastest way.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Shadow projection, low intensity directional light source behind the object throwing a shadow onto grey matt paper (not white) then trace

[Sam Rodriguez]

I have made the decision to jump to a new controller for one of my lasers. at least one that supported by Lightburn.
they have this what seems to be an amazing feature for creating outlines. if its even close to what it looks like. it'll save me countless hours performing
many of my outlines. so officially "the jury's still out on this one" but soon Ill know. the controller is in route Im swapping out a AWC708C for a Ruieda from what i can tell its pretty much
a sideways move. Just that its on ethe supported list. as the Anywells 708 is not yet. here is a vid of the feature. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6lQrcf2DtI
-Sam

[William Adams]

One of the more ingenious things which I've seen worked up for this is a ball point pen insert mounted into a triangular device which had ball bearing rollers on the bottom --- you put the object on a piece of paper and rolled the device around it marking off a nice even perimeter.

I 3D modeled a bunch of tools in OpenSCAD and then flattened them to get DXFs once, but that is not something I'd really recommend.

Usually I just put objects on a gridded cutting board and photograph them, then I scale/distort the image until the grid is actual size and square and draw the outline in a vector drawing program such as Freehand or Inkscape.

[Sam Rodriguez]

Usually I just put objects on a gridded cutting board and photograph them, then I scale/distort the image until the grid is actual size and square and draw the outline in a vector drawing program such as Freehand or Inkscape.

Wow I like that idea. typically I draw 2 known length lines or a perfect square when scanning.
this way later I can use that as a scale/distort base line. but the gridded idea even better.

[Wojciech Szul]

photograph the item on a white background, and then use photoshop or corel to get the shape outline; and scale it accordingly.

Usually I take a picture with camera, best on contrast background and next clean a bit in free viewer software, just to get rid of unwanted clumpy/dotty objects. If I can - I try to use zoom (tele) to avoid distortion. Import picture to Corel, trace & clean OR draw using standard tool/shapes and weld/cut tool. Method depends of particular picture and shape. As I use Corel from version 2.01 (~1992 or around) it goes quite fast.

[Darren Wilson]

I do this quite regularly...in few minutes per object (hand tools usually)

I use a LED light panel 600x600 ($40 ebay)in a darkened room, place the object on panel, drop down exposure, take photo from as high as you can above panel and as perpendicular as possible (you can build a stand to position camera and panel if you like) import photo to corel, use image trace (gimp, Illustrator have as well) outline line art, measure length and width of object and scale vector from image trace as required. If cutting on CNC router I make a boundary and slightly oversize to ensure fit, on laser usually kerf of beam is enough.

If you have any questions just ask...

[charlie wade]

I do what sounds like has already been suggested: photograph the object, then scale it in whatever software you use and create an outline. Literally takes a few key strokes. The key is to scale properly. All you need to do is to measure a known length on your object, in this case, let's say it's a 3.5" barrel of the gun. Draw a rectangle of that length and scale your photo up or down until it's a fit. The rest is easy.