Engraving pattern on 3d object

Software / Firmware EstlCAM
1

Is there a way to mill a 3d object from an stl and after that engrave a pattern on its surface?

What I would like to do is to make knife handle scales which have a rounded top surface and engrave for example a diamond or hexagon pattern on it, so that it “curves” along with the surface, or rather matches the height.
If I just engrave a flat pattern on the 3d surface it wont look as good.

I know it would be possible with fusion, but I have only used estlcam and would like to keep my workflow if possible :slight_smile:

2

What if you made the engraved pattern as a part of the stl? And planned the toolpaths in a way that the details were done with a v-bit?

3

I’m not sure how I could tell estlcam to cut the grooves with an engraving bit. As far as I know you only have a roughing and finishing pass.

4

I know fusion has the abillity to define manual toolpaths in 3d, but estlcam only has that in 2d as far as i know

5

There is a way with Estlcam to do that

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6

Any idea if this works with Marlin firmware or does it require running Estlcam firmware?

7

Not 100% clear on what you are asking but why not just make the entire model, then mill it. You can design a 3D surface, with the grooves you want then mill it out all at once.

You want to free form some handles then try to probe it’s surface then mill it…not easy, and I am not sure if you would get the results you wanted without a rotational axis.

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8

It’s kinda difficult to explain, but something like in this video (the entire series is super interesting):

At 9:30 he goes into different patterns he tried, and you can see that it is a 2d pattern aligned on a 3d surface.
No scanning is required since the part was just milled and is still in the same fixture.
And the finish is different from just modeling the features into the part, not to speak of the time it would take to machine all these small details with parallel toolpaths.

I guess I should just learn Fusion CAM, anyone got a good tutorial?
And is Fusion to Marlin even possible?

9

All you need is the right post processor. The newest one, and the only one with active development, is based on the guffy post processor and is being developed by Don Gamble. You will find a link to it in this topic..

Fusion 360 CAM is complex. There isn’t a video series that covers it systematically. If you want to start at ground zero, this tutorial will walk you through doing something basic and introduce you to the Fusion 360 CAM.

I’ve picked up CAM learning piecemeal and feel I have a long way to go. The following YouTube channels have some videos that cover Fusion 360 CAM:

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10

Thank you very much, I’ll look into these channels :slight_smile:

11

That is very much a 3D design/pattern unless I missed it. I watched a few minutes past 9:30.

I think you are just referring to the way the tool paths are not parallel or waterline machined. Just a 3D tool path. Yeah, I think Fusion might be the way to go for that, but I have not tried anything like that in estlcam in a while.