Turn almost any 3d shape into a real object

I'm going to show you guys how to turn almost any 3d shape you have into a real object. I used a regular hot wire cnc. The hot wire cnc is that computer controlled machine that cuts letters out of eps or xps foam. I actually saw an instructable on this site about making a cheap hot wire cnc. Adding a turning table to a foam cutter cnc allows you to make any round shape like columns, vases, spheres, eggs. I'm going to show you how you can create complexe shapes using a turning table. My goal was to make two pieces of 3 meters Anubis. Anubis was a god in egiptian culture with human body and jackal head. I didn't make the 3d figure, I actually found it for free on the internet so I'm only showing you the technique I used to convert a 3d shape into a real life object.


Please vote my instructable in the "Make it real challange"... Thanks

Step 1: Cut your 3d shape to make it fit in your hot wire cnc

The first thing I did was to cut the 3d object in smaller pieces for two reasons: 1. it had to fit in my foam cutter cnc (that is 60 cm high); 2. I only needed the left half of the body for the next process, because, you'll see in a minute that I easily mirrored it.

Comments

[rimar2000]

Beautiful

[davidandora]

Fantastic Instructable, and a great example to showcase. Thanks!

[buteomont]

This is cool times ten. Now what are you going to do with them?

[WineSoaked]

Freaking awesome mod to a CNC. Simple, but man, the options it opens up for construction are huge! Well done!

[grundisimo]

THE coolest thing I've ever seen. nice job! :)

[mr.frob]

Very cool, great job!

[Edgar]

Great idea, voted on it, and it's on my Portuguese Blog, so a lot of Portuguese an Brazilians can make their Carnaval and other kinds of artwork, that way:
http://faz-voce-mesmo.blogspot.com/2012/02/carnaval.html

[grey_starr]

Wow - those are so Sweet! That still takes a lot of artistic skill... I DO play with foam, and I know for a fact what I do is not anthing close to that quality.

[clax]

How convert the 3d image to profile path ? ( in other words How to export the parallel view in sketchup?) Thanks

[propart]

The free sketchup doesn't export vector. I make it this way: I make the whole object black in sketchup, and the enviroment white. Also make sure you don't see edges, shadows, fog or axes in the view menu. Print screen, paste in corel, edit bitmap to crop the object you need and then trace bitmap in corel. Make sure that in the end, after you finish all 12 views they all have the same height. In sketcup, if you make the object group, then it will be surrounded by a blue line. You can use that for your cutting path (because you need the wire to cut the shape and not go under the shape, so it goes, cuts the shape and come back on the ex-blueline) Let me know how it goes. If you need more help send me a private mesage

[imBobertRobert]

time to make a life-size earth! now all we need it the materials...

[Edgar]

Liked this idea so much, I've made a Ponoko Plan out of a Destop version of this:
http://www.ponoko.com/design-your-own/products/3d-styro-cutter-7420

[lordduckx]

Hey, Awesome 'ible!

Three questions, what kind of foam did you use to cut out of, how much did it cost, and where did you get it from? I'm really interested in replicating this!

[propart]

Thx,
Three answers: I used expanded polystyrene and I found it in big blocks, I used 2 square meters but I actually bought more, the store I got it from doesn't have a website but the prices they had were similar to this: http://www.scaonline.co.uk/eps-single-blocks---white-99-c.asp , so according to this site it would cost you about £ 142,78. You don't have to make it 3 meters, you can make it smaller or bigger ;) . I can't wait to see the result. Keep me posted.

[MrPTrog]

Couldn't you cut both pieces at the same time with 2 turntables by counter rotating them after each cut? Assuming your cut area was wide enough to fit 2 turn tables of course.

[propart]

You answered your own question. Sure you can, if you have a wide cut area. I didn't considered speeding up the process because making 2 giant 3 meters staues in 10 days was fast enough for me...

[sakkidra]

Love the carvings! I have been a foam carver for about 15yrs, doing stuff for amusement parks, malls, movies, etc. I never got to use a CNC, that sure would have made my job easier. I had to do it the old fashioned way, like marble sculpting. Here's a tip: Go buy a Curry Comb, they are used to groom horses. Remove some of the outer rings for the best performance. These are awesome for sanding your large areas fast. One thing I will warn you about. I developed a sensitivity to the foam after about 10yrs of fine sanding and cutting with a hot wire. Even with a respirator. Darn stuff makes me itch like crazy for weeks any time I carve now. I pretty much stopped doing it because of that. I can't even use petroleum based products anymore. So don't let people tell you it's inert and won't harm you, because it can over time. Cover your skin as much as you can to slow down the chance of it happening. I really miss carving, and only do it a little now. If you ever need any tips let me know.

[tinker234]

wow do you mind telling me a way to make the cnc you used

you know for his hand is he supposed to be holding something

[propart]

I didn't built my hot wire cnc, I just added the turning table, but here is a link to the instructable on this site that teaches you how to make a cheap hot wire cnc http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-CNC-Hot-Wire-Foam-Cutter-from-parts-availab/ . Make that cnc (my cnc is not much different, it just cuts foam with a hot wire. Adding the turning table makes it special)
I modified his hands. Yes he would supose to hold a scepter in one hand and a key in his other hand

[tinker234]

thanks what program do you use for the model

[propart]

I used sketchup. But I think you can use any 3d program like 123D or Rhino 3D or even Max. They all have similar commands that you can use for what I've done.

[tinker234]

wow thanks sketchup suprised most models i have are not that good

[propart]

Go on google sketchup warehouse. You'll be amazed

[tinker234]

thanks

[batman96]

Anubis is also a half ascended Goauld off of sg-1!

[Cambenora]

Indeed.

[Madrigorne]

You win. :)

[Microbe]

The middle one is the most realistic

[scenicruzer]

Why not use a stepper motor for the turntable?

[propart]

Well, I'm just showing a way to easily improve a hot wire cnc. I don't know if it really needs a motor because it's a slow process anyway. I think a motor is good when you want to rotate and cut at the same time, for making a screw-shaped column for example

[docree]

I see almost everyone sanding their foam with the normal sanding tools. Could someone use a small handheld "hot knife" or a heat gun for this part?

[propart]

Yeah, I know it's messy, but I think sanding it's the best way to finish the shape. You could use the hot knife to make nice textures like bark texture or wooden texture. The heat gun is good for cleaning the surface and melting the fluffy powder left by the sanding (the paint sticks even better then).

[docree]

Thanks, for the tips! I'm going to be working with Styrofoam in the near future. Trying to find out as much as I can.

[propart]

Ok, if you have other questions just ask.

[123tim]

Thank you for one awesome instructable!

You have me intrigued, and I shopped around a little on the internet for foam blocks. I'll admit that I was a little taken back by the prices.

Would you happen to have any link (or links) that you might be willing to share for the cheapest places to find the proper materials? (The foam, that is.)

Thank you.
I really appreciated your instructable.

[propart]

http://www.scaonline.co.uk/eps-single-blocks---white-99-c.asp these prices seem ok. If you seen hobby polystyrene blocks they were more expensive for sure. You can also try with insulation polystyrene sheets also, but you have to glue them together after you cut them. I often use insulation polystyrene, but for this project it would've been a bit hard because of the dimensions, but not imposible.

[propart]

Make sure you search for the right thing. Expanded polystyrene block is what you want to search for and I know for a fact that it's the cheapest material by volume. A tip - the bigger the bead size, the lower the price.

[Ninzerbean]

When you write "When I converted my patterns to vectors I made sure that, at all times, the hot wire path doesn't go under my foam" - how did you make sure of this? What would happen if the hot wire went under your foam? How do you stop it from doing so? Is that controlled in the design or the width of the foam?

[propart]

Ok, I'll explain using the "leg" example.
When you make a cutting vector(plt) you are actually making a contour. You should have not the countour of the leg but a contour made by the outline of the leg (minus the part that touches the turning table) plus a bigger rectangle. Why not going under the leg? Because we will cut this leg about 12 times and if the hot wire goes under it 12 times we will end up having a shorter and shorter leg each time, affecting the fallowing cuts.

[thebluearcher]

what do you use to glue your foam together?