Detailed Set Models + Xacto Knives = Sore hands.

[dmarushy]

I am a professional scenic designer, and part of the job that I love and is extremely valuable not only to myself but usually everyone else involved in a production is the scale model.

I am a perfectionist and love intricate detail in designs, and I love the model to reflect this. I am also a big fan of power tools.

My basic wonder is: are there any pro designers out there who either have model pieces cut by a CNC router or even OWN one themselves. I see that there are "desktop" versions, but really haven't researched it too much yet. It would sure make designing amazing! No sore hands, hours upon hours saved and my personal favorite part...PERFECTION!

 

[soundman]

Ive used them before for machining and they are handy but they are not cheap. The first question becomes will the material you work in take kindly to be cut by a mill. If you work in foam core I would test it with a dremel and make sure it doesn't feather or crumble while being cut.

And by the time you buy a machine and the software to turn a CAD file into G code or another machining language it can understand your looking at dropping at least $3,500 into this project. It would be neat to be able to draft all the elevations and then have a machine cut out the models but whats your break even point? Say you get an assistant for $500 for a week or two to help make models, it would take seven shows to break even. And I would hope that even at $500 the assistant would be able to do more than just cut things.

Now if you knew of a scenic house that used a CNC router to cut wood then you might be able to get your hands on it after hours....

 

[Footer]

I have seen one model done on a CNCr. Essentially, the entire model including the theatre was carved out of a huge chunk of UHMW and then painted. This was done as a project to show how detailed a CNC can be and was a one off thing. However, for the price of a CNC you could probably hire about 5 years worth of interns or assistants to build your models for you.

There are open source 3D printers out there that you can build yourself for under a grand. If you had the time, patience, and ability to do it, its out there. RepRap Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would probably avoid a traditonal CNC machine for model fabricating and go with a 3D printer.
http://store.makerbot.com/3d-printers/thing-o-matic.html

 

[metti]

I know one scenic designer who uses a Roland Modela MDX-20 CNC mill and one who uses an Epilog Zing laser cutter. The owner of the laser cutter also just purchased a MakerBot 3D printer kit to use for making small plastic pieces of models. The laser cutter is particularly easy to use if you are good with just 2D cutting and etching.

Edit: The laser cutter owner shares it with someone who makes and sells jewelry and other craft items with it so they didn't foot the purchase bill themself.

 

[dmarushy]

Yeah, I just stumbled onto the Epilog website and was excited with what I saw there. Epilog Laser Engraver - Engraving Laser Cutting Marking Machines Systems and Equipment FiberMark Laser

No idea on prices at this point, but I figure even if the smallest version was in the $1000+ range, it would be worth it. And might even be able to pay off itself by engraving crap for people on the side!

Cutting 2-D pieces (of cardstock) is exactly what I am hoping to do. It's just that one step that would still allow me to do the part I enjoy with precision and in good time.

On one of their ad videos they even specify model building, so I know it's obviously a possibility.

I think I will continue to look further into this. There is even a dealer here in Calgary.

 

[soundman]

Cutting 2-D pieces (of cardstock) is exactly what I am hoping to do. It's just that one step that would still allow me to do the part I enjoy with precision and in good time.

Perhaps you need to visit the craft store.

Craft Store » Creative Cutter Inspiration

It won't cut into foam core but it would tackle cardstock.

 

[dmarushy]

Hey, that's pretty great too. Not quite as cool looking as the laser cutter, but might just be a little more price and user friendly. I watched a video of it on youtube.

 

[dmarushy]

Wow, the more I look at that Epilog Laser, I realize that I wouldn't even bother with cutting cardstock, I could cut extremely detailed wooden model pieces. To be honest I think these model pieces would look so good they might even be worth something in the end!

To bad they start at $8,000! Maybe one day! (Not to mention does not support Mac or Adobe - both of which are what I use)

Downside of the Pazzle Creative Cutter is you have to use their crappy software with it. (Not to mention does not support Mac or Adobe - both of which are what I use)

Grrr. Looks like it's back to the Xacto for me.

 

[soundman]

The local craft store has this on sale for $300

Xyron Product Detail | Xyron Wishblade and its Mac compatible.

The smart money looks to be drawing it in your normal way, exporting it as a picture and then using the software to auto trace.

 

[Van]

If you wanted to use something like one of those 'creative cutters' <which are pieces of crap BTW> why not Head to Ebay and pick up a 16 or 24Inch vinyl cutter. I use my 48" vinyl cutter to cut out wallpaper stencils, singnage and friscuits for Air brushing. most can be had for under $600 and you can purchase knives for them that will cut through even sand-blasting resists. As far as Mac compatibility can't help ya there you could always purchase a cheap laptop to run your cutter and just import into the program that comes with the cutter, typically 'Sign Blazer' which will import either an HPGL file or often an AI.

 

[metti]

While not nearly as bad ***** as a laser cut, Van is right that vinyl cutters are actually super useful and pretty inexpensive in the scheme of things. I used to get full sheets of letter pressed business cards and then use a vinyl cutter with a suitable blade to cut out the individual cards with a custom pattern. That said I don't think a vinyl cutter is going to cut through anything like the mat board or foam core that my scenic buddies tend to use for models.