How Zw3d Cam Applied To Relief And Engraving Industry

By Author: Paul W. Walker
Total Articles: 7
Comment this article

As we know ZW3D CAM provides milling operations for CNC machining from 2 Axis to 5Axis. Now, here, we want to take some examples to talk about how to apply some of them to Engraving and Relief industry.

1. Relief
For relief product, it always has large of small tiny complicated surface with variable curvature. So it often demands very smooth tool path to cut. Below is a product of relief which we created in ZW3D:

Using the function of Emboss of ZW3D we got the result. It consists of larges and tiny UV surface. According to the features we used 3 operations to get the tool path: Smooth-flow for Roughing, Offset-3D for both Semi-Finishing and Finishing. The tool paths for each operation as following

Here is the verified result:

... engraving operation" src="http://www.zwcadclub.com/images/TipsImages/20110928_HowZW3DApplytoReliefandengraving3.png " width="500px" />

From this example we can find that we just used the Quick Mill operations to cut the product. Actually this is an advantage of Quick milling, it is good at handling the free form surface. This is an example for relief. Next let's go to see how ZW3D CAM works on Engraving.

2. Engraving:
First, I want to talk about the Surface Engraving operation. It is located in the toolbar of 3X Nurbs, just like it is shown in the picture below:

It can be used to get a 3X engraving tool path on 3D curve surface. So let's take an example to see how it works.

Here we have a product like the following picture. We need to engrave the letters on the surface of the bottle. In ZW3D we used the "Surface Engraving" operation to cut it. With this operation can generate the tool path with just the profiles of the letters as the machining feature, the tool path is as following:

Here is the verification result:

Next let's go to see another interesting Engraving example. Please look at the following picture:

Now we will use a Quick Mill operation -The Drive Curve operation for this one.

First, we will used a big tool to cut most of the materials away including the outside area of the dragon, so we selected all of the outside profiles of the dragon and define the feature. Just as shown in the image below:

Then, we can define a containment feature to limit the cutting area. Here, the outside of the rectangle and the outside profiles of the dragon can then be used to define it as shown in the image below:

Then just select the support surface as feature just as shown below:

Then just set up your cutting parameters in the parameter form. You will need to pay attention to the option of Path control, just like the following picture shown: to ensure the tool path is cutting the way you want it to.

Below is the tool path after it is calculated:

We finished the tool path for the outside of the dragon, but some inside area also need to be cut. So let's use the same way mentioned above to get the tool path for these areas as well, the following is the final tool path of this example:

About ZW3D
ZW3D, the all-in-one, affordable CAD/CAM, was included into ZWSOFT's product portfolio in 2010. As the successor of VX CAD/CAM, ZW3D provides ease-of-use, performance, and all-in-one capability. The brand new software can extend enterprise-level mechanical design and engineering capabilities to the desktop at a fraction of the cost of other comparable systems. Experience ZW3D 2010, where the only limit is your imagination. Please go to www.zwsoft.com to download a free 30-day trial today.