A family member asked me if I could make them a 3d Nutcracker out of wood for their holiday display. I’ve watched many videos on 3D machining since I’ve took ownership of my S4 Pro and understand the basics but have never actually attempted it yet. I know I would have to upgrade to CC Pro for 3D tool paths and pick up a few new ball nose endmills. Is this something someone whose very green to 3D machining can/should attempt? I also wanted to ask if anyone knows of any sources for 3D files that can be loaded into CC pro since my 3d modeling skills are basic at best. Many thanks.
What do you mean by “3D nutcracker”?
Here’s a blog post on one design:
Could you sketch or draw up what you mean?
Carbide Create Pro will load pixel image depth maps or STL files — these are widely available, eBay, Etsy, Thingiverse, &c. There are various designs at:
That said, you don’t strictly need Carbide Create Pro to do 3D, see:
Sorry Will, I should have been more clear. What I’m referring to is the decorative Christmas style of Nut Cracker.
Should be pretty straight-forward — do you want to make it out of discrete parts, or just model it in 3D to cut from one piece of stock?
Do you want the functional nutcracker element?
EDIT:
Here’s a DIY for a life-size version:
https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/home-and-family/how-to/diy-life-size-nutcracker
and an Instructable for turning one on a lathe:
(should work to model in halves and then glue them together, or cut in two pieces)
and here’s a reference image:
If you’ll let us know the specifics of how you wish to approach this, and upload a file if you get stuck we will do our best to assist.
Thanks for all that info. What i was thinking of was doing the front and back separately and doing a glue up. Actually, the request i had was for a larger size, maybe 30 inches tall or so. So maybe split the job into 4 parts and gluing everything up. Something like head and toro as one peice and legs one peice then repeat for the back top and bottom. Using the image you posted as an example, could i use that to create the front and back sections if the image and toolpaths are adjusted accordingly in CC pro? Hope that all makes sense.
Yes, if you re-draw the elements and model them you should be able to cut things as requested.
That said, at the size you note, it would probably be more cost-efficient to use tubing as suggested by the DIY link above.
If you get stuck, post the file and let us know what approach you are trying and we’ll do our best to help out.
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