Just some first tries at 3D

Finally gave 3D carving a try. These are my first attempts. The first was I asked Easy Create to create something simple and got this “flower’ pattern, Rough toolpath was with a .25 ballnose and finish was .125.

The rose was an STL I got on Etsy. Rough was .25 inch ball nose and finish was 1/16.

The girl was from an old photograph from a model photography class I took years ago. Uploaded it to Easy Create and created the model. Rough toolpath was 1/8 in ballnose and finish was 1/32 inch tapered ballnose. Took forever but I wanted to see what kind of detail I could get. I ran the 1/32 at 10% stepover, 150 ipm feed and plunge. Could probably run even faster.

Both models from Easy Create were downloaded in TIFF.

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They all look great for a first attempt! Nicely done!

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I just came across my first 3d carve from ages ago as well. It’s kind of surprising how good these can turn out without a whole lot of know how.

I think folks tend to be more afraid of it than they need to be :slightly_smiling_face:

Thanks for more great examples :beers:

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I do more bas relief and 3d designing than I do carving. It’s fun.

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They look great for a first run.

What was your base and base height?

Dialing these in took about 10 runs before I was happy.

My woods are in the 0.75" thickness neighborhood and my base is 0.3250 and height is 0.4 if that helps at all.

I’ve been using a 1/8" for the rough cut and CIC’s 1/32 5.4° angle ball nose for the final cut in 3D.

Then I switch to a 60° v-carve for the stars and text. Then I switch to a 1/4" downcut for the contour.

Ryan Drapela has a recent video on 3D where he talks about pushing the IPM up to 150, which is way beyond the “conservative” numbers given by Carbide Create so I was puckered beyond mention to run that high. Tried 120 before going up to 150 and they turned out fine.

Saw you’re already running the 150 ipm, so I’m guessing you might have seen that, too.

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I never heard of CIC before. Bits look interesting.

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CIC … he’s videos on YouTube were kind of the inception of me thinking that I might want to do CNC work. His story is pretty cool.

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They all work well. Delivery is pretty quick. They’re all about customer service. That is in part why he also runs a Shapeoko 5 Pro, because of the customer service. It’s not the only CNC he has, but he says the responsiveness is one of the best things about Carbide 3D and he’s right.

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Thanks for the pointer toward Easy Create. I just gave it a try, having the AI create an image from a description. Promising but little disappointing. Maybe I need more familiarity with the interface. After entering the prompt I was offered two choices but would have liked to refine them for which I did not see an option. For one example this is too fat for a jackrabbit, at least those I’ve seen.This was one of the outputs:

I asked that the hare’s head be facing 6 o’clock and added “toward the viewer”. Check. I asked that the body face 5 o’clock but it’s more like 3:30. Is there a standard way of specifying this to AI?

The other rendered output ignored the head orientation request. But it did a better job randomizing the grass tufts. I figured I could reposition these in the TIFF, maybe in the STL. BTW, I was pleased to see it would output STL which I didn’t see mentioned beforehand.

I prompted max sizes for the background elements as a decimal fraction of the hare, this was respected.

Together the TIFF and STL for this prompt cost $0.60

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I have found the best way to use Easy Create is to ask ChatGPT to make a BW image of what you are thinking about, tweak that image, then ask ChatGPT to give you a prompt that you can input into Easy Create and upload.

Here is the Chat I used as an example:


Easy Create Prompt: Can you use the attached image as a base, and give me a prompt that I can use with Easy Create (AI software) to recreate the image as an STL file

Thought for a couple of seconds

Absolutely. Here’s a clean Easy Create prompt designed to recreate the attached image as a carvable STL relief:

Prompt:

Create a detailed 3D bas-relief STL model based on the reference image. The design should feature a large jackrabbit/hare sitting upright in the center, facing forward at a slight angle, with long vertical ears, rounded body, folded rear leg, front legs extended downward, and a calm facial expression. Include fine fur texture across the body using shallow engraved linework.

Behind the rabbit, add two desert-style twisted trees or shrubs, one on the left and one on the right, with thin curved trunks, branching limbs, and small clustered leaves. Add a few small tufts of grass along the bottom foreground.

Style should be suitable for CNC carving, laser relief carving, or 3D printing as an STL. Make the entire scene a single-piece raised relief on a flat rectangular or square backing panel. Use smooth raised surfaces with engraved detail lines, not full-color. Keep the background flat and clean. The rabbit should be the dominant raised subject, with the trees and grass slightly lower in relief.

Use an artistic hand-drawn desert wildlife style, similar to vintage engraved illustration, but converted into a 3D relief carving. Ensure all thin details are thick enough to carve and print successfully. Avoid floating parts, undercuts, fragile branches, or disconnected elements. The final model should be watertight, manifold, and ready for STL export.

Suggested settings / modifiers:

  • Bas-relief depth: medium
  • Background: flat square plaque
  • Detail level: high
  • Style: carved wood relief, engraved illustration
  • Subject priority: rabbit first, trees second, grass third
  • STL should be CNC-friendly with no overhangs or unsupported geometry

Negative prompt:

Do not create a full 3D statue. Do not add color, text, borders, scenery, mountains, sun, or extra animals. Do not make the branches too thin or fragile. Do not create disconnected parts. Do not make the rabbit cartoonish.

OUTPUT:

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Thanks, Anthony. The STL output from my original prompt looked excellent when examined in MeshLab as far as machinability.

I guess my take away from your response is that I can simply input my screenshot back into Easy Create with additional prompting. For my intended use the original comes closer. I need the tufts more randomly placed and randomly lengthened, the manzanitas more eclipsed (part of the original prompt) and the hare’s body rotated “more toward the observer”.

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