Resin inlay estimate

Enhancement request: It seems like it would be possible for Carbide Create to calculate an estimate of the volume of resin needed to fill a v-carve. That would be very useful to those of us who are just starting to experiment with resin inlays.

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That is a tall order. When I mix epoxy I use a scale and count number of drops of transtint liquid dye so in case I dont have enough epoxy I can make a new batch to match previous batch. My inlays are only one color but for the current fad of river tables it is much harder to match previous batch.

The moral is just enough is never enough. Unfortunately you have to make too much with multicolor colors. Seems like waste but it is just part of making.

Iā€™m talking about the total volume for the pour. Not the mix of ingredients to match a particular color. As a beginner Iā€™m just looking for an estimate so Iā€™m not mixing up 6 oz where 2 oz would be closer to the right amount.

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You could always pour something like sand or small plastic pebbles into the cut, measure the volume of those and there you go. Always mix up more than you think youā€™ll need. But I do get what youā€™re asking, the software could determine this as the variables are already calculated.

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No harm in asking for an enhancement. They already have a long list of requests.

The suggestion of something fine to pour in cavity would get you in the ballpark.

I see your question on youtube all the time from users filling in splits and cracks on table tops. Yet to see a good answer. Those folks are using large and expensive quanities of epoxy/resin so they have a reason not waste large quanities.

I mix more than I think I need and leave the rest in cup as control to see if resin sets up. Dont use disposable plastic drinking cups because some epoxy gets very hot and can melt cup spilling epoxy on your bench. Ask me how I know.

I can understand the usefulness, but I honestly donā€™t see this happening anytime soon. Thereā€™s not really a good way to measure distance right now, let alone volume. But if you know the weight of your piece before and after a cut, and you know the rough density of the material youā€™re cutting into, you can probably work out a reasonable estimate of volume removed.

Also, You always want to err on the side of having a little too much epoxy. Good practice for epoxy is to keep some simple molds around for excess. Could be coaster blanks, pendants, etc.

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It might be possible to calculate the volume of CCā€™s preview mesh (assuming itā€™s a mesh) and subtract it from the stock volume.

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Use rice. Itā€™s easy to clean up with a shop vac.

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@Rick Got any solid modeling experience?
If not, if you can share an example, we could probably work up a workflow to get a good estimate.

The request to provide the length of a segment (Curve, line, etc.) is already on the table. If you know the width and angle of the vbit, you can pretty well estimate the volumeā€¦or just treat it as a rectangular cut (no vee) and take a percentage off the volume as a reasonable mix estimate.

But first, knowing the true length of a curve is important.

EDIT: This is a job for the Engineerā€™s in this group! What is the volume of displacement for a Vee bit? In other words, if you plunged a spinning Vee bit of a known geometry so that it cut a specific width, how much wood would it cut? If you had that, you could multiply by the line length and get the info requested.

@Julien ?

Itā€™s not so much the displacement volume, but the cross-sectional area.

90Ā° Vee - DepthĀ²
60Ā° Vee - ~ DepthĀ² / 2 (DepthĀ² * 0.577)

Then you just need the total length of cut moves.

NC Corrector gives me this information, so I just use the linear + circular & ignore the rapid moves.

image

That would work for V-Carve paths.

For pockets or advanced V-Carve, I think the quickest estimate would be the total area of the vectors being cut * depth. But, you would also need to subtract any internal vectors.

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for what itā€™s worth It looks like some users over on the Vectric forum had a discussion about this recently (including a tool and youtube video), not sure it covers v-carving but there could be some interesting pointers there

Thanks @Tod1d ! Thatā€™s exactly the info needed!

Please donā€™t use food materials in the shop ā€” at a minimum, consider the possibility of pests ā€” at the moral end of the spectrum, yes, I know itā€™s hard to believe in this 21st century of corn syrup fueled obesity, but there are some folks who go to bed hungry, and there are some countries where they export more calories of food than they import to the detriment of their citizens and local food prices.

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I wouldnā€™t use cooked rice. I doubt this technique will have much of an impact on the food supply either, but maybe Iā€™m underestimating the size of his pour, lol. More examples of this can be found by searching ā€œrice fill mold resinā€.

Itā€™s the principle of the matter.

When you come before the Yama Kings, you should clasp your hands together and plead to them: ā€˜I am young and I am innocent. I was born in a poor family, and I was content with scanty meals. I was never willfully careless of my shoes and my clothing, and I never wasted a grain of rice. If evil spirits bully me, may thou protect me.ā€™

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I value the technical information available here too much to engage in that sort of debate. Thank you, though.

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Use CAMotics to export an STL file of the simulation. Then stick it into this tool: https://www.viewstl.com/ and it will give you the volume of the model. You will have to subtract it from the volume of the stock.

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I donā€™t math, so a dummies guide would be helpful lol.

Then the empirical measurement method might be best.

Rice is a food staple, so try sugar or salt (Theyā€™re bad for you :wink: )
Or how about some fine sawdust from your shop?
Sprinkle the substance over the job, scrape with a straightedge, measure the remaining volume.

The problem with calculating the path is the tool is not always fully engaged & removing material with itā€™s entire profile/cross-section. Any estimate done this way would be too large. Unless the software is measuring the actual solid model starting & ending volume.

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