I am working on a project where we are attempting to machine a water droplet wave effect into a piece of wood. I was hoping to come up with a way to machine it all at once, but with each pass following a contour line, a specific "elevation" like on a map.
Typically the router path would be parallel lines, the tool head moving in the Z axis as it goes along the relief. We are looking to do the water effect with one pass with a large tool as we are removing a lot of material, and using that method will create very distorted shapes.
I figure if I can get the tool paths to follow the contours at a static Z height, like the contour lines on a topographic map, the circular shapes and water effect would be preserved. And would maintain a decent runtime. Anyone ever done anything like this?

What CAM program are you using and how are you supplying data? Do you have a solid to machine, a surface, or just a profile to apply to geometries? Mostly depends on how you generate toolpaths.

Best if you post a pic.

If it's topographical lines, name each one as a layer with the depth as part of the layer name. Cut the outside of the shape at that depth and voila.

I am using Solidwoks to create the 3D file, and Enroute6 to create the tool paths.

Here is a small sample image: https://imgur.com/c27YyPh

Dropout - I was thinking of trying something like that. I would need to slice the part into layers first to get the contour paths at each depth though, correct?

I think so. Would need all closed shapes.

Why not just 3D cut it?

If I just 3D cut it the typical way, the circles would get pretty distorted, sea shell like. This can be countered by using a small bit and doing finish passes, but that will be far too slow for what we are doing. We'll be create this texture on a whole 4'x8' sheet.

Here's what the software wants to do: https://imgur.com/a/JcTXeEl
And this is what I want it to do: https://imgur.com/a/6ib0zRt

Hello Bryce,

Looks like there's 2 things to solve here. Firstly you need to efficiently generate the geometry you wish to toolpath. Enroute has a slice feature whereby you can slice the relief. You could then get an outline of the resulting slices at different depths.

The 2nd part is the toolpathing. I am not sure that following this geometry will give you what your are looking for. The surface has multiple concave sections of different diameters. I dont quite see what tool could produce this surface by following these contours. What kind of tool did you have in mind?

If you want you can email your Enroute file to me. I don't mind looking at it.

Good luck!

Richard

The fill toolpath is based on the perimeter shape, not the shapes contained within the surface. There is no way to base the 3D fill toolpath to follow contours within the surface itself unless you have 2D shapes to match the surface. And even then, it would not look like what you are desiring in the drawing.

You can create this effect by drawing a bunch of circles and then doing a 3D engrave with a large radius tool (3 inch cove tool).

Example