Found my way here through posts made by @TinWhisperer over on the Lanmuir Plasma CNC forums.
CNC-cutting of metal plate is definitely a huge forward step in my home shop, but being able to do 3D scanning to build actual digital models takes it even further!!! Ordered up a MINI today (8/25) and based on the backlog of orders, might be doing the first 3D scans sometime in September?
Admittedly this is jumping in to the deep end of the pool here… because my intention is to do a full-vehicle scan.
Rumor has it that there are at least a few other folks on this forum who are already doing this kind of scanning, so if anyone feels pointing me in the right direction that would be great!
Thanks, and look forward to participating a lot more around here.
Thanks… looks like there are quite a few familiar faces over on this forum as well!!!
They say that the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time… so the plan is to start with something small to experiment.
Don’t know all of the terminology yet, but I’ve seen some videos suggesting that using a “standard” scan resolution makes more sense here. Don’t need the ultra-high resolution anyway and it just creates enormous models that take forever to work with. One video suggested doing a few quick scans of the same part… then creating a “mesh” of each… then using an application called “Blender” you are able to overlay them and effectively create a very accurate model of the desired part. It takes a little longer than just doing a single high-res scan but it is a lot less CPU / RAM-intensive and is less likely to crash the machine if you build using smaller mesh scans. What is interesting is that it sounds like you can always go back later on to add more layers if you decide you want more detail from a specific part…
So much to learn, but it is all really fascinating!
I assume you have already come across his videos but if not, worth having a look at this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/JonHimself He has a couple of videos on using the POP2 along with Blender to scan engine parts.
@tHeSmUrF YES! Those videos are amazing. The way he scans then uses blender to validate the dimensioning and accuracy of the scanner is impressive. He did a full Lotus engine block, so I feel like it’s possible to do the kinds of things I want to do also. At this moment, I’m still elbows-deep assembling a new CNC Plasma Table and trying to learn how to use it, but this scanner is going to be partnered up with that tool in the near future to help me do a lot more design / revisions in the digital domain instead of building everything as a prototype in steel to find out if it will work or not.
Interested to see/hear if you have some success. I’ve been trying to scan just portions of a full-size truck with my Pop 2 and so far having exactly zero luck. Scanning indoors is relatively easy, but even with scanning spray, lots of markers, etc. I am getting nowhere fast with trying to scan outside. Truck is too tall and long to fit in my garage so just have to keep plugging away I guess.
EDIT: after posting this, not having tried it before, I went out to try scanning on an overcast morning here. It actually seemed quite a bit happier. Still struggles with the (relatively) large, feature-bare body surfaces I need to scan (fenders, etc.) but now that it’s picking up the surfaces I want well, maybe I can get away with Marker Mode. Previously I had to use “Dark” to get anything, but that didn’t seem to be the case this morning. So, maybe ambient light has more of an impact than I understand on ability to “see” surfaces.
I am fortunate that my truck fits entirely inside my garage, so I can control ambient light completely. My MINI arrived a couple of weeks ago but it is still in the unopened box at this point. Trying to finish up the assembly of my plasma table and new PC (which will serve double-duty for the CNC cutting and 3D scanning).
Bought some scanning spray already… can also pick up black dropcloths to hide backgrounds if needed… it’s still completely unclear to me what techniques will end up working best, but fortunately I’m stubborn as hell so I will not give up until I figure it out.
Well this is a bit of a coincidence. I was searching for something and came across your reply to me and mentioning you are deep into a CNC plasma table. The reason I was searching this site was because I needed some details on scanning a part for a CNC plasma table I’m rebuilding. Hope you got on well with yours - like everything, there is more to it than first appears, isn’t there? My table is a commercial one I bought second hand but arrived missing some key components, so I’m trying to work out what to replace vs. upgrade. Hoping to use my Range and/or Mini to scan some of the parts to 3D print prototype replacements before doing them in metal.
