help with boardcad ?

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Fri, 2018-02-02 10:19
#1
Bwana's picture
Bwana
Last seen: 2 years 8 months ago
Joined: 02/02/2018
Can anyone help me with a boardcad longboard design Im working on ? Im having 2 problems because i'm not very good with computers. 1. I need to take off 15mm from the rails and square them for some paulownia rail bands 2. I'm having trouble exporting to a file on my PC so I can send to the cnc guys. Ive tried lots of programs , Autodesk fusion 360, rhino3d blender ect nothing will open. I tried as suggested exporting nurbs dxf. Anyone willing to design for me if i send all the dimensions ? thnx
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Fri, 2018-02-02 12:36
Kookie's picture
Kookie
Last seen: 2 months 2 weeks ago
Joined: 01/30/2017
Forget it. To cut a long story short, it's better to go it manually with a handsaw etc. The long story: The various surfboard design programs are mesh 3D. Basically this is like a photo rather than a full record of how to draw the thing at any scale (parametric) . Like a photo, if you zoom you just end up with massive pixels. CNC needs a pathway but for some technical reason I don't understand, a mesh isn't enough like it is in 3D printing. So at this point you could try to use the mesh to make a proper CNC'able model or simply start again. You can use the mesh to help you make a parametric model but it's easier to start again from lofting slices... I haven't yet managed that myself yet though it should be easy....
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Fri, 2018-02-02 19:53
jrandy's picture
jrandy
Last seen: 1 week 1 day ago
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Bwana- What is the preferred format of your CNC guys? What software are you familiar with for design?
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http://pushheretosavealife.com/
Be safe, have fun. -J

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Sat, 2018-02-03 01:38
Bwana's picture
Bwana
Last seen: 2 years 8 months ago
Joined: 02/02/2018
jrandy, The cnc guys said DXF format, Im using boardcad and just basically tweaking their longboard template. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated
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Sat, 2018-02-03 20:04
jrandy's picture
jrandy
Last seen: 1 week 1 day ago
Joined: 09/04/2012
Bwana- Is this what you are trying to do? Hoping this thread stays in play until some guys like charlieukusa or red_boards join the party. What sort of machine are they using? Will it be a sled cut or 3D machining project? If the DXF of the NURBS didn't work, are there other file formats that work for them? Kookie- I'd hate to agree with you (just kidding mate) but I would probably attempt this lofting as you propose. It looks like it would be possible but some work to finish. In the first picture below, I started with the section DXF data from BoardCAD. In the second picture, I used outline and profile DXF's from BoardCAD, ran them into Fusion360, made a simple blank, and established new sketches. In the third picture (edit) I managed to bring a DXF of a section straight into Fusion360, replaced the one from before, and chop the rail. It worked but not as efficiently as I would have hoped.
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http://pushheretosavealife.com/
Be safe, have fun. -J

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Sun, 2018-02-04 02:58
(Reply to #5)
jago25_98's picture
jago25_98
Last seen: 10 months 6 days ago
Joined: 08/31/2004
Thanks for these screenshots JRandy. When I export a profile or crosssection from BoardCAD the rails are not closed - it's not a closed loop. I can only get an exported polyline to show up in F360 - I can select a beizer DXF file but nothing appears as visible. Polylines are also coming in as many small straight lines so to select them all is a PITA. I need to learn to join the lines into a single line next. Polylines can't be rescaled bigger either so it's not a proper workflow I'm getting here. Maybe you used Shape3D to export your cross sections? (AKUShaper exports .slc files) That said, I had another go at lofting in 2 planes (profile and cross sections) using 2D shapes drawn directly in F360 and that worked. Thanks for he screenshots :-) p.s. to anyone reading this. If you're on osx Mac you'lll need the java SDK and browse to ~/yourUser/Applications/BoardCad..../java/ and run 'java -jar BoardCad.jar' to run BoardCAD. p.p.s you can also do messy stuff like vectorising exported pdf's from hollow wooden plans and using an exported STL as a base for making a model but it's all messy and best avoided so I'm interested in how you did it
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Sun, 2018-02-04 00:07
Bwana's picture
Bwana
Last seen: 2 years 8 months ago
Joined: 02/02/2018
Yes thats what Im trying to do, unfortunately Im just not good with these programs. I still cant export out of boardcad successfully. Is there another program similar to boardcad for free ?
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Sun, 2018-02-04 05:10
(Reply to #7)
sk8ment's picture
sk8ment
Last seen: 2 months 1 day ago
Joined: 08/22/2013
Shape 3D has a free lite version.
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@reclaim_surf formerly Skatement

(Adam) Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia

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Sun, 2018-02-04 07:25
(Reply to #8)
jago25_98's picture
jago25_98
Last seen: 10 months 6 days ago
Joined: 08/31/2004
Completely useless though. No save.
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Sun, 2018-02-04 10:53
Bwana's picture
Bwana
Last seen: 2 years 8 months ago
Joined: 02/02/2018
That's right , I couldnt export or save anything from shape3dlite. Here's my dimensions if anyone can help design and send to me in a file format dxf ? 9'1" MAL WIDTH 22".75 = 578mm THICKNESS MID 2 ".75 = 70mm TAIL 12" FROM BOTTOM 14".5 =368mm NOSE 12" FROM TOP 16".75 =425mm TAIL THICKNESS .55 = 14mm NOSE THICKNESS .35 = 9mm BOTTOM OF TAIL CONTOUR. VEE GOING FROM TAIL FADING OUT JUST PAST HALF WAY UP THE BOARD . VEE .1 = 3mm. BOTTOM OF NOSE CONTOUR. CONCAVE GOING FROM NOSE FADING OUT WHERE VEE FADES IN. concave .1 =3mm RAILS A LITTLE LOWER THAN STANDARD .1 =3MM It doesnt have to be perfect if I can still edit it ? thanks if anyone can do this maybe i can return the favor in some way . I have lots of paulownia if you live In WA west Oz
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Mon, 2018-02-05 23:50
red_boards's picture
red_boards
Last seen: 7 months 2 weeks ago
Joined: 09/06/2007
Hey Bwana, When I tried working with BoardCAD a few years ago, I had trouble getting accurate exports. Eventually sprang for a S3D license. A year licence for S3D Design is 30Euro. Well worth the time saving for the time and trouble you invest trying to get an unsupported piece of software to do what you want. Only S3D Export has option to generate DXF etc output, and it's 435 Euros, so a bit dear. If your CNC guys use other software to calculate cutting paths, then you'll need a favour to convert your .brd to .dxf or .stl I was able to bring S3D files into Cut3D (a generic CAM program) a few years ago, but I can't remember the process. I'll check.
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