Mach1 Filter.exe. Mach1 Filter is a little known and often overlooked, free, stand-alone, Windows based application which can be used to create the necessary GCode tool-path for producing Lithophanes, 3D Relief’s and also laser, raster scan images etc. It was written a few years ago and is pretty basic (without all the bells and whistles often found in more up-to-date software) but it still does a good job, and can accept HPGL, JPG & BMP format images. As with most software, to obtain the best results, a little practice is required to judge the correct brightness / contrast / sharpness for the original image but it is quickly mastered and for those wishing to try, it can be downloaded from here Mach1Filter This is just an example of a 3D relief reproduction working from a JPG depth-map image. Tweakie.
@Tweakie, what type of machine is the g-code good for? A router type, laser type or maybe impact machine like you showed on the Phlat forum? I know you've mentioned above laser.
Hi Justin Time, It’s probably best suited for router use. However, it can create the GCode for raster scan reproduction of DXF’s with a laser simply by using the machine’s Z axis direction pin as the laser trigger (small change to ports & pins configuration if using Mach3). I am not sure if it can produce anything useful for use with an impact magnet tool – perhaps one day I will give it a try. Tweakie.
@The Dude Perhaps you would be kind enough to qualify that statement because obviously you have not actually tried to produce a 3D relief from an image just by using LinuxCNC. I may be wrong but it is my understanding that LinuxCNC is a software system for computer control of machines and provides… several graphical user interfaces including one for touch screens an interpreter for "GCode" (the RS-274 machine tool programming language) a realtime motion planning system with look-ahead operation of low-level machine electronics such as sensors and motor drives an easy to use "breadboard" layer for quickly creating a unique configuration for your machine a software PLC programmable with ladder diagrams easy installation with .deb packages or a Live-CD It does not provide drawing (CAD - Computer Aided Design) or G-code generation from the drawing (CAM - Computer Automated Manufacturing) functions. Tweakie.
There's a windows port of LinuxCNC's image to gcode over on SkorchWorks. I haven't managed to try it yet, but their other products have worked great. Kirk
