Can someone tell me the easiest way to cut out exact shapes of objects? For example…I have a boomerang that I got on a trip to Australia several years ago. I want to make a display for it and I want the boomerang to fit exactly in the shape. Can I trace it and then have the Glowforge cut that out somehow?
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The trace function on your glowforge I believe only allows for engraving (i could be wrong, doesn’t hurt to try). Are you just trying to make a boomerang frame to hang on a wall?
The plan was to cut out the shape of the boomerang in some sort of wood, probably walnut plywood. Then sandwich it between two pieces of clear acrylic. Then add a frame to finish it off. I wanted to be able to see both sides of the boomerang without taking it out of the display.
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I see. I think your best bet may be to take a picture of your boomerang with a ruler (or some other absolute measurement) and upload that to a drawing program such as Inscape. Once you are able to scale the image to the correct size using the ruler as a reference you can trace the boomerang and create a cutting path. From there you just save and load it into the GFUI. Does that make sense?
I don’t know if this is the easiest route, but its just the easiest that I can think of.
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I guess I could trace it on paper, scan it, bring it into Affinity Designer, trace it again there, and then export as pdf. Just seems like there should be an easier way. I know Makeblock has that feature where you can cut out anything you trace.
Yeah, that makes sense. I was just hoping there was an easier way.
Right. Im not sure. Maybe someone else knows an easier way. Best of luck to ya.
I agree with the other advice, I would take a photo from directly above and trace in your preferred design program. Use the settings in the program to get your tracing to the right size before cutting.
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Actually, assuming the bottom of the boomerang is flat, and assuming you have a flatbed scanner, I’d recommend using that instead of a camera. Camera lenses have distortion, you just don’t notice it that much unless it’s a really short fish-eye lens. But a flat bed scanner will not distort. I use this trick all the time to generate CAD files for things that don’t need 3D scanning. Works great. A friend wanted a wallet sized card with an inset for his spare house key. I flatbed scanned the key and traced that and got a perfect outline that the key fit like a glove.
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Actually, the Trace function also generates a cut line (depending on where you click it). I’ve done it many times,
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Good to know, thank you for that correction.
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I’ve never used the trace feature. It’s not for premium subscribers only is it?
This.
3 simple steps.
Couldn’t be easier.
No. It’s one of the core features and available to all.
The trace function is designed to “scan drawings and print without design software” (from specs).
It’s great for taking a simple sketch, like what a kid might do at a craft fair, then engraving and cutting out an ornament or keychain tag.
It is not a precision function. Throw your boomerang on the bed and trace it, see what results. I just did (purchased at Circular Quay gift shop many years ago), on top of a clean piece of draft board. It would NOT be suitable for cutting a clean outline. Zoom in.
Take a pic from a distance above with even lighting. Trace in a real design app, then upload. Suggest testing on cardboard before committing to a piece of walnut ply.
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