stl designs

[Ron Sleeman]

Okay you Trotec owners or anyone that wants to help...lol Okay I have Speedy 400, but I want to run 3d STL designs in it. What software will it work for the Trotec software. I just bought a cnc wood table & I would love to run both designs in each machine.

Thanks Ron Sleeman

[Kevin L. Waldron]

Would think that you will need a program that is able to read stl files........ (Artcam, Aspire, Rhinoceros, Visualmill, other) from this you will want to convert to a Gray Scale file or other........ From this file you should be able to produce a file that is laserable. The native stl is usable by several CAM programs but keep in mind many CAM programs don't like stl.........

[Ron Sleeman]

Thanks Kevin: I have Aspire 8.5, it will not read it. I have a call into Solid Works,

[Bill George]

Thanks Kevin: I have Aspire 8.5, it will not read it. I have a call into Solid Works,

Fusion 360 will, but you need something to convert and Save / Export as a DXF file and I think it will. DXF into your laser that is. 360 is Free for startups and hobbyist. FreeCAD will also but I have never "got" it down good enough to use yet. Aspire should as its a 3D router program is it not?

[stan kern]

very strange I always thought aspire would pick up *.stl, the vetric cut3d does

[Kevin L. Waldron]

You are mistaken about Aspire 8.5 ..........it will read STL...........

First open a file...... new.......... then import STL into your new file..........

If you already own Aspire....... you have what you need...... (Personally despise STL files for CNC work although there are many free files available........like Sketchup etc...........on the other hand ........Nurbs files ..Rhino, FormZ, Punch and many more will give you much smoother cuts from the CNC...... solid programs like Solidworks also will give much better results.......)

Kevin2017-06-16_14-29-36.jpg

[Ron Sleeman]

Yes I know Aspire 8.5 will open it STL models. I think I word it wrong. I want a software that will open STL, so I can use to do 3d in my Trotec Speedy 400. The Trotec will not read Aspire.

Thanks Ron

[Bill George]

So... the Trotec will do 3D engraving but it won't take STL files? I guess I am not tracking as to what files you need?

[Doug Griffith]

You need more than the ability to open or read a 3D file such as an STL. You need to be able to interpret into a greyscale with high spots being light in color and low spots being dark in color and everything inbetween. Look into Z-depth mapping.

[Bill George]

I thought that is what a 3D file format such as STL already did for you? My STL files get moved into Simplify 3D which creates the gcode for the 3D Printer.

[Doug Griffith]

An STL is a 3D file format commonly used by 3D printers. It is essentially a mesh. Unless conversion to a Z-depth map is built into the laser's driver, which I don't know of any, the mesh needs to be converted to the greyscale image I described. XYZ coordinates of the mesh's many little triangles will do nothing for laser engraving.

[Bill George]

That is interesting because I know the STL file has no scale unless someone adds in some way but it has depth, dimension's, hole sizes and locations and everything needed for 3D. I was under the impression that is was commonly used for CNC work and for 3D router work.

I have never tried to Export from Fusion 360 as a 3D DXF file as the STL is all I have needed.

[Glen Monaghan]

The STL file describes the 3D structure, but you need something to interpret STL format for the target machine. As mentioned above, you can use something like Simplify3D to convert the STL into a format (gcode) that is needed by typical FDM printers. I don't think any of the common commercial laser engravers can understand either STL or gcode. The ones that have 3D features generally employ a form of depth mapping or greyscale processing to modulate laser power on the fly, so you would need a translation program to convert the STL into a supported greyscale format. Even then, the sorts of 3D shapes that can be lasered is pretty limited (in particular, no overhangs), rather imprecise (it can be very difficult to get linear depth functions in common substrates, e.g., getting an indicated 40% depth to be actually twice as deep as an indicated 20% depth and half as deep as an indicated 80% depth), and very limited in the vertical scale (your 3D design can be as wide and long as your engraver allows, so relatively large, but you can't create more depth than the thickness you can cut in the chosen substrate).

[Bill George]

This is way out of my knowledge zone for sure as all I have ever needed is STL, but Fusion 360 will also Export IGES and STEP files and perhaps a few more. I know that STL is not ideal for CNC, but still wondering what file format the OP needs for his machine? Can it also adjust the Z while running the file, I would assume so, but perhaps not. He did ask for a way to run an STL file.

[Art Mann]

STL works just fine for CNC router carving. Vcarve Pro V8.5 will import and place them easily. It isn't easy to alter the design unless you are talking about resizing. That is quite a long way from laser cutting the same thing though. The two machines are not interchangeable for most jobs. The Glowforge laser company claims their machine is 3-D but they are lying.