I’m working with a Poly design company to run me off a couple of EPS blanks, they know nothing about surfboards. They need a file in dxf or plt format for their CAD machine.
I know nothing about CAD and I don’t have Corel/Autocad. Can APS3000 files be translated to this format ?
Would anyone have a CAD file for a compsand that we could use for a proof of concept with their machinery, anything from 6.5 - 7ft
Thanks
is it for a hotwire i presume
what you do is manually copy the curve stations out of aps 3000
i think 12 to 15 should be enough
deck and bottom foil
then email them to the dude who manually enters them into their software.
then they always got the file and order the blank when you need it
get this
some dont even charge much for cutting cuz they want to sell you the foam
thats how i would do it anyway
You can try this company :
http://www.atuacores.com/english/surmesure.php
You can design your blank online, then they custom cut an EPS blank
to the exact dimensions you’ve designed.
They’re in France but they might be selling to other European countries.
If you have any trouble using the online software, let me know, I’m the
author of this software.
You can export a pdf from aps3000, open it in adobe illustrator, remove everything but your rocker, scale it up to the right size, and then export as a dxf.
It’s a little fiddly, but only takes a couple of minutes. Here’s a dxf for the rocker from the standard aps 6’8" board.
Mark
dxf is an AutoCad extension. If you have access to AutoCad, I’d recommend using it. If you download an APS3000 file as a pdf or jpg to Adobe Illustrator you’ll end up with a pixel based program that you’ll need to trace in Illustrator and then convert to dxf or dwg. So, you create it once in APS3000. Then you create it again in Illustrator and then you hope it translates well to AutoCad.
Pdf’s are vector based, or at least they can be, and the pdfs that aps3000 spits out have vector based curves for the rocker and planshape, so there won’t be any of that pixel approximation.
It is better to use the right tool for the job if you can though.
please pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is a “compsand” blank?
kirk
Thanks Tom and Mark. Ive played with some free CAD programs over the years but in truth I could never get my head around the 3D aspect. But I’ll delve in again, thanks for the help.
Kirk, compsand is short for composite sandwich construction where you use a material like Balsa or Divinycell sandwiched between 2 layers of glass on top of your blank. AKA Sandos to out Antipodean bros. AKA berts
Pierre, I priced the blanks with Atua but the shipping was very expensive.
Paul, Sending the rocker details sounds the simplest, did you do the same with the outline ?
i havent ordered them yet
its just what the eps guys sugested to me and its quite simple
just take a 10 minutes to jot down your numbers
it would be great if aps3000 exported the station numbers in excel
most likely cut the outlines myself, just order the rockers.
Hi Burnsie,
I think I may be able to help you. I use a program that can export either 2D DXF files or 3D DXF files directly into cnc machines that read G code.
You may want to ask them what “text format” they prefer MAC (cr), DOS (cr/lf) or UNIX (lf)
The “geomerty type” in 2D will be Polylines in 3D it would be 3d DXF meshes.
Can they cut 3D?
If you want PM me with the e mail address of the company you want to deal with, I can send a sample file direct for them to read.
Thats the easy part now you will need to decide on the rocker.
Im only new to this site, but I have noticed through the threads that very few shapers here understand rocker and I suspect even only a hand full know what they are doing with it or how it affects what they do!
Their are a hundred different curves to get from a 5 1/2 inch nose to 2 1/2 tail on a 6’2. One magic curve for surfer A mabey the worst board surfer B has ever ridden. It all revolves around how much energy each of us apply to the front foot and the back foot as we surf and believe me its a nightmare to work out.
Back to your problem, if you want to go through with this I can set up a profile for you with your curve and foil you will need to supply the numbers, no need to be too accurate within a half a millimeter is fine, easier on the eyes and you can use rulers and straight edges that you probably have in the shop. I can send you a spreedsheet and discription on how I would prefer to have the design lofted.
regards Nik.
aussies, chosen by the best judges in england,… POHM’s Prisioners Of Her Majesty!
Hi Nik
Welcome to Sways.
Thanks for the response, I’m definitely not a POM anymore than your a Kiwi!
I sent the company a spreadseet with the co-ordinates so I’ll see how they get on with that.
Your comments on rocker are interesting, particularly to me, as I’m very front foot heavy. You will find Greg Loehr’s ‘Theory of Pitch’ article in the resources section very interesting concerning front/back foot surfers. As well as rocker I think you have to throw foil , bottom contour and widepoint into the mix to accomodate front/back foot approaches.
We’d love to hear you observations on rocker, I’ts a debate worth having.
