Enough practice you will get better. As far as the welders I like the old stuff. I have a union carbide with copper winding. 100 percent duty cycle. The longer you weld the better she like it. For real it welds better when it gets hot. I use it to build my steps with.
2 Likes
One day I’ll become a welder…
1 Like
That is a strange looking grind Jim… how did you grind it like that? Almost looks like a natural good weld. I’m interested to lean more about this technique!! 
Any more like that and you are going to have to turn in your grinder club card.
If only this were true. 
2 Likes
You wish! I’m not sharing my tricks with you. Besides, don’t expect it to happen again.
It was like making free throws. Sure the first three went in, then a fourth and a fifth. By the middle of that weld, I was thinking “this is really looking nice… Can I continue without going all ‘GrinderJim’ on it?”
3 Likes
How did you convert your low-poly model to a flat? Just curious because I just went through this.
@holla2040 that raw Rottweiler low poly is a very widely used low poly sculpture. There’s many Etsy sellers that sell it. Truthfully all the good low poly models that I’ve seen in the past seem to all come from Russian designers and I think a lot of them use SolidWorks. I used to have a really great copy of SketchUp 8 a with a bunch of plugins that could do this. It can be done in Fusion 360 if you’re very confident in the sheet metal environment. There’s also plugins for Fusion 360 but a lot of them are for paper models which don’t allow for material thicknesses.
Here’s a workflow I did a little while ago of taking a 3D scan and then making it into a low poly model.
3 Likes
Well that last weld looks really good. I have some vision issues as well but I find that the diopter in 200 or 250 makes a huge difference for me. Just grab some scrap and just run bead after bead after bead and you will get it.
I failed my welding test twice and the third time I failed the visual because as I got to the outer layers I got rushing it so in a last ditch effort I cracked up the welder and used it to cut the face off my mess and then it passed visual and the whole etching and bending. I wash shocked lol. I’m no perfect welder by any means.
1 Like
With paid subscription of fusion they have thing called Arrange. Free version which I have only has align. I only seen this done with multiple piece models and I found out I didn’t have that ability. I guess you can research.
1 Like
It’s a nice feature it’s one of the many reasons to support Fusion 360 by buying a subscription.
Free users could likely form workflows using derive, align or deepest.io that would give them similar results.
I often use the arrange command when I’m doing any kind of 3D development it has more than one part that’s going to be cut on the plasma table. Most of my live stream videos featuring more complex parts would have this command being used.
I use the arrange command in this Halloween scene light box video in this post
This post showcases sheet metal flat patterns being used in conjunction with the arrange command
Low polygon forms to flats can be quite the rabbit hole. I love to see all the different approaches,anything to make the process easier.
A lot of ways to skin this cat.
7 Likes
Best welds are the ones you can’t see. Creating tabs to spot weld is an option with fusion.
3 Likes
You know sheet cam is only cam right? No heat just saying. you can only compare to the cam side of fusion.
F 360 is a great program just as sheet cam.
1 Like
So what is everyone else using besides fusion?
Inkscape…95% of the time…then to sheetcam…
I do mostly signs and 2D stuff…
I will probably get into Fusion when I have some spare time…
2 Likes
For me f360 was just more than I wanted to pay for it was hard for me to justify the cost. Others that are designing more often they can.
I use q cad to do mechanical drawings and stuff for work. It reminds me a lot of AutoCAD 2000 which is where I started. I was once very fluent with it. When it comes to artsy stuff. I go to a program I am also already familiar with it is the program for our silhouette vinyl plotter.
I don’t hate f360 I used it and it works. Kinda like why weld right handed if it isn’t necessary… ( yup I am a south paw. We are in our right mind they say😂. Then again the jury is still out on that one.). Oh and I do weld right handed and with mirrors.
3 Likes
I’ve seen some amazing things from Inkscape. I only use it for trace bitmap.
I found out the same thing about the Russia artists selling these designs. My poking around found pepakura for paper which worked great for my shaman deer head in 14ga. I cut, bent and tacked him in 5 hours.
Now that I know the low-poly process, I’d want to explore how to unroll a Fusion 360 surface model but not with low-poly. Something like this
I think this can be done in blender using UV unwrapping. Once I figure this out, use an english wheel to shape the pieces for welding.
3 Likes
Which cad program did you use to design the deer head or was that done in the paprika program as well? When I get some time I’m going to check out this program more it looks great, thanks for linking it.
Edit NM I watch the video from the beginning and it answers my question
There is a lot of programs that will do the unwrapping which with thin materials and paper is adequate but once you start using anything with any thickness you’re going to need to sheet metal rules also involved to deal with all this shrinking and stretching. Fusion 360, SolidWorks and inventor have the ability to do both unwrapping and sheet metal k factors at the same time with complex objects.
That’s a cool helix. That also could be made and unwrapped in fusion 360 considering it is a bunch of specific cone sections hooked together. The workflow might be a little chunky.
3 Likes
Not a allot of flat work here and almost embarrassed to put this below Hollas work and Jims welds but… It solved a problem. The wall at the top of the stairs doesn’t line up with the newel post so traditional baby gates wouldn’t work. I looked pretty hard for one I could buy before I started this… Not normal for me.
My wife’s “solution” also involved some chairs laid down at times.
Test fit to figure out which side of wall to mount to.
Installed with felt under base plate and under mounts to avoid floor/wall/newel post damage.
Repurposed velcro strap from mountain bike shipping box.
Kid tested!
8 Likes
If anything, cut down the labor of grinding all those welds and just TIG weld it all. Would look way better anyway.
If I knew how to work those on CAD I’d love to have a shot at a small geometric statue.
1 Like
In jail!!! How much time did he get???
3 Likes