Computer Generated Modeling fuir Dummies...
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CG modeling refers to when you make something in a 3D software package like LightWave, Maya, Caligari Truespace, 3DMax, etc. The "model" exists only in your computer. This is how the visuals were done for Babylon Five, Firefly, Later Voyager seasons, and most feature films these days.
Why yes there are. In Japan, the Roland company, (The guys famous for thier synthesizers.) have a desktop CNC router. It is only capable of generating parts about 3" by 6" by 4" or so. But there are large CNC router tables capable of cutting 5' by 12' by 12" at a time. Then there are CNC milling machines that can get really precise.
But the mother of all CNC technologies is the Wire EDM machines. EDM stands for Electrical Discharge Milling/Machining. This is where a block of tool steel is immersed into a bath of conductive liguid. the block is set to one electrical lead and the other is attached to a "wire" electrode. This electrode is moved THROUGH the block of steel with ultra precise movement with some measurements stated to withing 4-millionths of an inch. But of course you would need a very large desktop for this to qualify.
But primarily the real excitement here is in the field of "rapid prototyping". The common method of output is stereo lithography. This is a process where, simply put, a UV laser "prints out" your computer designed model part in a vat of urethane resin goo. This process used to be prohibitively expensive when it started but is now coming down to the affodability range for hard core hobbyists. There is at least one online company that will output your "copyright eligible" part from a file you can upload over the internet. (Scott Alexander, aka "Captain Cardboard", is probably the most famous of these "hobbyists" to do so with his "One Man Space Pod" kit.)
But the mother of all CNC technologies is the Wire EDM machines. EDM stands for Electrical Discharge Milling/Machining. This is where a block of tool steel is immersed into a bath of conductive liguid. the block is set to one electrical lead and the other is attached to a "wire" electrode. This electrode is moved THROUGH the block of steel with ultra precise movement with some measurements stated to withing 4-millionths of an inch. But of course you would need a very large desktop for this to qualify.
But primarily the real excitement here is in the field of "rapid prototyping". The common method of output is stereo lithography. This is a process where, simply put, a UV laser "prints out" your computer designed model part in a vat of urethane resin goo. This process used to be prohibitively expensive when it started but is now coming down to the affodability range for hard core hobbyists. There is at least one online company that will output your "copyright eligible" part from a file you can upload over the internet. (Scott Alexander, aka "Captain Cardboard", is probably the most famous of these "hobbyists" to do so with his "One Man Space Pod" kit.)
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