"Reverse Engineering - I need someone with knowledge..." Topic

Seeking help from someone with knowledge.
Currently we have sets of figures both actual sculpts 28/30mm figures and some are digital in STL format.

We are looking at injection molding them is plastic.

We have experience using NURBS and IGIS files. We have done several molds already. But the company we are using can not help us with the 2 above.

Does anyone here have some experience or can give me some hints on where to look?

I'm not sure anyone understands what your asking for. Are you looking for someone to dissect the model and figure out why it can't be injection molded? Are you looking for someone to convert it to a form they can use?

I assume the physical forms need to be converted to digital and laser scanning is about the only option for that and you need a good one to get the detail. STL is a printing format and is all but useless to a mold manufacturer. You can do limited conversions but it's labor intensive and requires expensive software like solid works. It's best to get a direct export from the digital artist to a format that something like solid works or inventor can open. That way the model can be evaluated properly in software and altered to be moldable in plastic. Plastic injection molds are tricky and need to be prepped with no over hang as the molds are rigid material and need to operate at high speed.

Not sure if that is the experience your looking for but its hard to tell from your message.

CorSecEng you got it.

I have a digital sculpted model like this one:
link

I need it converted and sectioned to be used for injection molding. The factory we are currently using is not capable of doing this and I am looking for someone with experience to help me in the process.

Also I do have physical models, 28/30mm miniatures in greenstuff or resin that I need to make injection molds for them. After some research seems that there are 2 ways of doing this. One 3D scanning, but I have no idea of what definition or scanner is needed.

What your talking about is the expensive part of mold making. Maybe the most expensive. Depends on the mold cutting costs. What you looking for is someone to design the mold for you. That requires a good dose of knowledge and experience. Plus some expensive software to simulate the injection process and make sure it's going to fill properly with limited flash.

Maybe chat with reaper and see if they have people on staff that do that stuff now a days. Of course they are in the middle of filling their kickstarter so even if they do they will not going to be available for several months.

KenofYork might be able to help. Maybe John Bear Ross. Ken does his own molds but he might not have the equipment/software to split a figure up and remold it. I know JBR dabbles in that stuff and has probably done similar work splitting up models for injection molding.

The laser scanning will need to be outsourced to someone who does that professionally. No hobby level stuff or low end stuff will be good enough. Might give a call to some of the Pro 3D printer companies as they might be able to scan them for you or even do one or two to show the capacity of their machines.

Get some prices for 3D sculpting as well. Compare those to the laser scanner costs and determine which is cheaper. Either scan the existing one or have it digitally recreated.

CorSecEng, thanks.

I already have who can design and make me the molds. Maybe my post was a bit confusing. I am co-owner of Maki-Games and we have already done some intricate molds.

All I need is someone with knowledge on how to use STL files and convert them to a format that the company can use to cut and make a mold out of the 3D design.

And looking with someone who has the knowledge in 3d scanning to help me select a service who can do it for me.

Sorry if my post was confusing.

C

Most 3d cadcam places should be able to handle obj/3d files for cutting geometry. There is plenty of software out there that can take obj files and generate G-Code from them. You do not need nurbs or other formats.

The tricky bit is generating mold parting planes, but a lot of the high end software can handle that as well.

We tried to convert an STL into solidworks once and it wasn't fun. STLs are a printing format basically. Sorta like a PDF. You really need the original word document to work with it. Conversion is possible but it's not easy. The digital scans will probably start as Point clouds that are converted to STLs.

You'd have more luck poking around CNC and 3D printing forums for help. Try to stick to the more professional ones instead of the hobby ones.

Yeah, STLs are slice files, you will need something like OBJ or Collada file formats.