Laying out Rhino CNC Files

Hi, I wanted to know if anyone has used grasshopper before to turn a series of poly surfaces modelled in rhino into a series of linework that can be arranged for CNC’ing. The manual process I am using in rhino at the moment includes modeling the polysurfaces and arranging them in 3D into the form I want (usually furniture). I then disassemble these polysurfaces, and rotate them so they are laying flat in the top view. From here I’ll use make2D to extract the border. After this I will then arrange them onto sheet material (1220x2440 usually) in the most efficient way I can. I use layers to distinguish material thicknesses. 20mm tolerance is needed between pieces. I wondered if anyone has any suggestions for a better of doing this that might use grasshopper? I’ve attached a file as an example. Thanks, Fin
CNC File Example.3dm (482.0 KB)

@Finlay_Johnson Open Nest - available for free on the package manager works in GH and will automate the nesting onto sheets for you within GH. The rest of your workflow is very possible/quite a usual application for Grasshopper.

If you’d like some profession help for this workflow I do contract development work in grasshopper, mostly in the “manufacture integration” space - ie bridging from 3D models to digital manufacture processing.

Cheers

David Kay
KaroroCAD

Hi Finlay,

I’ve worked on similar tasks before, and I can understand how time-consuming the manual process can be. Grasshopper can definitely streamline this workflow. For example, you could automate the disassembly and nesting process with some custom scripts. OpenNest, a Grasshopper plugin, might be worth exploring for this—it’s free but it’s management of marking lines is terrible, which results in terrible nestings.

In our workline, we have to nest 100s of parts at a time so we developed our own custom solution that creates perfect nestings with one click, along with full bill of materials etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaFOL5eEYSc

If you’re open to commercial solutions, I’ve been involved with a tool designed specifically for CNC cutting from Rhino models.
VisualNest automates the creation of CNC-ready outlines with marking lines in just a few clicks, which might save you a lot of time compared to Open Nest.

Feel free to reach out if you’d like more details or a demo!

farouk.serragedine@gmail.com

Best,
Farouk

Hi, thanks for sharing this information. I work at a university so unfortunately there is no budget for commercial solutions. Trying to upskill myself to teach the students. I’ll check out the links you’ve sent. Thanks

Hi, thanks for sharing this information. I work at a university so unfortunately there is no budget for commercial solutions. Trying to upskill myself to teach the students. I’ll check out the links you’ve sent. Thanks

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