Hi all, just started transitioning from sketchup to rhino and love it … not looking back.
I mainly use it for drawing custom furniture parts, then I export to vectric aspire to cut on my cnc. When I export a model (let’s say a cabinet), it’s drawn exactly like real life—18mm sides, bottom, top, and back. I usually inset the panels about 1/4" into each other for easy assembly.
Is there a better way to export my models from rhino to aspire to make the process easier? I find myself doing a lot of extra cleanup and work once it’s inside aspire.
Also, I’ve sort of looked into rhino cam lately… is it actually worth making the switch, or should I just stick with aspire?
I’ve been using Vcarve Desktop for parts I design in Rhino for over a decade and have never run into any issues I couldn’t solve. I expect you know your CNC machine and Aspire pretty well, so it’s just down to figuring out what to do in Rhino to make your process as easy as possible.
I have exported as DXF and as 3dm depending on if I was just doing a cutout or simple profile or pocket or an actual 3D part.
I’d say stay with Aspire long enough to be confident you’ve exhausted all it’s possibilities for working easily with Rhino.
from a conceptional / academic / technical point of view vectric aspire is a deep trap:
From the technical point of view, it is either 2.5D (outlines and constant height per (closed) curve = cut / pocket = 2d dxf) or height-map / height-field (pixel with z-information = 3d mesh data, slt (generated via different imports).
it has a interface that hides this distinction.
if you can not afford a professional cad-cam solution like Mastercam you may have a look at Rhinocam which has its own limitation but has a much clearer concept.
If you want to stay with vectric aspire - try to understand the hidden technology (2.5D curve / closed curve = pocket vs. heightfield) … there are people that master this … but it feels like cooking fine dining with ready-mixed / convenience food