Tormach CNC Scanner

Tormach CNC Scanne

I stumble across this when reading a Machine Design magazine.  This is a 2D scanner based on a camera that mounts on CNC mill.  It can be used to reverse engineer parts.

It uses a Mach3 plugin to control the position.  Knowing the exact position of the camera allows the software to create a very accurate 2D image of the parts.   The exact scale of the image is also known.

The interesting thing is that there is a freeware version.  There is a video on the web site that takes a $20 eBay pen cam and generates an image accurate to a few thousands of an inch.  The software created a 400+ image composite image.  The quality can go up quickly with even a cheap USB microscope cam.  you can even use the unlicensed version of Mach3 because it does not run any G-Code.

The licensed version will export a DXF.

Tormach CNC Scanner

Image From tormach.com

Tormach CNC Scanner

Image From tormach.com

Tormach CNC Scanner

Image From tormach.com

Scanner Plugin

Tormach CNC Scanner

Link to video

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6 Responses to “Tormach CNC Scanner”


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  4. Webcam CNC Scanner » com3.es

    […] If you have a CNC machine you can easily convert it into a high resolution scanner. All you need is a $20 web cam and a bit of software. In the video above Andy Grevstad from Tormach demonstrates how easy it is to slap a part onto the CNC bed and have the entire part scanned so that the part can be copied. Click on some of the images below for a look at what the scanned results look like. Via: Buildlog.net […]

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