3D Scanner question

[Claydart]

I am thinking of getting a 3D scanner to try and model some of these parts for people, but I would like to know if anyone here uses one and if they do, what model, and are they easy to master? I have been printing some 64 headlight bezels that were measured with a tape measure and some calipers and they will work, but if I can get a scanned file to work with,it would be a lot less post processing. I have basically given them for the cost of my filament to people, and they were going to finish them. I also made a bunch of the 64 tail light chrome rings out of ABS and sanded them super smooth and sent them out to be chromed and UV protected. Those I have on Ebay untill they run out. I would like to do some other parts that will require the scanner though. I also make the little GT emblems for the hood moldings and the trunk fratzog insert as well. Hopefully somebody uses a scanner and can help me decide what to get.

 

[gzig5]

 

[Muad'Dib15]

A guy I watch on YT, Super Fast Matt, uses an Einstar. Up until his most recent video, in which he upgraded to a newer one, that's what he's been using. I checked their website tonight and the price is currently $750. You do need a fairly decently powerful computer to run it though.

 

[Claydart]

Thanks, I think my brand new MacBook should be able to handle it.

 

[jfive]

i have recently purchased a Creality Ferret, very small but can measure a large object, like a car.....laptop has to stay connected to gather images and such but it works very well. scanned my Dash, 70 Dart Swinger, and imported to Fusion so i could draw some things

not to bad for ~$160, caught it on Black Friday sale

 

[Cuda416]

I've been looking at them again. I borrowed a ferret pro a while back and it was interesting. There is definitely a learning curve to using them but nothing that seems insurmountable. The Inspire 2 looks promising per the usual you tube reviews. it will apparently do structured light scans in addition to the usual low cost IR methods.

 

[Claydart]

Good to know, thanks. I was looking at the MakerPro Seal and that one seams to have a lot of good reviews and people saying that it was easy to use even for first time users. So I guess it boils down to pretty much all of the entry level units are worth looking into. I am a little skeptical of the Creality ones only because of the countless bad reviews I've read about their printers. I will wait a little while to hear from some more people before taking the plunge.

 

[Tsully]

I’ve tried the IPhone App, KIRI Engine and it works ok.

I have the iPhone 16 pro max so you have to have the iPhone with the 3 cameras.

The one thing I have learned is that you do need to dull down whatever you’re scanning. I’ve watched several videos on using scanners and they all say the same thing about your object not being shiny or reflective so it doesn’t distort while it’s trying to process.

Only reason I tried the App is I’m not going to need it for anything major at this time.

There’s enough guys out there who do this on a daily basis and anything that I need to scan on a large scale I would just as soon pay them for their time and that’s leaves me not having another piece of technology that will be out of date in a year or so!

Just my thoughts on it all!!!

 

[72Duster440]

i have recently purchased a Creality Ferret, very small but can measure a large object, like a car.....laptop has to stay connected to gather images and such but it works very well. scanned my Dash, 70 Dart Swinger, and imported to Fusion so i could draw some things
View attachment 1716499787
not to bad for ~$160, caught it on Black Friday sale

Once you have it scanned, what's the next step? Is the model it scanned able to be manipulated and modified, or do you use that to create a copy of the surfaces?

 

[Cuda416]

Once you have it scanned, what's the next step? Is the model it scanned able to be manipulated and modified, or do you use that to create a copy of the surfaces?

The scan results in what's called a "point cloud" which is just a collection of points in a 3D space. From there, the software can be used to create a mesh, or a "solid" which can me manipulated, "traced" used as a reference etc.

There are a number of videos showing various processes people use to create turbo manifolds, headers etc. Basically, do the scan making sure you include at least two distinct points and then using the physical measurements, scale the "object" once it's imported into the modeling software of choice so it matches reality, then go to town modeling or refining the object.

 

[340_duster]

We use this product AESUB Scanning Spray Blue at work to reduce the glare on glass and shiny surfaces to do surface scans and such.
It does not harm the surface and evaporates over night.

 

[jfive]

yea i bet it make for easy cleanup, but i used random dollar store spray powder for $1 a can.....sure i have to wipe the area after i scanned but it didn't cost me $30+ in time to do that, lol

 

[gzig5]

yea i bet it make for easy cleanup, but i used random dollar store spray powder for $1 a can.....sure i have to wipe the area after i scanned but it didn't cost me $30+ in time to do that, lol

What kind of powder? Foot powder?

 

[mosleyme]

I am thinking of getting a 3D scanner to try and model some of these parts for people, but I would like to know if anyone here uses one and if they do, what model, and are they easy to master? I have been printing some 64 headlight bezels that were measured with a tape measure and some calipers and they will work, but if I can get a scanned file to work with,it would be a lot less post processing. I have basically given them for the cost of my filament to people, and they were going to finish them. I also made a bunch of the 64 tail light chrome rings out of ABS and sanded them super smooth and sent them out to be chromed and UV protected. Those I have on Ebay untill they run out. I would like to do some other parts that will require the scanner though. I also make the little GT emblems for the hood moldings and the trunk fratzog insert as well. Hopefully somebody uses a scanner and can help me decide what to get.

I have an Einstar Vega. Is it good for shape and fitment, what I need, yes. Would I use it for reverse engineering intricate parts, maybe not. The Vega does not need to be attached to a computer to work.

As far as your Mac, it may be “adequate”. The Einstar software is designed around the NVidea “Cuda Core” architecture. Do some research before you jump in.

I have extensive experience doing 3D modeling in SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor. From 2000-2006 probably did on the order of 500-1000 part designs per year. A lot of sheet metal, square tube, some weldments and plenty of Aluminum. Also did a little bit of work with Inconel and some Carbon Fiber layups. So, I’m faster on most relatively simple parts just using a pair of calipers.

For true reverse engineering capability you need to be looking into some of the more capable blue laser scanning tools. Expect to spend $2k plus. Also consider that the point cloud is a starting point that you use as a template for model.

scanned:

Reverse engineered model:

scanned:

scanned models with internal alignment features added, used to design brackets:

 

[mosleyme]

I also made a bunch of the 64 tail light chrome rings out of ABS and sanded them super smooth and sent them out to be chromed and UV protected. Those I have on Ebay untill they run out.

I am interested in learning more about this process. I have a few custom interior parts on my car I would like to do in ABS or ASA and have them chromed.

 

[Map63Vette]

I have an Einstar and have done a couple of scans, but there is definitely a caveat to it. Scanning something isn't terribly hard, it's doing anything with that scan that gets tricky. As others have said, it's a cloud of points, not a solid model, and most modeling software doesn't let you actually do much with it once imported. It's effectively a "3d picture" and not a model, if that makes any sense. So you can see it, but you can't actually modify the geometry of the scan itself. What you can do is start up a new model and overlay the two to use one as a reference for the other, but a scan in and of itself isn't actually all that useful in practice, at least from what I've seen.

I've found I'm usually right back to using calipers and a tape measure to do a lot of my modeling of parts, but the scanner is nice to get some extra details in there or to try to line up stuff that might be at weird angles. I've been debating upgrading to the new Einstar 2.0 that they recently released that includes some single line laser scanning to be able to deal with holes and some other details better.

Also, a lot of the scanners are pretty similar. It's really more the software that sets them apart. The Einscan software is typically regarded as being a little easier to work with than the Creality stuff, but I've never used Creality to be able to weigh in on that debate myself. I find the Einscan stuff a little clunky at times in that it just seems to use weird controls, but it does work well enough and I've been happy enough with what I've gotten out of it. It does scan pretty fast on my computer (Intel i12900K and Nvidia 2060), so I can't complain there. As with any tool, there is a learning curve. My first scans took me 30+ minutes just trying to set everything up to get a couple of images. Now that I know what I'm doing I can get a part scan in probably 15 minutes or so.

 

[jfive]

What kind of powder? Foot powder?

Foot or body powder spray. Goes on white. Wipes off with wet paper towel/rag.

 

[jfive]

I am interested in learning more about this process. I have a few custom interior parts on my car I would like to do in ABS or ASA and have them chromed.

if you wanna go "ALL IN" you will need to get a 3d printer that is capable of printing ASA or ABS. don't forget to vent fumes on those they are toxic.....

 

[mosleyme]

if you wanna go "ALL IN" you will need to get a 3d printer that is capable of printing ASA or ABS. don't forget to vent fumes on those they are toxic.....

I have a H2D, that is not an issue. Been printing ASA and even PAHT-CF. The chrome plating process and who does it is what I am looking for. Is it bath electroplate or Aluminum sputtering?

 

[66Dvert]

I have a H2D, that is not an issue. Been printing ASA and even PAHT-CF. The chrome plating process and who does it is what I am looking for. Is it bath electroplate or Aluminum sputtering?

View attachment 1716508895

(ornimetal plating aka Restoration | Vacuum Orna-Metal) Jim Keuneman sent a few pieces to thewm and they looked AWESOME. but they were stock pieces not custom ones, but it better be a nice model with no sanding cleaning or buffing required to the piece looks crappy (well you can pay huge dollars too fix it at some shops)

 

[DartThis74]

Hey there, I am actually an Applications Engineer for Creaform, but I myself am based in Houston. We are the leading technology in the 3D scanner world. Obviously as a hobbiest you don't want to spend an arm and leg on a scanner, but we actually sell an academic level scanner for I think around $10k that is very good called the Peel 3D. Like others have mentioned it's a point cloud mesh .STL you are generating. With this you need additional software to reverse engineering and truly dimension the model accurately from the .STL into something usable and 3D printable. Our software has this capability to be able to develope a solid model from the mesh without having to deal with other 3rd party softwares.

 

[Cuda416]

Hey there, I am actually an Applications Engineer for Creaform, but I myself am based in Houston. We are the leading technology in the 3D scanner world. Obviously as a hobbiest you don't want to spend an arm and leg on a scanner, but we actually sell an academic level scanner for I think around $10k that is very good called the Peel 3D. Like others have mentioned it's a point cloud mesh .STL you are generating. With this you need additional software to reverse engineering and truly dimension the model accurately from the .STL into something usable and 3D printable. Our software has this capability to be able to develope a solid model from the mesh without having to deal with other 3rd party softwares.

A point cloud mesh is not an STL file.... I'd think someone who worked with this as a professional would not mix those up, just sayin'...

 

[DartThis74]

A point cloud mesh is not an STL file.... I'd think someone who worked with this as a professional would not mix those up, just sayin'...

It quite literally exports the mesh as an .STL file. I'm looking at it right now lol

 

[Cuda416]

It quite literally exports the mesh as an .STL file. I'm looking at it right now lol

They are quite literally not the same... Exporting a mesh as an stl is quite literally different... I've built probes to scan items on a mill, and "generated" a point cloud.

You said.... "it's a point cloud mesh .STL you are generating"

No...

 

[DartThis74]

They are quite literally not the same... Exporting a mesh as an stl is quite literally different... I've built probes to scan items on a mill, and "generated" a point cloud.

You said.... "it's a point cloud mesh .STL you are generating"

No...

Anyway, The point cloud is developed over the features detected on the surface, a triangulated mesh is generated and the data can be cleaned up to your liking in the software. The resulting triangle mesh is then exported as .STL. So, point cloud mesh meaning the resulting triangle mesh generated by the point cloud is what I'm referring to.