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ot: Best hand-held 3d scanner under 10k, 20k and 30K

Spud

Diamond
Joined
Jan 12, 2006
Location
Brookfield, Wisconsin
3d scanner under 10k, 20k and 30k. Hand-held or table top, preferably the former.

Can the data from all the major 3d scanner brands be imported into popular CAD / CAM programs?
 
OP, if you're interested, we have an Artec EVA 3d handheld scanner that we're not using anymore (purchased a faro arm with laser scanner)
send me a PM.
 
Doug was the sticker shock scanner a Creaform? They've been on my "if I ever get rich" toy list forever, but whoo, are they proud of what they've come up with.

Spud what size objects are you looking to scan? Most of these are camera based, so a high resolution scanner for a small object is a different price category from the same resolution for a huge object. PhotoNeo makes some really cool stuff at about $15k, but integration is largely left up to the user, as they're more robotics targeted.
 
empower @ Comatose

The scanner is not for me. It is for the Automotive program in the tech school I am in. The instructor was looking at a scanner and laser cutter system to cut out insert cavities for tools, for the tool drawer. There is a dedicated machine to do just this but the cost is $70K.

I suggested that maybe a handheld laser scanner would the exact same thing. Scan all the tools layed out on a flat work surface, then export the file to a laser engraver/cutter that would cut the foam insert . The advantage with a hand-held scanner is that it can be used to scan automotive parts also.
 
empower @ Comatose

The scanner is not for me. It is for the Automotive program in the tech school I am in. The instructor was looking at a scanner and laser cutter system to cut out insert cavities for tools, for the tool drawer. There is a dedicated machine to do just this but the cost is $70K.

I suggested that maybe a handheld laser scanner would the exact same thing. Scan all the tools layed out on a flat work surface, then export the file to a laser engraver/cutter that would cut the foam insert . The advantage with a hand-held scanner is that it can be used to scan automotive parts also.


Just look for a company that's already doing this, it's cheaper in time and overhead. We had shadow boards cut for our machines by a local guy, and they're fantastic, way cheaper than buying the equipment and doing it yourself. They've even got magnets epoxied in them to hold the tools.
 
Just look for a company that's already doing this, it's cheaper in time and overhead. We had shadow boards cut for our machines by a local guy, and they're fantastic, way cheaper than buying the equipment and doing it yourself. They've even got magnets epoxied in them to hold the tools.

Yeah that's one suggestion I made. It may be the route the instructor takes, no idea yet.

Having your own machine does have a huge convenience factor though. You can make the inserts as soon as you want it; no need to wait.

An outside contractor cutting the foam will still need to have dimensions and type of tools, so they would need a scan of all the tools layed out. The actual actual laser cutting can be handled by vendors.
 
I'm not sure..... The event was listed as scanner and 3D printing demos. But it turned into a 2 hour introduction to Solidworks 2020. First break I got out of there.

So you pulled chute, cause solidworks... blah blah?

I mean, I get it. But ffs dude, you dont even remember what scanning tool was being used.
Who was this chitshow being put on by?

Im pretty sure they'd be handing out brocures\portfolios at something like this.

I've been to a pile of reseller "lunch and learns", "product information sessions", etc. And I've never ARRIVED without having a reasonable idea about the product to be presented.
 
While I would love to have a Creaform Handy Scan Black Elite, for scanning hand tools at the resolution required for making drawer inserts, Creaform sells their last generation of handheld scanners under the Peel brand (peel-3D.com) at prices that don't comapre to a new (HAAS) 3 axis VMC. The problem you're going to run into is scanning highly reflective and/or black surfaces are both problematic (you won't get clean data). You can buy a spray on media that makes the objects temporarily matte then evaporates, but each spray bomb is +/- $30 (search up AESUB blue). The Creaform stick on targets also add up - they're only about $0.10 each, which sounds cheap until you're using several hundred per scan on larger objects. At this level of scanner ($10K), don't expect to be getting crisp sharp edges, small holes, or features like threads well represented in the mesh without post-processing or mesh-based modeling.

The mesh from the scanner can be be exported as an OBJ or STL file and then handled in whatever downstream application you plan to use. Peel currently have a deal on their small scale scanner, which is still branded as the Creaform GoScan20 bundled with VXModel their own downstream modeling program for $10K combined. I have a GoScan50 (sold by Peels as the Scan 2) which is the same platform, but larger field of view / less accuracy than the GoScan20. The minimum size of mesh I can scan with the scanner that I have is 0.2mm.
I have been impressed with the scanner, but VXElements, the scanning software, tends to crash when processing larger scans (>20GB which typically are colour scans where the texture is used as part of the targeting matrix). It's gotten better, but is still a significant irritant. I use Geomagic DesignX to clean, fill, repair and decimate the mesh and then send the file to Fusion360. Say what you will about Fusion, the watertight mesh to solid conversion tool is pretty effective, and having straightforward CAM tools in the same environment works well for the type of tasks you're describing. The limitation to 10,000 polygons for conversion to BRep Solids is currently a huge barrier for larger stuff, but I expect that the polygon limit will go up significantly in the near future (I do know that they are working on this).

Let us know what decision gets made, and how the scanner and software that they choose works for this application.
Martin
 








 
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