Question Aluminum mold help

Hello all!!

I am about to buy a Stepcraft 840, and Vcarve Desktop to mill some aluminum molds. Before I buy the machine I would like to know if the software and machine are capable of machining the molds. I downloaded the trial software and have spent countless hours watching tutorials and trying to get a toolpath made to replicate milling the mold. I have not had any success and CNC machining is totally foreign to me. I have attached the file of the most complex mold. Is anyone willing to take a look and see if the SC840 and Vcarve Desktop are able to handle this project? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank yo so much!!

Hi Ogee,

Just my opinion, to state from the outset and I am sure other experienced users can confirm or rubbish my points.

Firstly, your mold, from the bottom cut to the top is about 80mm. This may be too high for any cutter in Aluminium.

Also I think V-Carve Desktop (which is too small a work area for the 840, if you wish to use the full envelope) may be the wrong software, you may need Cut-3D as you have curved surfaces. Pinch of salt on that one, as I have not used V-Carve extensively to know it full capabilities.

Can I ask, your mold is for the sole of a high heel shoe? Do you wish to mold in plastic, injection mold, or use it as a former for a laminate sole? As there are other approaches? How accurate does your mold need to be, can you make the mold in steps for instance, 20mm sections, stack them and secure with machine screws and location pins.

Hi,
Hobby type software generates tool paths in a non efficient manor and with that in mind it would want to take the tool over the top of your milled part. So you would need a Z height travel of at least minimum of double your tool length required to machine the full depth of that steep angled face plus the height of the perimeter of the base profile.
I would expect that Cut3d would generate a tool path, or tool paths as required.
To be honest, i feel that anyone wanting to carry out such a task like this one would need to have some knowledge of cnc milling or manual machining.
Software like cut3d will make maching a job like this easier but it will not take any prisoners. It is a little more advanced.