Spyderco Forums

Nice! I need to scan one of my Mules so that I can CNC accurate handles for it. I have lots of design ideas, but need a CAD model to work off of to get the holes and outline (and their relative positions) just right. Even a 2D outline with hole placements would work, as I dunt need any thickness info for what I'm doing. So far I've done all my Mules by hand, but some designs I have in mind would need a CNC to accomplish. Maybe I'll look into having somebody scan one for me.

That's terrific technology, i could have a field day with about 8 hours and unrestricted access to one of these.

Pic of the machine?? Too cool

It’s called a Creaform Handyscan 700.

Neat scan!
awesome machine!
i would like to own one :eek: :cool:

@ jabba: just throw a mule in a regular scanner and then trace the lines with a CAD software
- the results are fairly accurate

Awesome technology!

Interesting how it wouldn't pick up the pivot screw on the left side. Reflection?

ronT2 wrote:Interesting how it wouldn't pick up the pivot screw on the left side. Reflection?

I am guessing he skipped scanning from one angle, otherwise it would have shown up properly.

polyhexamethyl wrote:@ jabba: just throw a mule in a regular scanner and then trace the lines with a CAD software
- the results are fairly accurate

Yeah, I tried it on my scanner a couple years ago, but it's an old one and came out way off for some reason.

ronT2 wrote:Interesting how it wouldn't pick up the pivot screw on the left side. Reflection?

Apologies I missed your reply. Good eye! :D

Actually, what happened there is that due to being a highly reflective, flat, round surface, the scanner mistakenly picked that spot up as a “location target”. Location targets are these ~3/8” adhesive stickers with ~1/4” reflective dots that you apply to a model (or on the desk surface, as I did here) to help the scanner locate itself relative to the scanned part in 3D space.

For some reason, when I tried to tell the software that that spot wasn’t a target, it deleted the entire surface for some reason, and I was left with a 3/8” hole. However, it deleted the target fine on the clip side of the knife. Who knows, probably user error on my part due to being new with the scanner. :spyder:

Thanks for the info. It's hard to believe it picked all that up relative to a target on a desk next to it, pretty amazing stuff.

It’s pretty cool how well it works!!! Notice how it even picked up the Spyderco Bug on the pocket clip? :D (Did I mention, this scanner was purchased to laser scan a spacecraft... :eek: :cool: )

Ideally, the targets are placed on the object, which is large enough that the targets are basically irrelevant. For smaller objects, like this pocket knife, you place the targets on a fixed surface (or surfaces, like the inside corner of a box) around the object. The scanner likes to see 4-6 targets minimum at all times for optimal results. :spyder:

Wow. Very neat!!