Scaling a file

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Jb_engineering
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Scaling a file

Post by Jb_engineering »

Hi, im in the process of making a 3d sculpture. I have added a pic to show the design. It is a paper model, but i have converted the files to work with my plasma. I am struggling to make it the correcr size though.
So i wanted it to finish at 6ft, so i scaled the picture of the rabbits to 6ft on inkscape, and then scaled one of the individual facets to said pic. Thinking this was ok, i cut one of the rabbits out of my corten steel sheet, but when nearly finished ive realised its only around 4ft 🥵. Does anybody have a better idea of scaling this?
Thankyou.
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Joe Jones
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by Joe Jones »

You scaled the illustration, but the drawing is NOT "Shown ACTUAL SIZE" so you only scaled a smaller depiction of the actual shape.

Find the unfolded, flat pattern. Measure ANY dimension. Divide that number by 88. Multiply the result by 182.88. Scale the entire drawing by stretching the dimension you measured to the new length.

Joe
Last edited by Joe Jones on Fri Apr 18, 2025 4:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by adbuch »

Chris - exactly what picture did you scale with Inkscape? I assume you ordered the actual item and downloaded the files. Then as previously mentioned, use the stated overall height of the model and divide that number into your desired overall height. Use that result as your scale factor for scaling every individual flat piece.

Since you already have the dxf and svg files for all the flat parts, simply scale then all up using you calculated scale factor.

David
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by Jb_engineering »

I made the illustration drawing to 6ft on inkscape, then scaled one of the pieces (figured out which part was the correct one, and then placed the piece on the illustration. I asked the seller for information, but they cant really give info to make it the correct size.
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by Joe Jones »

Jb_engineering wrote: Sat Apr 19, 2025 7:34 am I made the illustration drawing to 6ft on inkscape, then scaled one of the pieces (figured out which part was the correct one, and then placed the piece on the illustration. I asked the seller for information, but they cant really give info to make it the correct size.
You cannot scale the illustration drawing above, because the surfaces are not FLAT. You must have the actual cut file for the parts, and scale those shapes.

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Re: Scaling a file

Post by adbuch »

Jb_engineering wrote: Sat Apr 19, 2025 7:34 am I made the illustration drawing to 6ft on inkscape, then scaled one of the pieces (figured out which part was the correct one, and then placed the piece on the illustration. I asked the seller for information, but they cant really give info to make it the correct size.
Chris - as previously mentioned, use the stated overall height of the model and divide that number into your desired overall height. Use that result as your scale factor for scaling every individual flat piece.

David
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by adbuch »

Jb_engineering wrote: Fri Apr 18, 2025 3:47 am Hi, im in the process of making a 3d sculpture. I have added a pic to show the design. It is a paper model, but i have converted the files to work with my plasma. I am struggling to make it the correcr size though.
So i wanted it to finish at 6ft, so i scaled the picture of the rabbits to 6ft on inkscape, and then scaled one of the individual facets to said pic. Thinking this was ok, i cut one of the rabbits out of my corten steel sheet, but when nearly finished ive realised its only around 4ft 🥵. Does anybody have a better idea of scaling this?
Thankyou.
Once you scaled the picture to 6 ft, what method did you use to scale the facets? And which facet did you scale? Perhaps you could walk me thru the method you used for scaling the individual facet.

David
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by Jb_engineering »

I re-sized this image to 6ft, and then found out which part eas the desired facet (circled). The resized the original facets to this size, thinking this would be ok. As that part is basically flat, and not at an angle when build up in place.
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by adbuch »

Measure that flat part on your drawing before you scale the drawing up to 6 feet, and then measure the same flat part after you scale it up to 6 feet. The ratio of the there two is your scale factor. So for example - if it measured 1 on your original drawing and 12 inches after you scale up your drawing to 6 feet, then your scale factor would be 12 divided by 1 (12:1) or 12. So you would then scale up every individual facet by a factor of 12.


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Re: Scaling a file

Post by Jb_engineering »

This is what i did, but when cut and put together, it wasnt at 6ft.
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by Jb_engineering »

Im thinking that the illustation picture, is slightly different to what the parts make.
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Re: Scaling a file

Post by adbuch »

OK. So perhaps the illustration picture if is different, or there was a mistake somewhere in your calculation. At least now you know how much more you have to scale it to get 6 feet tall.

The picture says it makes a model 88 cm tall (34.66 inches if my math is correct ( 2.54 cm per inch). You want a total height of 72 inches. So the scale factor would be 72/34.66 = 2.077. What scale factor did you use?

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Re: Scaling a file

Post by Jb_engineering »

Im not sure, il check when im home, i can send over the files if youd like a look?
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