One Fish, Two Fish ...

A wood carver becomes schooled in the digital design process

Scott Clinton has a fish story. But unlike most people, Clinton has a unique tale to tell, and he uses digital replication software, rather than words, to exaggerate his subject.

Clinton, who hand-carves realistic-looking wooden fish as a hobby, has become hooked on the advantages of using digital scanning, 3D modeling, and CNC milling to hasten the time-consuming process of creating a sculpture. Previously, it took Clinton several days to carve the body of one fish, which he then painstakingly painted so that each piece would have its own distinct appearance. While the artisan enjoys this traditional way of working, he found it difficult to maintain an inventory of the objects, which are popular at craft fairs and among fishing enthusiasts.

This prompted the carver to seek an alternative production method that would expedite the creation process without sacrificing any of the craftsmanship. He netted the digital solution after speaking with Mark Tobias, quality manager at QC Inspection Services (Burnsville, MN), during a fishing tournament. "[Tobias] saw my carvings and thought this technology could be a great tool for reproducing my work," says Clinton.

Using a newly purchased Steinbichler Optotechnik Comet digitizer, QC Inspection Service's owner Jordan Pepin scanned an 11-inch muskie that Clinton had carved. He then aligned the numerous scans, and imported them into Raindrop Geomagic's Studio software, which automatically created a decimated surface mesh of the fish. Finally, Pepin used Geomagic Studio to create a NURBS model to export as an IGES file for rough-cutting on a CNC milling machine. "I can output the product in wood, which was a major concern for me," says Clinton.

The most difficult aspect of the project, notes Pepin, was maintaining the original details in the surface model, especially in the area around the fins, which he accomplished by producing multiple scans of the object. "No matter what type of software you're using, you'll never get ...