The Vortex, and any generic rotary axis, is especially well suited to carving full 3D objects as it has access to all sides of the material. While this is only one of the types of carvings that you can do, with the other being normal 2D scarves that wrap around your stock cylinder, carving full 3D models can add a lot of fun to your Vortex experience.
If you’ve had experience creating your own 3D models, you’ll know that you can export your model from your modelling software and import them into VCarve / Aspire then keep working from there. If you have never created your own model before though, don’t sweat it, since luckily enough there has recently emerged many online sources for downloading good quality 3D models – many of them for free. These models are largely for 3D printing and have detail on all sides, so they are perfect for being carved on a rotary as well.
To help you get started, we recommend that you check out one of the following websites. Most of the models are available in a .stl OR .obj file format which is what you will want for use with Vectric software.
- Thingiverse (Free)
- Printables (Free)
- Cults (Sometimes paid)
- MyMiniFactory (Mostly paid)
- Etsy (Commission work)