I had come across a TSP (Traveling Salesperson Problem) art. I liked it so much, that I decided to cut it.
The original image, white margins cropped, from Connective Art with NP completeness. (The original of the original is called The Great Wave off Kanagawa, to be precise.)
The point-only data. I made this using the article author's script.
Cut on an aluminum cylinder (radius about 65mm), painted. The big black spots are cavities on cast aluminum.
Initially, I intended to use his image as is (the first one). But I got suddenly unsure abut the effects of these lines on aluminum. So I changed from cutting lines to cutting points. (The image was made round, just because I happened to have this cylindrical material.)
After cut, I realized that this is an interesting intermediate subject. It is a woodblock print, so it's like a vector graphic, and it is also an old classic, so it is like a realistic photo.
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There are other methods to translate pictures to cnc g-codes, but people are mostly talking on pen plotting.
For example, 'squiggling' looks quite nice.
But it is especially effective for delicate lines of pen plotting, not so good for 'savage' cuts of subtractive manufacturing.
(Also, when doing subtractive manufacturing, steep-angled paths and too-near paths (cuts on already cut slopes) are not completely safe.)
When we get from computer graphics, to pen plotting, laser engraving, wood cutting and metal cutting, it gets more costly, dirty and dangerous. So I suppose we need stronger 'reason' (specific effects) to do it.