First Sign

[pyrodenis]

Put this in Apps and Techniques, under signs. Then, observed this is 'brag central'.
My first ShopBot sign:
Memorial Garden Sign of an actual Weeping Hemlock, within the grounds. Made of redwood w/ cedar posts (spliced to treated posts, in ground) Tree motif is .5" relief from grayscale image; (67 hrs+/- of 3d carving with 1/8" ballnose
All branches retouched with chisels.

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/album.php?albumid=17&pictureid=98
Attached Thumbnails

[myxpykalix]

Well Denis you certainly have something to brag about there....very nice!

[phd1658]

Denis,

Very, very nice!

[shoeshine]

That tree carving is spectacular... congrats

[jsooter]

Impressive!

[sgray411]

Wow nice sign. Is 67 hours carving time typical of a carving project? Thought I'd do some (once I buy a ShopBot) but had no idea carving was this time intensive. I can see the tree is complex.

[john_l]

Very nice! Well done.

[dlcw]

Steve,

I did a sign that took about 40 hours of carving. Not as complex as the one that Denis did though.

Cutting/carving time depends on several factors; material, complexity of design (how much Z motion - slows carving down), feed speeds, how big your bits are, how much detail you want, how much sanding you want to do when the CNC is done.

If you want to limit the amount of hand sanding you have to do, then bit step-over amounts will be much less resulting in a smoother finish. If you charge more for machine time then labor, then it might be more advantageous to cut down on the carving time and spend more time sanding.