And another mantel

[srwtlc]

This one required a little modification to make it fit under the cutter/gantry. I had to raise the spindle up on the Z column as far as I could and watch my safe Z settings so it didn't top out on the stops.

It's a butternut beam that started out at 10" x 7" x 96" surfaced down and trimmed to 6.25" x 9.75" x 84"

The "Design & Carve Western Scenes" models were used to herd up a cattle drive scene.

A little VanDyke Brown glaze to give some depth and 2-3 coats of conversion varnish.

It finished up really nice, but as some may know, butternut is very stringy/fuzzy and after the finish pass (16 hours with the grain), each of the cattle had a beard (not just a 5pm shadow)! I had to run a cross grain finish pass to clean it up which took another 21 hours. Needless to say, I lost some sleep! ;)

[COBOB]

WOW! Beautiful work. And shows off the Western Design & Carve stuff so well. Best I have seen.

[penman]

Hi Scott,

going by the photo's, it looks to me the loss of sleep was well worth it. I personally think that it has turned out very well.

Cheers and regards,
Roger.

[gc3]

Well done! Thanks for posting.

[kartracer63]

Super nice Scott. You're on a roll now.

[jimboy]

You know Scott, that is a very excellent piece of work. I’ve been thinking about some mantels in my future. They will probably be as much for advertising as for commission work at the start. I find people have a hard time visualizing what can come off of a CNC until they see and touch it.
Jim

[jimboy]

One more thing while I here Scott, have you carved any oak mantels and if so good or bad experience? I have a good source for oak near me.
Jim

[David Iannone]

I think it looks great.

[srwtlc]

Thanks guys,

Jim, no, I haven't done a mantel in oak. I have done some carving in red oak though (relief and v-carve), but find that the boldness of the grain in red oak tends to distract too much from any design and if a stain or glaze is used, that problem gets even more pronounced. White oak on the other hand may look better as it has closed grain and won't allow as much pigment to settle in the pores, but you can still have a bold grain pattern issue. Quarter sawn oak might be interesting where the grain is straight lines and flecks, but again, with a glaze/stain it would probably be quite distracting for any carving. I've got some quarter sawn red oak on hand, I should try it sometime.

[wberminio]

Great work!
Looks like you had just enough clearance under your Z

[jimboy]

Scott, after thinking it over I see the problem. Most of my oak carvings have been flat v-carve items. I did one 3d in red oak which wasn’t to bad. See attached.
Jim

[gundog]

Scott very inspiring work it makes me want to do my first carving I have always used the Bot for mechanical objects and these great carvings make me want to change projects.

Mike