Need a Texas Star Cut File

[terry]

Howdy,
Does anyone have a cutfile for a Texas Star? I have a Client that wants to engrave it into the top rail of their entertainment center that I'm building.

Thanks,
Terry

[mrdovey]

Terry...

How is a Texas Star different from an ordinary star?

...Morris

[mrdovey]

Here is one of the four stars I've tried out this week:

4364

[Brady Watson]

Waiting for Ron to chime in....

[ron brown]

Wait no more......(place ding here)... Is there a difference Morris? The 7.2" star takes about 5 minutes to cut on my old machine. I would really like someone with an Alpha to push the thing to the limits of how fast it can be cut.




4365

I wrote Terry an e-mail asking what bit and size file he needed. I have a 7.2" 120V star, a 3.2" 90V star and a small one I did last year.

Ron

[mrdovey]

Ron...

Looks good!

My little incised star fits in a 1" circle and took about 30 sec.

Does the fact that one of the points is straight down make yours a "Texas" star? (I would have guessed "Australian" star! :-)

...Morris

[paco]

Hi Morris!
Is your e-mail still workin'?! Last mail to you rebounded...

[ron brown]

I can't remember who get it the title of "Texas Star"... Those are shelves lying on their "backs". Aussies have the "Southern Cross" to deal with. And the sine waves are backwards on their electricity, like Gerald.

Ron

[dvanr]

Hi Morris,

your guess is wrong mate



4366

I believe the Texas star points up just like the single 5 point in the Aus flag. Its just that the Ron's pic is upside down.


The constellation of five stars is known as the Southern Cross and is used for navigation in similar fashion as the north star. Number of points denotes relative brightness.

The only upside down thing down here are the light switchs.

Cheers
DvanR

[Brady Watson]

Yeah...plus the water in the bowl spins the other way...


-Brady

[mikejohn]

Dick
Does my heart good to see you still proudly retain a quarter of your flag honouring your colony status

..........Mike

[gerald_d]

....I thought that corner of the flag was a food stain?

For you woodworkers, did you know that even the planks twist the other way? Softwood trees, grown far from the equator (eg. pines) pick up a twist as they grow. Drying them out makes them warp in the same direction - northern hemisphere opposite to southern. (Trees grown near the equator (tropical hardwoods) have very little twist). There are sawmill techniques to saw the planks with a twist so that they dry flatter.

Apparently, magnetic fields are also different. There was supposedly a time that ships built in the southern hemisphere would not detonate field-sensing mines. This was in the very early days - I am sure that Ron and Mike_J would be able to tell us more about that. :-)

Also, when you guys see a sickle (crescent) moon up north, we see it lying down (like a bowl) from down here.

[mikejohn]

Gerald,
Some plants turn their leaves to follow the sun. As they are growing a minute bit each day, this turn is translated to the tree growth. Looking down on the top of the tree, this 'turn' is clockwise in the northern hemisphere, anticlockwise in the southern.As the growth rings on the sunny side are thicker than those on the shady side, you get a twisting inbalance.


I remember saying to Lord Nelson "Mines!!
He said "Yours is what?"
...........Mike

[gerald_d]

Hey, trees should have a drink at sunset.....to unwind.

Mike, I tried to find references to this wood twist thing on the internet, but the nearest I got was guys blaming southern hemisphere wood as stuff that twists a lot. My guess is that their saws are set up for northern hemisphere logs, and when they shove a southern log through their system they actually get double the twist after drying.

[mikejohn]

Gerald
I'm a little worried people may think we are pulling there legs with this post, but it is, in fact, true.
If you think how a tree grows, you can also see how the twist is actually a spiral, more twist at the higher new growth, which is free to twist, than at the base, held more firmly by the roots.
You need to realise that this is a truly minute twist, but goes on day after day for tens, even hundreds of years.
And it doesnt really show up until its on the table!
A word of caution, however, many other factors have much greater bearing on how a piece of cut wood twists!
...........Mike

[gerald_d]

Yes, I am dead serious about this. I have a friend who builds sawmilling equipment, and they do have methods to split the logs on a twist. If a sawmill saws them straight, they can see that the majority of planks twist in a predictable direction - sawing them with a twist moves this "average twist" closer to flat.

[joe]

Terry,

I think I can help you with this file.

The sample which you've displayed doesn't seem correct. Some how it looks a little distorted.

I'd be happy to make you a cut file, generated in Artcam, in a 2.5D cut mode. This will cut very fast. It's not anything like the slow cutting 3D stuff.

Sorry, don't know anything about warped wood.

J
www.normansignco.com (http://www.normansignco.com)

[mikejohn]

Warped wood looks a bit banana shaped, Joe

[mrdovey]

Paco...

Sorry your e-mail to me bounced. The address is still good. (Almost good, because I just noticed that my ISP's mail server is down.)

...Morris

[paco]

OK then... I'll try later...

[stickman]

Ron,

Is your 3 1/2" 90 V star cut with a 90 degree v-bit? If so could I have a copy of the file?

Jay

[Support]

From Ron Brown -
Please find attached files. These things cut quickly. The description is as follows "72txs120.sbp"- size in inches - TeXasStar - bit angle. So the second one would be a 3.2" Star to be cut with a 90 degree bit. I use a "Her-Saf" 120 degree V-Bit for the large star and cut with a PC 7518 router set about midrange speed wise and 1.5 inches/second. The files scale well.

I consider these files "public domain" although I would like credit. Ron Brown
Star File 1

4367 (10.2 k)
Star File 2

4368 (9.4 k)

[mikejohn]

Very off topic, sorry, but can you name these other two food-stained flags?

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4370
..........Mike

[gerald_d]

Mike, I'll leave our brothers to cringe about the flag on the right.

A small part of South Africa had what was called the "Cape of Good Hope blue ensign (http://fotw.vexillum.com/flags/za-cape.html)". Where did you find the red one?

[mikejohn]

Cringe? I thought you were all proud of your colonial past

The railway ensign here (http://www.hampshireflag.co.uk/world-flags/allflags/za_1910.html#1912) but also go to the top of the page
..........Mike

[gerald_d]

Still can't see the red flag that you have above.
Are you going to Windsor for the wedding?

[ron brown]

"This flag was never officially sanctioned by the Continental Congress but is considered the first flag of the United States and was in use from late 1775 until mid 1777."

Talk about grabbing for small straws a long way off......

Ron

[mikejohn]

Sorry Gerald, try here (http://www.worldstatesmen.org/South_Africa_provinces.html)

Ron, ".a long way off." 1775 -1777 is a mere tick in time for a nation that were buiding magnificent edifices over 3000 years ago. See my new workshop here (http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=312&post=22022#POST22022)
..............Mike

[ron brown]

The stone structures built in the Americas are a little large for tables. However - the Myan indians had more accurate calenders than the Europeans.

And - we cut CNC stars fast.

Ron - almost on topic

[gerald_d]

Mike those are some dubious flags in that last link, but I am not going to bother to check it out further.

[joe]

On Topic:

I believe Terry is asking for an "ENGRAVED" star. His photo is a little deceptive as, incised lettering, and other object sometimes appear. Often I can't tell which is which when looking a gilded letters.

Perhaps John could open up a new topic on flags.

J
www.normansignco.com (http://www.normansignco.com)

[dvanr]

Mike,
I see that Brittania still treats us as an Antipodean corner for its subjects to stand in when they have embarassed the country or family. Prince Charles has done his bucks night tour and being sent back. We'd keep him but he he wouldn't be a star bowler and not much use to us in a scrum ( unlike that Clyde Rathbone fellow. We'll keep him, he is a star) We wish Charles peace and quiet with his new missus.

So what did you do seven years in Aus for? Thread and topic duffing?
Star gazing?

Cheers DvanR (barely on topic)

[terry]

(Sorry I've been gone so long folks. Illness in the family.)
Obvioulsy you hombre's ain't took a look-see down round our fair state! Most of the folks born here woodn't live nowares else an most of those who come down for a visit either stay or go home embarased of where they gots to be livin! Lot's more say they warn't "born in Texas but got here as fast as they could" which we kinda take wit a dip a chaw cause it takes so dang long for them farners to shuck all dem high-up-ner addetudes and brung their nose down to semi-level an really appreciate the real speriority of "The Lone Star State"! Some of you folks been righten in got to relize that the whole country you livinen in s'bout the size of on of our countys! Jus ride'n around Texas on ol' Bessie is prit-neer like a semi-world tour! Now, I ain't say'en there ain't nothen worth wile outside Texas, but I ain't say'en there is neither. With all the tings we got goin for us it's just natural we think of ourselves as the "Star" state!! You bet the point of the star points up cause that's the numero-uno!!! Any how, I like that there Star from ol' Ron up thar an I'm goin to giv that a good ol' Texas run-thru. (not to be confused wit a "walk-about") You gringos keep on a-jawen if ya haf-ta, but I got work to do!!

Texas Terry
;-)

[matt_r]

Just an FYI on the 7.2 Texas star. I cut this file last night, with my new MLCS 120deg bit (1.25 diameter). You can see from the photo that it leaves a 'diamond' on each ridge. This had me stumped for a moment, but then I realized that the diameter being used by Ron (the Her-Saf) bit, might be larger than the MLCS bit. Hence the cutter didn't have enough diameter to take out these 'diamonds' - given the tool path. Anyway - i'm going to try and mess around with the code and insert some passes to take them out. Just thought you would all like to know.

Regards,
Matt
Digital Router Works

4371
4372

[ron brown]

Matt,
Indeed I use a larger bit. You can scale the part to a size proper for the bit.

Ron

[matt_r]

Ron,
How would you go about scaling the program? Is it just putting the values into something like a spread sheet and then applying some sort of multiplier?

Much thanks!

By the way - I cut the 3.2 version a little while back - and was showing it off. People went bonkers over it - it really is a cool piece of work. And yes, I did give you credit for it. Again, very cool stuff.


Matt

[ron brown]

Matt,

Since I don't know what version of SB control ware you are running, I'm not exactly sure where this is on your machine - but all versions I have run have this somewhere in the "FP Fill-in" sheet "Proportion" and "X, Y, Z". With your 1.25" bit I know you could use .6 as a scale factor and would think .8 will work.

If it makes you feel any better, you are not the first to ask how to scale those files. Your are the first to ask in the forum. I believe they could be scaled in the "Z" at different proportions than the "X" & "Y" to use different angle bits.

Ron