3-D carving

[ernie_balch]

15 hour run for this 2' x 4' scene in maple
5502

[john_l]

What software Earnie? Very cool.

[ernie_balch]

We took a couple of purchased 3D files and combined them using Claytools. The background was too narrow when scaled up to 24" so it was mirrored and the excess truncated at 48" The Elk was added in.

ernie

[jben007]

What size ballnose did you use on that also what was the % stepover ?
Thanks,
Ben

[ernie_balch]

Ben,
We used an Omsrud 0.125 ball mill with a 10% stepover 18k RPM and 2.5 inches per sec. It was carved in a single pass. It has fuzzies on the downward stroke of each feature. I think it is related to the grain and wood chosen. This required about an hour of cleanup. We normally use signfoam and don't have any problem.

Next time we will use finer grain wood that is thicker and will cut it in 2 passes.

ernie

[cliffn]

Ernie, what machine are you using and the feedrates. Just interested as I have an old PR96 and have ordered a new PRSalph. The time to carve has me interested. It sounds like the kind of times I get on the PR96.

[joewino]

Congratulations Ernie...nice looking job.

[ernie_balch]

Cliff,

I have a new PRS Alpha. I don't know how much faster I could go. The time matched the Cut3D estimate.

[cliffn]

I was hoping for a big speed increase from the alpha. However, there was a post somewhere that mentioned that when doing detailed relief work that speeds were not that much faster.

[ernie_balch]

The data consists of about 1.2 million small moves.
The system is always ramping up or down and never gets to full speed.

ernie
www.balchsigns.com (http://www.balchsigns.com)

[joe]

Good work Ernie. Keep it up the good work and share with us.

[cliffn]

Thanks Ernie for the info. Very nice work. Like the idea of your background combination. Never looked at it that way. Take a good look at your center tree. The Elk is being watched.

Thanks for Sharing. Lot's of good people on this site.

[ernie_balch]

The face is an artifact from the mirroring the 3D file. It is easy to edit out but we thought it was cute, the customer was happy with the elk addition and didn't mind the strange live tree effect.

I kind of like the idea of including subtle images that you don't see at first. Although this might not be subtle enough.

ernie

[sebago_signworks]

Ernie, Looks great. I dont see you on the EdgeTalk forum anymore!

[ernie_balch]

Devin,

How are you doing? I still think about your wild stories.

I was planning on going to the Edge head meet but we got busy and time just got away from us. I can't believe the summer is over already.

ernie