Using 1/4" plywood for plaque?

[myxpykalix]

I want to make round 12"x12" plaques for the grandkids bedroom doors that say "Tony's Room" in a round shape with a profile of the child in the middle. I am going to download the trial of vcarve pro or photovcarve. I think you can only save a few of their designated files (but not sure) I guess my question is, is 1/4" plywood thick enough to carve this into and what would be the appropriate bit to use? I bought a 1/8" ballnose bit in a set of dremel tools but it seems kinda small and flimsy, can i use that bit in my router with a collet adapter? If anyone has any good tutorials or advice i'd appreciate it. Thanks

[harryball]

I've been using 1/2" MDF and it works the best for me. 1/4" is a bit thin. A 60 degree V bit work well for narrow fonts and drawings in VCPro, but for wider fonts I use a 90 degree bit.

[jamesgilliam]

Jack, If you want the plaques 1/4" thick I would use solid wood, not plywood. Reason is that plywood is formed in layers glued together, with the best on the outide, and when you cut through the first layer you never know what you will run into. Alot of times you will hit voids, and depending on the grade you use, glue filled areas. If you go woth solid wood pick wood that has very light grain in it. You don't want the pattern of grain to take away from your finished plaque. As far as programs we use VCarve Pro and have had excellent results. For bit choice it depends on what look you want. A 60 degree V-bit will give you deep sharp carving, while a 90 may be alot better for thinner material since it won't carve as deep. Ball nose is a good bit also, but get a good one, with a taper if possible for more strength, I don't think one from a dremmel will be strong enough since they are generally mounted on a thinner shank. Hope this helps. James

[myxpykalix]

Yes James that does help! (and makes sense too!) See its always good to ask others because of something that may not occur to you having not done it before. I will use solid material instead of plywood. Give me some advice on Vcarve pro since you use it. If i could only buy one, either vcarve pro or photovcarve, are there any "overlapping" functions that would be better to buy? I know it depends on what you want to make would be the main determining factor. Mainly I think i would want to make signs and carve pictures into the middle similar to what i described above.

Robert, I think i might start with mdf that sounds like it might be easier on the bit to begin with.

[myxpykalix]

I just opened vector art machinist, opened the "rope border.v3m" file as a border for this sign making the sign 12"x12"x 1/2" thick cutting Z depth .2572 and just to cut the border (having not put anything else in the model yet) using a .125" ball nose bit it gave me a rough cutting time of 6+ hours. Obviously I guess I have input the wrong size bit for calculation but I can't find info on how to figure out what bit to use for a roughing pass then what to use for a finishing pass. Any advice?? Thanks!

[burchbot]

Hi Jack
I too use Vcarve Pro and Photo Vcarve. It sounds to me you would want V C Pro. It is prefect for signs with text and images. ( and a whole lot more ) PVC only does two things ( very well I should add ), creating toolpaths from a photo so that you can V carve it and 3d lithophanes. The thing I like about having both programs is I can do a photo in PVC and save that file. Open VC Pro and import the PVC file. Now I can Create a frame for the photo v carving, add text etc
Hope this helps
Dan
P.S. Please visit the Vectric Forum. You will find a lot for infornation there on both programs.

[jamesb]

Jack - I second Burchtree as far as his software suggestion. With regard to your settings in VA3D Machinist you should have received an email from me with some suggestions and my email address for future issues. Thanks, James