Help with V-Carve Plaque

[wegner81]

This is a plaque that my local bass club wants me to try to make on my bot. First of all I should tell you I have only had my shopbot for about a month, so I am still learning. I have done some larger letters with pretty good results. But have no idea where to start on this project. Can anyone give me advise where to start. This plaque is about 9" x 7". The two Bass emblems in the Bass club circle are being eliminated. thanks for any advise
7678

[harryball]

I would (this does not mean you should)...
Prepare a blank with conventional tools the size and thickness that I wanted then sand the face well and apply sanding sealer. I would then seal with with a good shellac/poly/laquer or whatever my desired sealer was to get my final wood color.

I would do the Vcarve on each blank using clamps if I was doing a few or vac pucks, whatever I was comfortable with.

Once carved I would apply more sanding sealer then use black in the vcarving being careful but a little sloppy and wiping off the excess from the finish. Then I would sand the surface to get it nice and clean and apply a final coat of sealer.

After I did one, I'll decide what I didn't like and change my steps if desired.

That's what I would do. There are many other options some more suited to mass productions, some for a single plaque.

Good luck and be sure to post in show and tell!

/RB

[brucehiggins]

Kevin,
If they can give you a bitmap graphic file with that emblem (and the bass if they want them) it will be a piece of cake. Import the graphic, trace bitmap, add the text, select all, create a vcarve path. Let me/us know if you need help in a specific area.
Bruce

[jamesgilliam]

Kevin, Robert has a good plan for how to do the plaque, I would personally take a different route to get there. What I have done on the plaques I have done is route the design and text into the material, paint the carved area with black paint (the cheap exterior craft paint from your local Wal-Mart), sand the excess paint off to leave crisp edges, and then stain and finish. Just another way to get there. James

[GlenP]

I have had some good results using minwax gel stains in plaques. The gel stain goes into the grooves and makes them darker without painting. The plaques at this link are made of mdf with gel stain and clear lacquer top coat. Picture was too big to post you can see them here. www.cutncarve.ca/custom_signs (http://www.cutncarve.ca/custom_signs)

[wegner81]

What bit would you use for these small details and what settings. Im still pretty green about adjustment to settings . I tried some small letters and they where unreadable, not for sure why. I was using 60 degree bit and 1/16 depth. I will try some today and post some pics. Thanks fellas

[butch]

Kevin
I do this and have had good results doing similar to R Ball for solid wood plaques.
I sand to 220 and finish the edges as I want. Stain to desired color.
apply at least one coat of finish. Two if it is oak or open pores.
Clamp the plaque in a jig and carve the plaque, using V-Carve pro to do the design.
apply a coat of sanding sealer to help prevent bleeding under the finish.
I use Asphultium glaze; let sit for about 5 minutes; wipe the plaque clean.
Let it dry over night, then finish with the final finish.

For MDF/cherry boards, I just cut out and sand the edges. Carve and stain with Dye, then finish.
The MDF takes more of the stain and leaves a nice contrast. If I need more contrast I can lighten the face color with wiping.

This is in oak but the same principle and process I use with cherry and walnut.

Butch


7679

[wegner81]

Does anyone know of a good source of fish or wild life images like the one on this plaque? By the way thanks for the advice fellas. I hope that in the future I can give back to the forum in return as you guys are doing. thanks again!!!!

[bill1]

An Excellent source is Vectorart3d at the link below

http://www.vectorart3d.com/

[rcnewcomb]

You can buy individual images at the VectorArt.com (http://www.vectorart.com/store/index.cfm?frompage=1&StartRow=113&Q=fish&maxrows=2 8) site.

You can buy the Mega Art collections for a reasonable price at SignWarehouse.com (http://www.signwarehouse.com/c-CAV.html)

You can get monthly clip art samples at Dover (http://www.doverpublications.com/dspa023/). They have a large collection of designs available for purchase.

[sawdust535]

Butch, where did you buy the MDF/cherry? (I'm assuming you are talking MDF laminated with a cherry veneer.)

[sawdust535]

Kevin, Brady Watson helped me out with a similar problem. Here is his message:

Go to ShopBot's homepage & look at my article under 'Brady's Tricks' about the VR command, specifically the area that talks about XY Ramp Speed. Your move speed should be in the 0.2 IPS range for XY, when cutting these small engravings. If your XY Ramp Speed value is set at the default .4 IPS setting, then the tool will never cut at a speed below that. I would set it at either .1 or .2 for these types of jobs ONLY. Use the US command to save a config for 'SmallEngraving'.

You MUST download the latest control software, 3.5.7, if you want to have good results at these lower speeds.

It helped me out a lot.

[butch]

I bought the Cherry veneer/MDF from my lumber supplier, Renneberg Hardwoods in Bozeman, MT. I do mostly solid wood, but have had some request for the MDF.
The graphic for the plaque came from http://www.vectorart3d.com/. I bought the Animal collection from them, as well as several others. Very happy with most of their products. The only two I have carved and am not happy with is the Grizzly Bear-Scene, and the Wolf. Those two have very poor detail, and really lack similarity to the actual animal. The rest, that I have carved have been EXCELLANT in detail and appearance. As soon as people see the elk, moose and wheat sheaf they get excited. I have been doing the Moose on the crib boards and now have a couple of moose requests, so that will soon be on chests also.
Good luck Kevin, its lots of fun. You are supose to be working on other projects while this carves, but I still get caught up watching the machine turn a board into art. They do take time to carve. A 10inch circle carving the Wheat Sheaf takes me 1hour 15 minutes. I have been trying to speed up the process, and have it running at 2.0 inch per second with 1/8inch ball, and still have good detail. May try 2.25 on the next one.

Butch