Crow Indian Head Sculpture – On Display at ISA Orlando 2012

Dan Keith, owner of Dan’s Foundry recently sent us pictures of a Crow Indian Head sculpture he made from Precision Board Plus PBLT-15. His father, A.J., was the original sculptor/designer who specialized in western bronzes. Using his NextEngine laser scanner, Dan scanned the original wax sculpture and then exported it into Aspire CNC software to cut with his router.

The result was an amazing reproduction of the piece his father had created years earlier, finished by brushing on Sculpt Nouveau Type C Bronze Coating, and spraying on a Tiffany Green Patina finish. When he found out how impressed we were with his creation, he shipped it to us so we could see it in person.

We were then about to see just how fast (and talented) Dan Keith was. We told him we were considering displaying the Crow Indian Head sculpture at ISA 2012, and he quickly offered to create a newer, and larger model using a higher density Precision Board Plus, PBLT-30. Not more than a couple of days later, Dan sent us pictures of the new sculpture. It was also similarly finished like the original using Sculpt Nouveau and a Tiffany Green Patina finish. He then made a plaque commemorating his father, and the result was a fantastic art creation, completed in record time.

Take a look at Dan’s blog at: http://www.dansfoundry.blogspot.com/ to see more of his impressive projects. His shop specializes in metal casting, welding, plasma cutting, wood working, CNC routing, digital design, stained glass, gourd art, mold making, metal fabrication, metal forming, prop making, blacksmithing and more!

The Crow Indian Head sculpture will be on display at our booth #2188 at ISA 2012 in Orlando, FL, from March 22-24 at the Orange County Convention Center if you would like to meet us and check it out in person!

 

Precision Board Plus PBLT-15:

The original sculpture (left) and the PBLT-30 version (right)

NextEngine Laser Scan:

Precision Board Plus PBLT-30:

Ultimate project?

They say the hardest project for any artist to do is one for themselves. I know it to be true through experience. But these projects also allow us the ultimate freedom to do what pleases us and have the potential to be out best work.
My wife and I have been dreaming of our dream house for almost twenty years. We’ve drawn plan after plan, we’ve considered thousands of ideas. As you can imagine we don’t want our house to be ‘normal’ in any way. From the first day I spun up the MultiCam more than six years ago I knew it would play a huge role in the construction. We’ve played and experimented with materials and finishes. Now the time has come to put all that experience to the ultimate challenge… our new house.
As the time draws near to begin construction the pace has quickened. It is time to put the best of the best of the ideas down, figure out ways to make it all work together. The final plan has to be functional, build-able within a budget we can handle and at the same time has to be the most incredible showcase for our work.
The ideas I’m currently drawing are not final, some are little more than rough scribbles. All are subject to change and revision. Some will hit the cutting room floor. But they are getting close and finally are boiling down to what we like. This will be a routing extravaganza both inside and out! before we are done we will also use every technique and trick I can think of.
Stay tuned for the best project yet!
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

Assembly

Once the router was finished cranking out all the pieces of the Lark Rise project it was time to start in on assembly. The first task was to weld up a steel frame that would go through the sign and also down the post to provide structural strength. 

Although the sign board looks like it can swing it is actually welded in place. The horizontal steel pipe is welded to the vertical pipe that goes from top to bottom through the middle of the post.

I used my die grinder to carve in the woodgrain into the post. The vertical cracks and splits were done with a narrow bit in the same machine. 
 I have a little more work to do on the back before we begin the priming and paint but it is almost ready to go already.
Stay tuned for more…
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

Routing times with textures

A question that often pops up in our email box and at workshops is about routing times. Folks want to know how long it will take to run these kinds of files. The reality is there is no simple answer. Mostly it depends on the router you own.
My new MultiCam is significantly faster than my old router. I’ve been told this is because of more powerful servo motors and larger spur gears on the drives. I just know it is faster and quieter than my old one by far.
There is also the matter of how the router is set up or tuned for lack of a better word. When a router goes from horizontal travel to vertical travel it literally stops as it changes direction. This effect can be dampened somewhat by changing the driver parameters to have the router cut the corner a teeny bit, meaning it can be taken faster. My MultiCam tech tuned my last router for me and in the process sped it up by half before the quality of the cuts changed enough to notice. I’d love to have him come back and play with my current machine and in the process make the cuts a little smoother and have the machine speed up significantly. I can only imagine the speed we would get out of it then.
Servo motors can be pushed a lot harder than the old stepper motors, meaning these types of machines will cut down on the router times by a whole bunch. But all this costs money too and we have to decide where the wallet stops and the patience kicks in.
The files that take the longest are the ones with the most texture… with the detailed woodgrain files taking the longest.  But they do look mighty fine when they are done. I come from the days when we did things the old way… applying the heavy sandblasting mask, pounding it down, then drawing out the design and patiently hand cutting the frisket, peeling out the parts not needed and then sandblasting the sign. That job is right up there with cleaning an oven (the old fashioned way). I can think of a thousand things I’d rather do.
Now I build the file in my studio, looking up occasionally at the gorgeous views I enjoy. Then I lay down a sheet of Precision Board. start the router and go do something fun.
Today I did a file that was a good one to analyze. It was a detailed sandblasted woodgrain that would push the capabilities to the max. It also has some flat bits so we could see how much the router sped up on those areas. The sign measured 44″ tall by 28″ wide meaning it was about 8.5 square feet in area. The file was programmed at 300 inches per minute horizontally (X and Y axis) and 150 inches per minute in the Z axis. It had an 80% overlap on the final pass using a 1/8″ ball nose bit. The rough pass was done using a 3/8″ ball nose bit and an 50% overlap and a 0.10″ offset.  I timed both cuts and also shot some stills and video.
Here’s a shot of the rough pass in progress. The sole purpose of this pass is to remove material. In doing so it eases strain on the 1/8″ tapered ball nose bit I use for the final pass. The roughing pass took 35 minutes from start to finish.
The automatic tool changer changed bits while I was answering my email this morning. I can fairly hear it from my office. The noise pitch of the small bit is slightly higher. This finish file took just under six and a half hours to route from start to finish or 45 minutes per square foot. Not bad in my book, and certainly a whole lot after than doing it by hand!
Here’s the video of the finish pass. I programmed this file at 300 per minute but in the one minute of the video the router only travels 108 inches – one third of the speed I actually programmed it.  The reason is the texture, slowing down the forward speed with the up and down movement. If you watch the movie all the way through you will notice the router speed up significantly on the bottom triangle and on the top part of the sign – both smooth areas. Obviously routing times will increase as detail is increased. 
With texture being so important to the work we do in our shop I have to calculate these increased routing times into the project budget.
The thing to remember however is not to solely determine the cost of the project by routing times. If you do you are selling yourself short – especially if you have a fast router. If my hourly rate is the same as someone else’s with a slower router and I price by time and materials alone, then the sign becomes cheaper – simply because I can do it faster. Personally I’d like to be rewarded for investing in a faster machine and stick the extra cash in my pocket!
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

Creating the Lark Rise sign files

 The Lark Rise sign was next up on the agenda. I created the lettering vectors in Illustrator and then imported them to EnRoute where I created the rest of the vectors for the design.
The sign face was fairly simple, with the inside to be routed out. The flags along the top were raised and bevelled.
I put some wood grain in the background using a sandblasted redwood bitmap from my TEXTURE MAGIC collection. 
The lettering outline was built as a separate flat relief, moved into position vertically and then merged highest with the background.
The lettering was prismatic lettering created with the bevel tool and a 0.15 base.

The triangle on the bottom of the sign was also rested with the bevel tool as a separate relief before being merged highest with the background.

The sign will be cut in three layers, the top face being routed from 1.5″ thick 30 lb Precison Board. The middle and back layers will be cut from 1″ 30lb Precision Board. I will weld up a steel frame to glue into the center to provide strength. Since I’m using 1″x1″ square tubing I created  1.1″ cuts through the center piece to make room for the steel. The glue will fill in any gaps.
The two cutting files for the middle and back looked like this when I was done. These will be shaped using an offset cut.
Stay tuned as the sign comes together…
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.