Workshop name tags 4

Old car insignias have always intrigued me. For Rafael’s name plaque I decided to create one. The type style I chose is called air conditioner. 
The vectors were basic. The open contour was modified by simply bending the two sides. 
I used the bevel tool to create a relief. It is fairly shallow.
The letter outline was created as a zero height flat relief. This was then merged LOWEST with the first relief.
Then I created the background relief, applying a subtle texture to the inner, raised portion. The lettering was created as a separate relief, positioned vertically and then merged highest to complete the file. It was now ready for tool pathing and routing.
-dan

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

Workshop name tags 3

Cory’s name plaque  was to be a diamond shape. The vertical and horizontal lines play off this shape and a comic font offsets the squareness of the diamond. It uses a bitmap from my TEXTURE MAGIC collection called checkerboard squiggles.
The border of the panel is a basic flat relief. Then I modified this relief by using the bevel tool, but I set the perimeters to limit to the height.
Then I imported the bitmap, enlarged and entered it on the panel. 
The letter outline was created as a separate relief, adjusted vertically and then merged highest to the plaque.
The lettering was the last element to be added. It is a bevel with a base height of 0.15″. As quick as that the file was ready for tool pathing.  
-dan

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

Mantle routing file

Yesterday the temporary floor which we worked on to build the ‘London roofline’ came down. I could then size up exactly how I would build the new fireplace facade. After looking things over I decided I would use a wood frame for the bulk of the construction and welded steel for the bits around the fireplace opening. All will be covered with a layer of sculpted concrete. I fastened a piece of plywood to the center portion of the fireplace and hung the family crest as a point of reference. Everything would be scaled to this. Then I framed in the mantle using 3/4″ plywood. I will glue the routed 30 lb Precision Board over this form.
I then used the wooden mantle form to create a 1/4″ plywood pattern in two halves. It is just a hair under 11 feet wide. I took a picture of this pattern to create the vectors I needed by simply tracing it out. My client requested ‘genuine’ Old English lettering for the pub name.
I did the Lettering in Illustrator but it could have been done in EnRoute. I then brought the vectors into EnRoute to begin creating the reliefs. Since my board (and router) are only eight feet long I needed to break the file into sections to route. I drew a box and brought the bottom corners in to the angle of the bend.  I also did an 0.7″outline of the mantle shape to enlarge the mantle front enough to put a 1/2″ top and bottom piece of Precision Board on the mantle. I’ll carve those in place with the die grinder. I deleted the original smaller mantle shape and used the jigsaw tool to create the three pieces of the mantle front.
The text was then centered on the mantle.
I created the three flat reliefs at 0.4″ height. The I imported the horizontal sandblasted wood grain bitmap from my TEXTURE MAGIC collection. It stretched out to 12 feet without difficulty. I also stretched it out vertically to fit the mantle in a section of grain I liked. It was applied with a value of 0.2″
The lettering has a 0.3″ border. I first created a relief using this border vector. This was merged highest with the mantle pieces. Lastly the bevelled lettering is added to the relief.
 The tool pathing was done with a 3/8″ ball nose bit for the rough pass and a 1/8″ ball nose bit for the final.
I’ll route the pieces in the next days, and then install next week.
-dan

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

Adding the family jewels

We stay busy on the Fox & Hounds project and it’s many, many pieces. One of the signs is almost ready for paint. There were a few details yet to do. After gluing in the support structure I needed to finish the edges and back of the sign. I took a few minutes and used the die grinder to add a subtle texture to the areas. It looks a lot like it was dome with an adze or flat chisel.
The other details would be hand done as well. Back a few weeks ago, when I was doing the workshop in Toronto, I was getting a few supplies (stir sticks and paint cups) and I found these large plastic rubies. They were perfect for the jewels I needed in the crown of this sign. It only cost a couple of dollars for a good sized plastic tube. 
The tops of the crown was sculpted with Abracadabra Sculpting epoxy. I used the die grinder to hollow out the sockets for the plastic jewels. I made them oversized and then partially filled them in with sculpting epoxy, then pushed in the jewels.
I trimmed the sculpting epoxy around the jewels and then fashioned some claws to look authentic. As quick as that this portion of the sign was ready for paint.
Then I used a little more Abracadabra Sculpt to fashion some grape leaves and fastened them to the sign. A couple more seconds with the die grinder introduced a subtle texture to the face of the scrolls.
Stay tuned for the painting process…
-dan

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