Killer of fish

A perfect name plaque for a fisherman on your list would be this next one. I made it for John from Colorado. There are a couple tricky steps in making this plaque as I wanted the fish texture to go through his name but not through the border around it. The files were created in EnRoute Pro 5. The vectors are first.  I started with the letters and simple oval. I then created an offset oval (to the inside. This vector was distorted using the distortion tool to create a slightly wavy line.

I created a comes relief using the outside vector, modifying it by adding the center oval as a raised relief ( 0.15″ )

I then added a texture using ‘SPLOTCHES’ from the TEXTURE MAGIC collection using a value of 0.1″.

The fish texture was next, again from the TEXTURE MAGIC collection, this time with a value of 0.15″.

The lettering border was first created as a flat relief 0.5″ tall. I then modified it using an oval vector and the dome tool to make the border the same radius as the base relief. I then went to the front view and using the up/down keys positioned the letter outline relief to the right place in relation to the base relief.

Then I selected the lettering (not the lettering outline) and the base relief and modified the base relief by raising the lettering. It had the fish texture through it. it.

I could then merge highest the lettering outline and the base relief creating the effect I desired.

I tool pathed the file using the 3/8″ ball nose bit with a 50% overlap as a rough pass. The final pass was with a 1/8″ tapered bit at 80% overlap. It was then sent to the MultiCam at 300 inches per minute to be routed from 30 lb Precision Board.
The finished plaque measures 9.5″ tall by 15″ wide by 1.5″ thick and tool about 35 minutes to route.
Stay tuned for the next plaque…
-dan

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

More details

We are keeping very busy these days with the design of future projects. Unfortunately most of the projects are TOP secret for the time being – to be revealed in the not too distant future. In the meantime we are busy doing the last minute preparations for the Sculpture Magic Workshop this weekend. There more name plaques were finished today.
Doug’s received the last few details. Bec decided to pull out the stops with some finicky and subtle touches. The first was some orange paint brushed on to resemble flaked green paint. At first glance (and a second close look) I really thought the top paint had been scraped off. A dirty brown glaze over the plaque with a little iron paint and subsequent acid wash instantly aged the plaque making this ‘ancient’ alien artifact look like the real deal.
Dustin’s plaque got two more colors of glaze and after considering where it will most likely get hung we declared it done. It is perfectly suited to his business.
Kurts got the silver paint on the blade and then it’s final glazes. A little silver highlight finished it off. Everytime I see the short dagger I want to talk a little pirate talk – just for fun.
We have decided Chris’ name plaque will get a little variegated gold leaf to add some needed bling. Stay tuned for a peek at that one finished tomorrow.
-dan

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

Finishing Touches

With our Sculpture Magic Workshop now only four days away the name plaques for our attendees are well into production. Today I show three that need just a little more work to be finished. One or two more glazes and perhaps a few highlights will complete the job.
Gary’s is the most complete and looks good enough to eat already.
Dustin’s name plaque needs two more colors of glaze and then the lettering will be painted. We are still deciding on the final colors.
The photo does not do Doug’s justice. Rich blends and deep metallic glazes make this a delight to hold and look at. One or two more colors and some carefully applied highlights will make this a real (WIERD) gem.
Three others are in about the same state. I’ll be taking pictures of them later today and posting them as well. It is hard to believe that they are merely routed Precision Board underneath.
Stay tuned…
-dan

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

Last of the series.

Since the Sign Magic Workshop begins tomorrow morning bright and early I am posting the last of this series of name plaques today.
Scott works in sales at MultiCam Western Canada so I decided his name plaque should reflect the machines he sells. Since his office is in the MultiCam office we themed a while back I drew a lot of visual ideas from that project. ( To see the photos of that project go to the right sidebar and under labels/MultiCam done you will find pictures. )

I used a very basic font and then built a gear to substitute for the ‘O’ A linear gear serves as the underline. The vectors were created inside EnRoute.
First off was a basic flat relief as shown. 
Since I wanted the whole thing to have a similar texture, making the gears look well used I assed a simple and subtle texture to the entire piece. This bitmap is from the TEXTURE MAGIC collection and is called splotches 1.  It gives a slightly different texture as the normal one as it is an inverted version.
The letters and gears were all raised the same amount as flat modifications to the original relief.
Then I modified the original relief one last time using the dome tool to create the rivets.
As quick as that the project was ready to tool path and then send to the MultiCam.
I didn’t get a shot of the plaque on or after it got off the router but I grabbed one tonight to it anted and ready to go.
Tomorrow I’ll try and grab some shots of a few more of  the name plaques finished.
-dan

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

Rafael

Rafael is our guest teacher from EnRoute for the Sign Magic Workshop that begins tomorrow. He is one of the support techs for the software and knows his stuff. He has attended our workshops previously. For his name I selected a narrow font. The kerning was a little weird and the letters were narrow but we’ll take care of that in a jiffy.
To remedy the narrow lettering I simply did a narrow (0.05″) outline. My first try showed the ‘R’ and the ‘a’ a little too close together so I backed up a step, jogged the ‘R’ away and then repeated this step.
Then I deleted the original letter vectors.
I used the offset tool once again but this time with a 0.2″ offset to crete the letter outlines.
Then I used the distort tool to modify the plaque border. I’m starting to get the hang of this tool and i like it!
 Once I had the online nailed it was time to add some rivets. I started with some circles.
I then used the distort tool to rough up the rivets suitably – like the plaque border.
With the vectors done it was time to start in on creating the relief. A flat relief was the first step.
I decided to dome up the plaque a little so I drew a square with rounded corners around my relief. By selecting this vector AND the relief, the relief would be modified to the shape of the rectangle vector.
Next I create a separate flat relief of the lettering outline. 
The lettering relief was also shaped with the same rectangle vector as the base relief had been with the same parameters entered. Doing so meant the the base relief and the lettering outline relief were the same shape.
After I had domed the two pieces I checked the front view to make sure everything worked as I wanted. The two reliefs were separate so I was not worried about their height in relation to each other. 
Next up was the texture. I called up my old standby ‘splotches’.
Once the texture was on it was time to put things into position vertically. I did this in the front view using the up – down arrow keys.  
When I was happy I merged highest and then deleted the lettering outline relief.
The last step was the lettering. I opted for a beveled lettering, nice and clean to counter the rusty texture below.
As quick as that another Sign magic Workshop name plaque was ready to tool path and send off to the MultiCam. As always it would be routed from 1.5″ thick 30 lb Precision Board.
-dan

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