Every personal project has a story. This one began when my brother-in-law, as a young Navy man, spent a winter in Antarctica. He sent his mother a T-shirt while stationed in that frozen wasteland, and she wore it until little was left. My wife recently found the remaining scrap of T-shirt, which was just the front panel.
With both her father and grandmother passed, I duplicated the T-shirt design to make a little home decor sign for our niece as a remembrance of both her father and grandmother.
I photographed the T-shirt scrap and traced the image in Adobe Illustrator. The resulting vector image was transferred to the CNC and v-carved in some HDU leftover from another project.
A flat sign, like the T-shirt, would probably suffice. But that isn't how my brain works. A dimensional sign seemed much more appropriate and more fun to make.
It was quicker to cut the dimensional snow effect out of more HDU and 1/4" MDF on the scroll saw rather than try to design something for the CNC. Plus, it made it easier to paint the snow in separate pieces. The MDF and HDU were glued up in layers. Then Apoxie, a 2-part epoxy sculpting medium, was used to add snow wrapping around the sides on the top and bottom.
Once painted, everything was assembled, and the snow elements glued in place. The result is a simple dimensional sign to help keep the family memories alive.
With both her father and grandmother passed, I duplicated the T-shirt design to make a little home decor sign for our niece as a remembrance of both her father and grandmother.
I photographed the T-shirt scrap and traced the image in Adobe Illustrator. The resulting vector image was transferred to the CNC and v-carved in some HDU leftover from another project.
A flat sign, like the T-shirt, would probably suffice. But that isn't how my brain works. A dimensional sign seemed much more appropriate and more fun to make.
It was quicker to cut the dimensional snow effect out of more HDU and 1/4" MDF on the scroll saw rather than try to design something for the CNC. Plus, it made it easier to paint the snow in separate pieces. The MDF and HDU were glued up in layers. Then Apoxie, a 2-part epoxy sculpting medium, was used to add snow wrapping around the sides on the top and bottom.
Once painted, everything was assembled, and the snow elements glued in place. The result is a simple dimensional sign to help keep the family memories alive.