[Scottart]

Here is a sign from customer concept sketches through 3 D design and Carving.

When Honest John was up here he convince me to use Offset Tool paths instead or Raster... He said it was faster and required less clean up.

I cant prove the faster part, but it certainly requires less Clean up. I think it is cleaner because you are not carving with or straight across the grain. But would be interested in everyones thoughts on that ..


This is sign is 72" x 36", the max Z depth is 1.1. I carved it with no roughing path, just an Offset Tool path with a .25 " ball nose. It ran well at 300 IPM. Carving time was 9 hours, 35 minutes.


First Picture is the concept sketch from the client.

2nd is a photo reference she used to explain her Sheep Rams posture.

3rd is a photo of the view from their place that she wanted used as a layout and color reference.

4th is a first rough path at the model using some existing sheep models I had.

5th is the final model ready to carve. She changed the design from 72" x 48", down to 72" x 36" in order to fit the budget.


6th picture is the carving just up on the CNC table.

7th picture is the painting stage. A bit of clean up remains, and I ended up sanding the white paint off the Ring to show off the Wood.


Painting time was just over 2 hours.

 

[DesertRatTom]

Wow, now THAT's a king size commission. Terrific sign.

 

[honesttjohn]

Offset isn't any faster than raster, but I think it does cut smoother.

And Scott didn't even need my help painting it.

She should be thrilled to write that check. Good show Grasshopper!!

 

[difalkner]

That is beautiful, Scott! You really do nice work and it's always a pleasure to see what you come up with, especially to hear the back story and see the initial sketches.

David

 

[OCEdesigns]

WOW!! That is a great looking sign! I wish I had the painting skills

 

[Scottart]

That is beautiful, Scott! You really do nice work and it's always a pleasure to see what you come up with, especially to hear the back story and see the initial sketches.

David

THANKS David. Yes, I love hearing the back stories.. learn more from that sometimes.

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Holy **** did you do a nice job on this . Love how you took ideas and did all the designing

 

[sreilly]

No doubt she will be thrilled with the results. Absolutely a piece of art. From the picture it looks like Alaska and a glacier at the foot of those mountains. I've really enjoyed my trips up there. Where exactly is this place?

 

[Gaffboat]

A beautiful sign, and I loved seeing the evolution from concept to design to completion.

 

[MEBCWD]

Another great sign Scott. I'm sure that will help draw customers to their cabins. They should be very happy with the sign you created.

 

[Herb Stoops]

Just plain beautiful, Thanks for the walk thru, really interesting how it all evolves. I can see all the hours involved besides the cutting time.
Herb

 

[Scottart]

No doubt she will be thrilled with the results. Absolutely a piece of art. From the picture it looks like Alaska and a glacier at the foot of those mountains. I've really enjoyed my trips up there. Where exactly is this place?

Hi Steve. This is on the Palmer side of Hatchers pass on the highway to Glenallen. The Glacier is the Matanuska Glacier.

 

[Scottart]

Just plain beautiful, Thanks for the walk thru, really interesting how it all evolves. I can see all the hours involved besides the cutting time.
Herb

shhhh.. I don't want to think about those hours..... count it all a joy though as I enjoy working on this kind of project..

Thankyou.

 

[Herb Stoops]

shhhh.. I don't want to think about those hours..... count it all a joy though as I enjoy working on this kind of project..

Thankyou.

Scott, I think it is important that the hours preparing for the final cut be recognized. I see too many newbies thinking that there is just a wave of the wand and it all happens and then after they spend a ton of money buying the equipment and setting it up, they can't find the wand. And the result is that the idea is shoved back in the corner to gather dust. By the way your artistic and painting skills are second to none.
Herb

 

[Scottart]

Scott, I think it is important that the hours preparing for the final cut be recognized. I see too many newbies thinking that there is just a wave of the wand and it all happens and then after they spend a ton of money buying the equipment and setting it up, they can't find the wand. And the result is that the idea is shoved back in the corner to gather dust. By the way your artistic and painting skills are second to none.
Herb

Yes of course Herb. 40 years of art work makes some of this go by very fast, so I would be highly disappointed if a novice could design a sheep as fast as I can, or paint a mountain as fast as I can.. Having said that I also know that there are boat loads of people here with better machining skills than I have, and could set this up to mill more efficiently. Certainly folks just need to bring their skill set to the party and start working through what they can do. I am not burdened with a need to bill my time or the machines time at an hourly rate. I love standing at my paint easel watching this machine kick out carvings while I am doing work that does require my own hands. Often I line up several paintings, or glue ups to work on just prior to setting the CNC to its task. In my world that is amazing productivity. But could not be compared to a shop that is rightfully measuring sheets per hour.

I an first an artist, than a CNC junky. CNC has made it possible for me to reproduce 3 d art carvings that I create. Much like I use a printer to create canvas prints of some of my paintings. It would likely be way more profitable machine wise if I made these all as 2. 5 D carvings in a V Carve format.. I could greatly reduce the machine hours and design hours, as all I need would be vectors, and limited 3 D modeling.

It is an interesting puzzle to chat about and each person brings their own set of criteria for success to the table.

In my real career I run an operation where I have to manage all the lines on a P&L statement.... Spreadsheet death and productivity measurements are a daily reality..... Today choose to paint, and carve and not look at spreadsheets...

 

[honesttjohn]

Scott,

There's a way to do that. It's called "retirement". I know you're not too far off.

Then you'll wonder how you even had time to work. Of course, the wife will get sick and tired having you around the house all the time and will banish you to the shop ..........where you can create. Win Win.

Of course, you real artist types are a bit eccentric anyway. But I sure do like most of the things you come up with.

 

[Herb Stoops]

John,I agree with you, everything I have seen that he does is first class,and I love it . He has the magic wand.
Herb

 

[honesttjohn]

John,I agree with you, everything I have seen that he does is first class,and I love it . He has the magic wand.
Herb

You mean majic paint brushes. I tried to abscond with one when I was there, but he keeps them locked up and does inventory after each visitor.

 

[marecat3]

Wow!!! love it.

 

[David Bradford]

This is an impressive sign.