Looking for Guidance from the Gurus

[QJuice]

Long time reader, second-time poster.

I teach Basic Woodworking & Communications at a high school, and we purchased a Carvewright (all bits, scanning probe, software). I’ve seen some great posts on this forum and I am looking for some guidance.

#1 -It would be great to get some Sign Foam, but the cost is prohibitive, and with students they’d be wasting it. We have been using Pine/Poplar so far but as mentioned in other posts it can have a lot of “fuzzies” after the carve. Can we use MDF? Would it be a sharper result? I’ve read the warning about the dust, and will make sure to have the dust collector on it.

#2 – I need a suggestion for getting plans for an Muskoka/Adirondack Chair into the design software to make up a project. I seem to have a few options:
(1) scan all the parts of one of chairs we have completed;
(2) Create the plan in the Designer software using the grid, and measurements;
(3) We use sketchup, so somehow import it from sketchup.
Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks for your help in advance, and if anyone ever needs Photoshop help PM me (we teach that daily here).

Greg Bolton
Emerging Technologies/Communications Teacher
St. Theresa of Lisieux CHS,
Richmond Hill,ON

[cnsranch]

Hi, Greg

I know that some have carved with MDF, I haven't, but would suspect a ton of dust.

Re fuzzies, carving on optimum really diminishes them, but with a lot of students, you likely don't have that kind of time. And, harder woods are obviously more expensive (but ash and walnut carve like a dream).

I've had a lot of luck with a Dremel tool and a stainless brush attachment for the fuzzies (I like stainless, the brass ones seem to leave black marks on the wood). I'll find the link for the brushes - bought a bag of them on EBay for not a lot of money.

Re the Adirondack, I've been planning on building a few, but I won't use the machine to do it. What I plan, and I suggest you think about, is cutting out the parts on the table saw, band saw, etc., then placing the back boards and arm rests on a sled and carving the designs into them then. Saves the machine, and for your kids, gives them some time on other machines as well.

Good luck

***EDIT***

Here's the link for the brushes - 36 for $20 is a pretty good deal...

http://cgi.ebay.com/36-STAINLESS-CUP...3286.m20.l1116

[twiceretired]

Others have had an interest in this as well; do a search for "Adirondack" with the quotes. Sounds like a lot of fun and a good learning experience.

[HighTechOkie]

There was a post on here awhile back for "jack's chair." In the description of the project, he mentions making a template, since many family and friends will want 1 or more as well as you will likely want a couple for yourself. This is where the CarveWright shows its strength. Draw it up and make 1 precise template that can quickly be repeated with other tools(band saw/jig saw for rough outline and clean up with router and pattern bit).

Rob

[cestout]

I mostly only carve pine - and #2 at that because that is all I can afford right now (just place the knots judiciously). I have been using a mop - usually 120 grit and mini mops for years - long before CW. After mopping, my carvings in pine - even on best setting - have everyone raving. And the mop is safe for kids to use. I have run it in my drill press and my lathe. I carved MDF once, that was the first time I had to replace the board sensor. It was dusty and not noticeably sharper that the pine.
Clint

[Jvicaretti]

Thanks for the link, I just bought some too.

[cnsranch]

Watch those brushes - they tend to shed at high speeds, and those little wires can hurt!

[Jvicaretti]

I will thanks for the heads up

[jpitz31]

QJuice,

I do all of my test carves in MDF. When I get it right I then carve with the real wood. I do use a Dust Collector when I run the CW. I wear a mask with I cut MDF on my table saw.

Check out your local lumber supply and ask for Trupan Ultralight. It is 40 - 60% lighter than MDF and has only about 1% Formaldehyde. Much safer than MDF. From what I understand it is made from pine. It is much cheaper than sign board and many sign guys build with this instead. It looks just like MDF and does come in different densities.

The STL importer can read from Sketch-Up if you download a free utility that allows sketch-up to export to an .stl file. Search the forum for a link.

NASA uses Trupan for all of their CNC vacuum assisted jigs and sleds. Trupan is very porous and makes a great platform for vacuum hold downs.

Thanks

Joe

[dbfletcher]

Do you know if it can be found at Lowes or Home Depot? What density do you reccommed... or does that entirely depend on the project?