Custom pattern

[cholme@mac.com]

I have had this machine for 8 months now, and tend not to use it for 1 simple reason. I bought it so I could expand my furniture business to offer custom carving... and I can't figure out the easiest way to create them.

For example: Lets say I want to create a shell carving from scratch. How would you go about that? How are all the patterns in the Pattern Depot created? It seems like it would be faster to carve them by hand.

Does anyone know if there is an after market software that works?

[Old Salt]

pattern making is a whole new game with lots of work to make'
thank goodness there is many great patterns avalable and many that can make you custom work, just take advantage of their service , use your time to build and design what you want. 8)

[jcorder]

I have had this machine for 8 months now, and tend not to use it for 1 simple reason. I bought it so I could expand my furniture business to offer custom carving... and I can't figure out the easiest way to create them.

For example: Lets say I want to create a shell carving from scratch. How would you go about that? How are all the patterns in the Pattern Depot created? It seems like it would be faster to carve them by hand.

Does anyone know if there is an after market software that works?

I purchased Corel Draw x4 and use it to convert jpg pictures from clipart into patterns.

good luck
Jeff

[Steven Alford]

Jeff,
Would you care to go into an explanation on how you do it in Corel Draw?
I am in the learning process myself. Any help would be appreciated.

[jpaluck]

I have had this machine for 8 months now, and tend not to use it for 1 simple reason. I bought it so I could expand my furniture business to offer custom carving... and I can't figure out the easiest way to create them.

For example: Lets say I want to create a shell carving from scratch. How would you go about that? How are all the patterns in the Pattern Depot created? It seems like it would be faster to carve them by hand.

Does anyone know if there is an after market software that works?

There is alot of software available it just depends how deep you want to go into from a time and money standpoint. I am not too familar with the graphics programs like corel xara odobe. There are a lot of 3d packages that work great 3d max zbrush maya lightwave and the 2.5d packages like artcam stenza and aspire. with the 3d software they can be pricey and there is a leaning curve if you have never messed with one. For me making patterns is as much fun as carving them. My advice would be to check out some of the trial versions and make your decision from there. hope this helped

[www.go3d.us]

I'm with jpaluck. There are so many great 3d software out there to use for making pattern. 3ds max has been rated to be one of the best 3d modeling package out there. Yes, the learning curve is intensive.
I suggest trying out some of the software and pick the one that work best for you or better yet, leave it to the professional pattern maker like me for example :)

[DocWheeler]

cholme@mac.com,

Where are you located? Perhaps there is someone near you that can help.

[cholme@mac.com]

I still feel like I am missing something.

Isn't the beauty of this machine that one can create beautiful CUSTOM carvings. So I have to either pay someone to create a nice looking pattern, or use a pattern that is not custom. If I wanted to buy pre-done images I can find that in catalogues for a lot less work.

I am in the Los Angeles area. I have tried to catch CarveWright at 4 wood shows out here and they have cancelled every one at the last minute.

I am starting to think this was a waste of money.

The carvewright pattern maker is awful, and frankly I don't have photographs of everything I want to carve.

It seems like someone could come up with a way to use it with SketchUp... very easy and intuitive.

Ok, I am venting... sorry, but I am usually pretty savvy, and this is making me feel like an idiot.

[Digitalwoodshop]

I still feel like I am missing something.

Isn't the beauty of this machine that one can create beautiful CUSTOM carvings. So I have to either pay someone to create a nice looking pattern, or use a pattern that is not custom. If I wanted to buy pre-done images I can find that in catalogues for a lot less work.

I am in the Los Angeles area. I have tried to catch CarveWright at 4 wood shows out here and they have cancelled every one at the last minute.

I am starting to think this was a waste of money.

The carvewright pattern maker is awful, and frankly I don't have photographs of everything I want to carve.

It seems like someone could come up with a way to use it with SketchUp... very easy and intuitive.

Ok, I am venting... sorry, but I am usually pretty savvy, and this is making me feel like an idiot.

Pattern making is in my opinion the hardest part to learn. I am still learning. The investment in a few patterns like I did and the many free patterns have served me well. No one said it would be easy.

The pay off adding value to your products will be well worth the investment in a few patterns. As you learn to make pattern's it becomes more cost effective.

Since you posted your area, someone might invite you to see a unit work. I have 6 in my area.

AL

[jcorder]

Jeff,
Would you care to go into an explanation on how you do it in Corel Draw?
I am in the learning process myself. Any help would be appreciated.

Sorry Steve I have been away from the computer as you can see, working in the shop getting ready for a festival. I just download the file as a jpg, it is better if you can find vector art or clip art. You want the lowest compression possible. I then import it into Corel and just turn it into a bitmap file, then put some gossian blur on it to smooth it out and export it to a sub directory as a png file. Once you get it into designer, just clean it up as needed. I have never messed with the 3d stuff for making my own.

Good luck and sorry for the late post back to you
Jeff

[cestout]

I have made "custom" patterns several ways. For the "Rail Fence" (I needed for my grand kids' secret boxes) I I drew the fence in corect perspective in TurboCAD - not very expensive and useful in cabinet making - filled it black, saved it as a .bmp, then imported it as a pattern. I carved it reversed on some pine, sanded that well and made a plaster cast of that. With wall sanding screen I made finalized the shape and scanned it with my probe. You could carve in soft pine, fill errors with putty and scan that. The "12 Point Star" I drew on TurboCAD, folded and trimmed it and stuck it to a piece of wood, then scanned it with the probe. The "Dairy Barn" I copied from a milk box, modified it so I would be mine, then fiddled with it in Pattern Editor. For you, I think carving in soft pine would satisfy you the most. When you have made a pattern, you have it and can use - reuse - stretch - shrink it as many times as you need. Even figuring out how best to make the pattern you want is fun.
Clint

[Steven Alford]

Thanks Jeff. I will do some work with your ideas and see what I get.

[Pratyeka]

For my part, I've tried these 3D cad: Blender, wings 3D, Sketchup and MOI. By far the easiest (IMHO) is MOI, easy AND powerful. Then to generate the PNG depth map I use the Modeler from Stereographic suite. Modeler allows you to import a 3D model, then just as if you had a digital camera, move the model around and take a picture. Then just import that PNG depth map into CW's pattern designer.

You must understand that to create any pattern, you tell the machine how deep to carve at every y-x coordinate of the carve. Pattern designer uses 256 levels of grey for how deep the carve must be at each pixels. That's why taking a photograph as a base for the pattern works better for vector or clipart. Normal photographs don't contain depth information, only contrast and shades.