New Carving Blanks - Antique Stone

[sculptari]

I have developed a new carving material. It is foamed ceramic - it contains NO SILICA, and carves beautifully, even with HSS bits. I am in the the process of developing precast carving blanks specifically for the carvewright machine. I will be sending a box of samples to the carvewright crew for their evaluation.

I have some questions though, so I thought I would go direct to the end users for some input. This looks really like sandstone, limestone, granite, terracotta but is about 1/4 the weight (50 lbs per cubic foot versus 150 for the real thing). It stands up well out side, but is porous, so like wood, must be sealed if under any moisture. I like to use a concrete sealer with a stain in it, then bash up the piece a bit to antique it, then clear sealer, all non-glossy. It will probably need resealing every few years, or let it go natural - designers love that look.

It is really two questions at this stage. Should the blanks have a premolded profile around the edges, or would you prefer to cut your own profile? Would a profile interfere with the traction belts? This is an important question because I was planning to cast a jet black core, 1/4" under the surface, with a profile border, but this will have to be much deeper if you are cutting your own. A 1/4" is enough to still put in some 3d effects, or just simply DFX 2d lettering, cutouts.

These blanks would be available from the Carvewright site (subject to testing of course!). I will not be doing any carving myself. I may also launch a website listing people interested in providing custom signs off the carvewright machine. House signs are the obvious choice, they match high end homes, cultured stone, and custom stucco perfectly. In test marketing, I had no problem asking $50 installed (5 minutes work).

Looking forward to your comments/questions, and becoming a part of the Carvewright community. Now Carvewright can can carve stone, or at least what looks like stone, and that's an exciting development!

[atauer]

I would not recommend any customer use this material until we at Carvewright give a final okay. Considering it is supposedly a new product that this guy is developing, there probably is not much known about it. Until we say okay, I would definitely not use it. We would hate for someone to damage their machine using a non-approved medium.

[Router-Jim]

To answer your questions.

If your material has a precast shape like a flat stone then a profile is okay because I would use a sled for the carve.

If the material is flat like corian then I would prefer no profile and be allowed at least 1/2" all the way around before the black core starts.

I would be glad to be a beta tester if you are looking for some.

Good luck with your venture.

Jim

[spalted]

My first thought is I would prefer no edge profiles. It leave the door open for more possibilities.

I'll be interested to see what you come up with.

[sculptari]

I don't know if you have ever used high density urethane foam for tooling, Renshape, etc. It is like that, but much heavier. It is safe enough to eat.

Anyways - I have emailed the Carvewright distributor in Canada ("George"), he has never replied for weeks now. I have tried the phone number on the Cdn. website - it gets the "not a valid number" message. I have talked to your customer service, he said he could not help with my technical questions, I would have to talk to marketing.

Now to be proactive - I'm just making up box, and hope its ends up in the appropriate department, I'm sure it will.;)

I am exploring the costs of getting the product assessed as 'safe for all ages' by the artist materials group.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Do you have a MSDS Sheet for the Material that you can post as a attachment for us to read? I must have MSDS for all the material in my shop.

Wouldn't want to find out later I filled my shop with lead dust.....:mrgreen:

Or the foam contained conductive carbon that the dust shorted out the Carving Machine.

No MSDS, Then I would not recommend anyone use it.

For the Laser Engraver users, we know that PVC plastic when engraves makes a acid that eats the steel bearings and rails in the Laser Machine.... We need to know what it is made of.

AL

MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet.

[sculptari]

I am working on MSDS and toxicology report for artist materials (U.S.A. & Canada). I would not be wasting my time and money if I didn't already know the results. I will go through Carvewright first.

I have worked extensively with masonry dust compliance in both WHMIS and NIOSHA environments.

The only danger I see is that I have to cast in a special metal mesh (lath) in the back of the blanks, about 1/4 inch in - you can actually see it. If bits hit that, well there's going to be a squawk. But that would be a real dumb mistake to make. The metal is to make sure they blanks standup to UPS shipping.

This is a totally organic product -chemically wise. All pigments are oxides, and extremely light stable.

[WRW]

Hi sculptari

I for one like anything with an authentic rock look and if it can be carved, even better. If you are able to post pictures that would be great. I am with Jim on being willing to beta test. It sounds like you have ducks in a row and I look forward to seeing a new carving medium for the carvewright. Your profile states that you are an artist and an inventor, I think they go hand in hand.
Best wishes and good luck with the new product.

And Al
Thank you for your input (4,451 posts should speak for itself), words of caution from a professional such as your self should never fall on deaf ears. My health and the health of my Carvewright are of great importance to me.
By the way love the Pooh Bear on your Pocono Page!

You both have a great day!

[Digitalwoodshop]

Richard,

I sure do have a lot to say.....

I am all for new products. I am cutting Fiber Re Enforced Plastic Tags with the 1/16 end mill in the CW. That dust is not healthy and I take proper precautions. Nothing new, Trophy Shops have been doing it for years with a rotary engraver.

I moonlighted at a Antenna Manufacture in San Diego my last 2 years in the Navy doing Calibration of test equipment Nights and Weekends. In that 2 years 3 employees died from Cancer having been lifetime employees. Fiberglass Dust from sanding antennas I would believe.

There are only a few of use that use the CW for a Business and as such need to have MSDS Info on all our products. As a Hobby User it is less of a requirement.



sculptari,

Posting you product on places like CNC Zone, Shop bot, Sawmill Creek CNC Forum would be good too.

AL

[sculptari]

Thank you for your advice, and encouragement. I too have been around fiberglass grinding and toxic chemicals a long time. I do have to tell you though that the data required for MSDS sheets in Canada and the U.S. is minimal compared to Europe. I take this much more seriously than you can imagine because over the past seven years I developed a condition that I thought was caused by either a) long term chemical exposure -especially epoxies or b) too much hanging around with too many thirsty restoration masons and old time plasterers:roll: What was happening was that my hands were shaking, I could barely even sign employee cheques. I have an excellent reputation on world class heritage buildings, but it shakes client confidence when they see it. For those seven years I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder - yeah right, how did I manage to fly around in swing stages many stories in the air. I chose to take an early retirement from my business. Finally my new doctor, after me complaining that the drugs they were giving me, strong and addictive drugs, were doing no good, so he referred me to a neurologist. Less than a month ago he confidently diagnosed as "Essential Tremor", which I inherited from my Grandfather, who was originally diagnosed as Parkinsons. He upped the dose of a drug I was already, slowly stopped taking the GAD ones, and now I can get an average of 5 or 6 good steady carving hours per day. The prognosis is that there is not much I can do about it, it is non-progressive, and my Grandfather lived to 97. This is why I resurrected this carving blank project based on CNC.

[Metalhead781]

Thank you for your advice, and encouragement. I too have been around fiberglass grinding and toxic chemicals a long time. I do have to tell you though that the data required for MSDS sheets in Canada and the U.S. is minimal compared to Europe. I take this much more seriously than you can imagine because over the past seven years I developed a condition that I thought was caused by either a) long term chemical exposure -especially epoxies or b) too much hanging around with too many thirsty restoration masons and old time plasterers:roll: What was happening was that my hands were shaking, I could barely even sign employee cheques. I have an excellent reputation on world class heritage buildings, but it shakes client confidence when they see it. For those seven years I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder - yeah right, how did I manage to fly around in swing stages many stories in the air. I chose to take an early retirement from my business. Finally my new doctor, after me complaining that the drugs they were giving me, strong and addictive drugs, were doing no good, so he referred me to a neurologist. Less than a month ago he confidently diagnosed as "Essential Tremor", which I inherited from my Grandfather, who was originally diagnosed as Parkinsons. He upped the dose of a drug I was already, slowly stopped taking the GAD ones, and now I can get an average of 5 or 6 good steady carving hours per day. The prognosis is that there is not much I can do about it, it is non-progressive, and my Grandfather lived to 97. This is why I resurrected this carving blank project based on CNC.

I feel your pain, aug of 2008 at work i started shaking and it got worse over three hours to the point i couldn't stand. My story goes, Essential Tremor was the first diagnosis. Even though I figured out it doesn't fit with my symptoms (full body tremors based on physical activity) I've found it's more then likely the result of a small clot damaging a certain part of my brain. It took 3 months before i could get an MRI. The clot would have been gone. Since then I've actually had to learn to do everything over again without physical strain. If I try to lift something and put my muscle into it. Bam, mr shakey's back. No meds help so i don't take any. Such is life.

MH

[sculptari]

Thank you MH. I have already satisfied my own ego that I can keep up with the best creative minds out there - it is a much better thing to introduce a medium, or a tool (in the case of Carvewright & CNC), which allows others to explore this side of their brain and creativity.

I realized years ago that Carvewright was a solution looking for a 'killer app' , as they say in computers. Wood can be a wonderful carving medium, but it is a natural product, each piece has its own character and grain. A hand carver can learn to appreciate these subtleties, it is too much to expect a machine to appreciate the difference between pine and walnut, heartwood and sapwood. Early malfunctions were mainly caused by these misunderstandings.

[Billions]

It sounds really interesting, I'd like to give it a try when it becomes available. I've often wondered about other materials like Renshape.

I'm going to assume most here would want board shapes without any edges already on them. Since the CW machine also cuts, I think if you could figure out a way to avoid that metal inside, that would be great. If it's only for shipping then I'd suggest figuring out a better shipping method.

My only concern would be the dust and its build-up within the machine.