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joe
01-06-2007, 02:30 PM
I've just started exploring the software and hope to buy the carvewright this summer. I was wondering if someone could evaluate a drawing for feasability.

Also, I am wondering if a current carvewright user is interested in doing some carving for commission. I'll do the drawings and need about 3 peices created.

Thanks in advance,
- Joe

Dan-Woodman
01-06-2007, 08:57 PM
For one thing , your project is too big for the carvewright.Max is around 14 1/2 to 14 3/4.
Another thing is looks like your project is 3/4" thick and your carve region is also 3/4" thick on the circles .

joe
01-06-2007, 09:24 PM
Hi Dan,
Thanks for looking at the project. The wood thickness is .898 inches. I figure I'd have to run the board through twice, once as a planer, to get the wood to the right thickness and second to carve the pattern with a depth of 3/4".

I'll resize the project to 14.5" so that it will fit.

What about the fact that the finished project is a circle? Will that make it difficult for the machine to hold/manipulate the wood?

Again, thanks!

- joe

Dan-Woodman
01-06-2007, 09:31 PM
If your going to have the machine cut the circle out, you should leave at least 1/2" to 3/4" square board around the edge or mount it on a sled carrier board.

joe
01-07-2007, 06:22 AM
I guess, I'll need a sled carrier board... for two reasons. First, I want to mazimize the width of the groove in the labyrinth and don't want to have to shrink the pattern another inch. Secondly, I can't get the square around the circle without 'erasing' most of my work. Oh well.


Thanks,
- Joe

Dan-Woodman
01-07-2007, 09:24 AM
Here's what I get when I upload the project.
click on the picture to enlarge.
I'm not very good at this computor thing, you may have to get your magnifing glass out.

pkunk
01-07-2007, 09:54 AM
From my limited experience (90 + hours on my machine) I'd say you could carve it as a rectangle at 14 1/2" and instead of doing a cut path around the outside, just scribe it. Finnish your outside cut with a jigsaw or bandsaw. There is enough roller support in the maze to satisfy the machine.

joe
01-07-2007, 10:19 AM
Dan,
Thanks for the screenshot of the alert. I'm not sure I understood all of the warnings. But it sounds like your intuition was correct.

PKunk.
Your solution sounds good. I'm not sure how to 'scribe' the outer circle in my illustration. Do you mean that I should just create a thin ring around the project that is 9/10ths of the depth of the wood?

I'll see if I can get the drawings to cooperate.

Thanks!!

pkunk
01-07-2007, 10:30 AM
PKunk.
Your solution sounds good. I'm not sure how to 'scribe' the outer circle in my illustration. Do you mean that I should just create a thin ring around the project that is 9/10ths of the depth of the wood?

Yes-or not. You could just cut it later freehand.

joe
01-07-2007, 11:00 AM
I just switched the outer circle from cut out to carve. I'm not very steady handed, so I'd rather not freehand it.

Dan-Woodman
01-07-2007, 02:19 PM
I think what pkunk is meaning is to select your outer circle and then select a bit , say the 1/8" cutting bit to only cut a 1/16" to 1/8 " deepto make an outline of the circle . If you cut at least 1/8 to 1/4" you could cut the rest freehand within 1/16" or so then use a router with a pattern bit to finish it off.
Also Joe your looking at a carve time of 4hr. 18 min. at normal quality and 6hr. 17min. at best quality.

joe
01-08-2007, 09:47 PM
Thanks for the clarification. If the attached is what you described, I'll try and fix the lion in the middle. For some reason my carve region isn't removing the wood in the center circle around the lion.

This approach is also more efficient, no? I mean, all the wood that would have been carved away in the corners of the other design is now untouched. That has to save time!

Thanks for all the help!!

Dan-Woodman
01-08-2007, 10:07 PM
It appears to me by your latest test picture , that you are still carving the square part outside the circle.
Also it appears that all the project will be carved with the 1/16" carving bit including drilling holes? I don't see how you can use different bits for carving and cutting. My question would be -- When you program a progect in another software designer package ,will it tell the carvewright machine when to change bits for carving or drilling.I couldn't click on just the outside circle to apply the 1/8" cutting bit.

Also there are no depths of cut set for the 1/8" holes or the big hole, unless you done that in another program.

joe
01-09-2007, 02:35 AM
It appears to me by your latest test picture , that you are still carving the square part outside the circle.

Well, I'm a bit confused. I'm pasting a gray scale image into carvewright. There are three depths in the image. white, black and 50% gray. When I paste it, I set the depth of the carving to .82. My assumption is that this is the deepest part of the picture I pasted (I think white) and that black is uncarved. I figure 50% gray is somewhere in between and not very precise, but that is ok.



Also it appears that all the project will be carved with the 1/16" carving bit including drilling holes?
I wouldn't have expected that. I instructed the software to optimize the bits for the tiger/lion in the middle. I also expected that choosing the drill tool would automatically indicate use a drill bit. Is this ot the case? Where do I click to instruct the software to use the drill bit.


My question would be -- When you program a progect in another software designer package ,will it tell the carvewright machine when to change bits for carving or drilling.I couldn't click on just the outside circle to apply the 1/8" cutting bit.

The outside circle is drawn with the external package. since my board depth is .898 inches and the carving depth is .820, I'm expecting this to be a very deep cut.


Also there are no depths of cut set for the 1/8" holes or the big hole, unless you done that in another program.

The drill holes are all set to drill through the board.

I'm attaching the picture that I'm importing in case that helps. Also, I am a mac user. I wonder if there is a software version difference that is making this confusing. It could also be that I need to read some other part of the documentation. I'm sure someone is screaming RTFM at me right now.

Sorry for all the dumb questions and thanks for your help and patience

- Joe

Dan-Woodman
01-10-2007, 04:02 PM
Sorry , I've been away.
When I dowload your project and click on it all I get is an outside square highlighted and your holes. And , when I click on the holes all I get is a diameter of the hole . The drill tool icon does not even light up. and no depth is indicated.
In the picture you can see around the outside edge that it is carved and tapers up to the edge of the board
Maybe someone with more computer experiance can help.
Was any of this done in the carvewright designer.


After looking at this again , the drill icon does light up,but when I click on it , it doen't do anything . However, I do see in the carving list that you have selected drill bits for the holes.
When I click to see your board size , I get that it's 15x15 .
Thats still too big even with a sled. About 14 3/4 is the largest you can get by with.