New Design to Test

[Cavallo]

So, here's one I assembled out of bits. I used a mishmash of tools as diverse as Photoshop, Illustrator, a couple of 3d modeling packages, an STL of a skull from some university, and some clipart from my place of work. All of it assembled into this;

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I suppose it's a bit cliché, but I can't wait to see how it turns out. BTW - machine has arrived, seems to be in good working order, RingNeck dust collector is installed and working wonderfully. Thanks to all who helped and guided me thus far. This forum has been incredibly helpful.

[kennelmaster]

Very nice! Can't wait to see it finished!

pjs

[SharonB]

All I can say is ....."that's certainly different." I like the way you've put the background behind the main "object." Look forward to seeing this one finished.

[fwharris]

Well it looks like you made good use of your time while waiting for the machine delivery. Now I guess we will have to wait to see how it carved out.

Thanks again for your order!

[eelamb]

Looks as if you are well on your way. Nice work.

[Cavallo]

Here it is in Oak. Several lessons...

1) I think I'm trying to carry too much detail. As the second piece I ever carved, EVER, I was a bit aghast at the software telling me it would take 7.5 hours, so I did it in Normal quality, rather than Optimal as I'd have preferred. I either have to use less detail, or get better at scheduling. At Normal, it quoted me 2.5 hours. It took 2.

2) I need to unlearn a few lessons I have ingrained from the world of 2d graphic design. Probably in conjunction with point 1, the texturing I put on the skull, which would have lent visual interest on paper, just looks like fuzz on wood. A smooth skull would have been better.

3) Related to point 2, I need to consider the z-axis in composition. The skull pops here. In hindsight, I think the wings should have. I'm very used to 2d composition, and have an idea about how the third dimension should work, but it's not sufficiently baked into my head yet. I have a small depth gauge. I'm going to start measuring not merely the maximum depth of real-world examples as I had planned, but different points in a design to get a feel for what "real" carvings are like in the z-axis from a compositional standpoint.

4) I have more reading to do. The machine surprised me with the offer to 'auto-jig.' This clearly shrank the design. Quality probably suffered as a result.

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On the plus side, the background pattern worked out brilliantly. It's like damask in wood. I'm happy with it, overall.

[eelamb]

The carving came out quite nice. OPT mode would have made the details come out better. You give up time vs detail in normal mode.

[Cavallo]

Yeah. Kinda figured. My current plan is to use less detail at design time, and save the detail for a composition I'm really, really happy with. If I'm going to invest 7.5 hours in a carving, I had better be in love with it.

Also - for general information, I used a combination of penetrating Teflon chain-lube and moly-graph grease on the flex shaft, and it *barely* got warm to the touch throughout a 2 hour carve.

[fwharris]

Hey for your 2nd carve ever I would say you did very well! Do not give up on your ideas for background detail, they add a lot to the design elements of the finished project.

Eddie is right on the difference/trade off between quality settings and clean up time spent after the carve. You would of seen a difference if you carved it at the best setting even.

On the "auto jog", check to see if the machine is set up as a "default" to jog to position. If so it can be turned off. It could also be that the machine measured your board as being smaller than your design size.

[bergerud]

4) I have more reading to do. The machine surprised me with the offer to 'auto-jig.' This clearly shrank the design. Quality probably suffered as a result.

According to the software manual (page 141)

"The last option is to choose the ‘Auto Jig’ option which will add
to measurements that were originally called but preserving the design with no alteration to it."

Are you sure you did not choose to scale? My understanding of auto jig is that it only prompts for a larger board.

[floridacarver]

The carving looks great. Do you plan on apply stain?

[SharonB]

I thought your design was "different" and I'll say the same for the carving. But I'm fascinated by your end product. If you decided to stain/paint this carve I hope you post the results.

[Cavallo]

Well, I will admit to having, shall we say... a "non-standard" personal aesthetic. I don't mean any slight to anyone, but I have no interest in signage, or pictures of babies, or canned Victorian scrollwork that's been anamorphically scaled into oblivion. I'm coming from a background that's a mix of information technology, print media, and historical re-enactment. I'm going to naturally gravitate toward fairly classical elements, but will often want to use them in non-standard ways. I have no idea where all this will wind up, but it'll be a fun trip.

As to staining, I had wanted to fume the oak with ammonia. The carve at "normal" quality, after reading the posts here, didn't seem worth it, so being impatient anyway I slapped some minwax "English Chestnut" on it. I'm going to finish it with some simple Deft spray and then antique it with some black shoe polish. We'll see what happens. It'll be a few days, but I will indeed post the results.

One thing I discovered that I'd like opinions on - before the carve, the cheapo piece of oak from Lowes (it was a test!) was nice and flat. After the carve, it's cupping. I'm assuming this is some sort of normal phenomenon when using mediocre wood, and that if I had used something like tight-grained, rift-sawn white oak it would be far less likely. Is this a reasonable assumption? I mean - I assume there's a good reason why (for example) basswood was THE carving wood throughout the middle ages.

And apropos of nothing, Sharon, it's interesting that your post above was your 666th. :)

[spalted]

I like the design path your heading down.

Basswood was a traditional carving wood because it was easy to carve with traditional carving tools and is relatively straight grain and few knots.

It's only a guess but I assume your oak is cupping because of wood removal. If the outer edges are curving down the face is absorbing moisture. If the outer edges are curving up it is losing moisture.
It's trying to reach equilibrium moisture content. The moisture content in the center of the board was different than the face. Carving it opened up more of that center material.

Not the best explanation, but I am typing on my phone, sorry.

I'd like to hear your 3d design software preferences.

[Cavallo]

It's cupping in toward the design - so the back would be expanding? I haven't got it in front of me though. I'll look again tomorrow. I think a moisture equilibrium thing makes sense.

Software - I have some familiarity with Maya, but I'm not fluent. I've used it in the past to produce some scenes for eventual use in 2d designs, but that was some time ago. Right now I'm kinda grooving on Modo. A friend has it, and I've been playing with the "geometry to brush" function. It makes converting a mesh into a displacement map a trivial process, and gives you nice, HDR output. It's how I did the skull in this composition. It was originally an STL file. I haven't yet delved into using it for my own modeling, but I'm sure I will be soon enough.

[Cavallo]

Duuh. The back isn't expanding. The front is contracting because it's 20°F outside and the air is dryer than North Africa. Suddenly, the exposed interior is shrinking. Thanks, spalted.

[RogerB]

To fix the contracting warm the other side with a heat light or a heat gun.It will flaten the board out. Then seal top and bottom.Also like the shoe polish finnish works great.

[dehrlich]

As to the wood cupping... doesn't matter what the wood is, if it's not dry and stable, then you remove a bunch all at once, it may do that. First make sure it's dry to start, 7-9% at most. Then let it acclimate to your shop for a week or so. If you plane it, like take a 1/4" or more off, let it acclimate again stickered somewhere nice and flat... with weight on it perhaps. Then carve. Even still it may cup. I just did a 8x10 carving on a piece of cherry that cupped a bit. You can put the carving on stickers with weight on it for a few days and see if the cup flattens once it acclimates.

[badbert]

There are some members here who only use glue-ups for this reason. I find I have this problem more with Big Box wood. The wood from the LumberLord does not warp as easy. Must be because his stuff is well dried.

[Cavallo]

Here it is with some dark stain, deft, and a stain wash over that still drying. A friend felt that while the elements may not be specifically, the composition gave off an Egyptian vibe. I may run with that and dry-brush some acrylic gold over the wings. Then again, that may be tacky. Not sure yet. This is just an experiment, so I feel a bit empowered to make mistakes.

[Cavallo]

Also - I worked out how to defeat cupping easily and with minimal attention on my part. It happened to my quatrefoil carve as well. Extrapolating from the suspected cause noted here, I placed it face down over my coffee mug here at the office - the mug filled with hot water. In about half an hour it was perfectly flat. It stayed that way till I got it home and sealed it. Last night, I took the skull panel, and treated it similarly by laying it across a cake pan filled with hot tap water. Half an hour later, it was flat as a… well… as a board, actually. :) Sealed it, and it's been fine since.

[CNC Carver]

Looks great. Nice idea with cup/pan of water.

[earlyrider]

In case anyone is curious, the skull is a possum.

[Cavallo]

Give that man a gold star!