Thinking of buying a Carvewright

[clweed]

I never heard of carvewright until a about a week ago when I was on Sawmill Creek scanning the
Friends of the creek list to find someone to do some carving.

I have attached a link to the pattern (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/ByrdcliffeDR_pat.pdf) and the finished product for a project that I am going to build.

My question is can this be done with the included software or is additional software required? And how difficult is it to convert?

Thank you,

Lee Weed

[bergerud]

What you want to do (convert a bitmap line drawing into a pattern to carve) can be done in at least a few ways. Some would require an additional add on. First you have to get the curves into Designer.


You could free draw the curves in the basic Designer software which comes with the machine.
You import the bitmap and trace the curves in Designer with the Vector Drawing suite add on.
You could trace the curves in another program like CorelDraw and then import them into Designer with the DXF importer addon.
You could do as in 3 and someone on the forum here would import it for you for free.

What you want to do is not the easiest type of first project to do with the machine. There are many members, however, here on the forum who will be excited to help. It looks like a cool project.

[fwharris]

Lee,

You can do it with just the basic designer or for better results you can use the dxf importer.

The pictures are what it would look like in each.. pdf converted to dxf and pdf converted to an image file.

[clweed]

Thank you for answering. Would it make a difference if the pdf was colored to show a little depth and then scanned?

Would some of the leaves be at different depths?

Thanks,

Lee

[dbfletcher]

shades of grey give depth. White is the highest, black is the lowest (or the other way around.. i never remember). And with the invert function, it normally doesnt make a difference anyways.

[fwharris]

With just the standard pdf conversion these will be just flat. With the dxf it is carved with a V bit on either the top surface of the board or with "conforming vectors" it could be carved into a regeion. The one that was converted into an image file would be carved with the 1/16" carving bit. This would be a raster or pattern carve. It would be carved into the wood below the top surface.

It you wanted to shape or form to the leaves you would need the 2D/3D tools or use some other editor to give them shape.

It looked like to me that the leaves in your image are just painted to show depth...

[clweed]

It looked like to me that the leaves in your image are just painted to show depth...

After looking at it again, I think you are right about them being flat.

Lee

[dbfletcher]

Im not so sure. Ether the leaves do overlap... or the painter did a great job. look at the flash highlights. I think there is different depths.

[fwharris]

Im not so sure. Ether the leaves do overlap... or the painter did a great job. look at the flash highlights. I think there is different depths.

the only "depth" is the areas around the leaves.. It would take a while but one could draw in regions to be carved like the picture

[clweed]

I could add some relief to the edges of the leaves where they meet by using hand tools or a foredom

Lee

[brdad]

I found a copy of the magazine with the article online. The doors are carved by hand using that template. The leaves have some variation carved in them to give them depth.

All that could be done by making a grayscale image in a graphics program like GIMP OR with some of the advanced software and then carved on the CW..

I don't feel right posting a link to copy since I'm sure it's copyrighted, and it's on a Russian site. But here's a pic showing the doors being done.
And, if you're adventurous, do a Google search for "April 2006 Popular Woodworking" in quotes.

[tierman]

Couldn't this be replicated by taking an oak or maple leaf pattern into Designer and putting them at different depths and angles and you could develop your own design? Would not match exactly but would be similar with no copyright problems.

[brdad]

Couldn't this be replicated by taking an oak or maple leaf pattern into Designer and putting them at different depths and angles and you could develop your own design? Would not match exactly but would be similar with no copyright problems.

That is actually a very good idea as well. As far as copyright, the pattern is freely available online, my only copyright concern was the copy of the magazine itself.

[clweed]

I purchased the article here (http://www.shopwoodworking.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=byrdcliffe) so copyright isn't an issue. Playing with the demo software I figured out how to use the paint bucket to lower the areas around the leaves.
How would you adjust the depth and add a different color or depth?

[Digitalwoodshop]

Something I thought of doing, was a test board that had circles and a pallet of gray scale colors along with the color percentage next to it in Centerline. Assign carve region to each color and after cut you have a better feel to color to depth.

I did one for Slots with a overlap of rectangles and vector cut outline. A real world test board.


AL

[clweed]

The 4th of July sale just may have forced me to buy now!

[bjbethke]

I never heard of carvewright until a about a week ago when I was on Sawmill Creek scanning the
Friends of the creek list to find someone to do some carving.

I have attached a link to the pattern (http://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/ByrdcliffeDR_pat.pdf) and the finished product for a project that I am going to build.

My question is can this be done with the included software or is additional software required? And how difficult is it to convert?

Thank you,

Lee Weed

The CW programs I use to make patterns are Designer and the Pattern Editor. I don't have the Newer CW programs, I use after market tools. You can make the complete door with the CW unit. I used CorelDRAW X5 and Photoshop to make this pattern and used ShaderMap Pro to give it a 3d look. There are several Free programs to do this also. I can't justify the New CW programs.

The “Z” Truck movement works with the Grayscale image, 0 = Transparent, 1 = Black (carves into the board), 255 = White (carves on the on the top side). With a Positive image, 128 is a flat image. You can adjust the Grayscale with Photoshop.

[clweed]

bjbethke

thanks for posting that, I am still undecided on purchasing the Carvewright before the sale ends. How many would buy again at the starter package price , lets assume this was before there was a 2.0.

Also I have a concern about the noise, I live in a subdivision with a 2 car garage as my woodshop.

Thank you,

Lee

[Bigtyme]

Hi Lee,
I bought my CW almost 2 years ago. I spent more than than current sale price and would buy it again at my original price. I really haven't had any issues with mine. I have over 200 hours on it and other than a flex shaft (which was my fault), I haven't had any issues. I have been wood working for almost 30 years and adding this to my shop has opened a whole new dimension and my clients really enjoy the new options. It is a little noisy, but much quieter than most tools such as planers and routers. I don't believe it will offend your neighbors. As far as 2.0, I will treat it as I have treated all other options for my CW. I will do a full review of the features and if I can justify the cost, I will add it to my system. I have purchased a number of the software add ons such as centerline and keyhole as well as others, but I am not skilled enough in CAD (yet) to justify the 2D and 3D add ons. Bottom line is, I wouldn't be without a CW in my shop and the current sale is a great deal in my opinion.
Hope this helps....

[gregsolano]

bjbethke

thanks for posting that, I am still undecided on purchasing the Carvewright before the sale ends. How many would buy again at the starter package price , lets assume this was before there was a 2.0.

Also I have a concern about the noise, I live in a subdivision with a 2 car garage as my woodshop.

Thank you,

Lee

I live in a subdivision where my garage shares a common wall with my neighbors garage. all the houses are close. The only complaint I ever got was one time when I was trying to finish a project and let the machine run late into the night. So now I run it only during the day and only with the garage door closed. I would buy another (i own two) but I am not happy with the new software charges for yearly upgrades. I will not purchase the upgrades until I have to, mostly in protest. You can do almost anything you want with the basic software, centerline, and conforming software. I bought both my machines used in order to save money.

[Capt Bruce]

Go for it,

I bought my first one 3+ years ago for far more and it has paid for itself. My second unit is working off its mortgage as well and it's going fine. With great machines and especially the added value of the LHR, helpful colleagues like BJB and the rest of the Forum there are few things one cannot do here. I love this open sharing of problems (opportunities), helpful ideas and encouragement and would even pay to be a member of the CW Forum for all I've learned here about this machine and how to use it "smarter not harder." Hope we can welcome you to the Forum full time!

[clweed]

I wanted to thank everyone for the replies and thank Connie for the tour today. I purchased the carvewright, but it is going to be a few weeks before I can get it set up to use.

Thank you,

Lee