Roy Fleshman
09-14-2014, 09:12 PM
Spoiler alert, I tend to ramble, but some of this may make you more eperienced members nod and smile.
Got the machine at 12:30 which was delivered to a business next to my shop about 30 minutes earlier. I had taken the day off my real job so I could get started. The business neighbor forgot to tell me it was in and it was only after I chased down the post man leaving our secure complex that I found out he delivered it. Unpacked, read the manual did all the safety and set up checks and started looking for that first piece to carve. I wanted to measure the robustness so I started with a piece of rock hard maple. See the Fleur-de-lis below, 18 minutes later, two hours after receiving the machine out it came. I was immensely impressed. This would have taken me ten hours to carve not to mention wear and tear on the elbows and shoulders from pounding. Spent some time uploading various software and other attachments like pattern editor centerline etc. Had to wait to do this because you need the serial number of the machine to get started. At least that is what I did.
Anyway. from there, did a number of carvings, six in all and made a few mistakes along the way. I have included them. Mainly they were due to not understanding the depth and height issue and the relationships with other carvings. Hand carvers don't worry about these things so much, you can do some things to balance them out as you go. Anyway, feathering also proved to a challenge didn't like what the initial cowboy boots carving produced. It was way too deep. I have always carved deep it is my favorite. but takes a lot of time and sometimes it is overkill. As I sat there trying to visualize what I was trying to do, my eyes drifted over to the side and I saw a dime. I picked it up and looked at the incredible detail that is found in less than a hair thickness. This helped me reset my brain and I proceeded from there. With some advice from here and poking around I was able to download a clash of clans character and convert it into a usable graphic. First attempt I accidentally inverted it. Still don't understood how. But I got a new appreciating for the rotate tool. It gives you some excellent visuals. Balancing depth and height continued to peobve a challenge but I eventually figured it out for now, with limited waste of wood. And I have plenty of wood. That is a basic recap, by the way I did all this with the 1/16 carving bit. It was the only one that made it to me so far. That and the 1/8 cutting bit. I have the router cutting bits but I will give them a work out later. Here are the results of the last three days. Thanks for all the help and positive comments.
71721717187171971720717227172471723
Got the machine at 12:30 which was delivered to a business next to my shop about 30 minutes earlier. I had taken the day off my real job so I could get started. The business neighbor forgot to tell me it was in and it was only after I chased down the post man leaving our secure complex that I found out he delivered it. Unpacked, read the manual did all the safety and set up checks and started looking for that first piece to carve. I wanted to measure the robustness so I started with a piece of rock hard maple. See the Fleur-de-lis below, 18 minutes later, two hours after receiving the machine out it came. I was immensely impressed. This would have taken me ten hours to carve not to mention wear and tear on the elbows and shoulders from pounding. Spent some time uploading various software and other attachments like pattern editor centerline etc. Had to wait to do this because you need the serial number of the machine to get started. At least that is what I did.
Anyway. from there, did a number of carvings, six in all and made a few mistakes along the way. I have included them. Mainly they were due to not understanding the depth and height issue and the relationships with other carvings. Hand carvers don't worry about these things so much, you can do some things to balance them out as you go. Anyway, feathering also proved to a challenge didn't like what the initial cowboy boots carving produced. It was way too deep. I have always carved deep it is my favorite. but takes a lot of time and sometimes it is overkill. As I sat there trying to visualize what I was trying to do, my eyes drifted over to the side and I saw a dime. I picked it up and looked at the incredible detail that is found in less than a hair thickness. This helped me reset my brain and I proceeded from there. With some advice from here and poking around I was able to download a clash of clans character and convert it into a usable graphic. First attempt I accidentally inverted it. Still don't understood how. But I got a new appreciating for the rotate tool. It gives you some excellent visuals. Balancing depth and height continued to peobve a challenge but I eventually figured it out for now, with limited waste of wood. And I have plenty of wood. That is a basic recap, by the way I did all this with the 1/16 carving bit. It was the only one that made it to me so far. That and the 1/8 cutting bit. I have the router cutting bits but I will give them a work out later. Here are the results of the last three days. Thanks for all the help and positive comments.
71721717187171971720717227172471723