First projects coming off of the machine

[rgant05]

Here are my first projects after having to send the machine back right out of the box due to carving bit chuck problems. I know there are not very original, but hope they produce some conversation where they will be going and maybe some sales leads. :) Although they are pretty basic items, it feels good just to get something coming out of it as hard as I have worked to try to learn it. Now on for something a little more difficult..... like cut path :( (I'm still afraid to take the carving bit out of the machine to put the cutting bit in) For anyone interested I put a copy of the Red Hatter sign in the patter sharing area as a mpc file, as well as the Red Hat logo by itself as a ptn file.

[DWD]

Very nice work. I bought the Jantz video and am trying to work with it in Xara. Great signs Good luck.

[Sarge]

Pretty nice stuff, what are the cut outs on the Postmaster sign? You're on the right track. One step at a time.

[rgant05]

Ok Sarge....... you would have to ask LOL The cedar was left over from another project making bookshelves where I had joined several smaller pieces. I like to use biscuits for joining wood like that. Not giving the first thought about them being there, I let the depth of the edge get about 1/32" into the biscuit. As Maxwell Smart would have said.... I almost missed it by "that much". It was already the second time I cut this project.....the first time was scaled down and cut much to deep leaving letters too thin etc (design issues LOL), so I change some numbers and recut it on the wood that I actually wanted it on but didn't think all the details through. I was HOPING that it might be viewed as a light steak of sap wood in the cedar as it actually is on the right hand side. I didn't think it looked that bad so I took the attitude that is common in one of my other hobbies of bead weaving. Native American bead artist refer to errors such as this as "Spirit Beads", allowing imperfections to exist as a testimonial to the Creator that we cannot be perfect as He is and to attempt to be so is an arrogant stance on our part........... So that my friends is what I will refer to as my newly coined phrase of "Spirit Grain" in the wood.

[Sarge]

Not "bustin" your chops, just couldn't figure what they were.

[Kenm810]

rgant05

Great work on the signs and the finish looks almost liquid
I also like carving cedar when I can, especially aromatic cedar.
Love the smell when the machine really gets into it. Unfortunately
My sons don’t seem to appreciate as much as I do. They tell me my shop smells like a hamster cage when I carve it,
oh well I guess the key words there are My Shop.
I like your phrase of "Spirit Grain" I’ll think of it when I have those little happy mistakes
Again very nice work
Ken ;)

[Bill]

Nice, very nice work. ;)

[pkunk]

Perfection is crafted into each of my creations-everything else is character!:D:D

[Gman_Ind]

Does anyone else subscribe to 'Fine Woodworking" ?
I liked the article on fixing things like that. a simple cut out and a correct plug and glue and there is no need to explain 'What happened" ?
I learned not to start over, just fix it.

[pamjmayo]

I love your signs. What fonts did you use? My mother wants me to make her a sign that says "The Honorable" Olive Lomas. I've carved it several times but the fonts are wrong and the lettering breaks off. I'd appreciate your input. Thank You

[rgant05]

Hi Pam,

Thanks for the compliments. The fonts are probably not as important as the depth of cut and hight of the item. My first sign, that was actually the Bubba-postmaster sign, was a disaster. I cut it in birch which might have aggrevated the problem some, but the main problems were 1)that I didn't have a board as big as I needed so I allowed the machine scale it down just slightly to fit the board I had which made the letters even smaller than designed, 2) the letter were cut much too deep which with the taper on the bit made the tops of them super then and prone to chipping (and did), 3) I used a font that should have been used with the "bold" option to make them a little thicker stoke of the letter. The combination of all of these provided letters that chipped and cracked on the "postmaster" wording of the sign, but everything else seemed to deep also, so I modified the sign reducing the depth of cut and increasing the thickness of the letter by bolding and it did much better. I also cut it full size that I designed (with the proper size board).

The font that I used on the postmaster text was Arial Rounded MT Bold and then selected the Bold option to make it even more bold. The name part of that was done in Cooper Black which first of all was larger letters, but the font itself is a bold font by nature of its design, so I didn't do anything else to it. The other sign "Maggie" was done using a font named "Magneto", but I did this sign in its entirety in Corel Draw x3 creating the rounding on the different surfaces such as the Red Hat logo and the dome shape on the top of the letters. It is really a neet effect that can be added before it gets imported into the Designer program. (Note: if you have or get Corel Draw, I highly recommend Jon Jantz's video turorials on doing this kind of stuff) Otherwise the tops of the letters when using the text feature of designer are going to be flat. The sign that I am posting with this message used Harlow Solid Italic font, but was also done in Corel (just the text) and was manipulated to produce approx 1/8" high letters that were 1/8" at the base and a rounded 1/16" on top. Also used the feature in Corel Draw to provide the curved path of the letters. I know Designer has the ability to do an arched path, but I think that is the extent of its capabilities. In Corel you can make any shape of path and fit the text to that path, so the possibilities are endless. It takes a little bit more work to do the rounding or bevel top effect in Corel, but it is really worth it in terms of the final results.

Anyway.... back to your problems, if you would like you can post the sign that you are having problems with (and any pictures if you have them) and I would be happy to take a look at it and offer any suggestions, or an analysis of whats going wrong. I'm no expert by any means, but I'm getting educated daily on this stuff :)

Roger

[cajunpen]

Pam
I took the liberty of creating your Mother's name in Corel - take a look at the .ptn file and see if it is something you might want to carve. If not, or any changes, let me know and I'll give it another shot.

Bill

Of course, if you like you can add a region around the text for a "raised" look.

[pamjmayo]

Could you be any kinder or more generous to a stranger. Thank you so much. I'll carve it tomorrow for her and see which one I like best. You are so knowledgeable about Corel and I've never even seen it. It's a bit overwhelming learning all this stuff. How do I post a picture? I'd like to send you some of mine for your input.

[rgant05]

Pam,
Its pretty easy to post a picture once you have done it, but a little bit intimidating the first time.... especially with the new forum format. Whey you create a post or a reply to a post, scroll down once you have written your text and you will see the "Manage Attachments" button in the attach file category. It will bring in a pop-up window that will pretty much walk you through it. The various file types have size limits. Like a jpg has 97.7 kb limit and an mpc file has a 979kb limit. So if you have something like a 5 mbit camera you will have to resize it to be around 90 mb file size. (the closer to 80-90 mb range you can get the bigger the picture will be and the better the details will show on the forum.) In the pop up window you will have the option to browse your computer to find the file that you want to upload, then press upload and it will show up as uploaded on the window. When finished, close the window and then submit your post as normal. Once you've done it once, it will be much easier.

Roger

[cajunpen]

You are quite welcome Pam. I certainly do not want to give you the impression that I am any type of Corel expert - I'm muddling through it myself, with the help of Jon Jantz's tutorials. Text is fairly straight forward and usually carves quite nicely. Let me know how it turns out - any changes that you need would only take a few minutes to do, so don't be bashful about asking. Several of the forum members will be happy to help anyone out that needs some "special" text for their carvings. Good luck with your project.

[Sarge]

Could you be any kinder or more generous to a stranger. Thank you so much. I'll carve it tomorrow for her and see which one I like best. You are so knowledgeable about Corel and I've never even seen it. It's a bit overwhelming learning all this stuff. How do I post a picture? I'd like to send you some of mine for your input.

I took a look at it, just a little "tweak" and it's ready for carving. Here is the tweaked copy.

[Dan-Woodman]

I think the letters are easier to read if you drop the feather to 1/8" instead of 1/4". Just my thought.

[pamjmayo]

Sarge, these are so nice. We carved the first one and my mother loves it. She's hanging it on her door. (HA) She's 85 and it's hard to find things she doesn't have. Thank you.

[pamjmayo]

Hi Cajun: Thank you for the help with the text. I love this forum!

Pam

[Gman_Ind]

Just a mushy gushy post, I think it is absolutely wonderful how everyone is so helpful and generous to each other. We all have machine/software/time /space etc. issues and to take time for your day to reach out and help someone get through their day takes a big person, thank you all who contribute.:D
Edit, Hmm it appears when I hit my 100th post I became a senior member, now for those senior moments..

[Dan-Woodman]

Congradulations on becoming a senior.
I'm starting to get mail saying we'll give you the senior discount, etc. And I'm only 52.

[JOHNB]

Hey Dan--is That A Senior Discount From Cw???lol

[Dan-Woodman]

Sorry John no go
It wasn't too many months ago though that the two bits that come with it were only $19.95 ea. That is until Sears got involved.