Homework Projects

[cooldxx]

Here is my projects. Project with Jolie is a Corian ( Lithophane)

[Mike]

Excellent job on the corian! Can you tell me how thick it was? What was your carving depth? I have been wanting to dabble in the plastics for some time now but I have had to many other projects to do.
Mike

[cooldxx]

Corian was .25 thick. You have to leave about .02-.03 and carve about .1
Make sure you use smaller step. Hope that helps. If you need corian just let me know:)

[rjustice]

Wow, This is amazing... how much work did you have to do to prepare the picture, or was it a black and white imported directly into designer?

Very very impressive...

Ron

[Bill]

Hello cooldxx,
Very nice work, looks great.http://www.carvewright.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[cooldxx]

You have to make BW picture and make it negative. Machining time about 1 hour to make 6x8 or 5x7 picture. I have tons of corian at work and play with it everyday:)

[rjustice]

Cooldxx,
I assume you have carved this from the back, and are lighting from the back side and the front is smoothe?... did you have to polish it or does it come out with this kind of clarity out of the machine?

What kind of deal do you have on the corian scraps.. i wouldnt mind playing around with a couple of pieces..

Ron

[cooldxx]

You have to carve from the top or front. Light shines from the back. Another words smooth side is on the back. It will look a lot clearer this way.

I have a lot of scraps at home. 6 x 8 ( $1.50 a piece ), 8 x 10 ( $2.75 a piece) and 8 x 12 ( $3.00 a piece ). All Corian is a Bone color. Shipping is extra and depends on the weight and location. Let me know
My email is mmarano2004@yahoo.com

[pamjmayo]

These pics are amazing. I am a little confused as I would like to purchase some Corian from you. If I put a piece in to carve that's less than 24" long, the picture comes out very tiny. How do you get the machine to give up the 3" on either side of the board. Please let me know as I'm dying to try this. Also, what program did you use to convert the B&W to a negative?

Thanks.

[cooldxx]

You can use any Photo Program to convert from BW to negative. I use Vectric and ArtCam. If you need corian email me.

[pamjmayo]

Hi, I need to know if I can use 8X10 for pics. Usually if I don't give the CC an extra 6" of length, I get a tiny carving (2inches or less). Can you tell me how you handle this before I order? Thanks for the info on the pics. I'll see if I can download one of these programs. I'm glad you're not using Corel as that is way too confusing and expensive.

Pam

[Kenm810]

Hi Pam,

You can mount the 8”x10” or smaller ¼” Corian with double sided tape on a 12”x20” sled,
and carve the picture full size on the Corian; there are several posts on the forum on how to
make a sled for your machine. Put ¼” sides on it for the rollers to ride on,
and with the 20” length it will stay under the rollers, giving you a full 8x10in.picture.
Give the machine your board size as 12"x20" and the thickness of the base of your sled
plus the thickness of the Corian (example .75 base plus .25 Corian = 1inch)
The one pictured below is one I use that’s 16x14in.for carving 6x6in.wood tiles

[pamjmayo]

Thank you so much for the details on the sled. I hadn't even thought of that one. So, if I build the sled and put the corian on it, how does the machine know where the carving begins. Boy, can you tell I'm new or what????

[cooldxx]

Here comes another one. .25 Bone color Corian 6x8. Took me about 1 hour to make it. The clue is: Die Another Day.

[HillBilly]

Great work cooldxx.

I`ll be getting a PM out to you later tonight as I have looked all around my area here for some Corian to no avail. One of the things I`ve wanted to do the most has been to attempt the use of it in some shadow boxes.

Besides that my wife saw your post too, so now I`m out to the shed to build a sled or two. I did have to ask the wife if I was building "Rosebud" though. I thought it was kinda funny, she just looked at me kinda strange... :)

[cooldxx]

Here is another Lithophane to see. Made on .25 thick bone color Corian.

[pamjmayo]

Beautiful! I'm visiting family in Portland, OR and can't wait to try this. I'll be ordering some Corian for trying this technique. Is your litho. standing in front of a light or did you build a box? Anyone wanting to have the machine pay for itself. this is the ticket!

[pamjmayo]

I love your religious picture. Is that something you can share?

[cooldxx]

Just came back from the "Island". Here is .25 Bone color Corian Lithophane for everybody to see.

[pamjmayo]

Hi, still in Portland but reading my forum every day. I downloaded Corel but can't find a way to turn a pic into a negative. Anyone help?

[cooldxx]

Here is the simple way of doing it. Open Microsoft Photo Editor. Everyone should have that program on the HomePC.
1) Open the desired picture
2) Go to File/Properties
3) Change to Grayscale 8 bit
4) Go to Effects/Negative...
5) Save As (name) negative So you have not overwrite Original

And your picture now has Negative effect. Other programs should have similar options.

Hope that helps
Alex

[eepers]

Is this a material you could buy easily locally at Lowes or Home Depot or something? I'd like to try some stuff like this, but don't want to have to track it down or wait for shipping every time I screw up a piece :)

[cooldxx]

I dont know if you could buy Corian easily at Home depot or Lowes. You could try local contractors who are dealing with kitchens or bathrooms. Or can email me for a quote for Corian.

Alex

[natman]

Nice work..If I use Corian do I need to build a sled or will it feed through without one?

[forqnc]

Nice work..If I use Corian do I need to build a sled or will it feed through without one?

Minimum depth on the CC is 1/2", so anything below that thickness will need to be on a sled.

[Kenm810]

Natman,

If you decide to build a sled for ¼” Corian, Make the side rails and fillers for the pressure rolls the same thickness as the Corian stock and long enough to select stay rollers it the set up. The fillers plus some masking, or painters tape will help keep the project in place on the sled. -- Remember to add at least 3 ½” to each end of the sled - larger than the project and add the thickness of the Corian plus the sled to get your project thickness.

PS. Corian can be easily fine sanded, buffed, and satin polished so both sides look equally as good

[ChiselMeTimbers]

These Corian carvings look incredible. How would they look (and stand up to the weather) as a window pane? I imagine a single pane or even a design divided up between numerous panes.
Thanks.

[Kenm810]

ChiselMeTimbers,

I never thought of it as a window pane, I have hung or mounted it inside the window as a sun catcher, without any noticeable harm done. But the piece I keep by the grill on the patio dose darken a little over the summer; it might be a tad UV sensitive. I normally just hit it my orbital and some 320 grit and comes right back and is good for another year.

[ChiselMeTimbers]

Thanks Ken,

Very interesting. Your screen looks fantastic!

CMT

[Kenm810]

CMT,

Thanks for the Complement on the screen but that’s all it is, -- looks, none of it really exists.
What it actually is; is the way I show my clients how a piece of art work can or could look in certain setting or display. I generated it in the computer. So you might be able to see what a carving might look as a component in a window.

[ChiselMeTimbers]

Ken,

LOL. Works for me. Amazing what one can do with computers these days. Maybe someday someone will figure out how to control a router with it. Probably take some NASA scientists to do it.

CMT

[forqnc]

OK may be a stupid question, but I'm the type to ask.
What is the difference between Corian and Plexiglass from the big box stores?

[Kenm810]

Hi forqnc,

Corian is a synthetic resinous man made product to simulate semi to totally opaque marble and stone. It can be cut, drilled, sanded, and machined with most wood working tools, And is often used in homes as a solid surfaced counter top in the kitchen or baths. It is normally only sold through suppliers to the trades, like cabinet or counter top companies. Most of the actual Corian we can get is the scraps or cut offs from these companies. However there are other similar products by different manufactures. And are available in the over the counter market. As for the Plexiglas it is another man made material that can be a solid color,transparent, or translucent. But only a few of these types’ of products can be successfully carved on a CW or CC machine. And can be bought at any plastics supplier or as you say big box outlets.

[forqnc]

Thanks for the info Ken, when I get ready to try, I'll source some Corian.

[Mikewiz]

Corian was .25 thick. You have to leave about .02-.03 and carve about .1
Make sure you use smaller step. Hope that helps. If you need corian just let me know:)
Hey cooldxx,
What do you normally set the height at? do you keep it at 100? or do you make it less.

[cooldxx]

Like I said before. To make a good lithophane you have to set up or thats how I do. Working space about .100 and leave at the bottom .03-.04. Make sure the picture has negative effect or you Litho will be like a negative film.
So again make sure the bit will not go thru the corian and Z=.03 .04. ( where the bottom of the corian is Z=0. The carving depth set around .100. Step should be set between at 8-10%. The smaller step the longer it will take to carve it. But the quality will be better.

Hope that helps.
Alex

[Mikewiz]

Like I said before. To make a good lithophane you have to set up or thats how I do. Working space about .100 and leave at the bottom .03-.04. Make sure the picture has negative effect or you Litho will be like a negative film.
So again make sure the bit will not go thru the corian and Z=.03 .04. ( where the bottom of the corian is Z=0. The carving depth set around .100. Step should be set between at 8-10%. The smaller step the longer it will take to carve it. But the quality will be better.

Hope that helps.
Alex
I don't understand what you mean when you say step should be 8- 10%

[HillBilly]

I beleive what "cooldxx" is referring to to is the quality of the bit settings, however I could be intirely wrong about that.

I have found that with the carving of "Corian" as well as a few other manufactured materials, each of them , as well as the quality of the photograph used. Lend themselves to mostly a "trial and error" meens, until ones begins to have an eye for it.

I tend to use mostly a setting of 1/2 the depth of the material (give or take) being used with the settings of the carvings being mostly around 35 to 85 in height in the Corian.

I hope this helps somewhat.

[Mikewiz]

I tried what you sugested and my carving came out with lines all across the carving. I carved at the height of 35 and bit optimaztion at best quality. and the carving came out horrible.

[Rickrljones]

Corian was .25 thick. You have to leave about .02-.03 and carve about .1
Make sure you use smaller step. Hope that helps. If you need corian just let me know:)

Can you supply me with a link for a corian dealer...
Thanks,

[ruggybear]

Search on EBAY - That is where I got mine

[radman5506]

These pics are amazing. I am a little confused as I would like to purchase some Corian from you. If I put a piece in to carve that's less than 24" long, the picture comes out very tiny. How do you get the machine to give up the 3" on either side of the board. Please let me know as I'm dying to try this. Also, what program did you use to convert the B&W to a negative?

Thanks.The best way is to make a sled and carve out a depression to hold the corian or acrylic. I have include an MPC it is for a 9 x 7 but can be adjusted for the size you need. 60831