Remove Part of a Board

[Bill Hightower]

I have designed a sign for my Community Association that is 20.5 inches wide and 24 inches long.

I would like to remove a portion from the design and carve the project in two pieces then join them. I don't want to design the two pieces separately because of the difficulty in aligning the carvings on each piece.

Is there a way to erase or delete a portion of a design without affecting the rest of it? I tried using the rectangle tool to select a portion of the board and then deleting the selected area but that didn't work.

Bill

[Lin]

If it involves PTN files...could you split them after saving them as PNG files in a grpahics program?
Lin

[Kenm810]

Bill,

I never tried it my self but I think it goes, Someting like this.
The Board is long and wide enough to stay under the rollers.
Or you could do it in two carvings if you wanted to.

[Bill Hightower]

Ken,

That is exactly what I am trying to do but I don't know how to convert the first design into the two designs that will fit the machine. Would you please list the steps.

Many thanks.

Bill

[Bill Hightower]

I am attaching the sign that I am attempting to separate into two parts.

Bill

[JOHNB]

bill, i use getpaint.net to split/work on my patterns. but not an mpc. if a ptn., export with jeffs cbpe, open with paint, back into designer.

[Bill Hightower]

John,

Thanks for the reply. However, how do you convert an mpc file to ptn?

Bill

[Jeff_Birt]

MPC files can't be converted to PTN's they are different animals. You can however have the elements of your MPC file hang over the edge of the board. The parts that hang over will be ignored when the project is compiled and uploaded to the memory card.

I took your sign, doubled the size of the board horizontally. I then doubled the size of the two objects using the size text boxes (they are linked change the size in one and both axis are scaled proportionally), centred them horizontally and then positioned them from the top edge using the 'Attach' function. I think if you change the attachments to the bottom of the objects to the bottom of the board you can create the bottom half of the sign. Give it a try, let us know how it works out.

EDIT: Oops! Forgot to attach the file!

[Bill Hightower]

Jeff,

Thank you for the detail. I will give it a try and post my results.

Bill

[Kenm810]

Hey Bill,

I just got home, I had the Grand Kids at the Cider Mill all day.
Here's a couple of photos and files I hope will help.
I draw the signs up in Photo Shop first, then divide them in two
before changing them to PTN files

[Kenm810]

Bill,

Here's the same thing in the 25"x25" size.
Just enlarge the project board and type in the new sign sizes,
or carve the two halves on separate boards.
Remember the sign and text were done in Photo Shop
if you want to edit your text or add ptns in designer
leave the text out when you draw your sign in your graphics program.

[Bill Hightower]

Ken,

Thanks for the help. I don't use PhotoShop and wanted to use just Designer if possible.

Jeff,

Thanks again. I was able to create the bottom half of the board using your directions as follows:

1. select wood grain pattern.
2. remove upper attachment
3. add attachment at lower edge the same distance in from the edge as the upper attachment was.
4. deselect grain pattern
5. select text area
6. remove upper attachment
7. add attachment at lower edge the same distance in from the edge as the upper attachment was.
8. deselect text area
9. save lower portion of the sign.

I am attaching the lower portion of the sign created in designer with the steps shown above. I learned how to use attachment from reading the help file.

Thanks again for each response. I haven't carved the sign yet but will today.

Bill

[RC Woodworks]

Bill, I have made a sign in 2 parts. I am just telling you what I did to finally get it to come together. Very simple when I figured it out! Use the snap grid feature in the designer. I use 1/2 grids and check both boxes.

With the grid you can line up both sides, then figure out the correct direction of the boards to carve.

Trust me I did this with an oval sign, I tried to set the edges by the same measurements and it never came out correctly. But when I used the snap grid it came out great!

Unfortunately I didn't save the design, but here is the sign. I hand carved the rose

Rick

[Bill Hightower]

Rick,

Thanks for the suggestion. I have carved half of the sign and will carve the other half this morning. It looks like I am having the problem that you outlined. I will read up on the use of grid snapping.

By the way, I originally designed the two halves to be 15 in each. I then discovered that a 15 in board will not fit my machine. I can get something on the order of 14 3/4 in into the machine.

Bill

[RC Woodworks]

Bill, may I also suggest you change the bottom measurements to positive numbers. Then instead of keeping Speed Limit 25 in one text. Type each word, this way you can move the words to where you want them. If it will work for you I wouldn't split Limit onto both boards. I see having problem coming together tightly. So maybe put Speed and Limit on the top half and 25 alone on the bottom. I would think the 25 is the most important.

Take a look what I think will work I left 1/2 inch from the bottom of limit to the edge ans 1/2 from the top of 25 to the edge. This way if you need to trim the edges on your table saw you can without losing too much size

I don't want you to go through the hassle I did!

Rick

[Bill Hightower]

Rick,

I really appreciate your help. I carved the sign yesterday with the LIMIT split. It looks OK but I will give yours a try today. I think it will look much better. I even considered putting each word on its own board and glueing all of them together.

Bill