Visit the following thread for pics of a way to create cool lithophanes with your CarveWright Rotary Jig! A very unique product to $ell, indeed!
http://forum.carvewright.com/showthr...048#post231048
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Visit the following thread for pics of a way to create cool lithophanes with your CarveWright Rotary Jig! A very unique product to $ell, indeed!
http://forum.carvewright.com/showthr...048#post231048
Thank you. I wish you could have attended the presentation as well.
I initially had concerns about the PVC pipe, too. I wondered whether it would melt and ball up around the bit, cause stall errors, etc. But, tried it anyway! I'm pleased to report it carves perfectly without any problems whatsoever! The depth I did on this sample was only 0.170" and I'm confident you could go a little deeper, but I doubt that would be necessary. In fact, I think you could go shallower in many cases.
Other notable items:
• I used the standard 1/16" Carving Bit. It was not necessary to use a long-reach bit because this is such a shallow carve.
• I used Floyd's DC hood during the project run...I had zero problems with stray plastic debris at all. In fact, there were only 3 little curls of plastic left on the traction belt after the project had completed (It took approx. 2 hours on BEST)
• I believe dust collection to be essential for carving lithos whether flat or rotary
After removing from the machine, there might be some plastic barely holding onto the pipe by tiny threads. I first tried brushing with a soft wire brush, but that is no good! The metal brushes tend to leave gray smudges on the plastic. So I set off to Wally-World to find a stiff nylon toothbrush. I spotted a Denture Brush and turned out it works great to brush off the litho after carving! See photo...
Thank you Michael, I like the additional options this opens!
Michael
Where/how did you get the picture of the Mona Lisa for carving?
Thank you profusely! You have given us many good Ideas over the years, but I think this is at the top.
Clint
Thanks! I believe the photo came from Wikipedia. There was a retouched photo that got rid of all the cracked paint that is obvious in the original painting (due to natural aging). I opted to use the retouched version because it looked better to me as a litho.
You could probably find and carve all manner of fine art lithos and would be a lot of fun. However, it could be the best market is doing wedding photos, newborn photos, 50th Anniversary, graduations and family photos.
Idea: Create an "array" of tubular lithos of slightly varying lengths for a Family Litho with Dad, Mom and the kids. I am thinking a slot cut in a wooden base with holes for each pipe to slide into. The base might house a Led strip or even a tube light of some kind to light up all the pipes.
Michael
I have been thinking about carving PVC ever since I got the Rotary Jig. What size PVC did you use and thickness.
Thanks
Hi Leo,
I used Standard 3" PVC Pipe (0.25" wall thickness) from Lowes or Home Depot. Remember that 3" pipe is the INSIDE diameter...the actual OUTSIDE diameter is 3.5" and that's the diameter dimension you use for the project setup and input at the machine when performing the project run.
I initially made the mistake of buying 4" pipe (which was 4.5" outside diameter). Of course, that is 0.25" too big to fit into the machine. I "told on myself" during my conference presentation. Got a good laugh from the audience...seems I was the only one in the room that did not know that PVC pipe size is always the INSIDE diameter. So, you can use 3" pipe or smaller. (I also bought a bunch of 2" pipe for some other projects I have in mind for the rotary.)
Thanks Mike. I did not know about the inside diameter either. Oh well if that is your first mistake this year your doing great
Michael,
I have carved 2" PVC with "my" Rotary Jig on several occasions, but never to make a litho. It does carve well. I just cut a piece of wood to snugly plug the end, and center drilled it.
Ed
Hi Ed,
The wood plug will work great and that's what I initially thought I would use. However, while browsing the plumbing department, I noticed the very handy-dandy drain caps for the 3" and 2" pipes, so I bought those. I thought I would need to secure the drain caps at each pipe end with screws or something, but the friction fit is so tight, there was no need.
I did securely hot-glue a block of wood inside the one drain cap at the screw-end of the jig. This was so it could accept the jig's center screw and one or two of the additional screws for that end. The 3" drain caps at Home Depot have a 7/32" round hole dead-center in the drain cap, so you don't have to draw a centered criss-cross to drill a hole yourself. The hole is the perfect size for the Rotary Jig screw-end and cone-end! (The drain caps from Lowes are a different manufacturer and don't have a round hole...it's a square instead. I used one of those for the finished topper of the pipe as a sort of vent and allow ambient light to "seep" through the top.)
The drain caps used for mounting to the jig are reusable indefinitely, which is nice.
Michael T,
Your rotary litho came out great. You mentioned dust collection being required and I remembered reading about you trying a new design to utilize a harbor freight dust collector. How did that work for you? I thought the idea worth trying but thought I would check with you before I looked up the thread and tried it.
Thanks!
Steve
Michael, I have been trying to find the 3" drain caps with the 7/32" round hole you found at HD and it seems they don't have them here. Can you by chance tell us the brand name on these (Oatey, etc) so I might find them on the net or maybe a plumbing supply around here? Thank you for opening up new ways to use our machines.
Hi Steve,
Here is a link to the forum where my friend Angie (zeeway) came up with this modification. I am SUPER pleased with the performance!! (along with Floyd's DC Insert).
I cut the parts on the ShopBot because the circles were 24" diameter. You could easily do that with a jig saw and/or jig on your table saw or bandsaw. There are grooves inset within the circles to accommodate the round baffle (weather stripping goes in these grooves to seal the unit). A regular router could do the grooves.
Michael,
What Link?
Oops...sorry...had a 7pm meeting to go to. Was in a rush and failed to paste the link. Here it is now:
http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=18931
Just carved a couple of these from 1 1/2" pvc.
i used the cheap night lights from wally world. I had to cut the factory cover down on the band saw and they slide right over.
3" pvc carve. Still learning the depth/height to keep from carving through.
Nice job, bl. The nightlight cover is a really cool idea. Thanks for sharing....
are you using the drain caps from home depot on ends when carving? and if so how are you removing them from pipe after carving. i put them in on both ends of the pvc pipe and they are both stuck inside the pipe, did not use glue or anything just hand pressed them in . just curious .
steve
Remove one end cap by loosening the jig cone end, then pull the pipe straight away from the screwed-on end of the jig. That takes care of the first end cap.
After that, just insert a 2x2 scrap length of wood and gently tap the other cap out.
Try Height of 450 and cutting depth of no more than 0.18" (you may be able to get away with 0.125" but do a litho preview of various settings on a FLAT project to get an idea of the appearance before cutting and setting the depth/height on your Rotary project layout).
thanks for the pointers, It seems as though the pvc is thicker in some spots than others.
Just finished my litho carve after 2 failed attempts thanks to Michael's input. I'm at lowes as I post this trying to find the lighting hardware. I'll load up photos once I get home - can't figure out how to do it on phone.
-Paul
That's good news, Paul. Can't wait to see your photos when you get a chance to post them.
Here's a link to the LED puck light I used. It features a "touch pad" that toggles the light 'Dim - Bright - Off' when touched. I extended the pad by using some aluminum duct tape fastened to the pad and routed to the sharp end of an upholstery tack pushed through a tiny hole drilled through the .25"-thick wall of the pipe.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_545348-75774...&facetInfo=$15
Utilitech 3-in Plug-In Cabinet LED Puck Light $24.98
Item #: 545348 | Model #: L73905
That idea sounds awesome! I tried figuring out the picture of hardware listed. The only puck lights I found were corded and click type, I bought a tubular led light hoping to make that work since I couldn't wrap my head around the click type and wanted wireless. Tube light looked terrible, not bright enough I'm going to return it and go for your lighting option. Do you have any pics or a simple drawing maybe on the set up you explained? I have a really bad tendency to be over analytical.
Paul
Hi Paul,
Here's a couple pics I hope will be helpful. (This lighting system is corded. I did not want to fuss with disassembly to change batteries ad infinitum.)
Michael, I use that same DC, with Floyd's insert - but I haven't modified the DC at all. Following the link and reading the other forum, I see good info on how to do the mod, but nothing on WHY. Is there a specific benefit to removing the bags and altering the DC?
I did it because my understanding is the Thein Baffle (just an arced slot in the base inside the circular chamber) is very efficient in separating larger particles from the fine dust particles. It appears to be so. It creates a "tornado" similar to a variety of other DC add-ons you can purchase online (they often look like funnels). Also, the large capacity debris collector (30 gal trash can) is nice. So far, I'm impressed - it appears that the overall efficiency is improved over the "stock" configuration. This is based partly on what I have been told by Angie and 'comparison conversations' with others who use it as-is.
I, unfortunately, never used the Harbor Freight DC as "stock", so I have no personal comparison to share whether the modification really is a "huge" or just a "minor" improvement.
So... making sure I understand the benefit/improvement... it separates the larger and finer dust particles more readily. Assuming I am using an ultrafine bag to filter out all particles, why would I care if the particles are separated?
I can definitely see the benefits of a larger collector, for some. For me, I haven't even come close to filling the original bag once, so not an issue for me yet. And as to overall efficiency, do you feel it improves how well it removes dust at the working end?
Without a separator, my understanding is the fine filter bag will need emptying and cleaning more frequently. Perhaps that's a minor benefit. I decided I needed a DC primarily because I plan on carving more Corian, PVC and various plastic sign materials. These materials create larger/heavier debris than wood does and are difficult for some DC setups to "lift" those types of heavier particles. It is especially important to clear out plastic particles because they can find their way into the gears/belts and cause axis stalls. Also, plastic debris won't "squish" like wood does when being fed through the pressure rollers. Sharp plastic particles (from hard surface material like Corian) can become embedded in the rubber rollers and you can never get them out. So a DC unit of some kind is almost a requirement when carving plastics.
I initially wasn't so concerned about fine dust (although I SHOULD have been!). I simply wanted the most efficient way to clear away the 'big stuff' and when I saw and read about Angie's Harbor Freight DC modification, I thought I would give it a go. Not so surprisingly, I now find I have the best of both worlds...the heavier plastic is carried away efficiently and into the garbage bin, as well as the fine dust pulled into the micron bag (which is still pretty clean - I guess that baffle is allowing most of the fine stuff to fall into the bin, too).
Thanks! I have the DC and Floyd's (older) insert, and have carved two lithos in corian and one in a poly cutting board, and it seemed more than adequate to the job in stock configuration. So I might think about it in the future, but it doesn't seem a crucial upgrade for me.
I think you'll be just fine, too. Floyd's DC hood is known for working very well. The Harbor Freight modification is a fairly major departure from the norm, and you really have to be "in the mood" to do something like that. (Took me a few months to finally get the gumption to do it.)
*
I had a trash can particle separator in line with my DC, but had to remove it. It cut the sucking power way down. I am pulling from 2 machines.
Clint
I seem to recall you are using the same Harbor Freight unit? Man, this thing I have here is MORE than powerful! Will suck your fingers right off if you get your hand in the way. ;) Perhaps the modification does indeed create a lot more "ooomph" over the stock configuration. Wish I had assembled and used the HB unit "before mod"...that way I would know for sure.