photos on plastic

[David M.]

I've seen the sample's of the photo's done on plastic but has anyone done any tests to see the real life results?

[azunino]

I am curious about this one myself. I have ordered some acrlyic to run off some samples. I would be curious to know how the sample was done on the cw website. Specifically, what values were used for the depth and height. Also, was the carving done on the front, or on the back with the image reversed?

Andre

[David M.]

I saw a thread in here reciently, spacificlly about the sample picture but I can't find it to show you right now. Look through the verous threads and exactly what you are looking for is in there, somewhere within the last week or two.

I recall it said shallower is better than deeper, they used polycarbonate plastic, it is second surface (if you know that term) and it is backlighted. They warned of the threads of plastic clogging up the tip if your not careful, stop and check as your running. I have a customer who offered the plastic to me I just haven't picked any up yet.

So many test, so little time.

[azunino]

David,

I know the thread you are talking about. That is why I am experimenting with the acrylic. It was a little cheaper, and easier to get then the polycarbonate. I hope the results are similar. I had tried a photograph on some pine over the weekend and while the picture was accurate, the depth in certain areas just didn't look right.

I think your other thread about using a bw photograph instead of color is on the right track. I did some experimenting with that within the software and the simulated results do look better. I had always thought that the cw software was doing a color to bw conversion, but the results importing the same picture in bw vs. color are very different.

Andre

[David M.]

It's not just using b/w but using the spacific setting of NEGITIVE, (as in photo negitive) it limits the shades of grey even further than b/w does. I have a Sony camera that has this setting in with sepia tone and b/w etc. It doesn't fix the problem you discribed but it does help a great deal.
Get you in the ball park so to speak.

It still see's white as the highest point and black as the deepest, there are 256 shades of grey between those two points to assign depth too, that's a lot of room for misinterpretation. But I must say with all the stuff I've run it does a great job and is far better than I could hope to do by hand, and no one said you can't tweek it after the CW is done with it.

[goz]

I ran some photos last week in cast acrylic. Cast is specifically better to use than extruded as it has better density and will not heat up as it is being carved. Poly Carb is still the best as your final piece will be a lot more durable (go ahead, shoot it).

The effect even with clear is that of lithophane, i.e. darker areas are cut less and lighter cut deeper. When backlighted the image is great. The advantage of using clear is that less light is needed to view the image. With a dark surface behind the image it is discernable.

I advise removing the protective paper from the side that is to be carved and then hit it with a quick coat of primer so that the sensors can see the surface. A quick shot of paint thinner will remove th primer when done.

To remove excess frost from the carving...lightly pass a propane torch or heat gun over the surface to melt off the fur. Use caution (go easy) as over agressive torching will melt your work (oops). This technique works well as long as one uses quick passes checking the results between passes.

[hartwoods]

done in 1/4 x12x12 white corian. cut 1/8 deep. don

[john e kline]

I carved a photo in 1/8" using a depth of .09" and was impressed. However should I use 1/4" and carve deeper?

[Hawg_man]

Having carved in corian, poly carb, delrin and some others I find Delrin to be ideal but as for thickness I would think it depends on how you want to use the carving.
I use 1/8 thick Delrin which is pliable for using in curved fixtures such as light shades etc. I like the Delrin which is white and translucent rather than a clear because it tends to hide your backlight and inside of the mounting.
As for depth I carve it 80% of the thickness of my material (.125 @ .080/.090 depth). I convert the image to grayscale and invert prior to importing into Designer.
Delrin is also self lubricating so no buildup on the cutter. Again I think it depends on how you want to use the finished piece in selecting the material to be carved..........just my 2 cents worth.

Bob

[Paul Wheeler]

Can anyone tell me a good source for Corian or Delrin?
I did a quick search and found mostly contertops for Corian and the sites that had Delrin seemed quite expensive.

Thanks,

Paul