1/2 ' lithopane

[k9smith]

I am carving a lithopane of a 4 year old young boy wholost his battle with cancer this week. I was cutting a lithopane for his motherin 1/2 corian when my bit snapped. Not sure what caused it. I carved it on best,should I change it to optimal to slow it down or is there a way to set maxdepth on this. I can’t seem to figure it out if there is. Thanks for everyone’shelp.


landen mom.mpc

[Mark Dubya]

Joe,
Sorry to hear about that youngster passing from cancer. Terrible. Give my sympathies to the little guy's parents and family.

As to your 1/2 inch lithopane- you have to carve too deep and that is too hard on the bit. If you are carving down deep enough to get the image to show thru- the bit has to cut really deep into that hard material. Bit breakage is probably certain. Check out the Jan 2009 Tips and Tricks on Lithopanes. I've used 1/4 inch Corian (I got a ton of it on Ebay) and it works well. Carve down only about .180" or so to keep from breaking your bits. Half inch Corian is easy to get- we just need a good way to plane it down to 1/4 " so it is useable!

[k9smith]

Yeah I have made a bunch of them in 1/4"t got areally good deal on some half inch so I was hoping to be able to use that. Iknow others have made lithos with half just wasn’t sure if I was missing something.

[ladjr]

I agree with Mark I have had no luck with Half inch. I think you will break bite at the depth setting you have. Good luck. My sympathies and prayers for the family

[DStimpson]

It also looks like your pattern is too large for your size Corian. The rollers will lose traction without a surface to press against. The software should have warned you about this. You may need to make your pattern a little smaller.

My condolences on the loss to the family also.

David S.

[k9smith]

The actual piece i used was about 15" longer than needed , so it shouldnt have lost traction. Thanks for the idea though.

[Mark Dubya]

Joe-
have you tried editing your photo to reduce the deep section in the upper corner? After looking at your MPC again I noticed it looks like the photo has a really dark corner. I think the Carvewright will try to carve that deep section all in one pass and could break the bit. If the photo was edited so the background was a lighter shade before you import the image- it might carve in 1/2 inch material. Just a theory.