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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Loomis, CA
    Posts
    79

    Default The Octopus

    I was trying to enter a carved Octopus into this year's contest, but had some equipment malfunctions along the way. However, with the help of Support, I'm now back carving.

    My idea was to take an object from www.thinkiverse.com and use the STL import software and reproduce the object on the Carvewright. The a fore mentioned web site is a great source for 3D printable things for use with 3D printers, laser cutters etc... My choice was the Octopus as I have printed several on my 3D printing machine. As this was to be an experiment also I choose to use plain pine board to see if I got it right. The first attempt I had not fully understood the undercut or curved areas in my slicing. Also as pine chips easily I lost a few tentacles in the process. My second attempt was better where I sliced the lower half of the body of horizontally ( 2 slices for the tentacles), and then sliced the head vertically (7 slices, although one head piece, the center, was not used. I'm not sure why I probably need to recheck the slices and dimensions). I also defaulted the slice to 1/2" as that was the thickness of the board I was going to use. Once again the tentacles didn't survive long. I also lost a few during sanding and gluing. But it was a test in pine and I wanted to get the process right before trying a harder more expensive wood. I have attached several pictures of the result. I used some cherry staining and a few coats of clear varnish as a further experiment on the final glued and sanded test piece. One short cut I did do was that during the pattern lay out, I realized that the head was symmetrical, so I inverted/rotated one side to get the opposite side instead of having a separate pattern.

    So things to work on for the next pass:
    1) Make stronger ( thicker) tabs to hold the tentacles in place during carving. Might use a Dremel with a cutting blade rather than a Stanley knife next time.
    2) Do a better job at gluing so you can't see the joins.
    3) Sand the tentacles while still attached to the main board for strength. They came out a bit square so I rounded them more with sandpaper, but lost a few ends as per the picture.
    4) Recheck the slicing as I still had a slight mismatch on the tentacle base to top body pieces.



    Attached images are:
    1) The Octo family. Left is the latest version, Cherry stained Pine; Middle is the plastic printed version from Thingiverse; Right is the first attempt where I did horizontal slicing only. The lower tentacle level was 1/8" an inch thick!!
    2) One picture shows the results of gluing and sanding and losing more tentacles.
    3) Shots of the carved pieces as they came off the machine.


    So any advice on the type of wood or slicing options would be welcome. Once I have what I consider a good carve I'll post the patterns. It might be a while, but it's a fun thing to do!!!

    Cheers

    Dave
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails OctoFamily.jpg   Oops.jpg   Tentacle.jpg   Octo-Body.jpg  


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    As of 6/2021 Punta Gorda, Florida
    Posts
    1,461

    Default

    A very interesting project. I like the way your mind works.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Whidbey Island, WA
    Posts
    2,250

    Default

    very cool (and my wife thinks, very freaky... she hates octopus)

    Thanks for sharing, and I love that you really pushed the machine to its limits (smallness wise)

    Lawrence

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Loomis, CA
    Posts
    79

    Default

    Thanks. Sorry she finds it freaky. Kinda the same response from my wife

    Sears version of Carvewright.
    Updated to rubber traction feed;
    New Chuck System.

    iMAC 3.2Ghz Intel Core 3
    8G DDR
    1G HDD Plus 5Tb NAS storage
    Project designer 1.187
    Centerline
    STL Import


    robboz4.no-ip.org/Robboz-_Designs/Wood_Carvings.html
    (Online PDT time only)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Vancouver Island
    Posts
    8,193

    Default

    I have some ideas.

    If you are not using small draft on the parts with near vertical edges, you might think of using it so the taper of the bit does not cut into the shape.

    I would make outlines closer to the shapes so that less wood has to be cut out and the tabs could be smaller.

    How about this for the bottom two pieces? Carve the bottom piece and then glue the next board on top of it and then carve them together. You could even have the top carve go deeper so that the glue joint gets cleaned up.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Loomis, CA
    Posts
    79

    Default

    Thanks for the suggestions. Just might try that.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Upstate NY USA
    Posts
    952

    Default

    I saw that on that sight, looks cool
    " The Hurdier I Go, The Behinder I Get"

  8. #8

    Default

    Use more tabs. Also, instead of the large full-depth regions, try selecting Pierced instead. Add some feather to the pattern to make it easier on the machine and actually carve faster. Try maple instead of pine.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Loomis, CA
    Posts
    79

    Default

    Thanks for the suggestions. BTW I enjoy your wonderful clock projects. Hope to build one soon.

  10. #10

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by robboz4 View Post
    Thanks for the suggestions. BTW I enjoy your wonderful clock projects. Hope to build one soon.
    Thanks! I hope to build another one soon myself. I have a few tweaks to make to the latest wall clock that I submitted to the contest. I would lie to get to that and make it available as a project. The Mystery Clock is my favorite one in the Pattern Depot. I must have built 7 or 8 of them.

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