Inlay Technique for STARS

[PSQRD]

I've approached the forum about this before with no success. I am hoping with as time has passed someone has come up with some ways of utilizing the software to suit these needs - I will post the link as follows : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITrF_PChtZk I am ng to see if anyone has attempted something like this with any success both for the v- inlay technique and/or a technique for inlaying that many stars. I know it can be done on the carvewright and if all else fails I will attempt the trial and error blindly but I know someone on here with a little more know how than I may have something to add. I'm not sure if I will be making the cutting board end grain like mtmwood in the video but I will definitely make the attempt with separate species and am not interested in trying to color epoxy before I get the suggestion - I'm aware of the method but am really trying to do an inlay. Hopefully someone can help. Thank you in advance!
Paul

[oscarl48]

Paul, Interesting. I've never done this and not sure if you mean using the CW software only but with 3d software I think it is relatively easy to do. My concern would be the thickness of the 1/16" carving bit. I think I would go with 1 inch stars at the smallest.

This pattern literally took me 30 seconds to do.

I'll do a test carve this weekend to see how they look. It may be a good technique for me to learn. I've done inlays the old fashioned way before hand and it is time consuming.

- Oscar

P.S. Not sure I'll have much time this weekend so here are the patterns. If you get to it first let me know how they come out.

P.P.S. Thinking about this a little bit. It may be a two step carve were the star cavity is carved using dxf with the 90 or 45 bit and the star is carved with the carving bit. Since I don't have, use or need the dxf add-on someone else may have to chime in.

[gashawk]

The software carves either side the line, doesn't it? Is that close enough? Can you use feather and draft for the taper?

[oscarl48]

That is my thought as well. If I have time this weekend I will test carve to see how rounded the sharp edges become at different sizes. For somewhat larger stars (or shapes in general) it shouldn't be that big of a deal but the smaller the more pronounced the rounded edge affect due to the thickness of the bit.

[PSQRD]

I understand where y'all are coming from with carving and/or cutting inside or outside the line. Doing it as a raster may work but I don't know if this will work in all circumstances if it does indeed work depending on inlay type. My thoughts were to use a vector line and offset/negative offset the radius of the straight bit to avoid taper for traditional inlays but for this technique I figured the same would be accomplished followed by assigning th v bit to both positive and negative pieces and offsetting the radius of the v bit for both positive and negative pieced but that radius would probably vary depending on v bit depth. I will try giving it a shot this weekend oscar, I'm in hopes we can discover a new technique on the CW- maybe something they can create an algorithm for in pattern editor eventually. I suppose the taper on the 1/16th bit can be used in the same fashion as a V bit for an inlay creating two mating surfaces similar to a French cleat

[gashawk]

The software carves either side the line, doesn't it? Is that close enough? Can you use feather and draft for the taper?

Just thinking, draft can change the size. Like on fonts.

[oscarl48]

Well the technique works to a certain extent. I think the limit is 3/4 inch before it fails (at least with the 1/16 bit). Test carved on some scrap pieces I had lying around. Turned out to be cherry and poplar. I would never actually use those together in a real project but they were on top of my scrap bin so used them.

I still think the smallest I would go is 1 inch with this technique but it is definitely doable with 3/4 in stars. I guess it all depends on the project.

They do look good though.

- O

[PSQRD]

Well the technique works to a certain extent. I think the limit is 3/4 inch before it fails (at least with the 1/16 bit). Test carved on some scrap pieces I had lying around. Turned out to be cherry and poplar. I would never actually use those together in a real project but they were on top of my scrap bin so used them.

I still think the smallest I would go is 1 inch with this technique but it is definitely doable with 3/4 in stars. I guess it all depends on the project.

They do look good though.

- O

Well I'll be! The raster approach was a different way of going about the v bit inlay and I was iffy but they turned out pretty nicely! Once I get my leg healed up from surgery and some PM on my machine I will play around with your method and am going to attempt the v bit method if I can get my head wrapped around it. I've seen MTM WOOD do some pretty small thin inlays that I was surprised would even work. I realize there are some drawbacks from our CNC vs his $50,000 machine but it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot and if it works out maybe establish a method. I really appreciate it Oscar!
-Paul

[oscarl48]

Paul,

I made the mistake of showing my wife the inlaid stars. She is demanding an American Flag for a wall decoration. I think I'll be using black walnut for the star field, maple for the stars and mahogany and maple or cherry for the stripes. lol. Thanks!

- Oscar

P.S. Finished making the patterns for the flag. Final dimensions on the flag are 16.25 x 24.375 inches. Star field is 12 x 8.75 inches. This allows me stripes to be 1.25 inches wide.

Carve time around 2 hours for the inlay and stars as two separate carves. (~51 minutes inlay and 1:10 for stars).

Not as horrible as I thought it would be. Did a quick depth profile star comparison (which I assume is similar to dxf carve time) and you save about 40 minutes vs raster. You will still have to raster the stars I think so no time savings there. I'll post pictures when complete in some future time.

[Dale]

That looks pretty impressive.