15" Clock Photo Vcarved

[weber765]

Hi
I made a clock for my brother and thought some of you might like to see it and use the idea for one of your projects. I used Gimp to do the photo editing and re-sizing .

[BessieHunter]

Very nice.

[MTSO]

that is fabulous.

regards

brian

[jerrywi]

Fantastic job!
I've tried staining, different woods, etc. but have not achieved the effect you have.
Okay, now for the details.
The photo detail is great. I think the group would love to know what settings and tool bit size you used to obtain such great detail. (I know I would)
Thanks for submitting your work
Jerry

[antennasDIY]

Yes tell us how you achieved that wonderful piece.

[weber765]

Thanks for the compliments, I will try and post my settings tomorrow.

[weber765]

Hi

The process I use for my photo carvings is ;

I always surface cut the material surface to be sure that it is dead flat, and then cut the project. After cutting I lightly sand with 220 grit paper. I then use a fine steel brush or stiff tooth brush and brush going with the cut to remove lose pieces. Then I use Bulls eye clear Shellac and work a very thin coat with a fine bristle brush into everything and the surface, I do that 3 times but do not sand between coats, shellac needs to be very dry between coats. The Shellac prevents bleed through. I then use 2" wide painters tape and block off areas To keep the amount I have to sand down. I spray paint with a cheap fast drying paint ( I used Valspar plastic paint from Lowes on this one ) I paint 2 times letting it dry between coats, which is real important, the first projects I did I rushed and results were not as good. I let dry for about 6 hours, lightly sand with 120 grit and then 220 grit to remove the excess paint. I then air blow it out and lightly use a tooth brush to be sure their is no grit left. This one I finished with 2 coats of Minwax fast drying Polyurethane clear satin, I brush the Poly on lightly and with the grain I did not sand between coats on this one.

I used a 2 flute 60 degree cutter at about 20,000 rpm and a feed rate of 40 IPM and plunge rate of 15 IPM.

Something I do in Photo carve is to work on the project, increase the size on the screen to match the finished part size. I get up and view it from about 10 foot away to see how I "feel about it " if I do not like the way it looks I change my settings and then step away again.

Here is a screen shot of the settings I used, if you need anymore info just let me know. Also the Blank I used for the clock is sold by Lowes for less than.$10.00

[weber765]

Sorry , I had to change file to PDF to upload.

[antennasDIY]

Just so I am clear. You do all the sealing and painting before you carve it right?

[weber765]

Sorry if I did not explain it well.
You need to do your carving first, then you clean up the part with brush and sand paper, after that you put the Shellac on to seal the part to prevent bleed thru, then spray paint, then sand off excess paint ( black ) clean up and put on final sealer ( Poly)

Glenn

[antennasDIY]

Thanks. I thought when you said cutting it meant your piece you used for the clock, or the whole piece.

THANKS!

[weber765]

Your welcome

I do cut the entire top surface of the part before v carving the artwork, that makes the cutting depths very accurate because it takes out any bows or differences in wood thickness.

Glenn

[jerrywi]

Hay Glenn.
Thanks again for sharing your project
Best regards
Jerry

[antennasDIY]

I was just looking at another carving, and I wondered if you inverted the light and dark on your project? If you paint after carving the areas carved out the most, white areas, will actually fill in black. So you must invert the white and black areas? Or am i missing something? I have yet to cut one but it's the next thing I want to do after a large plaque I am cutting for a retirement gift.
Thanks.

[weber765]

Hi AntennasDIY

No the photo was not inverted before carving, the darker areas are cut deeper into the wood which the software does automatically. I will sometimes change the contrast but have never inverted an image.

Glenn