First sign with texture

[moto633]

Here is my first sign with texture. It is for a shop in WV for a friend of a friend.
I still need to finish painting the texture blue I'll do that tomorrow.

Can any one recomend a good masking system? I typically spray on the main coating in this one white then mask all off and then carve. The problem is the 2in masking tape I use fuzzes at the edges and I have to do a bunch of hand work to finish.

Also any one running MAch3 and steppers have the notching on radiuses like in the picture? If so can you make it smoother?

Thanks,
Nick

[bp092]

Look into using Avery Paint Mask. It's great stuff. The tape you're using isn't designed for what your doing with it. The paint mask cuts and leaves sharp edges and doesn't fray up like tape does. It comes in a multitude of size rolls and colors. (I just buy the white plain kind). Looks like you are getting chatter on the edges.. could be many things, but most likely vibration on the spindle/router from backlash whip, it is hard to say because a lot can cause that. Even wrong feeds/speeds.. What kind of machine are you running? Nice sign though, I like the texture. What kind of MDF is that? If its regular trupan or equivalent, you might look into a double refined mdf or (ranger board) as it will take face machining a lot better like you did. But yours is darker, looks like medex or extira which take paint better too.

[moto633]

Thanks bpo92,

Yes it is Extira .75. My router is Vortech a Chinese made unit. It runs on Mach3 with steppers. I used a .25 down cut bit to profile the letters and cut out the final shape. I don't know much about the backlash settings in mach yet. More searching through their forum I guess.

Thanks,
Nick

[GripUs]

Hi Nick,
I am not running Mach3 but, from my experience, I have eliminated a lot of the "chatter" marks on curves by:

• Slowing down my feed rate
• Making a number of shallow cuts rather than a few deep ones
• Using the shortest bit with the thickest shank possible
• Making sure I am using a clean, sharp bit

I am sure there are many other factors involving your software and machine that could contribute to that, but my suggestions are somewhat universal and easy to try.

Nice signs, by the way. I need to try something with texture when things slow down a little.

Regards,

Joe

[Rcnewcomb]

Can any one recomend a good masking system?

Look into the rubber cement method...

Try this thread:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messag ... 1213286013

or this:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messag ... 1215053435

[moto633]

After much painfull hand work this is the end result. This is my first try for some one other than my self.....
I posted them once before the site change and it looks like they went away.. I can't wait to get pics of it installed, a local black smith made a awsome sign holder for it!!
Thanks for looking,
Nick

[Thkoutsidthebox]

Very Nice Job.