Photo Carve

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Joe Duplessis
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Photo Carve

Post by Joe Duplessis »

Would like to do a photo carve but new to photo carve. Any suggestions on where to find a set up for doing a photo in cast plexiglass on type of bit and speed along with depth of cut? Appreciate any help I could get.

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Xxray
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Re: Photo Carve

Post by Xxray »

A few guys have had success doing plexi, more have failed or have never tried.
Melting issues are the main reason for failure. Not an optimal material IMO as lithos are meant to be backlit and obviously backlighting something that is clear is not going to work out well. The guys that have done them edge light them, the effect is Ok but nothing like a true litho made from corian.
Don't want to try to talk you out of something you want to do, maybe one of the few guys who have done it will chime in.
Doug

NormanAlbert
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Re: Photo Carve

Post by NormanAlbert »

I have done litho's with translucent white plexi with just okay results. Just doesn't have the shading that off white Corian does. Ice white Corian is only margionaly better than the plexi. And of course, the plexi does have that heat issue. Speaking of which, an upcut single flute spiral ball nose from 2Linc.com is very good at cutting plexi and other plastics. Norm

BDM
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Re: Photo Carve

Post by BDM »

Here's one I did a couple of years ago with some settings: http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=17340

As long as you have cast acrylic you should be okay compared to extruded, but I still never leave the machine when doing acrylic. Things can go to hell very fast if it gets too hot. Nothing like trying to get a thick coating of melted acrylic off a bit without breaking the bit.

Art Mann
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Re: Photo Carve

Post by Art Mann »

Plexiglass is not the same material as acrylic. That is the original poster's problem. Plexiglass doesn't carve as easily as acrylic.

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Xxray
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Re: Photo Carve

Post by Xxray »

Art Mann wrote:Plexiglass is not the same material as acrylic. That is the original poster's problem. Plexiglass doesn't carve as easily as acrylic.
Plexiglas is acrylic, it is only a trade name [the original and most well known] among many other acrylic brands. So your statement IMO is a misnomer.
I've never had many problems machining plexi, I have done 100's of projects in both 2d and 3d. Photocarving lies somewhere in between and can be trickier than either - Why, I am not exactly sure.

Image
Doug

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