New to Lithopanes
New to Lithopanes
This may be a dumb question but....In the tutorials for carving lithopanes on .25 material it states to set carving depth at .1 and when machining set your z zero at -.08. Why not just zero on work piece top and have the carving depth set to .180?
If I am using .125" mat'l. and want to use just one pass and I want to leave approx. .025 -.030 mat'l, wouldn't I just set carving depth to .09 to .1 and carve?
Just a little confused.
Stan
If I am using .125" mat'l. and want to use just one pass and I want to leave approx. .025 -.030 mat'l, wouldn't I just set carving depth to .09 to .1 and carve?
Just a little confused.
Stan
- Xxray
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Re: New to Lithopanes
For .25 I'd set it to cut .22 at the deepest, and that is cutting it close ... Very slim margins that demands a perfectly level table, perfectly consistent [thickness] material, and perfect setting of the Z. Especially dicey if there is a lot of white, and yes I have punched through and ruined them before.
Have never tried as thin as .125, really should use .25 if able. Not saying it is not possible, but almost no one uses stock that thin, and you are cutting already slim margins even slimmer.
Have never tried as thin as .125, really should use .25 if able. Not saying it is not possible, but almost no one uses stock that thin, and you are cutting already slim margins even slimmer.
Doug
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Just to add to what Xxray has said about 0.125 material, with it being so thin your images may look very washed out due to the amount of light that will penetrate the thicker areas. I've not made any lithophanes myself but have had problems with thin materials for other things. The other thing I have picked up from reading posts by others is that setting the z zero to the bottom of the material can be a good idea as stock material thicknesses can vary quite a bit so 0.25" material might not actually be 0.25"
If you set z zero from the top of the material & your stock is a bit less than 0.25" you risk cutting all the way through
If you set z zero from the top of the material & your stock is a bit less than 0.25" you risk cutting all the way through
Re: New to Lithopanes
Thanks guys!
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Hi Stan,
For 0.25"-thick material (Corian), I don't normally carve any deeper than 0.170". This will help keep the lithophane less fragile and is still plenty deep enough to get excellent backlighting without areas of "blow out" brightness.
Below are photos of a rotary lithophane I carved with the CarveWright Rotary Jig for a presentation I made at a CarveWright Conference in 2014. The litho was carved on common 3" diameter PVC pipe with a wall thickness of 0.25". It is back-lit with a small LED puck light placed at the bottom of the base (the light is corded and touch-controlled for Low, High and Off).
The lit photo was taken with the LED on the High setting, but the item looks good on the Low setting too. (I could get a better in-focus photograph with it on High is all.)
For 0.25"-thick material (Corian), I don't normally carve any deeper than 0.170". This will help keep the lithophane less fragile and is still plenty deep enough to get excellent backlighting without areas of "blow out" brightness.
Below are photos of a rotary lithophane I carved with the CarveWright Rotary Jig for a presentation I made at a CarveWright Conference in 2014. The litho was carved on common 3" diameter PVC pipe with a wall thickness of 0.25". It is back-lit with a small LED puck light placed at the bottom of the base (the light is corded and touch-controlled for Low, High and Off).
The lit photo was taken with the LED on the High setting, but the item looks good on the Low setting too. (I could get a better in-focus photograph with it on High is all.)
Michael Tyler
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Re: New to Lithopanes
As usual, very inventive and good work, Michael.
Did you design yourself the model or do we need to credit somebody if we engrave one?
Did you design yourself the model or do we need to credit somebody if we engrave one?
Best regards
Didier
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Didier
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Hi LGM,LittleGreyMan wrote:As usual, very inventive and good work, Michael.
Did you design yourself the model or do we need to credit somebody if we engrave one?
The Mona Lisa is simply a photo of the painting that I modified slightly in a photo editing program. I guess the only person to give credit to will be Leonardo da Vinci!
If you don't have PhotoVCarve, there is a good video tutorial on the procedure in Aspire. Here is the link to that tutorial:
http://support.vectric.com/tutorials/V8 ... s_GEN.html
Michael Tyler
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Just kidding, Michael, thus the smiley.
!ʞɿow ƨ'obɿɒиoɘ⅃ bɘziиϱoɔɘɿ I ,ɘƨɿuoɔ ʇO
!ʞɿow ƨ'obɿɒиoɘ⅃ bɘziиϱoɔɘɿ I ,ɘƨɿuoɔ ʇO
Best regards
Didier
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Didier
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Nice touch with the upside-down/backwards message!
(You've been reading too many da Vinci code books!)
(You've been reading too many da Vinci code books!)
Michael Tyler
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Michael, That is very impressive and great use of common mat'ls!
- mtylerfl
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Thank you, Stan.stanbp64 wrote:Michael, That is very impressive and great use of common mat'ls!
Michael Tyler
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Has anyone had any luck with .25 " clear acrylic or do you have to a colored mat'l?
- Xxray
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Re: New to Lithopanes
Using clear IMO would defeat the purpose of a litho, which is to be backlighted to form an image purely using the depth of the material, ie thicker areas will be darker, thinner lighter. If its transparent then material thickness is not a factor.
On top of that, acrylic can be very difficult to machine cleanly - Solid surface is the way to go for lithos, even that not just any color will do. You want white or very light colored, the darker colors will not pass any light at all.
On top of that, acrylic can be very difficult to machine cleanly - Solid surface is the way to go for lithos, even that not just any color will do. You want white or very light colored, the darker colors will not pass any light at all.
Doug
Re: New to Lithopanes
That's what I thought. Thanks