Still can't get it - PhotoVCarve whipped me

[nailzscott]

OK, I have read through many, many posts on how PhotoVCarve works so well. Some just cut and then stain. Some seal, cut, stain. Used close grain, use hard, soft woods. Change bits, change contrast, change depth. I've used centurion tools and 60 deg bits and I just don't get it. I've noticed a little better results with a 60 deg carbide vbit but they are still poor. You can make out what the picture was a little, but nowhere near the detail I see posted here. The one thing I have not tried is something I think I saw on this forum where the wood was sealed before it was vcarved, then sealed after it was vcarved, and then stained before sanding. Is that the best method or is that just one of many that should work? I hope someone can provide some guidance of clear, tried and true methods that should work most of the time. Thanks.

[Rcnewcomb]

Can you post a photo of what you have and what you saw in the preview?

[Burchtree]

Hi
Can you post a picture of what you are trying to do” What size do you want to cut it? What settings are you using? My settings for a 60 degree V bit are depth .060 inch, line spacing 140 - 160 % contrast 60 -100 %. Do give up. PVC is very rewarding in many ways.
We are here to help
Dan

[nailzscott]

The first pic is the preview. The second is the best out of probably 15 attempts. Unfortunately it was on a wide grained piece of wood, but it was still the best and frankly, looks a whole lot better here in a picture than it does standing in front of it.

[nailzscott]

Dan,
The finished item is roughly 10" tall by 8" wide. As far as depth and contrast, using a 60 deg. bit, I have tried everything from .015 to .075 depths, spacing and contrasts from the most to the least. That's why it seems to me that it must be in the method, not the cut. I need to make this thing work so I'm not giving up - just a little tired of the failures.
Thanks for your help guys.

[Burchtree]

Hi
That is a lot of picture to get on a 10 by 8 with a 60 degree v bit. I would try doing just the face and a small part of the body on the 10 by 8. Can you post the picture you are working with? I will take it into PVC and tell you how I would handle it. I haven’t done much using the stain method. See this post on How I do it http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3761
I ran the PVC toolpath two times. The first pass acts as a roughing pass. The second pass cleans it up.
Dan

[nailzscott]

Here is original edited/cropped photo of one of my grandsons.

[Burchtree]

Hi
I think I could do that picture with a 60 degree bit.but a 45 would be better. Picture size would be 12 by 9. Like I said before I haven’t done much with the stain or paint method. I have done some but was not to happy with the result. I do need to work on this way of doing PVC’s and plan on doing some testing. Here is what I think I have learned so far.
1 The blank needs to be clear coated to the point it is completely sealed and smooth before you cut.
2 The cuts need to be sealed with two coats of clear coat
3 Stain it and let it dry well before sanding ( I’m thinking days ) I was to much in a hurry here.
4 Sand the face, clean and clear coat
I should add that I don’t think I need to cut .060 deep, .040 should work
I hope this helps
Dan

[nailzscott]

Birchtree,
Thanks for the input. I'll try your approach, but have a question. Since you seal before cut and after cut; then the stain applied never really gets to the wood, just to the cut grooves, right?

[Burchtree]

Hi
That is right. The stain never gets into the wood. There is a post where one guy used artist charcoal to darken the lines. I can remember when I first got my ShopBot I did a test sign out of white pine. I put three coats of clear shellac on the face. Applied Avery paint mask, cut it and painted the cuts black. The paint was sucked up by the wood. You could see black lines running under the finished surface.
Dan

[nailzscott]

Burchtree,
I hope to be able to give your method a try this weekend.

I had a project a while back that needed painted letters. I stained the board, then applied cheap clear contact paper that I had laying around (sticks well to stain and pulls easily), then did the cut, then applied clear coat to the cut area, before spraying in letter paint. That worked well to stop the bleeding of the color into the letter edges. Peeled off the contact paper while finish paint was still tacky and it was done.

[nailzscott]

Burchtree
I still don't get it.

I tried the process again with these parameters:

15x11 piece of close grain wood with 60 deg bit
.40 cut, 150 line spacing, 67% contrast
2 coats clear - complete drying
photovcarve picture
2 coats clear - complete drying
stain - complete drying

After all that was done I started sanding. The finished result is no better than prior attempts. I could make out the face but not enough detail to make it presentable - and the rest of the details are pretty much lost.

Any other ideas.

Have you had better results with soft wood or hard? I just do not know what to try next.

[Burchtree]

Hi
I’m sorry you are having such a hard time with this. Like I said the process I gave you was the next thing I was going to try. My preferred method is to apply maple veneer to wood or mdf and do my PVC’s on that. Can you post a picture of what you ended up with?
Dan

Curly maple on mdf

[nailzscott]

Attached is the image I ended up with. The wood was a little darker than I wanted to start with, but it had a really close grain. I sanded it some more after this photo, thinking that maybe it needed more; but it did not turn out much better. When you use veneer, does your vcarving go through the veneer and into the mdf?

[Burchtree]

Hi
Yes I do cut though the veneer and into the mdf. That is how I get the color. No stain or paint.
Dan
PS I see a lot of chip out. What brand of v bit are you using?