reverse carving for lamp

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urbansickness
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reverse carving for lamp

Post by urbansickness »

i dont think the title really explains it but im trying to carve out a design on corian for a lamp so the lamp looks completely plain until the light is on similar to lithopane but im carving on the inside of the lamp rather than the outside. the problem being i want to use a vbit to get the fine detail but it says 'make sure bit fits inside vector at that depth' when generating the toolpath. Im not worried about the wide part of the vbit cutting outside the vector as long as the point stays with in the vector.

is there a way to manipulate the toolpath to achieve this?

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mtylerfl
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Re: reverse carving for lamp

Post by mtylerfl »

Not a direct answer to your question, but...

I would use a tapered 1/16" BN or a tapered 1/32" BN if the details are so fine it would warrant the extra carve time. (I would not use a v-bit unless the design is a true v-carve design.)

precisebits.com has both the 1/16" and 1/32" BN bits that are commonly used for fine lithophane carving:

http://precisebits.com/products/carbide ... 250b4f.asp

Can you post a screenshot of your design? We can tell from that whether a small BN or v-bit would be most appropriate.
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urbansickness
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Re: reverse carving for lamp

Post by urbansickness »

the design is a mixture of flower flourishes, text, shapes just as a test for this sort of work. the corian is 12mm thick and i am cutting to 10mm.

urbansickness
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Re: reverse carving for lamp

Post by urbansickness »

heres a quick example that i just carved. its not a GoT lamp just had the vector already so stuck it on. the holes are cut right through with yellow acrylic stuck behind to try different effects. when the lamp is off it looks like a completely flat piece of corian

in the end i used a vbit on the profile toolpath set to cut on the line, the estimated time was quite long so decided on a 6mm pocket across the area first then did the profile toolpath starting at 6mm. but im not happy with the light bleeding through the 6mm thickness so would have prefered it to stay at 12mm.

so as test im happy and ill look it to making a proper finished lamp at some point
Attachments
lamp test.JPG

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martin54
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Re: reverse carving for lamp

Post by martin54 »

Like Michael has said a screenshot would be helpful, what toolpath strategy are you using ? Are you using a vcarve toolpath for this?
Are you using a v bit or an engraving bit with a flat tip ?
Does the corrian need to be as thick as 12mm ?

OK you must have posted that while I was typing, that gives a better idea what you are trying to achieve :lol: :lol: :lol:
Last edited by martin54 on Sun Oct 29, 2017 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

urbansickness
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Re: reverse carving for lamp

Post by urbansickness »

martin54 wrote:Like Michael has said a screenshot would be helpful, what toolpath strategy are you using ? Are you using a vcarve toolpath for this?
Are you using a v bit or an engraving bit with a flat tip ?
Does the corrian need to be as thick as 12mm ?
my previous post explains what i did

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martin54
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Re: reverse carving for lamp

Post by martin54 »

yes you posted that while I was typing lol

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martin54
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Re: reverse carving for lamp

Post by martin54 »

Same question though, does the corrian need to be 12mm, have you gone with 12mm because it is more readily available or you already have a stash of it ? Using something thinner to start with might help, lithophanes are generally done with much thinner material :lol: :lol:

urbansickness
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Re: reverse carving for lamp

Post by urbansickness »

we use 12mm at work for jobs so always plenty of offcuts to play with :D

depending on what i decided to build/incorporate the corian into 12mm is better for stronger joints

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