new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Gallery for images of work cut using PhotoVCarve
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Lionel
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new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Lionel »

I made the photos in my last post too small. Here are bigger ones
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Rotation of IMG_5056.JPG
Rotation of IMG_5057.JPG

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mtylerfl
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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by mtylerfl »

Beautiful work, Lionel! What settings and bit did you use for your tool paths?
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Lionel
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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Lionel »

max depth of 0.030", 5% line spacing, 0.125" ball nose, 24000rpm, 100"/min, 45deg cut angle with cross hatching selected. These are both 5x7 and take almost 2 hours each to cut

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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by MTSO »

Wow man they are really great. What finish did you use?

Regards

Brian

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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Beltramidave »

Very nice! Is that on maple? Is there that much difference in quality without running the cross hatch?
Thanks for sharing.
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Lionel
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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Lionel »

I use clear oil based Polyurethane mixed a tiny dab of oil based Artisian paint (artist paint I get at Michaels). The 2 mix ok and then seem to separate soon after being applied, the paint seems to settle in the deeper cuts (at least that's my theory). This is maple. It cuts clean is light colored and seems to be the best choice for pictures. I've tried many other species but the results are not even close. The key is sealing the wood before applying the mix, hard to find something that is compatible with poly, so I make my own using 25% poly and 75% mineral spirits. Very important to let this dry thoroughly (24hrs) or the paint will bleed into the sealer and not look clean. This took a lot of experimenting and i've probably done about 50 pictures to get this result. Try it out and let me know if there is something that I can improve on.

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Lionel
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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Lionel »

Something I forgot to mention was I built a leveling platform. It has an adjustment in each corner to get the wood perfectly level. I then apply the mix pretty thick to the picture and allow it to flow . It won't flow properly if not level. I cover to keep the dust out cause it takes about 4hrs to dry. Later I apply another 2 coats of just poly.
If I do not use crosshatch then I have to sand the wood to remove the small lines. if the lines are not removed they will show up when the paint/poly mix is applied. I still sand lightly by hand with 320 even if crosshatch is used. I always sand before applying the sealer.

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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by mtylerfl »

Lionel,

Thank you for sharing the details of how you achieved such beautiful results. This thread is a valuable reference!
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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Beltramidave »

Thanks Lionel, for sharing. It is hard to believe that you can get so much detail using a .125" ball nose. I can't wait to try something using your idea, but will have to wait until next week as I am out of town for work this week. I am just getting started with PhotoVcarve and with the help of this forum, I am very excited to see what I can make.

Is the Artisan paint that you talked about a brand? what color are you using? Don't have a Michael's locally, but do have Hobby Lobby.

Thanks again!!
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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Lionel »

The Brand is "Winsor & Newton". It's made in France and costs about $25 CAD for a 200ml tube. The colour is "Van Dyke Brown" but i'm testing other colours as well with similar results. The carving is the easy part, the finishing is what messes me up the most and unfortunately there is no UNDO button on the carving or finishing.

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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Beltramidave »

Lionel,

With your finishing technique, you are still sanding the high spots to achieve the lighter colors after your paint/poly application, aren't you? Just wanted to make sure.
Thanks

Dave
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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Lionel »

Yes I sand the high spots lightly and then put another coat of clear poly

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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by rayray »

I'm just getting started with PhotoVCarve and a couple questions: Gorgeous pictures, by the way and photographic quality; which brings up my first question: The photos that you used, were they color, B & W, high contrast? Did you prepare them in any particular way using photo editing SW? Was your BallNose cutter, the one that comes with PVC or did you customize the tool data?

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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Lionel »

I use a Canon Rebel but you know today any smartphone will take a good high quality photo. I open the photo in Photoshop. The first thing I do is resize it so that the area I want to crop will fit the size of wood that I will be using eg. 5x7. I may do this several times until I get what I'm looking for. I usually want shoulders and neck lines close to the bottom and we'll say leave about 0.5" to 1" from the top of the head to the top of the wood. Once the photo is cropped I adjust lighting and shadows, this helps to reduce dark areas and bring out more detail when carved on wood. The next thing I do is remove the background (unless there is something worth keeping). I also set the background color to White. I save as a photoshop file and then save as a color BMP file. Apparently a bitmap will keep crisp edges and not soften them like Jpeg's, etc. I have tried B&W but doesn't seem to make a difference. I use the bitmap file in photoVcarve for the carve. I've also altered my parameters. I now use a 0.0625 (1/16) Amana conical ballnose bit. My max cut depth is now 0.040" from 0.030". The smaller bit allows me to cut deeper and not loose any detail. I still use 5% line spacing. I do not use the Cross hatch function anymore, doubles the time and does not seem to do much.

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Re: new post of my most recent successes with photo Vcarve

Post by Beltramidave »

Lionel,

Do your previews show lines like mine? This is set up with a .03125 tapered ball nose @ 5% line spacing and .04 DOC. Just curious before I spend 8 hours carving it.

Your work is amazing and I love your finish technique. So far I have not gotten as good of results as you have, but I am going to keep trying.

Thanks,
Dave
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PREVIEW (800x498).jpg
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