Can I put a bears head here?

[scotttarnor]

Scott I was in a rush to get out the door to work this morning and did not finish telling you about this carve, the piece of wood was in a friends burn pile, he thought he got it from the railroad tie place that sells the cutoffs for fire wood. I have attached a picture of a piece of it with the carve, it was just shy of 2 1/2” thick, originally I just planned on carving it (not even cutting it out of the block) and just keeping it around the shop. Well a friend saw me showing someone the photo and insisted I cut it out and sell it to them, so I ended up cutting it out with the bandsaw, slicing it thinner and sanding the edges.
I am going to set up the file with your suggestions and carve it again this weekend, question for you though, when you say to cheat up the Z a little on the rough finish how much are we thinking .1”?
If I remember correctly when I was originally playing with the file I had selected a 1/4” EM for the roughing path and I thought it left to much which is why I went with the 1/8”.
I do like the idea of smoothing out some of his nose and cheek lines!
Thank You!

[scottp55]

Hey Scott,
Always nice for you to get paid while doing practice carves(and loved enough To pay).
Only you can see the waste to be removed with different diameter bits, BUT IF the file doesn't jump around at all(except sometimes around the perimeter) then the waste is being removed fairly smoothly using the Offset Finish toolpath.
(I tend to use a Conventional...Bill K prefers Climb cut usually...
the cut will tell you which for your wood/bit combo)

I was thinking .1" when I said that for the Roughing toolpath, but You have the model.
One thing to watch out for on the Roughing toolpath, it it cut's to the center of the bit to provide clearance in the "Waste area" for the Finishing bit which carves to the edge of the bit.
As there IS no "waste" on a log/branch..the EM can cause a "Lip" if not dealt with either a negative offset or a separate vector offset Inwards the radius of the bit(approximately).

As I got away from Roughing toolpath with my small stuff(and only carved on a curve once as with VCP I only have 3D Tab shapes and Domes to work with)...I asked Bill K who does a lot of branches on a curve with Aspire. To eliminate the lip from EM he said;

" I added an offset 3D, maybe only 1/16” wide, at the outer edge. That gives a nice clean edge there."
So he could offset his outer ellipse for roughing inwards about 1/16”. Then on the finish cut use the original outer ellipse. I like to use an offset cut there as its cleaner around the perimeter.

Do you think you want just the Bear's head and smooth angled sides...or will you be carving
a small perimeter area around the model as well? (Just matters what effect you want)
IF just the Bear's head, then I usually Curve/Fit the perimeter vector to reduce nodes,
then adjust as needed,and copy and offset say .01" Inwards to avoid the "Sewing Machine" effect that can happen on the pixelated edge. Then copy that to a separate layer for any future offsets(such as a relief cut with the final TBN used if my CEL is running out).

I probably skipped something, but only 15 minutes left to finish some odd jobs before 11:15 appointment:(
Today is Almost as crazy as yesterday was,
as prepping for 1-5" of snow while Oak leaves are still on trees(power outages).

NOT telling you how to cut at all....OR criticizing you Excellent work!!
Just mentioning stuff I learned from branches, as you really do only have one shot unless you carve deeper.

Great Work Scott!

[scotttarnor]

Thank You scott! This weekend I hope to work on making the plexiglass jig for mapping the log that John shared and if time allows my 2 rail sweep training to actually lay out the log.

I want to Thank everyone for there assistance with this project, I will post updates as it progresses.

[ohiolyons]

Hey Scott

If you are really going to try to duplicate my fixture do you want to talk directly.

Maybe a ZOOM meeting where I can show you the fixture in greater detail?

Maybe save you some grief?

Maybe it will jog my memory enough that I can write up a "How To" pdf of my process and post it here?

Not certain if anyone else would be interested in knowing this info?

John

[Dale1944]

I would like an explanation of your hold-down process.

[scotttarnor]

John that sounds like a good idea, I will need to get zoom running, I will check back in later today.

[ohiolyons]

Works for me. Call me at 937-272-9512

[ohiolyons]

I hot glued the ends. If you never used hot glue before it is kind of like doubled sided tape. There is such a thing as toooooooooooo much. Don't ask how I know. I don’t have any photos of the actual carving (not certain how that happened) but I may have put clamps on the sides. Only minor pressure on the sides because I didn’t want to damage the bark.

[ohiolyons]

Didn't see glue marks or tears from removing hot glue. So this is probably how i held it down

Spread the weight out, bark friendly.

[scotttarnor]

Just an update I have been trying to make the plexiglass measuring template but I have not had any luck with my practice holes in the plexiglass. I am currently researching a bit to do this. I have played a little with a model on a curve, I did a test on some owls, not good details but it was fun !

[ohiolyons]

The bit I used to cut holes in the plastic is from PreciseBits


https://www.precisebits.com/index.php?r ... cription=1

LD 1/16"
CL 1/2"
OAL 1.5"
3 flutes
1/8" shank
mm308-0625-050f
PrecideBits.com

[scotttarnor]

Thank You John!

[scottp55]

Nice cut Scott,
Even if you didn't spend umpteen extra hours with a teeny Tiny bit
scott

[scotttarnor]

Scott, No tiny bits on this one, trying my 2 rail sweep and seeing if the model would follow it. I am sure you noticed the V’s at the top and bottom, I either have to tram my spindle better or change the tool path! Working so much I don’t remember what I used the cut this one! A hobby like this really takes a lot of attention!

[scotttarnor]

I finally cut the bear in the log/chunk of wood. My modeling of the log was not correct, the right side is good right where the bark turns into wood. The left side went about 1/4” into the wood. I tinted him with a light brown stain then coated with a 50/50 watco satin lacquer, I think I will pick up some matte to try and drop the shine down.
Thank You John and Scott for the pointers and tips!