Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

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grossmsj
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Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by grossmsj »

I'm making a fish sign with a 3D model height of .125 inches. There are a series of scales that won't show up very well on a dark wood. I had planned to make them stand out as follows:
1) Carve the model with rest machining using a 1/4 inch ballnose folllowed by a 1/16 inch ballnose.
2) After the first pass with the 1/4 inch ballnose I would spray the sign with a gold paint, then remount the sign and cut it again with the second pass of the rest machining process. The second pass would be able to cut into the areas between the grids which the 1/4 inch ballnose couldn't reach, allowing the gold areas to stand out against the newly machined dark wood.

When I did this on a smaller scale it worked great. But now that I want to scale it up I can see that many of the scales are large enough that the 1/4 inch ballnose can fit in, so the second pass with the 1/16 inch ballnose won't touch those areas. I hope his picture will help to visualize the problem:
Shad.png
Typical problem area is highlighted here:
Shad Scale.png
I'd like that whole area between the grids to be machined out.

What would be a strategy/process to remove the painted areas between all those scales? I'm not wedded to rest machining as the solution.
Last edited by grossmsj on Sat Feb 26, 2022 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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adze_cnc
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by adze_cnc »

Scale bits up? 3/8 and 1/8

grossmsj
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by grossmsj »

Thank you adze_cnc. That's one solution, albeit one that would cost me a new bit and 3/8 collet.
It probably isn't recognizable with what I've posted, but all those spaces between the scale grids are tiny pockets. So I can select all the affected tiny pockets and do pocket cuts with the 1/4 inch ballnose at a depth of two-thousandths deeper than the model.
It's a bit tedious, and not very elegant, but one more solution. I'm hoping someone can chime in with a very different way of looking at the whole problem.

Charlie_l
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by Charlie_l »

How about a light wood machined as you described. Then apply glazings that is wiped off the high spots? It would leave the lower areas darker than the high areas.
Charlie
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martin54
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by martin54 »

There probably isn't going to be a simple way to do this with the CNC other than scaling up the bits as adze_cnc has already suggested, some things are better done other ways so looking at finishing as Charlie_l has suggested may be your best bet. Finishing isn't really one of my strengths but is something I am trying to learn as it makes so much difference to what you can achieve :lol: :lol:

grossmsj
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by grossmsj »

Actually, I'm sort of relieved there isn't an easy software-related way to do it. At least I'm not overlooking the obvious.
I do really like the idea of glazing. The great write-up by Tim Merrill makes this seem very approachable. I'm committed to a walnut piece right now and it's cutting on the machine as I type this. I'll probably do this one with the gold spray as that looks so good on walnut. I can get by brute-forcing the areas that need attention with shallow 'touch up' finishing in those pockets. But glazing is on the list when I do it again on curly maple.
Thanks for your help gentlemen!

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martin54
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by martin54 »

There is some good finishing techniques by Michael Tyler on the forum & if you look at the monthly Vectric projects the PDF files included always have tips on the finish applied to that project, again by Michael Tyler, well worth a look even if you don't actually make the projects :lol: :lol: :lol:

grossmsj
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by grossmsj »

Thank you very much Martin! I'm new to the Forum and didn't even know about that section. So much good stuff there...

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martin54
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by martin54 »

grossmsj wrote:
Tue Mar 01, 2022 12:13 am
Thank you very much Martin! I'm new to the Forum and didn't even know about that section. So much good stuff there...
Have you had a chance to look around your portal account? If you log in to your V&Co Account there is a ton of stuff in there, not just your software but Vectric projects, in the Labs, partner projects plus other useful things like tips & tricks. Plenty of inspiration for your own projects :lol: :lol: :lol:

grossmsj
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by grossmsj »

Have I had a chance? Yes. Have I really done anything there, no. :(
I am drinking from the proverbial firehose right now. There is a LOT to swallow with a new machine (4-axis), Aspire, etc. But I'm making headway. It's great to have such a helpful and knowledgeable community. :D

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martin54
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by martin54 »

Yes it can be a pretty steep learning curve if you are new to this type of software & CNC in general, best I can suggest is to work your way through the tutorials starting at the beginning, most come with files you can download & use to work alongside the video. A Dual-monitor set up or second computer can help with this if available. Don't cherry pick as once you have the basics down then the more advanced stuff will be easier to understand, takes a while but should give you a good grounding & personally I think it's worth it in the long-run even though it might take a bit longer :lol: :lol: :lol:
Work on one area at a time & don't move on until you have a good understanding, at least that way it isn't total over whelm all the time :lol: :lol:

Most importantly Have some fun :lol: :lol:

grossmsj
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by grossmsj »

Here's how the project turned out. Of course, I look at it and (mostly) just see what I did wrong. But overall it's just what I wanted.
Gizzard Shad_1.jpg

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mtylerfl
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Re: Painted Relief with Rest Machining - How to?

Post by mtylerfl »

Very cool, Scott! It looks great!
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