Looking for material to make lithopanes

[stevelod]

A few years ago I purchased online some sheets of 8" X10" X.25" material for carving lithopanes. It was a composite material that is much easier to cut than Corian. I ran out and now I cant find anyone selling it. Does anyone have any ideas of where I can get something similar?

[Rcnewcomb]

Check with local bathroom and kitchen counter shops for sink cutouts.
Look online at eBay, etsy, Freecycle.org, local online classifieds such as Shoppok, or the Big Box hardware stores

I've used Avonite as well as Corian.

Here are the other brands of solid surface material:
Affinity™ Surfaces
Avonite Surfaces®
Basix
Corian®
Dovaé
Formica® Solid Surface
Hanex
HI-MACS®
LivingStone®
Meganite®
Mystera®
Staron®

[stevelod]

Thanks for the useful info! The material I had been using was much softer than countertops. I've found I get much better resolution with a 1/8" engraving bit but unfortunately, a 1/8" bit won't stand a chance with something as dense as Corian. Do you know of any softer material that's opaque, white and approx. .25" thick?

[Rcnewcomb]

Perhaps what you had was HDPS (High Density Polyethylene), UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight) Polyethlylene, or Polypropylene (PP) Sheet.

[adze_cnc]

unfortunately, a 1/8" bit won't stand a chance with something as dense as Corian.

I don't know. I found Corian(R) to cut quite easily with a small cutter. Mind you I have only a sample size of 3 to evaluate that statement.

[Tailmaker]

Keep in mind, you can carve your image as well into transparent material (like cast acrylic or PETG) and fill the carving with pigmented resin. It is not a true lithophane (since it needs a "negative" of the model) but looks very similar and can even be made in color with a kind of stained-glass effect (the latter is a bit complicated).

I wrote up a tutorial about that technique. It is posted on Joe Federer's web site. The notes about the monochrome version are at the end.

[stevelod]

I'm very interested in your color technique! I have been making black and white epoxy filled lithopanes basically using the first part of your system and have had some pretty good results. I'm going to give your method a try when I have some time. Here's a couple of my B & W engravings. The attached Escher image was made pouring the tinted epoxy directly onto the carved wood. The Professor Longhair image was painted white before the epoxy was poured. That gave it almost a photo quality.

Back to my original question, both these were also carved with a 1/8" engraving bit. I've found anything else just won't give me the resolution. Do you think a bit like that would stand a chance on Corian? As far as the material I was using for lithopanes, it doesn't seem like a plastic or petrochemical product. it feels like more of a rosin/plaster mixture? It was sold specifically for making lithopanes and if I remember correctly it was called "candleboard" but I'm not 100% sure of that. It was made so a 1/4" sheet had just the right properties where it just becomes opaque at full thickness.

Thanks everyone for the great info!

[scottp55]

Maybe "Candlestone" ?
Here's a google search from this forum that might(?)help.
https://www.google.com/search?q=candles ... BHoECA4QBQ

scott

[stevelod]

It was candlestone. Thanks! It doesn't seem available when I do an online search. Has anyone seen a source for this.

[Xxray]

Thanks for the useful info! The material I had been using was much softer than countertops. I've found I get much better resolution with a 1/8" engraving bit but unfortunately, a 1/8" bit won't stand a chance with something as dense as Corian. Do you know of any softer material that's opaque, white and approx. .25" thick?

Not true, I've done dozens with a 1/32 TBN with no issues at all, more than up to the task.
If you are nervous about stressing the tool and/or machine, just use a 45 cut which starts out in a small corner instead of ripping a full length pass on the 1st cut.
edit: Engraving bit Ok, that might be another matter, never used one of those for lithos

[stevelod]

I may have to do a test by carving the same image with an engraving bit and tapered ball tip. My theory was an engraving bit will give me better detail, but a 1/32" tapered ball tip should give me better definition lines between dark and light areas. It's a trade off but I'm thinking I may have been overestimating the importance of the extra detail over the gray transition from dark to light. I guess there's only 1 way to find out.

[Rcnewcomb]

It looks like Candlestone is no longer available or in business -- at least in the US. The web site URL no longer works. https://candlestonegifts.com/ Search engine results don't indicate that there is any new distributor.

[Xxray]

I remember candlestone, still have some in fact, is/was some pretty good stuff.

I have had great success with 1/32, in fact thats all I have ever used. Just have to find the sweet spot between detail and outlandish cutting time with stepover, usually somewhere between 12-18%. Of course most guys concerned #1 with detail don't care much about cutting time, but there is a point where lowering it does not produce superior detail to the naked eye at least, therefore it is inefficient and pointless to go below that.
Probably other tricks as well to achieve sufficient detail in reasonable time such as model resolution, cutting strategy ect. I'd say my average 8x10 with a 1/32 is between 3-5 hrs with maybe 14% stepover.

[Jimcad]

Wow! That is superb!

[Xxray]

Wow! That is superb!

Thanks yeah, that one turned out nice. Instead of white I used a cream colored corian which is also speckled, which gives it sort of a vintage look. Doesn't transmit as much light as white, but I wanted it subtle and it is.
Lightbox is functional but very rudimentary, as you can tell just at a glance, I should make another one for it a little more dignified.