Mushroom Man

[TReischl]

My better half happened to look over my shoulder a couple of weeks ago as I was browsing through models and she spotted this one. Our shops are in a building out back that looks like a cottage complete with garden, arbor and raised beds along side of it. Not sure if it is going to get painted or what yet.

The model is 2.5 thick and about 24 inches tall. The vertical lines you see are not cutter marks, I finish cut it across the grain (right to left if you will). Those are just grain marks. This is my usual high quality material purchased at the big box lumber store. Construction pine. It is has been sanded pretty good and has a coat of shellac on it for final sanding.

[WNC_Ed]

Ted,
Amazing looking 2' length of "big box store" pine!
Does she have a spot in mind for it?
Congrats!

[Savannahdan]

Love the character and your use of big box wood. I'll bet your wife is excited about how it turned out. In my house that would get me eggs, waffles, bacon or sausage and buttered toast for supper. Thank you for sharing.

[dwilli9013]

Nice job Ted---- I love your big box store pine projects. Just goes to show how crap can be massaged into something wonderful. Looks like the dude may have been eating a few of those mushrooms. Thanks for sharing.

[scottp55]

Excellent Ted!
Really like how you hit the grain on the rills of the mushroom....which makes him Look like he's made of mushrooms!
BIG! But some nice details and delicacy to it.
What size HSS BN were you able to go with that size?
I KNOW it wasn't a .25mm.....as it's not Christmas yet
Congrats!!
scott

[mtylerfl]

That’s a nice carve, Ted! I’m looking forward to seeing what Finish you decide to use!

Did you take any “progress photos” or videos during glue-up and milling? Those are always interesting and informative, too.

[TReischl]

I did not take any progress pics while carving. This one is like some of the other larger ones I have done so I figured everyone had heard enough of my bloviating.

It was roughed out with a 10mm end mill 6mm deep at 350IPM going with the grain. The first finish cut was a .25 inch dia ball nose. When that was done I used a 3mm tapered ball nose to get better detail in a few areas.

A lot of the success on projects like this has to do with prep work. I start by cutting 2X6 to the desired blank length. Then I rip them in half. I do not have a planer or jointer anymore so I put them in the vises on the machine and flatten one side with a .75 end mill taking a shallow cut going 450 IPM. Once that is done I have a flat side so I can then run them through the drum sander. Then I glue them up. Oh, one other thing. . . I usually buy 6-8 boards and let them stand around in my shop for a couple of months to get really dried out. I don't worry about twist or cupping on these boards since I know I will be cutting them to shorter lengths and flattening them anyhow.

One of the big tricks to doing these thick models is to create a gutter around the outside of the model because at some point the collet on the router is going to be below the surface. That takes more time but is worth the piece of mind.

Overall this project took about 4.5 hours of cutting time. I slowed down the finish cut with the .25 end mill to about 80IPM from my usual 250 to see if I got better results. Seems to have worked, way less fuzzies when it was done.

I also used the Foredom with a football shaped cutter to remove fuzzies. That worked really well! I bought a HF speed control a while back for $20 which allowed me to slow that cutter way down.

The construction pine is used because there is just no way I am going to spend $50+ to cut things like this. They are novelty items not heirlooms. This one has about $8 worth of pine in it. When I get really cheap I keep an eye out for construction projects in the area and pick up scraps from them.

[rtibbs]

Sweet Ted,
I’m curious as to where you “browse” for models. As a newbie to 3D carving always on the lookout for sources.

Ron

[TReischl]

I typically browse eBay for models and the Vectric store.

Purchasing from eBay can bring up a number of issues. There are definitely models for sale that have been pirated, no doubt about it. If I know that is the case I will not purchase that model. But there are a ton of models that I have no idea where they originated. I do not subscribe to the theory "if something is really cheap then it MUST be pirated". For all I know someone may have bought out several model collections and decided the best route to go was volume rather than higher prices.

The other issue with purchasing models is their composition. Sometimes they are designed more to catch the eye than for practical machining. Being one single stl file poses some challenges in getting them to a state where they will actually machine decently. So some of them are definitely not plug n play by a long shot.

So my rule about purchasing models is: I don't buy models I know have been stolen. For the rest of them it is up to the person or company who created them to enforce their copyrights, it is not my job to research each and every model to determine whether or not it is a copy and I am not about to assume that anything with a low price has been copied.

[mtylerfl]

Thank you for the additional details of your process, Ted! Good info.

[scottp55]

Thanks for the info Ted!
Spindle is right at wheelchair eye level for me, and spooky enough getting the collet nut within .1" of the wood and wondering if my addition/subtraction skills had a "Hiccup",
BUT seeing the collet nut disappear under the work surface would be twice as bad!!!
BUT again, because of your deep carvings the last two Paper Birch logs were only surface on the back to a depth of 3"
Thanks again!
scott