I certainly want to use more cherry and walnut, but I have a hard time finding anything other than oak and pine. I don’t have any lumber yards close enough to make weekly trips. I guess I need to compare prices and see if online delivery is a decent option in that regard.
I wish my wife would let me just do the same finish I did on the other Family sign, but she wants something different since they will both be hung in the house. I am going to look into this gilded wax that Don was mentioning, at least for one of the layers.
This looks amazing great job! I’m glad that Easel worked well for you. I’m going to share this around the office, it is a great example of using multiple depths for a carve.
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You guys are all making me blush! I feel like the prettiest girl in school right now.
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While I await the arrival of the controller for my new XC, I’m putting together a collection of projects to put this thing to use. THIS is fantastic. Two of my kids are now married and this will make a great gift! Thanks for sharing!!!
I’m glad I could provide a little inspiration for you. It really is simple if you do it in Easel. Makes me wonder why it’s not that easy in other programs.
I have trouble getting the small words to carve. It will put holes in some places but not carve it Words less than a 1" but bigger that a 1/2"wouldn’t. Please be warned I am very green with this.
Does it show those parts being carved when you simulate the cut? I would think the bit you’re using isn’t small enough.
In case anyone is trying to do this in a Vectic product like V-Carve, I found this great post by tmerrill.
Multi Layers - Vectric Customer and includes a sample CRV file
- Create the text you want and get it properly positioned.
- Select the text, right click and use the Copy to Layer command to send a copy to a new layer. Make this layer invisible for now.
- Select the border and the smaller text and create a shallow pocket tool path. In the example I used a cut depth of 0.1".
- Open the Layer Manager and make the second layer with text visible and active by checking the box and clicking on the layer name to highlight it.
- Select all the text and convert to curves using the right click menu.
- Now you will use the Weld Selected Vectors tool (icon is in the Edit Objects section) to join the small text with the large text but there is one thing to be careful of - after you select all the text, hold down the shift key and deselect all the “islands” in the letters unless they touch a part of the text you are welding to.
- If you don’t do this, the islands will disappear when you weld, but you can simply do an undo and try again. When you have all the vectors selected/deselected click on the Weld tool icon.
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Search brought me to this older post. Using Aspire 8.5 and trying to create a layered sign similar to what Jeremy is referencing. I know this is a snap in Easel but I want to add a background texture so Aspire. Been battling this for two days with no success.
I follow the instructions and creating the sign shown is no problem. A successful sample below.
BUT in my above project and the Vectrics project all the lower layered letters used are what I will call “open” letters. There are no closed interior vectors like the letter O or D. When I place the upper layer over a letter like that the sections over the closed vector (center circle of the letter O) it cuts out the upper section. See photo.
I understand why this is happening just can’t figure how to fix it. Could someone explain or point me to a resource that explains this? Been looking at the Vectrics videos but haven’t found any help. Really appreciate it. This is driving me nuts!
Hey Ray…
Check this video … about 6:30 in… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHo8ozz4Nhg
I had the same issue before. Even though its a single letter, you still have to convert to curves and then “group” each one of the letters before welding together…
Best of luck…
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Thanks Ron! That is exactly what I was looking for. Grouping solved the problem and made it all work. Never would have figured that out on my own.
I think once again not knowing the correct terminology was my search problem. I was looking for LAYERED text rather than STACKED text and not getting much in the way of help.
Thanks again!
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Terminology has always been my problem. lol It seems it takes twice the time to research and figure out what terms are used and once that’s done, finding the info is usually a snap.
This looks great. I am in the process of trying to do something similar. I presume you used standard 1/8 bit for this entire project?
I believe he used a 1/4" for the roughing pass and a 1/16" for the detail.
Here is the Easel project - Easel - Treadway Name Sign
It should be noted that I did this project before Easel Pro was available. If I were to do it again today, I would be using a 60 degree v-bit for the detail bit. You could use the v-bit for the entire project if you wanted to eliminate bit changes and have everything at the same exact levels, but I imagine it will take a significantly longer amount of carving time if you do that. I have not checked, though.
Brandon what a great sign. I’m am very new to cnc do you think you could give a step by step of how you layer stuff. I’m having a hard time figuring it out.
Again the sign looks GREAT!
thanks jim
Thanks! If you’re using Easel, start by making the rectangle. I think the cut depth for the rectangle I used was .1. This will be the deepest part of the cut. The next layer (Treadway) is typed out and the cut depth is set to .05. Drag it to the section you want on top of the rectangle. This layer should look lighter than the rectangle since it is a shallower cut. If there is anything else you want at that particular depth, add it and drag it to where you want it. The last layer (Brandon and Shannon, hearts) is set to a cut depth of 0. Drag it on top of the .05 layer (Treadway) and it should be lighter than what is below since it has no depth at all. It should be completely white, and there should be two different darker colors underneath representing the different depths of the first two layers. That is pretty much all there is to it as far as designing the sign goes. Let me know if anything doesn’t make sense.
Thanks for all the help I’m going to try it when I get home.
Very nice of you to have patients with us new guys.