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I’ve been carving laminated plywood animals for several years. Originally, after a lot of computer work using Sketchup, I projected and traced line photos of each slice onto a plywood sheet, cut them out with a jig-saw, cleaned them up with an oscillating sander, glued everything together, carved off the edges with various power carving tools, and finally sanded, sanded, and sanded.
I got my XCP in time to use it for this camel. I imported the Sketchup pics into Inkscape, converted them to SVG files, and imported those into Easel. Using the XCP greatly reduced the project time (about a third), but more importantly produced precise cutouts, making it easier to carve, and it allowed me to fine-tune the designs and setup alignment pinholes for the glue-up.
I have been using 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood, but it’s becoming hard to find where I live. I’ve used 3/4" AC plywood for larger projects, and although I like the effect of the varying colors of the plys, there are often more gaps, and the plys occasionally separate due to poor gluing.
My latest X-Carve Pro project - again using 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood. This started with a 3D file purchased from Turbosquid, which I sliced and imaged in Sketchup, vectorized in Inkscape, and fine-tuned in Easel Pro.
I started with an air powered 2" Saburrtooth grinding wheel along with a 2" 60-grit sanding wheel to carve off the edges from each slice. Once the final shape appeared, the next step involved hours and hours and hours of hand sanding, with help from a 2" air-powered orbiting sander, through each grit stage from 60-grit to 220-grit.
To finish it, I wiped on three coats of Aqua-Coat (which is sold as a grain-filler, and is great for getting that glass-like surface even on plywood edges - they use this stuff on grand pianos). This was followed by five coats of wipe-on polyurethane.
The whole project, starting with the computer design, took me about 100 hours to complete.
This was a commission piece from a client who provided the design and the STL. It was carved with my X-Carve Pro using Easel-Pro’s 3D feature, with almost no hand carving or shaping needed. It’s made from ½” Russian Birch plywood.
I used Meshmixer to smooth and refine the STL and cut it into 54 slices which were exported as individual STL files. Since most of the slices had some edge contouring from the front as well as the back, each file was imported into Easel Pro as a separate workpiece and then duplicated and flipped over so the back side could be carved after doing the front.
I looked at the 2" orbital sander you used. The pads appear to be loop and hook. I use what looks the same and have trouble keeping them attached. Any secrets?
I found that reducing the speed of the sander (if possible) and using a light touch when sanding keeps the pad from getting too hot and melting the plastic loops. I don’t have as much trouble with my 3" orbital. Some of the “brands” of sanding pads seem to do worse than others. As with most things, you get what you pay for.
