V-carving tiled design using Easel Pro

I have posted this briefly under my own thread but wanted to put it up on the Project page so it could inspire others :smile:

Project goal - to make decorative fan wall art with as little effort as possible.

Cut parameters, material 10mm HDU plastic sheet:

  • 60deg V-bit (d=10mm) for carving the design, adjust stepover to your preference.
    Feed rate 2000mm/min and 5mm depth per cut
  • 3mm 1F flat end mill to cut out the individual tiles.
    Feed rate 1000mm/min and 5mm depth per cut

I tried a test cut in MDF but it wont hold intricate detail as the smaller “peaks” will depart from the base quite easily. HDU plastic on the other hand work very well and hold detail perfectly.

Source file, traced using Easel Image Trace. Play with the trace parameters to get the level of detail as desired.
You can also combine two traces with various level of details if seen fit:

Easel Preview, the tiles were placed manually to my liking then adjusted using X/Y position to horisontal/vertical offset is equal between each tile. Since my work area is limited in size I made 8 separate Work pieces, each containing the V-carve and corresponding tile cut.

Here are the tiles done, total carve time roughly 2hrs. Sample piece to the left.

Two layers of satin paint, looks quite good as-is and with proper ascent lighting could be considered done at this point.

Wet-sanding of the top black surface leaving the pockets black provide a crisp representation of the image. Here shown on the wall:

Nothing new, but Easel Pro V-carving make this kind of project very simple to do.
Source image can be of anything you like and tiling horisontally/vertically make it really pop :):grinning:

I intend to craft a few Christmas presents using this method! :smiley:

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Where do you buy your HDU from? Been wanting to order some to try out for a couple outdoor signs people want. Just don’t want to buy it in 4’x8’ sheets and have that shipped.

I bet there are a lot of flying clubs or military messes that would like something like this to give their bars a classy modern look.

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Absolutely :slight_smile:

Here is a different theme:

Width 320mm per tile, 980mm overall
380mm tall
Total carve time 3h20min


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I got these sheets via my employer, we have a side business making signage / engraving. This material were leftovers from a customer order.

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Initial sand down.

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