posted
A few days ago I posted a concept drawing of a sign and post I am doing for a local client.
Today I put the first piece on the router. My intent was not to produce a finished piece right off the machine but rather have my MultiCam do the bulk of the work, allowing me to then apply the final magic by hand. To me it makes sense to use modern technology in a smart way. I didn't want to spend hours and hours sitting at my computer, but rather use the high tech stuff to pro cue the rough work and then I'd have a little fin doing the detail by hand. Unless there are many multiples it is often faster for me to do it this way. If there are multiples (which we don't often do) then It would make sense to do it automated.
So here's the rough horse's head glued up with 30 lb Precision Board. The routing file took about 3/4 of an hour to produce and the pieces were routed while I ate supper in the house.
The stylized horse's head is about 16" tall.
Next up is the winding section of the post which will be roughed on the fourth axis router and then I'll carve in the wood grain by hand using an air powered die grinder to make quick work of the process.
-grampa dan
[ February 10, 2012, 12:37 PM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Dan has this 4-axis thing just a little while and he's already horsing around on it. His unbridled passion for this kind of work means he isn't saddled by the common frustrations and he doesn't have to rein in his creativity. Now I'm going to have to pony up and crack the whip on my own work.
-------------------- Doug Haffner Haffner Signs www.haffnersigns.com 309-338-9570 211 W. Williams Wyoming, Il 61491 Posts: 211 | From: Wyoming, Illinois | Registered: May 2010
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posted
My clamps were already in use holding other glued pieces together. But I wasn't planning on using them for a piece like this anyways. With the tapers caused by the round shape it is so much easier to use screws. Things stay in alignment too as the glue makes it slippery otherwise. The holes are easily filled with a little Abracdabra Sculpt and by the time I'm done it will be no problem, I'll post a pic later today of the result.
-grampa dan
[ February 10, 2012, 12:34 PM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
First thing as I came into my shop this morning I spent about 50 minutes with a die grinder roughing out the horse head. I got rid of the glue seams, did a little shaping, flattened the bottom and glued it onto the base plate. The holes created by the screws were ignored for now... I show both sides just to prove I'm not cheating with my time and only doing one side.
The thing to remember is this is only a post topper. The detail will continue through the post, and sign. There's no sense in getting crazy. Enough detail to carry the theme is necessary but more only costs me money.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
This is the color of 30 lb Precision Board. It is a light grey in color. You can see the pile behind the horse. The top stuff is new stock and is the same color. The bottom of the pile is the old style yellower material.
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
In spite of a whole bunch of other necessary work going on in the shop I could't resist sneaking another half hour with the die grinder on the piece. I whipped on the wood grain, and as I progressed I was more than a little unsure that I may just have wrecked the piece. But I trusted my instincts and pressed on. Then I changed bits to a fine pointed one and started in on the splits in the 'wood' It instantly looked great - just as I had imagined.
You have to look at this piece in context of the rest of the post and sign. I want the woodgrain and weathering to read clearly at a distance. People will be looking at this sign as they drive by in a car. As we layer on the paint and subtle glazes it will hopefully be magic.
Now I m ready to fill in the holes and add a few details with the Abracadabra Sculpting epoxy. It's time to kick the router into gear on the next pieces.
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
The concept drawing came together in about an hour or so... plus two revisions and color changes added another hour. Going to see the site took another hour and a half.
The routing files so for have taken about an hour or so to design. There are less than two hours of machine time so far plus the time spent gluing and carving with the die grinder. Add it up and so far I have about eight hours or one man day into the project.
The sign is pretty straight forward. The bulk of the work on this project will be into the post. But it adds greatly to the project.
I allowed a week for this job but I'm hoping to do it in four man days. Installation will eat up another half day on top of that by the time I travel there, mix the cement and plop it in. Taking pictures and visiting with the client will eat up some of that time.
This is but one small part of the project I hope for they have lots of ideas they want done through the property.
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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.......your're a magicman mr.dan !. there are alot of us here you don't heard from much, who truly appreciate your taking the time to share.........so thank you for what you do for us!
posted
"Add it up and so far I have about eight hours or one man day into the project.
The sign is pretty straight forward. The bulk of the work on this project will be into the post. But it adds greatly to the project.
I allowed a week for this job but I'm hoping to do it in four man days. Installation will eat up another half day on top of that by the time I travel there, mix the cement and plop it in. Taking pictures and visiting with the client will eat up some of that time."
So, I'm just curious,... it takes a week for the horse and then the sign. Then time for the post - another week.
I guess what I was asking was How much from start to finish? Does that week include priming/painting time?
I'm just wondering.... I guess that router really makes a ton of difference regarding time. I still hand carve but seriously think it may be worth subbing it out now.
Thanks!
-------------------- Summit Signs 231 Victoria Rd Venice, Fla 34293 sales@summitsign.com http://www.summitsign.com Design Is The Difference. Posts: 271 | From: Venice, Fla | Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
The time includes painting time (but not paint drying time) The time period of one week (40 hours) includes both post and sign. The sign will be in my shop for two/three weeks in total but I won't be working on it for much of the time.
The router can do work five or six times faster than I could by hand. And I would never attempt this kind of detailed lettering by hand. The hand carving of the details is what turns my crank. I do it with a die finder as it vaporizes the Precision Board with little effort.
Painting the sign and post and gilding the letters won't take long from here. With the glazing techniques we've developed it goes fast!
If you go to the blog I write for Precision Board (a sponsor of this site) the project is detailed step by step. http://precisionboard.blogspot.com/
-grampa dan
[ February 21, 2012, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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