3D Engraving

[Ray Mighells]

I cleaned up the pieces I posted yesterday and put them in a new album with some close-up that show the detail. I think they are worth looking at. Atchd sample is Jatoba 6.75" engraved on 1/8" thick wood. http://www.PictureTrail.com/razaxnstuff

[Mike Null]

Ray

Great job! How did you create the art?

[David Fairfield]

Nice stuff. I looked through your gallery, and especially liked this sort of carving. What type of engraver are you using?

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/4481574

I think the 3d feature is generally underutilized by us laserers. I've had my machine over 3 years now and I'm just beginning to seriously experiment with it out. It has some very interesting potential for what I do.

I hope more people will post their 3d results!

Dave

[Frank Corker]

Beautiful result there Ray. They look like Gantry images, is that where you got them or have you managed to work out the secret for 3D stuff and keeping it quiet?

[James Jaragosky]

Beautiful result there Ray. They look like Gantry images, is that where you got them or have you managed to work out the secret for 3D stuff and keeping it quiet?
this looks like a james booth file. see
http://www.vectorart3d.com/store/index.cfm/Animals-Great_Seal_of_the_USA_50150.htm for more info.
Not a bad deal on a file for $25.
IMHO, for the time investment 3d is still out of reach unless you got a 100 + watt laser.
The smaller watt lasers can do the job; but the time it takes makes 3d work cost prohibitive on smaller watt lasers. but the wow factor is incredible.

[Frank Corker]

Actually it was the border around the image, it's almost identical to the one from Gantry, that said, can't take away from the fine result that Ray has achieved. I agree that the 3D effect is hard going, but the result is always worth the effort, just not in vast amounts!

[Ray Mighells]

For David - My Engraver is Epilog 35W. All the woodcarvings are by hand, using traditional gouges . Some use of a router for roughing out backgrounds, and hand held sabre saw for piercing cuts, no sanding on these, all off the knife so to speak. When I was on the West Coast I sold woodcarvings through 2 art galleries in Seattle and one in Tacoma. The Norweign style you referenced sells well in IO, MN,WI. Frank - you're correct. The art work is all Gantry. Gantry has introduced a partner program to make their images more economical to use. I had to do multiple passes resulting in close to an hour laser time on each design. If you are doing military stuff, the WOW factor is a good promotional effect, and the sales potential isn't too bad. Quality sells. I have no affiliation with Gantry, but I think their products are worth a look. They have much more than the military ones I showed.

[Barbara Sample]

Awesome work!!! What type of wood did you use? How did you get it 3D without making the wood look brown where it lasered?
Just wondering
Barb

[Ray Mighells]

Barbara - the wood used ws Jatoba, American Black Cherry, and Hard Maple. Clean up was with a drop of dish soap, a stiff bristle brush and water combined with a little elbow grease to scrubb, rinse and clamp between Sham-Wow to dry.

[George M. Perzel]

Hey Ray;
Very nice work. I've played around with 3D but could never get anything even close to your results-great job.
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Harry Radaza]

Hey ray,

always wanted 3d but just like others, I coudnt achieve sellable results.

Now I seen yours and it makes me want to go back to the drawing board.

how many passes did you have to do and what settings?

[David Fairfield]

I've been getting some really good results in 3d. So far the key has been keep the graphics simple if you're making them yourself, and look for soft-ish materials that need only a single pass to get good definition. I believe there is some excellent commercial potential in 3d. I hope to post some results when I get past the experimental phase.

Dave

[Ray Mighells]

I claim no credit at all for the artwork. The ones I showed are all Gantry Co and they are done in up to 256 shades of gray. Personally I think they have a very high WOW factor and a few in your window would bring customers into your store, then it would be up to you to sell some custom work. In some areas this style would sell well - some people don't want to buy anything that isn't expensive. For most of us, sales would be few and far between, but; etc; etc. Anyhow, the ones I showed are mostly .25" thick and the larger ones are 7" dia, were done with 4 passes at 24 minutes per pass with my 35W Epilog. I'm going to try some Chestnut, Aspen, and Basswood this week. I did try some Black Walnut but didn't care for the result. For info, I used settings of: Raster 30 Speed 100 power 600DPI. Vector 10 Speed (didn't want to burn all the way thru on first pass) and 95 power; 500 freq. The appealing things about these are the intricate details, sharp/clean lines, and the legibility of the fine script even on the 3.5" ones. A 100W could do thes in one pass, I think a 75W would do a good job with 2 passes.