A question on types of tubes, and another on Depth of Field

[Dan Hintz]

David,

If you're engraving from the top, there's no need for a turntable, your image is just a series of concentric rings. Set the vase directly on the table and laser away, refocusing with each ring.

I think this is the rotary you were thinking of... Ken made it:
http://www.epiloglaser.com/cs_kallenshaan.htm

[David Somers]

Mike and Dave and Rodne,


For most pieces I wouldn't consider this. And engraving for its own sake isn't what I would be after unless someone asked for it. But I was interested in some of the inlay techniques like veneers, or more likely infill type processes like the metal powder I mentioned. On some pieces a delicate fillagree filled with a silver or brass powder and buffed out would be a nice approach.


I also have a lot of friends in my area who are heavily into their Celtic and Scottish heritage. And others who are into their Norwegian Heritage. There are big...really big celtic festivals and some smaller Norwegian festivals that go on through the year and they have been after to me to do various types of pieces with celtic or norwegian symbols and patterns on them and set up a booth at the festivals. Not something I would want to make a career of, but something fun that these folks certainly seem to want. I would like to see the end result be somewhat organic looking, but use the laser to help make a lot of the detailed cuts that can be so tedious when done by hand. Selling one off hand done items like that at a festival can be pretty counterproductive unless you just don't care about accounting for your time in doing some of the work.


This metal powder infill technique also works well on small Christmas Ornaments. Again, a delicate, thin filagree of silver or brass can be quite striking on the right wood and shape.


Overall though, I just like turned wood as it is and love the figure and feel of the pieces with a minimal finish on them. I have never cared for pieces that have a heavy, plastic like finish on them. I prefer oiled finishes or several thin coats of a hand rubbed finish.


Here is a web site I keep if you want to check out some of my other work. I need to update it badly but it will give you an idea of what I enjoy doing. Nothing is for sale on the site so hopefuly this is OK with the moderators? If not, just holler at me and I will kill the link right away.


http:\\www.turnedwooddesign.com


Like many things along this line, it is the smaller, more "mass" produced items that tend to be your bread and butter, while allowing you the freedom to do the more unique one off pieces that are truly fun and creative.


Piercings is another thing I would enjoy working with. I should clarify that....in wood turning it generally means cutting through a thin walled piece in various patterns, as opposed sticking items through your skin as in the term "tacks and tats"!! <grin> (laser based body piercings or dermal adornments through scarring isn't a niche I am prepared to occupy! <grin>)


Piercings are often used to create the tracery of veins in a leaf or other similar, delicate filagree type of cuttings. Usually done on very thin walled pieces. The wood you use is typically a very plainly figured wood that is colored or dyed to work with the pattern you are doing. One gal I have watched over the years has done some amazingly delicate pieces where the bulk of the wood on a turned piece is carved away and what you are left with is something that looks like a swirl of autumn leaves being picked up in a wind. I wouldn't impose on her style of course, but there are lots of ideas like that that don't involve the more mechanical look of many engravings that Rodne was mentioning, but that a laser might facilitate in terms of the fine cuts being made.


Rodne...the gal I was thinking of is a Botanist from the University of Ohio who does a very large amount of her research in South Africa. She loves the country and the people. She is also a world reknowned woodturner. You might be familiar with her. Andi Wolfe? Check out her work at andiwolfe.com. She is a lovely person if you have a chance to meet her or hear her talk.


So don't worry folks. I am not attracted to the type of engravings that the laser companies advertise in their brochures. I have other ideas for how it can help me without going that route.


Dave

[David Somers]

Dan,


That helps. I was thinking that was the modified rotary was the better approach to take. I had some thoughts on doing it in a way that eliminated the non drive end of the rotary (obviously don't want to do this on the $1100 rotary that Epilog sells! <grin> but I need to look at rotaries to see their mechanisms. they look pretty simple from what I can see in the photos.


I have been focusing on the Chinese lasers simply because of cost. In the Epilog/Universal/Trotec world the starting costs are stunning, and when you are in a big enough unit to have some Z height you begin to think about selling body parts or family members to fund it. Not a good thing for someone with my level of use in mind.


I noticed some of Rabbits mid sized machines offer a 10 in useable height. That would be doable with a modified rotary for many pieces. And folks on the forum seem to think well of the machines and of Ray Scott.


Still got lots of pondering to do though.


Dave

[Dave Sheldrake]

Hiya dave,

http://turnedwooddesign.com

Astounding, I only wish I had your skills.

Ray at Rabbit is a great guy, knows his stuff and an all round decent chap who really loves what he does. I've had a few HX machines and of the Chinese models I've owned they have been the best of the bunch. The review I sent you the link to is the UK version of the Rabbit RL1290 (here it's the HPC LS1290)
I can't speak highly enough of Ray, he's got me out of a jam more than once when I needed some weird bits that my local supplier didn't have on hand.

cheers

Dave

[David Somers]

Thanks Dave! I keep hearing similar praise for him on the forum! Last time I emailed with them Carole answered and she mentioned she had a 14 week old babe in her arms! I think she is a little overwhelmed with that life changing event, but if you folks who know them happen to write in the near future, you might include a congrats to them!!! And be a bit patient with them as well. I am sure they are sleep deprived and overwhelmed with it all!!

Dave

[Dan Hintz]

I also have a lot of friends in my area who are heavily into their Celtic and Scottish heritage.

Kinda like this?

830528_563004223709582_2000052403_o.jpg

[David Somers]

Dan,

Oh yeah. That and many more styles. I will try to keep things a bit more....artistic than that, but we shall see. They are the ones asking for them. At least I have till early summer since that is when the really big festivals come up. I hope I won't get trapped in too many of the festivals. I do love bagpipes, especially the smaller uillen pipes, but I am not sure I could handle many days in a row of highland bagpipe band after highland bagpipe band! <grin>

[Rodne Gold]

Amazing work by both of you.
Looking at her blog , she was actually in the same town I live in in South Africa , Cape Town ..I have visited all the sites she has pics of
I was thinking , We use a manual pantograph type engraver , a Gravograph TX3 with a rotary attachment to put text and logos on large holloware items like bug cups,
The nice thing is that you can use different cutting bits in it and vary pressure or depth by hand or with a nose cone , far more precise than a laser
It use V shaped bits to engrave , so if you apply more pressure , the engraving stroke can widen and go deeper as the V bites deeper , can lead to some amazing stroke effects and variable depths
You can do flat work on it as well
The rotary attachment is indexed
For complex stuff , I engrave patterns on our laser and then using the follower to trace them which allows the engraving bit put those graphics on the objects.
Depth is no problem as you can see from the pic , you can tilt the rotary as well
Obviously , as the bit is vertical , there is still a limitation as to how much of the diameter you can use before rotating the item
Does all sorts of other engraving as well and will cut shim stock , plastics , will hog, diamond burnish etc etc ---
Gravograph_TX3_Pantograph_large.jpg
medium_Gravogaph_TX3.jpg

[Dan Hintz]

Oh yeah. That and many more styles. I will try to keep things a bit more....artistic than that, but we shall see. They are the ones asking for them. At least I have till early summer since that is when the really big festivals come up. I hope I won't get trapped in too many of the festivals. I do love bagpipes, especially the smaller uillen pipes, but I am not sure I could handle many days in a row of highland bagpipe band after highland bagpipe band! <grin>

Attended many a festival in my day, kilt and all. Of course, it helped dating a bagpiper at the time. Still keep in touch with her, me passing along bagpipe equipment vendors (such as yourself) and her passing along vendors that fit into my laser and woodworking stuff (she just cost me over $800 after passing along a custom bookbinder I commissioned to do a piece for my parents).

[Mike Null]

Dan

My compliments on your photography.

[Mike Null]

Here are some examples of inlay that I find very appealing.

http://www.missionfurnishings.com/ca...d-Plaques.aspx

[Dan Hintz]

My compliments on your photography.

Thanks, Mike. This is one of the first photos I took when I really started to play with the settings on my camera (used it for the first couple of years in practically point-and-shoot modes), so it's nowhere near where it could be. For example, the dark portions of the wood (and the dark backdrop reflected in the gold) tend to make the edge of the pen less than well defined. A bit of HDR would help, but I'd like to get the settings just right for such circumstances.

I have (what I feel) are better pics...

793869_555791191097552_317561433_o.jpg

861210_573689539307717_1947271481_o.jpg

And this one came out a little darker than I would have preferred... I should have checked it before moving on:
739873_550736024936402_524551419_o.jpg

[David Somers]

Thanks Mike!

Those are lovely inlays. Make me think of an Art Nouveau style. Very distinctive and attractive.

And I like Dan's treatment on the pens. Nice pieces of wood applied to them. And nice pen fittings as well.
Have you played with doing one piece, "desk style" pens at all? Although they are a single piece in some ways they are trickier to do than a two piece pen because of the long, blind drill hole needed (typically 5/32" depending on the insert you use.) One of the fun things though is you have no clip or end cap, or middle band and can be a bit more organic with the shapes, especially the top, where you can do finials or apply any other treatment you think your users would enjoy. I don't do pens often, but when I do my wife will always grab the one piece pens for herself at her desk rather than the two piece. If nothing else, they are a fun variation on project. For what it is worth, I generally just use the insert from a Bic Cristal pen. The drill hole needs to be about 5.25in long, and 5/32" diameter. That will give you a snug fit with the insert. I made a sort of mandrel out of 5/32 drill rod to give the blank some stiffness after it is drilled, and so I have a thickness guage to shoot for on the size of the end of the pen. Other than that....pretty simple. Drill slow and clear often would be my only caution. 5.25" is a long blind hole and it is a bit too easy for the bit to wander.

Sorry.....diverged from engraving into wood turning. <grin> Remember to use a nice font or graphic when you engrave this pen in your UL PLS4.6 60W laser with rotary! (there....thread hijack reversed....whew!!!! <grin>)

Dave

[David Somers]

Rodne,

That is an intriguing looking machine. Do you have any photos of output from it you were really pleased with? I knew those existed but had never seen one.

If you have a chance to catch Andi Wolfe next time she is in your area give her a try. She is an enthusiastic person and her talks on botany and wood turning have always been fun and interesting.

Dave