First Snowflake Test

[David Somers]

I am afraid I haven't shared anything from the laser yet. I have been focused on the CNC and the lathe and gardens and house projects. But I finally got to test cutting some snowflakes I had done up based on some photos a Russian gal had made of actual snowflakes. These are all about 1.5in diameter.

These are done on maple veneer painted white and then cut with a speed of 10mm/s and 30% power. I was trying to see which ones blew up (3 of them did out of 20 designs) and which ones needed to be adjusted to strengthen lines that were cutting too finely or where I missed connecting pieces to the body and they fell out. I also need to add a top hole to each one to accept a silver wire loop for hanging. Overall, they came out looking good, especially for a first effort.

Shot these on a blue background with an iphone. Nothing fancy. Good enough to share though.

I know I keep saying this to you all, but thanks to all for hanging with me for a year till I actually had a laser in hand!! You have no idea how much all your help has simpified the use of this puppy for me! Special thanks to Dave Sheldrake, Scott Shepard, and Dan Hintz!

snowflake test.jpg

[Mike Null]

Nice work Dave. You were paying attention.

[Dan Hintz]

Special thanks to Dave Sheldrake, Scott Shepard, and Dan Hintz!

snowflake test.jpg

<bow> The master is only as good as the student allows him to be...

[Scott Shepherd]

Very cool Dave, thanks for sharing. There are some really beautiful shapes in there. That's also a lot of drawing work, if you traced the photographs!

Thanks for the kind words, but you've certainly given more than you've taken from this place!

[Jim Good]

Hey, nice flakes!

[Dave Sheldrake]

Nothing to thank us for Dave like Scotty says...you have given far more than you have received

[David Somers]

Morning Scott!

These were hand traced in corel. The photos this person does are generally very bluish and not high contrast at all. Gorgeous shots though. He uses a homemade macro setup and basically sits outside in winter with a blanket. He lets the flakes fall on the wool fibers and photographs them there.

His name is Alexey Kljatov if you want to look him up. Cool work.

[Rich Harman]

His name is Alexey Kljatov if you want to look him up. Cool work.

Cool stuff! I especially like this photo, never knew snowflakes could take such a form.

8559834018_ab897369fc_z.jpg

[Dee Gallo]

I love your snowflakes, David! Nice balance between delicate and striking - you picked good designs and learned your laser lessons well. People will be asking for your help now

[Prashun Patel]

I never make it over here, but am just tickled how far some people can come quickly, and how humble others can be. Nice!!!

[Jack Clague]

Awesome shapes, some really nice work. grats

[Jeff Belany]

Very nice snowflakes. I've been making flakes and ornaments since 1998 and have 200+. Nice flakes that have a balance of being delicate but not so much that they break easily. Keep up the good work.

Somewhere I have a book of snow flake photos. Not sure if it's the same as you used. I'll have to look for it.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[David Somers]

Thanks Jeff!

I used the online photos posted by the photographer, Alexey Kljatov. I had seen other photos of snowflakes before but they were more.....scientific in their look? I loved the approach Alexeyhad and the look he got from his setup and got inspired to make the flakes. It was fun. I expect my neck and shoulders should be functional again after about 123 massage appointments. <grin> One disadvantage of basing this on Alexey's photos is their low contrast made autotrace worthless. But on the good side, that forced me to hand trace things and kept the resulting flakes more organic looking with less of a feel of having been machine cut somehow. That was something I was actively looking for. I also loved that I could do this on a relatively small size scale, 1.5in diameter, and still have reasonable strength to the flakes while they still looked and felt delicate.

One thing I might try is using some adhesive backed veneer and adhering two layers together, with each layer laid 90 degrees to the other. That would add considerable resilience to the flakes without making them too thick. Will see how that goes. Got some other projects I need to deal with this week before I can play with this again.

Would love to see some of your flakes if you have photos you care to share with us!

Dave

[Kev Williams]

Awhile back a thread got started about how small things could be cut with a laser, and I tried this--


flake1.jpgflake2.jpgflake3.jpgflake4.jpg


Far from perfect, but I was quite surprised I could even get it out of the plex--

I used 1/8" plex, and the flake measured .278" tall...

oddly enough, in nearly 14 years with a laser this is the only snowflake I've ever made...

[David Somers]

Very cool Kev!!! Thanks for sharing that!

That was with one of your NH machines?
Will have to try that sometime just for giggles. Might be fun on a rainy day. Something to keep me off the streets!!!
I may like snow more than you do. A flake was one of the first things I played with. Now if I can just figure out how to make enough to help out the ski slopes in what is supposed to be a warmer, dryer winter!