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Thread: Standing wave panel

  1. #1

    Standing wave panel

    I have a program from Paul Rowntree for a standing wave texture for a panel. I am interested in making one in 4X8 MDF to hang on the wall. I was wondering if anyone else has used this and have experience with it. Looking at vcarve estimated time using a .5" vbit, it is showing 30 hours. I understand that I dont have vcarve pro set up with my machine to be adjusted to actual cutting times for me but 30 hours seems pretty extreme. I was hoping someone on here has used it and find out what kind of feed rate that they used and average time to do a 4X8 sheet.

    Vectric has a texturing gadget that does something similar but it is for versions newer than what I currently have and I wasn't ready to upgrade yet.

    For those not familiar with it, I am trying to get a similar effect to this and the standing wave file will allow the use of a vbit or a ballnose bit.
    207HD-cover.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    I would have to think this would use a larger ball nose for the scale you would want for something that large, but it's still going to take a boatload of time to run with the step-over being what it is and the constant Z action slowing things down. I'm learning a hard lesson "as we speak", more or less, about just how slow 3D work can go with the architectural commission I'm working on! Even with the "scale" factor inflated in my Vectric software, the estimates are still coming out way too generous from reality.

    I'm very interested in hearing what more experienced folks have to say about this.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
    We have cut dozens of similar textures with a 3/4 rad ball nose. They are no where near that long. We cut a small theater interior in 1 1/8 thick MDF and I think we cut 20 sheets I a single day.

    The 1/2 inch ball nose would make sense for that run time.

  4. #4
    Thanks for the replies. That is what I figured, a few hours. 30 just seemed like way too long for something that isn't a 3D cut. My wife is wanting something similar to that pattern as an oversized wall hanging headboard for the bedroom. He said that this works with either a ballnose or a vbit. I have to get a spoil board on my machine and I think I will give it a try with both on a small piece of MDF and see which I like better (or which she likes better would be more accurate).

    Jim, I haven't done much 3D machining but I know that it is very slow and hard to make a profit for that reason. I saw the job that you are doing and it looks like a good one to dive into. I still have not made a cut with my machine yet so I have some experimenting to do to figure out what kind of cutting speeds it will be capable of. I just got my first order of bits in today.
    Last edited by bobby milam; 02-18-2019 at 9:53 PM.

  5. #5
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    I cut a couple but I used a 1 inch ball nose bit. They didn't take to long to run if you cut in the long axis. takes forever cutting in the short axis

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by bobby milam View Post
    30 just seemed like way too long for something that isn't a 3D cut
    I dont recall what software you run **edit--duh just saw the older version of Vcarve** but in Vcarve Pro you can use a combination of the texture toolpath and the texture toolpath gadget to come up with infinite texture patterns and panels that are all vector based and not 3D objects. The gadget works by adding variation in cut depth, noise, varying wave amplitudes, and so on. It would be really easy to closely duplicate that pattern and being a vector toolpath your ability to run pretty much wide open is there.

    All that we cut are in MDF and I wouldnt venture into the Vbit world in many of these simply because the tip is going to do so much rubbing I cant imagine it being anything other than a nightmare to clean up (sanding) after the fact. Its even a bit of a struggle with a ball nose if you get a texture that has pockets that are difficult to reach with a scotchbrite. Our solution was to seal the face of the panel with a few coats of sanding sealer (heavily thined WB clear is what we used) and then sand. It locks up all the loose fibers and makes sanding a good bit easier.

    Another thing I will warn you is that MDF moves a LOT when you heavily carve one face. MDF door guys struggle with that quite a bit with doors warping that are deeply carved only on one face. On those 1 1/8 MDF Panels we wound up cutting a bit of a shallow grid pattern on the backs which kept them a bit flatter but even with that on the panels that were heavily carved on the face they wanted to potato chip. Its less apparent on 3/4" and 1/2" but still happens.

    Get yourself a cheap bit like this https://www.toolstoday.com/v-5690-45928.html off ebay or something. MDF will roach it right away and you can retouch them numerous times by hand for MDF.
    Last edited by Mark Bolton; 02-19-2019 at 11:31 AM.

  7. #7
    Thanks for the link and tips. I was thinking of doing it in 3/4 MDF. I was concerned about hanging it on the wall. I planned on using a French cleat so I had thought about attaching the MDF with something like liquid nails to a sheet of plywood with the cleat on the plywood. Do you think that would help fix the warping issue and be a good choice to hang it?

    Jerome I plan to cut along the long axis.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by bobby milam View Post
    Thanks for the link and tips. I was thinking of doing it in 3/4 MDF. I was concerned about hanging it on the wall. I planned on using a French cleat so I had thought about attaching the MDF with something like liquid nails to a sheet of plywood with the cleat on the plywood. Do you think that would help fix the warping issue and be a good choice to hang it?
    The common solution is to use something like Z clips and let the wall hold the panel straight but getting the panels onto a cleat or Zclip if they are warped at all is a major chore. But your ply plan would work well allowing you to deeply carve the MDF (almost all the way through) and eliminate any issues with the unbalanced ply/mdf layup and further help the issue having very little remaining material to screw any type of fastener into the pattern once your carved.

    You will just have to play around with it when you get to that point. Thankfully 3/4 MDF is about 25 bucks a sheet so if one goes on the shop wall with some drywall screws in the corners its no big deal.

    You can find the cheap versions of those big core box bits on the net for much less and where MDF knocks the crap out of carbide that'd be the route to go and just freshen up the bit a few times by hand and toss it.

  9. #9
    Thanks a lot. I really appreciate all the feedback and recommendations.

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