(Apologies for the still drying feature image, will replace that ASAP, also for the real stretch of an alliteration)
For this project I wanted to try something simple but have a good excuse to use a slightly “weirder” finishing method than I have in the past as well as something that has some impressive geometry (in this case the rather thin stems).
After browsing on the noun project, I first thought of choosing some kind of fruit given the bolder colors but thinking about the logistics of staining/painting many different colors, and how I likely couldn’t use tape to block out finer geometries I decided to scale back, settling on this image:
I liked the idea of the carving being the “positive” or most visible contour at the stem but forming the negative space within the leaf.
Creating this effect in Easel really only required placing two identical copies on top of each other and setting one to cut outside the path. This has a strange effect in rendering that caused the outline cut to not appear unless I manually went in and separated the two layers a bit further. This created some small ridges of uncut material right at the edge but those were easily be snapped or filed off.
Example of both ridges and potential rendering error while I was in the process of fixing up the file.
Ultimately the cuts were completed with mixed results. First, after looking around the shop and asking others who had completed their project, it appears that all down-cut 1/8″ bits were missing or broken so I was left with an upcut. This slightly marred the finer detail of the final pieces as frayed inside edges had to be sanded down. Some artifacts of this are still left as I had not sanded enough in fear of creating obvious asymmetries in path thickness.
For some reason, neither cut went fully though the material which could obviously be attributed to mis-measuring the material but it occurred in strange, uneven ways.
The cut on the left was better, able to be snapped out. The cut on the right actually was not fully cut out at any point along the perimeter. I had to resort to a somewhat jank method as I felt having both pieces cut from the same wood would help ensure similar outcomes. This technique involved using a hand drill to make a dotted outline of the shape since I could use a drill bit of identical size to the CNC’s, and then using a Dremel tool to play a near part-ruining game of connect-the-dots. Though this was ultimately successful, a back layer of the wood did separate near the stem and tip.
Held this piece in a clamp with wood glue to re-attach the split back layer.
Once the pieces were sanded down (the salvaged piece taking considerably longer), next was a quick practice stain application on the leftover wood. The inclined screw holes that were more obvious on a previous image made the rest of this wood barely usable in this state in my opinion but I do recognize that this is somewhat wasteful.
I realized that applying as little stain as possible and removing it as quick as quick as possible would be the only way to ensure the apparent grain I was after. In some places, the stain really took on different colors to match the grain so I was quite pleased with the result.
The final pieces turned out quite nicely. Though the decision to turn the second cut 90 degrees results in a greatly different pattern when stained, the obvious larger patches of each shade would have still been present. Also one could argue that the overall appearance is quite similar and the difference in pattern is an intentional reflection on or embrace of both the matter and subject noun. I suppose that is up to the observer’s interpretation. I initially just really wanted to use the same piece of wood.
Cost Analysis
Plywood: can get away with using this $7.48 piece given the carve size if starting from scratch.
Sandpaper: utilizing the same technique and cost analysis from my box:
~$3 per pack on average * 2 unique grits = $6
Stain: $15, surprisingly high likely due to the less popular/produced color
Machining: Buying new from Inventables, an X-Carve costs about $2,600
Both cordless drills and dremel tool kits both cost around $50 browsing online = $100
Similar to my analysis on the box project, I felt that this machining cost could be abstracted to how a consumer may more likely accept it, through comparably equipped ‘makerspaces’, in this case in the Houston area = $10/hr * 3hrs = $30
Labor: 5 hrs (added time for staining/sanding) * $20/hr = $100
Total: Including labor and machining as an average, small-scale consumer would approach it, this project costs a total of $158.58
