WELCOME!


It is hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated with what I saw and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Through extensive research and LOTS of hands-on practice I quickly found out that my MultiCam router was capable of just about anything imaginable.This journal will chronicle that journey to date and continue each week with two or three entries as I continue to explore just what is possible with this wonderful tool... -dan

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Pieces of eight redo

Sometimes, after I complete a design I just know I could have done better. There's only one thing to do. DELETE. Then start over. The Pieces of Eight design I did yesterday was just such a piece.

Yesterday's design was far too ordinary. So today I started over with a brand new sketch. This one would be more fun and suited to the park.


The sketch was translated into some quick vectors - all freehand of course. The top board was just a placeholder for I would trace a bitmap to create the final version.



The new vector was used to create a flat relief and then I modified this relief by adding the cartoon woodgrain.



The other two smaller boards were created in the same fashion. Because the bitmaps can't be rotated in EnRoute we had to rotate the vectors.



Once I had all of the reliefs (with textures created I rotated them back and positioned them the way that suited my fancy. Before I went further I duplicated them as I needed similar boards for the back - without the lettering.


Next up were the flat reliefs of the letter outlines. These were built independent of the board reliefs.


I positioned them properly with repeat to the boards underneath (in the front view) and then merged them highest with the boards. Once I was done that task I combined the three board vectors (of both the front and back)


Last up was the addition of the bevelled letters.


The center layer of the sign will be cut from 1" thick Precision Board. The centre shape will be cut out to allow for the metal framework to be laminated inside.

Tomorrow I'll send the file to the MultiCam and we'll get this show on the road.

-dan