[Jason Marsha]

Joe

Not sure if we are talking about the same foam this one is almost like a medium to soft plastic. I cut these letters with a 1/8" (3.175mm) upcut bit in one pass at 1/2" (12.7mm) deep at 20"/min. It can be cut faster but with the small bit I was not taking any chances due to thge last second rushing. My router was flat out at ~25,000 rpm.

edit: The reason for plunging so deep in order to make one pass is that I save time if any pass marks have to be sanded off the letters.

Jason

[Jamf2]

I figured it was more of a hardened foam. Thanks for the info.

[Jason Marsha]

Pic of the wedding table. Came out pretty good.

[Jason Marsha]

Numbers for an apartment block.

specs:
Mahogany
5 inches tall
cut with 135deg bit
customer (woodworking shop) will finish with a clear coat

[Glidergider]

Beautiful job.

[DeadTom]

Jason,

Your work is always very nice, keep 'em coming.

DT

[Jason Marsha]

thanks guys

[Jason Marsha]

Some pics of work to be delivered.

Great thing about this job is that I do not have to finish the letters, just cut and the customer does the rest.

[Jason Marsha]

Start to finish this job had to be done on the same day. I managed to finish it in about a total of five hours while driving between home and work.
The material is acrylic solid surfacing, similar to corian. The gold paint had a 30 min to dry timeline which was a definite plus due to minimal odours at the presentation.
The bit was a 60 deg solid carbide tip running at 25,000 rpm.

You just cannot beat Vectric's Vcarve products.

[DeadTom]

Very cool Jason, just a couple of questions.
How did you apply the gold lettering, hand paint, spray paint..?
What approximate size are the signs?
I am using Vectric's Cut2d and it is limited but I am just starting to make things with my JGRO, finally.
Your work is always inspiring for me, keep up the good work.
Tom

[Jason Marsha]

Hey Tom,
I used metallic(tiny flakes) gold rattle can spray paint.
They are 12" wide by 6" tall.
Thanks for the encouraging words Tom, I was very pleased with the results and their weight adds to the appeal, i guess it gives them more "substance".

Jason

[T_Brown]

Did you mask the entire thing prior to cutting then? If so, what do you use for a mask? I agree with Tom, very inspiring.

[Jason Marsha]

Yes, I masked the entire plaque prior to cutting with contact paper (kitchen cabinet liner). Be sure to use the version that has higher adhesive properties. After the paint dries I peeled the masking off and used a sharp single sided razor blade slanted at a low angle to remove the edges of the gold paint protruding above the surface of the plaque then wiped the surface with a universal cleaner to remove the adhesive residue. By using the blade I did not have to use a sanding block to flatten the high edges.
A quick wash under the hose and all came out well. I was planning to apply a clear coat but they were fine without it.

[Jason Marsha]

Feedback is that both recipients were very pleased with the plaques. Next time however I will avoid the material with embedded stones as they may leave holes during carving if one comes loose.

I will also try a buffing compound to get back the gloss finish that the fabrication shops deliver this material with.

Jason

[Jason Marsha]

A few signs I have to complete this week from cedar.
The lettering came out very clean, no "strings" in the cedar.
Will cut the other signs later and paint the letters gold.
When the paint dries I will remove the green mask.

I made one pass with a 60 deg carbide bit at about 1mm above the wood and on the second pass set the depth to the top of the wood.

Jason

[Jason Marsha]

Murphy came to visit me this morning in all his glory. I was finishing the first past of the last sign and up pops an AVG reminder to restart the computer, this interfered with the Mach 3 pulse stream and the letters shifted about 10mm.

I will have to get a new piece of cedar as the other side of this one needs to be planed which will make it too thin.

Jason

[Jason Marsha]

Will post a pic of the above sign with gold letters later, but here are some 12" tall letters for a sign shop. The material is 3/4" sign foam and I cut the letters in one pass with a 1/4" upcut bit.
I slowed the machine down to about 15"/min to ensure I got a perfect cut.
By the time I was finished dust was all over the room even though I had the vacumn nozzle next to the bit during the cut.

Jason

[dustin1706]

Cool! What kind of bit and RPM do you use for that sign foam?

[Jason Marsha]

RU2100 whiteside bit. I normally run the router maxed out at 25,000rpm.

Jason

[Jason Marsha]

The completed signs stained and painted in gold.
If I get the chance I will take a pic of them installed and post it.

Jason