[spyderxxx]

C1

Just a suggestion for the top. either a circle or oval with the same pattern.

Ed

[CarveOne]

I was thinking of drawing a large diamond shape in the center, and leave the area inside at the top surface of the panel. Maybe put some kind of border around it;

Since the pattern is Vcarved, there will be lots of node editing to cut vectors and join them.

For tinygiant's inlay idea, I have some ambrosia maple that might work for the box parts, with walnut for the inlay.

Lots of choices possible with this pattern.

[CarveOne]

Picked up enough red oak to make a new Paradise box this morning. The Gothic pattern has been transferred to the front panel, back panel, and side panels. All panel files are ready to cut, with the exception of the top panel. For the centerpiece I have created an expanded lattice to fit the top panel and a diamond shape border has been created for the text area. The two border vectors will become a rounded 3D model. Inside the border will be concave with the Gothic font extruded like I did on my CarveOne CNC Paradise box. I got the free font "Gothic Ball Crap" from dafont.com. Looks like it might extrude fairly well but hasn't been tried yet. If it doesn't I'll just map it into the concave area and Vcarve it.

Some simulation images will be posted sometime tomorrow.

[CarveOne]

Here are simulation images of the sides, front, and back panels. The top panel image will be posted after I finish the layout. I'll be cutting to length and prepping the red oak today.

The top of the front panel has a 30 degree bevel that makes it easier to lift the top panel, and the slot you see at the top of the rear panel is how I recess the rear panel for a strip hinge. It ends up making a 0.550" deep by 0.150" wide notch for the hinge to lay into and it's screwed in place with six brass wood screws. It self aligns against the notch.

On the back side of the side panels are 1/8" deep pockets that the front, rear, and bottom panels glue into. This is the first one that will have the depths changed to 1/4" deep to help with squareness while gluing. It also strengthens the joints, but that hasn't been a problem so far, just a side benefit. The top panel has to be shortened 1/8" on each side to compensate. Or maybe I should lengthen the front, rear, and bottom panels instead. It's not too late to do either.

[CarveOne]

The top panel design work is now finished.

Estimated cut time is about 4 hours. Each of the front, back, and side panels will take about 1-1/2 hours each. You can see that the diamond centerpiece curves downward (1/4" deep in the center relative to the bottom edge of its border) and each character of the text is Vcarved into the curved surface at the same depth.

The diamond centerpiece just seemed to fit naturally, but it could have been an ellipse with unevenly shaped pieces of Gothic pockets around it that wouldn't look very symmetric. It can be done with more node editing though. The font is a free one from dafont.com named "Gothic Ball Crap". Not sure what's up with that ...


How could Josette NOT like this one?




Here are a couple of simulation images of the finished top panel.

[tauntdesigns]

That diamond shape fits nicely.

jack

[CarveOne]

Thanks Jack,

I'm finding that using some 3D borders tend to enhance the overall looks of the mostly Vcarve project. Using a flat surface inside the diamond would still look fine with the Vcarve text. Curving it downward with the text mapped into it is just "showing off a little bit" with what Aspire can do. The diamond is called the centerpiece for a reason. The text vectors can be extruded and mapped into the curved shape with just a little different treatment. It's easier to do things like this inside a concave area because raising the area causes everything else to be lowered into the material if you raise it too high. I can usually figure out how to position the models in the material vertically so that they work with each other. By tiling simulation views you can edit height numbers and see the changes in vertical position in near real time.

I'm getting much faster with node editing and modeling with each new project. This one required loads of node editing to modify the Gothic shape to fit to the borders.

I have cut the boards to length, sanded, and stained both sides. Tomorrow morning I'll start brushing on three coats of clear satin polyurethane with a foam brush. Cutting should start by Friday.

[CarveOne]

The six panels have been stained with Early American and three fairly wet coats of polyurethane has been applied,with light sanding of surface fuzz between each coat. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday should be relatively storm free days (so they say) so I should be able to roll pretty good on this one over the weekend. The top panel will be cut first. I'm most anxious to see the results. Estimated cut time is about two hours. The test cut panel is there just for looks.

[CarveOne]

Here is an interesting basket weave design created with Aspire's Extrude tool by Michael Mezalick over in the Vectric Forums. He posted a .3dclip file for others to use. I used it last evening to see how it will look on a simulated part. Michael and I shared a show and tell table at the recent Aspire Camp. We each filled up half of a 4' x 8' table with projects.

Update:
I added another simulation image showing the basket weave moved downward and merged with the bottom of the border. No more ragged ends of basket weave showing.

[CarveOne]

The top and rear panels are cut, sanded, stained, and have polyurethane on them. Tomorrow morning I'll add the Java stain and spray a final coat or two of polyurethane. I'll also cut the front panel and two side panels. Maybe by late Sunday I'll be able to glue it together. There is a dark grain layer in the wood that happened to be where I set the concave depth to. Bummer. It happens sometimes with red oak.

[tauntdesigns]

The triangle feature turned out nicely.

[CarveOne]

I thiink so too. The oval dark spot bothers me but I like the way the other streaks in the wood grain showed up. You'll get that with flat sawn red oak. The depth of cut I chose just happened land in the middle of one of the dark grain layers. I took this photo while changing from a 1/16" tapered ball nose cutter to a 60 degree V-bit. There is no sanding done at this point. The ball nose and the 0.005" step-over leaves it that way.

[CarveOne]

The dark stain is still wet, and the early morning sun is messing with the camera sensors, but the parts are looking better all the time. Later today I'll have a sealer coat of finish on these and maybe the sunlight conditions will be better for photos.

[Khalid]

great work as usual

[CarveOne]

Thanks Khalid,

Here's a better photo after the final coat of polyurethane had dried. This is much closer to the actual colors.

[CarveOne]

All parts are finished except that the two side panels will get a final coat of polyurethane on the back side after I drill the handle screw holes on the drill press. A starter hole tool path is already part of the front side operations. I'll also pocket the holes for recessing the screw heads. This will become a CNC operation once I get a 1" or longer 1/8" end mill. A short drill bit will work if I use my 1/8" precision collet. I'll still have to manually open up the holes by re-drilling them with a 9/64" drill.

Tomorrow it gets final assembly.

[tauntdesigns]

Looking good C1

With those darker letters, the dark spot isn't as noticeable.

Jack

ps - I saw a 3040T router for sale locally for $525..... heard anything about them? I thought it might be a good cheap entry router....... off to read more

[CarveOne]

A quick check shows them to be Chinese manufacture, There are YouTube videos of them, and some are having problems in the videos but I didn't watch one to see if it was serious. Look them over good, and buyer beware - as always. Search CNC Zone for them also.


The side panels are ready to assemble tomorrow. The green tape keeps polyurethane spray out of the pockets. 3/16" of polyurethane will be sanded off the ends of the front, rear, and bottom panels where they fit into the side panel pockets.

[CarveOne]

The box carcass is glued together now. The clamps will be removed in a little while and the top panel and hinge, and the handles will be installed. By mid afternoon it will be photo time.

[CarveOne]

The latest P Box effort is now completed. Final photos are below. Hope you guys like it ...

I'll be taking a break from new projects for a short while to recover from all the hectic activity lately, but "I'll Be Back".