Nativity Carving

[ironsides]

This carving was made from a 1.5 inch thick Walnut glueup.

The glueup was approx 36 X 36. The carving finish size is approx 1.360 thick X 31.25 wide X 35.25 tall.

It still needs sanding and painting, but that comes later this Spring.

The Frame was generated using the Aspire Rail Sweep function and the 3D-Model came from VectorArt 3D.

Roughing was done using a 3/8 dia end mill and finished with a BDP002 1/8" Tapered ball nose end mill.

After the carving was finished, the forces in the glueup were so great the break off tabs sheared off from the clamped area and the board had a nice 3/4 in curve in it. It has been setting around for a few days and thankfully it is almost flat.

[steve_g]

George

I really like that! I'm glad the warp relaxed. Where was the source of your art work?

Steve

oops... I see you said vector art

[mtylerfl]

George, that came out really nice! If the board doesn't flatten completely to your liking, perhaps a cross-brace or two on the backside will help hold it flat.

In the future, it may help to carve out a pocket on the backside to "even out" the stresses caused by a deep carve on the frontside - but you probably already know about that.

You mentioned painting...I like to paint some projects too, but an alternative to consider might be to use the "Tim Merrill glazing technique" instead of hiding the wood. Here's a link to the PDF regarding the glazing technique if you don't have it already:
http://www.vectric.com/forum/download/file.php?id=12581

Either way, I'm sure it will be wonderful and look forward to seeing your finished photos.

Super project - ya did good!

[myxpykalix]

George,
I have had the same experience carving a big toy box lid out of some glued up walnut and when it came out of the clamps it folded up like a cheap suit due to the stress releases.

I took a small dowel and put it in the center underneath and took some sandbag weights i have here and laid them on top for about a week and it straightened out fairly well by going over the other way a bit by virtue of the dowel.

I've thought about this also...I wonder if it would help any if you wanted to start with say a 1" thick piece is to glue up some .5" boards then glue up another layer of .5" boards and glue them together cross grained like plywood?