Sandblast texture

[carlcnc]

Dick
What failed ? the bearings? or did the motor burn up ? bearings get too hot and the grease cooks,
It's my understanding that ALL air cooled spindles have "duty" cycles of 60-70%
ie; not meant to run 24 hours continuous.
That's why they developed water or compressed air cooled ones.
Carl

[dakers]

Glenn, Carl, thanks,
i did not see a fan in the spindles like i see in the shop bot 2.2 spindle we have. I am sure it was the bearings that went bad. I never knew about air cooled , water cooled and duty cycles. i forget the cost of trade in but i think it was between $2,000 and $3,000 per failure. It was a Gerber Sabre router running 3phase spindle with phase converter.
We only have the shop bot now but for some reason i like the shop bot better. does not look so intimidating to me if we need to replace something. but back to the hdu texture. we just started blasting with grain frame. Learning curves are so hard for me and maybe i did not learn what the root problem was. just gave up.

[toych]

Dick,

Dont give up on the bot for texture, I have had some good results.

I have not run the bot for 24 hours but have carved a sign that was 10.5 hours a side in HDU. For that sign I used a 1/4 tapered ball nose from Conical which lets me use the dust boot.

I have done others in Sign Foam that were in the 4 hour range and have not had a hiccup with the 2.2 spindle.

The only time I run without the dust boot is when I am cutting the blank out of the sheet.

I have had the machine for 18 months now so it could be getting close to PM time on the spindle.

[joe]

Darren,

Please post your woodgrain textures.

[toych]

You're right Joe, they are more woodgrain than sandblast texture.
I like the effect myself and it is getting closer to how I picture it each time.

I really like the look of the one you posted awhile ago done in pine. For a family center or some place like that.

Darren

These are all Sign Foam.



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[joe]

Darren,

Good examples. There are two considerations. The first is time. Large 3D files are too slow to make it financialy viable. Then there is the need, for my shop, to make it look like mother natures work.

I'm sure there's a way. I just haven't found it. Keep up the good work.

Joe Crumley
www.normansignco.com


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[rej]

joe,
on the bottom pic, are the letters and their borders cut seperate, painted and then assembled?
in 2 layers and then put on sign?

[toych]

That is the sign I was referring to Joe.

I really like the shape of the panel. And the look of the grain.

The sign with the owl on it was close to 4 hours machine time if I remember correctly. Plus each owl was 20- 30 minutes. I ended up only using one owl, anyone need a foam owl........?

I don't do sandblasting but how does the 4 hour machine time compare with cutting mask and blasting? The sign is 24" x 36" approx.

[joe]

Robert,

The letters are HDU cut and shaped on the router as seperate pieces. Gilded with 23K. The background is one piece sandblasted and painted.

Darren,

The first photo shows a panel with the mask cut with the router, then an area clear. From there blasting takes less than five minutes. This is the fastest way I've found to make a dimensional sign. And, and, and, the wood is Yellow Pine which I purchased at Lowe's for about eight dollars.

You gotta be choosey with this lumber. I go to the end the wood rack and look at each board for vertical grain. The tighter the better.
Sometimes I'll buy a 12"X8 stick which has both vertical and flat grain. With the table saw the flat grain goes in our woodburning stove. Unlike cedar or redwood, this lumber is very hard and heavy.


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Next month the "Oklahoma Families" sign will be one year old. Last week Ron and I paid a visit to see how it was holding up. So far there wasn't any signs of cracks or splits. That's primairly due to vertical grain, which is incredably stable on any wood.

Keep in mind, this lumber is green. It's not kiln dried. Even so, after consideerable testing I'm using it on a regular basis because of it's beauty, availability and price. Due to it's weight, I wouldn't try anything larger than 2'X8'

Joe Crumley
www.normansignco.com

[rb99]

Nice work Joe.

Why would you not use Western Red Cedar?

Is the pine as durable as the cedar?

Thanks,

RIB