Lettering on uneven surface

[Bob T]

Hi All,

I have been asked to carve letters (wedding names, date, in letters 2" high, and maybe some leaves) on a whiskey barrel top. this is about 19" across, made of 8 oak boards of varying thicknesses, some 3/16 thicker than it's neighbor, and burned black. (VERY ROUGH) The Idea is that the names will show through the char.

I want to use a 1/8" straight bit to avoid issues with V bits or ball nose bits of too heavy/too light cutting over the rough surface. my toolpath does not like my suggestion. I have a 1/16 ball nose, is that my best bet?

I can make the letters larger, but there is always a particularly thin area of the letter that I will run in to trouble with.

I appreciate your ideas.

Thanks,

BT

[Bob T]

I have toyed with a pocket tool path with my 1/16th bit, and then touched up with the vcarve, same bit, and arranged content to stay as far away from high areas as possible.

[scottp55]

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?20239-burned-signs&highlight=burntBob,
Have you seen this thread Steve started?

[Brady Watson]

Just Zzero to the highest point and gradually get into the material. Then use any bit you want.

-B

[Bob T]

This is my first attempt at posting pix to this site, but wanted to show how this went down. We had a chat about the charred wood and that it was imperfect, but I did not know that whiskey barrel tops were not ever intended to be flat. I ended up separating the sign into parts, taking usually 1 z, sometimes 2 for the 1/8 bit, then detailing with usually 2 zs for a smaller bit for the details. I am not sold that the dogwood image is as nice as it could be, but I was beginning to run into time issues, and it was in the most topographical area of the surface.

[scottp55]

Looks good Bob!
(just glad I didn't have to do it).
I'd have been tempted to cut all one flat depth and go till I hit white wood everywhere and probably ruined the piece because it would look different from every angle except straight on:)
Congrats (bet you price the job different next time).
scott