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Cutting out a drawing in mahogany with a CNC laser

1K views 8 replies 2 participants last post by  James McIntyre 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
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I made a drawing awhile ago from images of trees I found on line while I was waiting for an oil stain I applied on one of my projects to dry.

The dark parts (cross hatched) are to be removed.

Rectangle Wood Wood stain Hardwood Flooring


I milled the mahogany during another project I did waiting for the stain to dry.

It's for three ceiling lights.

I resawed 6 mahogany 12×9" panel's to 3/8" thick. Each panel will yield two sides.

The lights will have 4 sides attached to a 3/4" x 7 1/2"x 7-1/2" mahogany ceiling plate and will be 6"x6" square x 9-3/4" high with the top plate and have stained glass behind the cut out tree.

I thought I could just run over to my neighborhood CNC laser shop in near by Whittier and getter done.

When I called and Jeff said text me your drawing and wood size their to be cut from. I did.

He texted me back and said I need a Stoked Single Line File for the cut lines before I can start. Do you have one?

I said no.

I told him I saw a YouTube video showing how a program can take a drawing and convert it into a file.

I said what do we do now?
He texted me back in a little while and said bring everything you have tomorrow.

Any advice on what to expect and where else to turn if things don't work out with Jeff in Whittier?

I'm going there In a few days.

If I can I'll post some photos of them being cut out when and if it happens.
 

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#4 ·
How did you do that?
- James E McIntyre
I won tatslotto and outsourced it…

Just kidding. I do quite a bit of laser work (silhouette engraving) and have managed to get converting pictures to B&W silhouettes down pat…
I used CorelDraw to do it… It was just more a proof of concept and I didn't spend too much time… that's why you may notice the lines are not perfectly sharp as I only spent a few minutes cleaning it up… nevertheless it may give your byddy a fair start.
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
How did you do that?
- James E McIntyre

I won tatslotto and outsourced it…

Just kidding. I do quite a bit of laser work (silhouette engraving) and have managed to get converting pictures to B&W silhouettes down pat…
I used CorelDraw to do it… It was just more a proof of concept and I didn t spend too much time… that s why you may notice the lines are not perfectly sharp as I only spent a few minutes cleaning it up… nevertheless it may give your byddy a fair start.

- LittleBlackDuck
Did you have to use a mouse to do point to point drawing?

Maybe I can print and white out part of the line that's arount the inner drawing that stops the branches from attaching to the wood.
I'm afraid to give it to him he may use it and it's not finished but i will show it to him.

Thanks again for your help.
 
#6 ·
... Did you have to use a mouse to do point to point drawing?
- James E McIntyre
Rather than try to explain, I made a "short" video of the process. Unfortunately to keep it short, I rushed and made many mistakes (you'll see it) and stuffed up and made the video longer than I wanted. Also the odd glass of vino at 9:30am went down good but served not well.
I have uploaded it to the cloud and please download rather than view on-line as it's long (28 mins) and I'll be deleting it in a few days to save space (please advise when downloaded).
I use ThunbsPlus as a front end/quick navigator so ignore that. (I did use it to trim the border off.)
I use CorelDraw (and Photo-Paint comes with it). It's not cheap software, however, I believe software like freebie Inkscape could do most (if not all) that I did with Corel, though maybe a longer winded way. I believe you can import PDF's into Inkscape and create JPG files.
 
#7 ·
Your video is exceptional.
You should put that on YouTube. It's as good or better than most there.
I got back from them CNC laser co. I had to black out with a small Pentel needle tip livid gel marker
all the negitive space to be cut out. Jeff cut out a square with the laser on a sacrificial piece I brought.
The cut was only 1/64" wide and clean.

I'll down load tomorrow and send you a message when it's done.

Thanks again
 
#8 ·
... You should put that on YouTube…
- James E McIntyre
Thanks for the vote of confidence JEMI (sorry about missing the McI before).

I have uploaded a new video with me crapping on (to keep people awake).

I have also uploaded the files I used/created to this link in case you want to download… as before I will delete them in a few days time as I'm not expectiong a rush of people wanting copies.
 
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