Just click on the play arrow in the thumbnail above to see our YouTube time lapse video showing the progress of the Swampscott High School National Blue Ribbon Plaque
Base Coats
The next couple of days we will be just be applying layer after layer of white primer and then a white base coat.
Fine Tuning
After almost 24hrs of machining, the plaque is now read for some fine tuning with hand tools. like carving tools, small rasps, sandpaper and knives.
The Fun Part
I have owned CNC routers for over 15 years and I never get bored of watching them work. There is a very powerful vacuum that hold the material down onto the table, another powerful vacuum that sucks up the dust but the main attraction is the two ton welded steel 3 axis router that can carve foam like this between 200-400in/min. We start with a 3/8” bit roughing pass the hogs out the majority of the material, clearing the way for the delicate 1/8” bit that carves in all the fine details. Its an amazing thing to witness if you ever get the chance.
It Begins with a Drawing
After deciding upon a size and location for the carved Blue Ribbon school sign we set about designing the sign in 3d to the school’s specifications using software by Vectric. Each letter number and shape is first created as a vector or line drawing. Those simple shapes are then assigned complex 3d shapes and then assigned a distance away from the back of the drawing. Shapes can further be edited with 3d drawing tools and textures can be added, like the subtle leathery texture we added behind the lettering. The school’s superintendent approved the drawing but asked us to remove the s from the end of schools. With that, we needed to assign assign toolpaths to the drawing which instruct our CNC router which is basically a carving robot how to cut away the material to create our sign. For this sign we chose to carve the image out of High Density Urethane foam or HDU. This material allows us to carve in very high detail and will never split, warp, crack or rot like wood. To achieve this high level of detail, we will be carving this with an 1/8” ball nosed router bit which is almost like carving something with a needle. According to my computer it will take upwards of 20hrs for my machine to complete