Hack of the Week No.95

With Easter coming up this weekend we thought it might be a good time to create a hack with more of a religious theme.

This "Be Blessed" wall decoration was created using models from these projects:

The font we used to simulate the v-carving is called: Academia SSK

Note - This hack was assembled in Aspire V8 for presentation purposes.  It could have been done in VCarve Pro V8 or VCarve Desktop.

Very nice hack James!

James Patton sent in this finished piece after we released the hack.

"So this hack inspired me to create my own.

The ribbon and panel were included with the VCarve software. The cross from the praying (cowboy) scene and the rose from the broken tiles collection.

Just thought I’d share..."

Why not hack together your own layout mixing and matching models from other projects or from your own library!  For some great inspiration check out our  hacks page!

Be safe and let the chips fly!

The Design and Make Team

Hack of the Week No.94

This hack was inspired by a finished project hack we received from Don Harding!  What a great looking green finish.

Our version of this "Luck of the Irish" decoration was created using models from these projects:

The font we used to simulate the v-carving on this layout is call:  Umber SSK

Note - This hack was assembled in Aspire V8 for presentation purposes.  It could have been done in VCarve Pro V8 or VCarve Desktop.

Don's inspirational finished piece! 

"This Plaque was Machined in Oak.
The Stain was hand mixed with Fast Sol Dyes
that I picked up at a finishing class 100 years ago.
I was hesitant on mixing with alcohol or water.
I mixed with alcohol and you see the results. GREAT!!
Blue (GN) Yellow 4 (GN) = GREEN I learned that
blue and yellow =green from my great granddaughter
she is 6.
Sealed with my usual Matte Clear spray.
Gotta go get another project to do."

Don this looks so nice!!! Thanks for sharing and inspiring this Hack of the Week!

His version uses the ribbon from the Home for the Holidays No.2 CNC project.

A Little Something Extra

If you were green with envy like we were with the finish that Don achieved with his dyes the following tip might be helpful. The dye really makes the texture and grain of the wood look great.  We wanted to simulate that inside of our Aspire software so we created a custom material image that comes close.

Click image to zoom so you can see the folder location.

If you right click on the Green Pine image you can choose "Save image as..." and save it to your Vectric Material Images folder it will be available for you to use.   Once you do that the Green Pine material will be available in your "Appearance" dropdown when setting up your Job Setup in Aspire, VCarve Pro or Desktop. 

Note: if you have your Vectric software open when you add any material to the materials folder you will need to restart your software before it will show in the dropdown.

Why not hack together your own layout mixing and matching models from other projects or from your own library!  For some great inspiration check out our  hacks page!

Be safe and let the chips fly!

The Design and Make Team

Customer Focus - Johan Ahlberg

Johan Ahlberg sent in some images of ring boxes he made using some of the models from the the Be Mine No.1 project as a top embellishment.   He was kind enough to share his process, so keep reading!

Again we have been sent some finished projects that have impressed us, inspired us and have made us wonder what others are doing out there with our projects.

Roughing pass to remove most of the contrasting wood.

Finishing pass to clean up the top.

"I cutted out the lid first with the down side up with a dado for a snug fit to the bottom half and then glued a 4 mm piece of contrasting wood on the top side and made a 3d finish."

"I use a 6090 China router with an upgraded water cooled spindle (2.2kw). I use Vectric software and nc studio. Vectric is an excellent program that is fun and easy to use."

Finished box... WOW!

 

The end result of such a unique process is outstanding!  Gluing the 2 different pieces of wood together and then machining the top wood off leaving only the model is pretty neat.

"They were fun and easy to make."

"Maybe they can inspire someone else."

We are pretty sure they will inspire our users to try something  new and, we hope, inspire a few ladies to say "Yes!". 

"I am a co-owner in a company called Herrljunga Ledstångsfabrik and we are leading in sweden when it comes to handrails and bannisters ."

"When we decided to purchase a CNC I couldn't resist to buying one for myself.  1 year after that I started a hobby company on the side.  My own website : 3dskyltar.se has only been active 2 months."

Looks like Johan is off to a great start with his business and the ring boxes are looking very nice on his website.

"I must say that your concept with whole projects is Great and I'm sure I will be a returning customer."

Thank you Johan for sharing this special project with us!

For more Customer Focus posts click here!