First Corian Lithopane

[audioandy]

My first attempt at a Corian lithopane of which I am very happy with the results.

Youtube have already removed the sound track!

I am not taking full credit for his as my son has spent hours over the pc converting the photo into the code and learning how to use the cam software.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM3nzUx_9q4

[John S]

Can't see the video, it's classed as private.

[audioandy]

Hang on John I am on the case!

[audioandy]

Try that John

[John S]

Brill,
We, or rather my daughter has done a few for her art exam. Fascinating the watch cutting but when they are done they look real naff until you hold them to the light.

I was staring at some fuzzy bits on hers trying to work out what they were, she's done a wrought iron skeletal clock, and the bits I'd seen were the bricks on the wall down to all the texture in the surface.

I see you used Artcam, not being as rich as the North Notts guys we used Photo VCarve.

.

[audioandy]

Yes I agree they look real naff but as soon as you hold them to light they come alive.

The Artcam is not ours it belongs to a business friend of my son's who has very kindly let him use it knowing I have just built my machine.

Best start saving!

[Lee Roberts]

That looks well good andy, i'v book marked this ready to have ago myself.

[audioandy]

Thanks chip

[irving2008]

Seems the video has gone :(

[audioandy]

Hi Irving

Try the link now my son re-edited the video because of the music, so there is now a new link which I have posted in my first post

[Lee Roberts]

Yea it’s working again for me now too, how much is the material and where to get it please Andy?

Edit: Just found this link on the vectric.com website for anyone who is intrested: Link (http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/pvc/pvc_case_custom_lithophanes.htm)

[z3t4]

That's very impressive. Having not seen one before have just Wiki'd it and found this:
The word lithophane can be broken into two parts to get its meaning. It derives from Greek ‘’litho’’, which is from ‘’lithos’’ which means stone or rock, and ‘’phainein’’ meaning "to cause to appear" or "to cause to appear suddenly".
Your video catches the suddenly appearing bit really nicely. Must find a real one of these to look at. Congrats.

John

[audioandy]

Lee

The material is hard to come by, you can get it sometimes off the bay, I have just had a new kitchen fitted and asked the fitter if he could get hold of any which he did manage to get me a few small pieces.

John
Thanks for the comments, when it was first removed from the machine I thought it looked ok but then when I lifted up to the light I was gobsmacked!

[phill05]

That is truly a great piece of work well done for your first attempt, this is what I have planned to do but on a tube, they say the yellow gas pipe works well, we will see.

Phill

[audioandy]

Phill

We manufacture the yellow gas pipe so if ever you want a mile or two let me know ; )

[Scott]

how long did it take to machine in total ??
great job the quality was briliant i was shocked when you put it up to the light i have seen a few on youtube
but nothing to this standard

[audioandy]

Hi Scott

Around 17hrs but with it being my first attempt I had a low feedrate,I think I could get this down to about 4 to 5 hrs for this size.

I may try the same code again with a much higher feedrate then compare the two.

[compfranon]

I have been looking at these lithopanes with interest for a while, really liked the idea of machining on a cylinder. But seeing this piece of yours is excellent, great job.

Looks just the ticket for when I get my machine finished.

[John S]

Phill

We manufacture the yellow gas pipe so if ever you want a mile or two let me know ; )

You work at that place on the left going south on the M1 just before the A38 ?

[Normsthename]

I did a Lithopane on my CNC Router (Before I converted it to Plasma :smile: )
I used some white translucent plastic and it came out brilliant :smile:
Sorry, can't remember what the material was......

Andy

[audioandy]

Hi Andy

Give your head a shake and see if you can remember ; ),coz this Corian stuff is very hard to get hold of.

Andy

[John S]

Opaque perspex works OK as does white nylon.
Doesn't cut as nice but still works.

Ikea does some cutting mats for the kitchen that work nice, depends whats in. Last time I went they only had 3mm blue in.

This is just plastic waste pipe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dblNnF4JJGk

.

[Normsthename]

Opaque perspex works OK as does white nylon.
Doesn't cut as nice but still works.
That's what I used, it was just a white plastic that was translucent, it was not a brittle plastic
Sorry, it was over two years ago when I cut it out........

Andy

[irving2008]

Hi Andy

Give your head a shake and see if you can remember ; ),coz this Corian stuff is very hard to get hold of.

AndyNot if you know someone who owns a kitchen installation company and has a big CNC granite cutter/polisher

2348

I've often seen the offcuts, never found a use for them (yet)

[John S]

Irving,
Corian is a trade name for a solid surface plastic.
It's used for worktops because if it's scratched it can be polished out. It's also expensive, my nephew uses it in his kitchen business and a 12mm sheet about 8' x 2' is £300 plus.

The 30mm stuff is over £1000 per sheet

I can get offcuts but they tend to be black marble patterns, he hardly uses white and the 6mm stuff is hardy used, mainly for splashbacks and tens to be ordered in to size.

.

[irving2008]

I know John :) I did a lot of research into the different material types when I was having my kitchen done, which is how I got to know this guy (I went for granite in the end). Most of the stuff is black-ish but I have seen a lot of white/off-white/light-grey too (its popular in London and the south-east) as well as red, dark green, metallic silver and gold finishes (apparently quite popular in certain ethnic communities - I think thats Staron or Hi-Macs rather than Corian tho, same sort of stuff). It comes in various sheet sizes and thicknesses up to 3600 x 800 x 13 and 6mm but you can get 3mm and thicker to special order. They cut and supply for a lot of other companies in the south-east.

[John S]

Not if you know someone who owns a kitchen installation company and has a big CNC granite cutter/polisher



I was replying to the granite cutter polisher remark you made ?

[audioandy]

Thanks everybody, I will have to get some different materials and experiment.

Andy

[m.marino]

That was beautiful. My Wife and eldest daughter loved wathcing it and I think I know what is going to the family for Christmas presents or at least part of them. A carving of a family photo and some carved pictures of around town (We live in Edinburgh and the family lives int the states). That or making some of the photos from Italy into carvings
.

Michael