CNC Wall art from JPG

Hello -

The idea in a nutshell: I provide a 2-colour (on/off) picture that you convert to CAM and etch the design in a TBD material. We can work through a number of possible materials and techniques with possible small-scale examples before attempting a large-scale prototype. Once perfected, we will look to produce further 'art' using other pictures. Costs need to be controlled and maintained; so will be looking for both KISS and rapid development of the design.

For completness, I have attached a recent RFP I made on elance.com below. I apologise for its formal-sounding language but the ideas are correct.

Hopefully this piques someone's interest.

Regards,
Bryan

Proposal:

Produce an approx 2m x 2m x 1-4cm piece of wall art, ready to hang.

The piece will be produce by either milling CNC or laser cut with the material to be determined via the design process (see below).

I will supply a 2 colour 'stamp' JPG (example available on request, but figure a large number of vectors and very few truely straight lines as it's been produced by hand and should retain this look).

I am expecting that the material chosen will be milled/cut/etched with this pattern that very closely resembles the picture. The bidder should provide photo examples of previous similar work with the CNC, Laser or similar if possible as well as demonstrate his or her access to such a machine capable of producing the final 2m x2m product. Also, the bidder should indicate preferred machining technology given the number of 'lines' and a brief evaluation of the level of detail possible in the finished product.

The key requirement for the material is to have a high contrast between the surface (uncut) colour and the inner, etched colour; although I expect recommendations based on experience. Wood, plastic or other solid surface would all be considered. As always, cost is a factor and would need to be considered.

Once we go through a collborative design process selecting the correct machining process and material, the bidder should produce an approx 20cm x 20cm partial (but 1:1 scale) sample of the finished product. If this is does not provide a satisfactory result we will go through a redesign process and re-evaluate the decisions and agree a second combination of design, technology and material and produce a second prototype.

Once the final design and material is chosen, the bidder will produce the final approx 2m x 2m piece of wall art using the selected process.

The bidder will need to have knowledge of CNC technology, machine code (CAD, etc), material technology

It is expected that if this process works and results in a successful finished product that the process developed above will be adapted to deliver additional works of art via an outsourced model to the bidder. The bidder should indicate whether he or she would be able to fabricate up to 20 additional pieces of similar art (but using different photos) over the coming year.

In addition to this project, the client has additional CNC-related projects in the pipeline and a successful collaboration will certainly lead to significant amounts of additional design/manufacturing/prototyping work in the coming 6-12 months.

Bids can be fixed-price, hourly + expenses or phased fixed-price (design, prototype 1, prototype 2 if necessary and production).