Renderings of hobby kit I want to produce

[waynelang2001]

Hi Guys,

Over many years I have bought and built a few Woodcraft model kits, there not the best quality but when i find one i cant help but snap it up just for a quick building fix. Anyway, I have designed my own that i would like to some day add to a list of others i plan on designing and producing for sale. I would need a CNC router though if i really want to make a production run of them. Ive just put up a few renderings of the scorpion design i want to make a prototype of. The prototype would be made from something cheap like 3mm MDF, but the production model would be twice the size and made from some sort of 6mm plywood.

 

[Rob-GB]

Very nice renderings, it looks almost photographic. [smile] ( I think the shadows let it down slightly, how many light sources did you apply?)
How many designs have you worked up like that?
Is the scorpion designed at the 3mm material thickness or 6mm? I ask this as I made some wooden puzzles for a magician and one of them had a design relationship with the material thickness, so I could increase the overal size by twice its original size and it was still manageable but by three times it was to big to handle! I am just wondering how big the 6mm model would be.

Rob.

 

[butzla]

Waynus,  the renderings are stunning!  You could have told me "look what I made this weekend with my scroll saw" and I would have believed it.

 

[mhoy]

Wow, you just need access to a Epilog laser cutter and you're set to go.  [big grin]
Imagine a Festool Laser cutter.  [eek]  (Or perhaps the price!  [crying]).

Mark

 

[waynelang2001]

Very nice renderings, it looks almost photographic. [smile] ( I think the shadows let it down slightly, how many light sources did you apply?)
How many designs have you worked up like that?
Is the scorpion designed at the 3mm material thickness or 6mm? I ask this as I made some wooden puzzles for a magician and one of them had a design relationship with the material thickness, so I could increase the overal size by twice its original size and it was still manageable but by three times it was to big to handle! I am just wondering how big the 6mm model would be.

Rob.

Hi Rob, I could make it more photo realistic but i wanted the renderings done quick so i went with less lighting and lower settings. To get it photo realistic just takes to long on my current rig, and white its rendering I cant do anything else on the pc because of the low RAM.

I have taken a current woodcraft model and done a redesign on it just to make it fit better and take away silly things like big round eyes. Ive added some pics of my design at the bottom of this reply.

I did design the model to use 6mm, but when i scale it down for the prototype i will use 3mm so it will be half size.

Ok here is the spider i redesigned, first the woodcraft version, and then a rendering of mine.

 

[waynelang2001]

Waynus,  the renderings are stunning!  You could have told me "look what I made this weekend with my scroll saw" and I would have believed it.

Thanks Patrick,

Take a look at the spider renderings they look a bit better. Thats my next tool, a scroll saw.......or at least a fret saw.

 

[Rob-GB]

Wayne, I know the feeling. My avatar is an early rendering of a newel cap for a stair I made, the rendering took forever to do and I still haven't mastered setting up light sources to get shadows right. [embarassed] Maybe I just get hung up on shadow effects  [eek] ;D
Like the spider,  ;D do I sense a common theme? Bugs and creepie crawlies being the main subject matter.

Rob.

 

[waynelang2001]

Wayne, I know the feeling. My avatar is an early rendering of a newel cap for a stair I made, the rendering took forever to do and I still haven't mastered setting up light sources to get shadows right. [embarassed] Maybe I just get hung up on shadow effects  [eek] ;D
Like the spider,  ;D do I sense a common theme? Bugs and creepie crawlies being the main subject matter.

Rob.

Yip you got the theme right. Im thinking of calling the range LANGLEY WOODWORKS CREATURES.........but we will see how it goes.

 

[Rob-GB]

Or Langley's Woody Critters!  [big grin]
I wish you well in this endeavour, on a side note, do you have a version of 'Dragons Den' in S.A. the show where people put forward a business idea and the (uber) rich business people in the panel bid to help out financially for a stake in the business? Might be the way to go, get the finances to set up a CNC shop to produce and their contacts to sell through.
ATB Rob.

 

[Corwin]

... Thats my next tool, a scroll saw.......or at least a fret saw.

Here's one of several discussions on the Knew Concepts' Fretsaw at talkFestool;

talkFestool: The Coolest Titanium Fretsaw

And their website;

Knew Concepts

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Owning a laser and having done a bit of cutting I think the MDF may not have the strength needed for this model.  There are some pretty delicate joints on the legs that are holding up a lot of the weight.  Baltic birch plywood is probably a much stronger way to go or perhaps some polycarbonate plastic.  With the number of pieces to cut and the issues of overall size you could be looking at a fairly costly item to cut.  Depending on the laser, power, speed and ability to cut multiples at the same time you might find it economically feasible.  I would guess that you are looking at roughly a dollar a minute for laser time, perhaps a litttle more or a little less.  Laser time usually includes the operator but not the materials.  The other issue with laser cutting wood is the charing left on the edges.  This is where polycarbonate melts to a smooth finish.

CNC routing would be another option but you would need a vacuum system to hold the material or leave tabs on each piece.  Probably not any cheaper than laser cutting overall, just a different process and setup.

Best,
Todd

 

[waynelang2001]

Owning a laser and having done a bit of cutting I think the MDF may not have the strength needed for this model.  There are some pretty delicate joints on the legs that are holding up a lot of the weight.  Baltic birch plywood is probably a much stronger way to go or perhaps some polycarbonate plastic.  With the number of pieces to cut and the issues of overall size you could be looking at a fairly costly item to cut.  Depending on the laser, power, speed and ability to cut multiples at the same time you might find it economically feasible.  I would guess that you are looking at roughly a dollar a minute for laser time, perhaps a litttle more or a little less.  Laser time usually includes the operator but not the materials.  The other issue with laser cutting wood is the charing left on the edges.  This is where polycarbonate melts to a smooth finish.

CNC routing would be another option but you would need a vacuum system to hold the material or leave tabs on each piece.  Probably not any cheaper than laser cutting overall, just a different process and setup.

Best,
Todd

Hi Todd,

Thanks for the feedback, i dont plan on using MDF for the full scale model only for the half size prototype to make sure everything slides together as it should. When it come to the full scale im pretty sure a good plywood will work very well. I would not want to go for laser cutting. It makes more sense to use a CNC router system that should leave tabs so I can sell the model in sheets with all the pieces attached. Its then up to the person who buys it to cut pieces out and sand down the tabs ( ala model kit ). I would most likely include some kind of small saw to cut the tabs and a rigged foam sanding block to smooth them out.

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Perhaps the originals were die cut just like the balsa wood model planes I used to build as a kid.  The laser cutting is good for small runs but the charing is a problem unless the wood is going to be painted.  CNC would eliminate that problem but holding the work while cutting then becomes the problem in my view.
Perhaps that is why there are not more of these type models on the market....now a tribe of chinamen with scroll saws.  Would probably still not be as accurate as needed for a good model.  Well, good luck with it all and I hope it works out for you.

Best,
Todd

 

[waynelang2001]

Perhaps the originals were die cut just like the balsa wood model planes I used to build as a kid.  The laser cutting is good for small runs but the charing is a problem unless the wood is going to be painted.  CNC would eliminate that problem but holding the work while cutting then becomes the problem in my view.
Perhaps that is why there are not more of these type models on the market....now a tribe of chinamen with scroll saws.  Would probably still not be as accurate as needed for a good model.  Well, good luck with it all and I hope it works out for you.

Best,
Todd

I dont see why there would be a problem holding down the board on CNC router?? If all the pieces have at least to small tabs on them then everything will hold together just fine.

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

I guess it depends on getting the tabs right sized and on the thickness of the material and the diameter of the cutter and the rotational forces it produces. I am no expert on CNC routers for sure.

Best,
Todd

 

[waynelang2001]

I guess it depends on getting the tabs right sized and on the thickness of the material and the diameter of the cutter and the rotational forces it produces. I am no expert on CNC routers for sure.

Best,
Todd

Hi Todd

When i first thought of doing this i was also worried about rotational forces when cutting thicker materials, but from video ive seen on CNC routers most people just set the program to cut the pattern 2 or three times, going deeper with each pass so the rotational forces really are not even there.