Limits of CNC Mount Cutting/Etching/Bevel etc

[IPFraming]

Hi all,
New to the business so please bear with my newby status.
Am trying to find out about what is possible with today's CNC mount cutting technology. I have seen a lovely mount of the SAS on the web and am looking at finding out how/where to get something similar done with Royal Navy Wings motif. Reasonably complex design.
Could you please advise of your collective knowledge as to the possibilities today and maybe point me in the right direction?
Thanks
Seb
PS: Avatar is my wife, far better looking than I and besides, she owns the business!

[Roboframer]

Welcome to the Forum, Seb!

Is that SAS design this one? http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 53&p=53363

[IPFraming]

Yes, that is the one.
I was looking at getting something laser etched into the mount.
http://www.cutlasercut.com/services/pap ... ng-etching

Other than above, the people I have so far spoken with have use a Wizard 9000, but seems it cannot cope with this level of detail.
Hence my wanting to see what are the limits and whether I am looking in the right places.
Thanks
Seb

[GeoSpectrum]

None CMCs on the market will cut to the degree of precision of that laser cut if that is what you are after. But then again you can't cut mounts with a laser cutter. Well you can but the edges of the board get burnt in the process. I've investigated both.

[benjiman grapes]

Hey there,

The SAS piece you speak of is David Wilkie's piece.
Has been a source of inspiration for many I'd say. Myself included.

Many questions.
What size are you looking at? The CMC blades can only do so much! But if you know how work the machine's software you can get more out of them.
Also what CMC you using? A 90 degree cut opens up many doors the 45 can't.

Looking at the motif you want, the wings, anchor and surround can be achieved but a much simplified crown would be required.

Benjiman

[David]

Hi Seb

The main limiting factors are you can't do fine detail or tight curves and the cost in time and mount board. The Navy motif has too much detail with the crown, leaves and rope, unless you are doing it 5-600mm wide, or you are going to simplify it a great deal to a simple crown outline. You can do fine detail with debossing and pen tool but this can cause further problems if your tolerances are tight. Personally I don't think it is a design that lends itself to being cut from board, I'd be looking to mount an actual badge if I wanted to include it on a mount design or do it with the pen tool as a drawing. I do some fine detail by hand but you don't want to be doing too much of that.

The other factor is the time, I use a Gunnar and you can create a design relatively quickly, getting the machine to cut it cleanly is another matter, it can take time fine tuning the design, machine settings and test cuts. The more complex the design with different angles and curves the longer it takes.

I've looked at a lot of military badges and the majority are not suitable.

David.

[Merlin]

crest31.jpg (199.07 KiB) Viewed 10280 times

Using Pen Tool on Valiani

[IPFraming]

Thanks all for your very useful comments and replies. Now much clearer.