James Patton and his Praying Cowboy project!

Todd Bailey February 19, 2016

You might remember James Patton from his previous Shop Notes post where we highlighted this wonderful Thanksgiving sign and a couple of his other pieces. Well his is back with another very impressive piece...

"Thought I’d share my latest semi finished piece from your western collection."

"So, I used a sun bleached stain first to try and deaden the grain, then went over it with early American. After it dried, dry brushed some colonial maple on the bottom from the skyline down. Still need to semi gloss it, but I think it's coming along alright...About and 11" x 22"...I want to say it was a 22 hour carve with a 1/16” bit..."

That's a small bit for such a big piece but we think the time it took to CNC it certainly paid off in the end. WOW... what a great looking finish!

"Now, I don't like the grain in mahogany, but it was all I had in the garage, and I was anxious to carve another one of your fantastic models."

We never noticed the the grain at all... looks perfect!

"Here’s a pic of the finished piece. After all was said and done, I went over parts of the carving with and ebony stain to draw out some of the recess in the mountains and the frame, and then just to take some of the orange out of the main detail. Then I sprayed it with a few light coats of deft semi gloss wood finish. Hope I’ve done your model justice."

James... you surely have done it justice. Hard to believe it could look any better than the first image you sent... and that extra touch makes everything pop!

Thank you James, again,
for sharing one of your finished projects with us!

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Rob Meredith - Customer Focus

Todd Bailey January 15, 2016

Rob sent us in this wonderful image of a finished project he made in honor of a very special friend he recently lost. This arrived in out in box just before the Holidays in 2015.

"(I) used elements from the Furry Friends No.1 and the Golden Retriever from Vector Art 3D. I lost my dog this last weekend and wanted to to make something for him. I used Yellow heart wood for my project."

"As for the plaque I made it was made on a Laguna Swift 4X4 CNC machine with Aspire 8. "

"As for the finish techniques I used
Amana Tool 46384 Solid Carbide Double Flute Up-Cut Ball Nose Spiral 1/2 Dia x 2-1/8 Cut Height x 1/2 Shank x 4 Inch Long Router Bit,
Amana Tool 46282 CNC 2D and 3D Carving 5.4 Deg Tapered Angle Ball Tip 1/16 Dia x 1/32 Radius x 1 Cut Height x 1/4 Shank x 3 Inch Long x 4 Flute Solid Carbide ZrN Coated Router Bit,
Amana Tool 46390 CNC Solid Carbide Compression Spiral 1/4 Dia x 7/8 Cut Height x 1/4 Shank x 2-1/2 Inch Long Single Flute Router Bit,
3M Radial Bristle Discs and up to 220 grit sandpaper,
then I applied Watco natural Danish Oil. The wood was 8/4 Yellowheart wood."

Rob your finished project is a perfectly finished piece and a fitting reminder of such a wonderful companion. Thank you for taking the time to send this in to us.

Thanks again Rob for sharing this heartfelt project with us and so sorry for you loss.

Cartouches and flourishes for your next project!

Todd Bailey November 26, 2015

The cartouche in this project would be the perfect place to start if you were looking to add an interesting bit of design to a headboard, piece of furniture, elegant looking house number plaque or as a powerful starting point to build a coat of arms around. Not to mention that the 2 shields in this project, with a bit of added VCarving, would make for a nice memorial plaque or monogrammed accent to the top of a keepsake box. The individual elements can also easily be repeated and overlapped to create decoration for carved molding or frames.