Looking for some advice on a project

[liquidmetal]

I'm doing a job for the local VFW hall, they are going to present a shotgun to one of their oldest members who is a Veteran of Iwo Jima. I'm going to do the engraving for them at no charge but I 'd really LOVE to engrave an image of the Flag Raising photograph by Joe Rosenthal. I'm looking for advice on turning an image like that into line art that I can make into an engraveable .nc file. I have a nice flat area that would look absolutely amazing with that image on there.  Thanks in advance,
 Mike

[Hood]

Vectrics Photo V Carve is an excellent programme for doing that kind of thing, heres a few I have done.
The Demo can be used but it will have a watermark across it, sometimes that shows on the carving other times it doesnt, one  of these was done with the demo the other two were with the licensed programme. Its well worth the cost if you are going to do a few
Hood

[Dan13]

Nice Hood. Didn't know you were hard into this I liked Sam. What are these cut in... stainless?

Never did V curving. How does it work - how do you achieve all the shades? Is special lighting required to view them?

Daniel

[RICH]

image of the Flag Raising photograph by Joe Rosenthal

Can you post the photo?
Also can you post a picture of the receiver?

Would be happy to contribute as a small token of appreciation.

There are some things to consider and you only get to do it once and right the first time around ...............

You can also send me an email.

RICH

[RICH]

Try out your machine and see what results you get from attached file.
May want to scale it down some ....

RICH

[Hood]

Nice Hood. Didn't know you were hard into this I liked Sam. What are these cut in... stainless?

Never did V curving. How does it work - how do you achieve all the shades? Is special lighting required to view them?

Daniel

Not really in to it as my machines are not the most suitable, axis speed on them is fine but spindle speed too slow so things take a long time. For example the car in the last pic is approx 200mm x 120mm and it took 2.5 to 3hrs.
The boat and the car are 5083 alu and the horse is in brass. The boat actually got made into a number plate for a house in brass and the alu was only as a test. The only pic I have of the finished number plate is not that great

The carving is filled with paint or dye of some sort, the deeper/wider the vee the more paint there is so the darker it shows up.

Hood

[Dan13]

Thanks for explaining this, Hood.

Daniel

[liquidmetal]

I'm not sure how to post a picture here, it's the famous picture taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Flag raising on Iwo Jima, a quick search will bring it up. I've got an area about 1.5" x 1.5" that's nice an flat. I'd like the picture on there and I can do the text, the Man's name and such. I've got the Eagle, Globe and Anchor USMC emblem for the other side. I'm really looking forward to doing this.

 Thanks,
  Mike

[RICH]

Mike,
Try the file  I attached on some scrap and see how it  turns out. I think the depth of cut is 0.005". Set the scale at .6 in mach and that will get you close to what is shown in the attached pic. The box is 1.5 x 1.5 ".
It's just a test piece which will give you an idea of what to expect from the picture. It has the flag, some stars, and a few details which will give you an idea of how well your  machine will engrave. At that size you don't want much detail but still need to convey the info to the viewer. Thus detail in the right spots, some shading cuts, and minimize the amount of gcode / movements.
Can you post a picture of the reciever side that it will go on?

To post a pic just, click preview, and then when the window opens, click Additional Options  and you will see that you can attach a file.

RICH

[Hood]

Heres what PhotoVcarve would give you but would need to know the feeds and speeds you can use, the type of cutter etc. This is with a 45 Vee degree cutter.
Hood