February 8, 201313 yr My shiny brand spanking new pantograph. Made entirely from crud out of the scrap bin. Durn't look like much do it? And these are the very first letters. I've played with different follower stylus geometry and found the best is that which has the same angle as my cutter, for lettering that is. Here's test #1 & # 2  One was too deep and the other a little goofy. So It got a better stylus for #3 As you can see I'm still having trouble keeping the stylus in the slot. I think I can fix that by installing a little pin in the stylus like maybe a brad nail to ensure that it can not escape the confines of the letter I'm following.
February 8, 201313 yr Pretty cool looking! I would like to see more pix of it in operation!Lew Kauffman-Wood Turners Forum HostTime traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!
February 8, 201313 yr me too! more pictures of it in operation. Maybe even a video!John MoodySite AdministratorJohn Moody Woodworkshttp://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
February 9, 201313 yr Wow Cliff! What a cool design and a wonderful way to put your scrap to work! Congratulations on an engineering marvel! The letters look great,John MorrisThe Patriot WoodworkerProud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project
February 9, 201313 yr simular to the router recreator i've got. You'll have a few problems making that letter as the bit not only has to follow the letter BUT IT ALSO has to go up and down.You'll notice that some parts of the letter the bit is almost out of the wood. The bits for those letters are specialty bits with 4 cutting slots per bit all the way down to the point.
February 9, 201313 yr Author Oh this cutter goes all the way to the point. And in fact my pantograph does operate in three dimensions just fine. So up and down is covered. In fact, if you look, you'll see that the cutter does go deeper creating a wider cut path on the curves of the two bubbles in the B. The main hinge point at the plywood base is gymbaled, so the things swings up and down rather nicely.  However, I fall on my face with the number of cutting edges as I only have the two.
February 14, 201313 yr Author Hey check it out In about an hour there'll be a you tube video if the thing working. I'll post it when it's up.
February 14, 201313 yr Nice. Looking forward to the video!Lew Kauffman-Wood Turners Forum HostTime traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!
February 14, 201313 yr Excellent Video Cliff. Great job on your pantograph.John MoodySite AdministratorJohn Moody Woodworkshttp://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
February 14, 201313 yr Author thanks guys.  This was inspired by my utter and complete lack of carving skill. I wanted carved platens upon which to mount my three way valves for my brewery.I have three of 'em to be up on pedastles ( somewhere I posted these cooper-ish pedastles) They re going to be painted some glaring brilliant metallic blue the tops are elm 1" thick upon which I need to mount the valves with the piping passing down through the tops. I needed carved lettering indicating what valves drew from where and sent to where depending on handle position. I plan on finishing 'em with Pre Cat 181 over BLO and a wash of shellac to seal the BLO, then carve them and paint inside the carves letters with the bright blue.So lacking carving skill, I used another set of skills to make do.I haven't put cutter to platens yet.There's a small matter of placing everything in digital space first.
February 15, 201313 yr COOL!!!Lew Kauffman-Wood Turners Forum HostTime traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!
March 10, 201313 yr That's the best I've ever seen. I've been wanting to try something like this so I've got 2 questions. Do you have a plan for the pantograph and how did you make the template for the stylus?
April 3, 201313 yr Author Take a look at the very first inscription for the brew pedastle Hey~!! It's a hobby~!! It's not supposed to make sense.
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