This will likely be a long project since I’m working on it in between others.
One of the first thing I wanted to do when I ordered my Altmill was a set of Canadian provincial and territorial flags arranged on a medallion about 36" in diameter.
Something like this:
While waiting for the Altmill, I did the files for all the flags and arranged them around a red maple leaf. The provincial flags are small, about 3" x 4" so the level of detail I have in the files will need to be reduced depending on the quality of the carve.
I’m currently working on the flag for PEI. It has a lot of very fine detail, so choosing the correct tools and removing some of the finer details will be required. I suspect some trial and error will be required.
I carved the flag on a piece of maple hardwood flooring. I didn’t surface it before so it probably wasn’t entirely flat. I think I’ll make the recess 0.5mm instead of the 1mm I have now. And I hope to make the grooves inside the lion and the trees a bit deeper. Currently using a 60° v-bit for those
I’ll try again tomorrow but will surface the maple first. The lack of contrast in the carve will surely make it more difficult to see the detail.
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A bit more experimentation with using epoxy to fill the carved areas.
First one is just an epoxy-filled v-carve of all the elements. I didn’t surface it after curing, hence the dirty appearance.
The second is with a pocket cut of the parts that are in red on the actual flag. Pocket is then filled with black epoxy. Never mind the bleeding. As this was a test only, I didn’t bother sealing first.
Of the two, I think I prefer the one with the pocket cut.
Although I didn’t plan on doing these in colour, I think I will attempt it.
This a how the actual flag looks. Some of the colours will need to be simplified. i.e. just one shade of brown and green for the tree and grass
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I like the look of the pocket one as well. It really pops!
I think this is a cool project and I look forward to seeing how it progresses. If fifty flags with enough detail to be readable would fit in an average sized room I might be tempted to do one for the USA. 
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I decided to go full colour.
Because there is a lot of curing time to wait in between epoxy pours, I am doing them in two batches. The first batch of eight will comprise the flags with a high proportion of white for the field. The picture below is of the white epoxy layer with the first pocket carve that I’m about to fill with coloured epoxy. Some flags only require one colour. Others will need to be done in multiple steps, via a combination of pocket cuts of v-carves.
Colours will be approximations as all I have are blue, red, yellow, white, and black pigments. And while I have the Pantone or RGB code for most of the colours, there’s not really a RYB equivalent. I have a colour wheel and will work with that to get an approximation.
I finally had a use for the different workspaces in gSender. Since a part of the mill is reserved for this project, I have a separate workspace with it’s own zeros. I can use the free space to do other small carves in the meantime.
Note to self:: do not use a surfacing bit on epoxy without using the dust shoe. I have epoxy strings all over the place.
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Just saying, Amazon has a whole bunch of other resin colors for not $o much.
I’m using a $15 set that has a couple of dozen colors that are easily mixed, great for me who doesn’t always know what he’s doing 
For larger quantities and more / precision colors, try companies like Meyspring…
@JPlocher Yeah, I looked there too. Might be worth trying. The problem is that none of them have pure red, blue, and yellow pigments. I have red and blue and you’d think you would be able to get violet if you mix them. But all I get is a dark purple. And that’s because the red likely has a bit of black or other color. Same as for the blue.
My daughter knows colour theory well enough to know that it’s impossible to get every colour I would want with just the five that I have.
Like I can get them close enough but they certainly won’t be a perfect match. Besides, even if I had a perfect match, lighting and the other colours nearby would affect our perception. So it might still look off.
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While waiting for last night’s batch of epoxy to cure properly before surfacing again, I completed this epoxy project I made for a restaurant that I frequent when going to my cottage. They have a wall of vintage license plates and I figured this would make a nice addition. It’s located on Route 105 in the province of Québec. An unsolicited gift from me to them.
Fun fact: There are a few photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger flipping burgers when he was there many years ago. I guess he was famous enough to have a photo op. Probably Conan the Barbarian era or earlier.
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Coming along nicely. The large pockets have been done. Once this morning’s epoxy cures, I will do a final surface. Then it’s just a bunch of v-carves. Any epoxy excess in the carves will just be removed by sanding.
Colours are still hit and miss. I’m going to have to do a colour palette with the corresponding pigment proportions for any future project.
The nice thing about working with epoxy is that any screw up can just be carved away and re-poured.
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