A good 4 years ago, when I was about to enter the CNC world as a total novice, I was approached to make a remembrance plaque for a stillborn’s grave. Not directly an ideal novice project to start your journey with, but how can one refuse such a request?
To make matters worse, the client wanted the carving on a teak plaque with organic form that he brought with him, leaving no margin for big mistakes nor a clear return path after a disconnect. It took me waaaaaay too long to design and measure out, but long story short, I got it done, and I learned a lot doing so.
I can write a book on this one project and how it immediately pushed my workflow away from anything I had watched others do in YouTube videos. I will not dive into that here because… It’s back!
Like anything left in the brutal weather in northern Europe, this plaque too was losing its shine and was due for a maintenance job on its finish. I didn’t have any hand in the finished job, so that is not why it’s back at my shop. The original job was signed with Mum & Dad, but Mum and Dad have two more kids, and I imagine the kids might have suggested their names be included, and what better moment than when it’s due for its refinishing, eh?
At this moment I have bolted the plaque to the bed, having just enough spare room between a wooden bear that was added after I carved the plaque and delivered it to the client. A bit of good luck can get you a happy face sometimes.
I again took waaay too long looking at the now-disappeared original XY0 problem, trying to add elements to the design file from 4 years past. It only hit me when I was at the actual plaque, drawing in the names by hand to get a feel for the available space. I don’t need the old XY0 because I have the design on the bed of my machine that was created with the now lost XY0. I can zero in on the carving and design from there.
Since I am still a wee insecure about the wisdom of this choice and maybe the aesthetics of the end result. I am opening this topic before actually doing the carve. Tomorrow I will engage this idea using the bottom-left of the P -20 mm as my xyâ‚€ for Dylan and the bottom-right of the A +20 mm as my xyâ‚€ for Patrick. Based on a 4-quadrant (center) base design.
Please jump in if you have doubts, see or feel anything wrong with my solution, or want to share additional ideas.
-To be continued-
