Carving a frog on a leaf - CNC router technique with vertical tabs
By Dennis Van Hoof, from Top o’ Arts ().
This video shows the process of carving a frog from a branch and epoxy resin with the Shapeoko, using a technique with vertical, instead of the conventional horizontal tabs, to secure the stock in place. Those vertical tabs were then used to accurately position the frog on a leaf, that was also carved with the Shapeoko from a tree trunk slice with an average diameter of 500 mm.
Software used:
- Meshmixer to modify the frog and leaf, and create the tabs and platform
- Vectric VCarve to generate the tool paths
- UGS Platform to send the Gcode to the CNC
Materials used:
- Slice of a tree trunk with an average diameter of 500 mm and thickness of 230 mm
- Bifurcated branch
- Epoxy resin (from the Epoxy Resin Store)
- Green, blue, purple and red Mica powders
- MDF board
- Duct tape (from 3M #2979)
- Surfacing bit: WhiteSide #6210
- Roughing bit: Amana Tool end mill #46577
- Finishing bits: Amana Tool tapered ball nose #46286 and #46281
Referenced video of the metal frame and modifications to the Shapeoko: “3-sided rotary CNC routing with the Shapeoko - carving a Koi fish“