Home Brew TG 16 Edge lit sign

[Xray]

I use 65 degree V bits for most 2D work, these are no exceptions. Ball noses don't work well with plexi, at least not the stuff I do. I know some guys who do some incredible 3D works, like "the last supper", in plexi, and they use tapered ball noses. I haven't worked up the nerve to try this myself yet.
RPM & feedrate are critical cutting into plexi ,,, If you don't have the right combo, the plexi will melt and weld itself right back together a second later, leaving a smeared up mess. It will also form and crystallize on the bit itself, which causes it to scratch up everywhere it goes, ruining the piece. Ideally, you like to see flaky little chips being produced from the cuts. This means you are not melting the plexi, and should have good detail and minimal cleanup on the work piece when finished.. Generally, and there are exceptions, low spindle RPM [5,000] + high feed rates [250 ipm] produce the least heat and best results.
You can for sure see some tooling marks in Bonks head, I could probably experiment to reduce or eliminate them, but not worth the while at this point.

I love CNC, maybe cause I do it on the side in my garage and not for a living. I have made $10,000's on it, so it has actually paid for itself, and most of the software ,,, And I have only been at it a couple of years. I also hand fashion alot of things with no CNC at all ,,, Which is something alot of craftsman would think of as almost sacrilegious. Like you said, they think CNC is for any moron who can shell out $10,000 for a machine and push a couple of buttons.
Let em keep thinking that way ! I look at it as just another tool to use for my purposes, and have no problem at all going from hand made to CNC, in fact, I sometimes combine both on the same projects.

[BlueBMW]

Youre making me want to pick up a CNC machine for use at home

[tggodfrey]

Dont forget to order a new garage while your at it beamer.  lol

[BlueBMW]

Eh I could make it fit.... I'd just have to park the cars outside and have at least 220 ran to the garage (if not 3 phase)

[Xray]

My machine is only 3x2 ft [cut area]. Its actual footprint is a bit bigger, but its not that large of a machine.
Built like a tank though, weighs over 400 lbs, I had to build a custom bench for it, it would crush an average table.
I'd like to upgrade to a 4x8, now that would take up a bit of space - And cost $30,000 +.
No matter how good your dust containment system is, some dust will get in the air, so I wouldn't recommend putting one in a household.


Here is my latest, and it is promising.
I first did the orange 16 logo with some stuff called "1 shot" paint, this is outstanding paint used by signmakers.
Problem here, and its obvious I know, is that its real hard to stay in the lines with a paint brush. As I stated earlier, these designs are just scratched into the plexi, probably around 1/32 [actual depth I use is .007", not sure how that would translate into a fraction]. So there is not much "edge" to guide the paintbrush, and the result looks sloppy.
When I do signs, I often just flood fill the lettering with an eyedropper, and the result looks incredible. Again, not an option here, because there is practically nothing to contain the flow.

So I thought I'd try using a sharpie for the yellow, wasn't expecting much, but it actually looks pretty good. Not nearly as vivid as the paint, but very easy to stay in the lines, and doesn't take much time - I probably spent more time brushing the sloppy 16 than I did with all the letters. As you can see, looks pretty good just sitting there, without any light. I beamed a flashlight on the edge, and the colors lit up pretty good ,,, But of course, a flashlight beam is not concentrated, so this thing just might look stellar using clear high intensity LED's.
I'm going to get an orange sharpie and try it again, this one is available as a prototype, same as the rest.

[glazball]

  Nice work Xray.  I wonder if you could post some zoomed out pics?  I'm just very curious to see one on the wall or on a desk or something.  Would help give me and maybe others a frame of reference

[esteban]

I think the Sharpie (yellow) looks pretty damn sweet.

[Xray]

I do too esteban, that vivid paint may actually be a bit too gaudy looking,,, I picked up an orange sharpie today, should have the new & improved model ready later on.

Not a bad idea glazball, I've been doing it like this mostly because I have to hold the laser and take the pic, so an arms length pic has been the only option. I'll see if I can recruit one of my kids or wifey to help later on ,,, They tend to want to stay far away from my projects.

[Xray]

Here is another with both colors done by sharpie, no question that it is superior to paint.
I'd like to do a nice, bright painted one, don't get me wrong ,,, But I see no practical way to do it without it turning out looking like shit.
These would be ideal for those who don't want to edge light them, as they stand out pretty good in just normal light.
Still open to question what they would look like properly edge lit, I'm thinking "jaw dropping" might be a good guess.

2nd shot is for size perspective, resting on the gantry of my machine, a 19.2 v drill in the foreground.

These prototype painted signs are available for $30 shipped USA.
[Getting a little confusing here. Prototype console, pce and bonk are no longer available]

[nodtveidt]

That's pretty damn impressive.

[8bitForLife]

the pc engine one looks amazing would love to get one for my duo rx but seems like the signs are really small how much larger do you think youll go when your finally completely done designing?

[FiftyQuid]

Is it just me or is the logo not centered in the square?  The "T" in Turbo looks further away from the border than the "O" in Turbo.  Or is that how the logo actually looks?  Damnit... *Fifty heads off to look at his TG paraphernalia for a comparison*.

[EDIT] If you look at the "X" in Grafx it's really in a corner.

[nodtveidt]

I'd be interested in buying one of these... hit me up a price for a blue one. Do ya take paypal?

[roflmao]

I'm pretty sure all you get is the engraved plexiglass and you have to come up with your own lighting (aside from the most recent round where he's started hand coloring in elements).

[nodtveidt]

I know, that's fine with me... I'd rather build the rest anyway. Building a lighted box isn't hard, and this would look so bloody awesome in my office.