Let's talk about some precision machining...

Monstermash

Monstermash

Lock Ness Monster
Silver Member
So I was at PFD Studios again today and as usual I was treated to some extraordinary sights. This one was a bit different that what I usually get to see and play with.

The following photos are of the Mayan calendar machined into a piece of Ivory that is destined to adorn a custom case to match a special cue Paul is working on called "The Aztec Princess".

It is my understanding that the machining was done by a .0005 end mill. Yes folks, thats THREE ZERO's before the 5. :p

Just curious if there are any other cuemakers out there doing this kind of detail work? It is amazing in person!

This first photo was just used for scale to give you an idea of just how small the glyphs are.

AztecPrincessscale.jpg


This is a crop to show the details and to see that it is in fact machined into the Ivory. No decals, screenprinting,or other trickery here!

AztecPrincesscloseup.jpg
 
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Renegade_56 said:
I don't buy it, it's interesting, but I don't buy it. Besides, isn't ivory like,,,,,white?
Click to expand...

Yes, Ivory is white. I had to play with the white balance while I was shooting the shots to try and bring out the detail. There is also some additional post processing that was done for the same reason.

Here is one of the original shots I took while I was setting up trying to get the light right and reduce the glare from the fluorescent lighting in Paul's shop.

StLouisBurlwoodcue019-Copy.jpg
 
Hi,

Paul's work is something else I agree but to what end does that calander bring to a cue. It is too large to fit on the cue anywhere. I am puzzled.

As far a .0005 end mills, you are mistaken on that one my friend. .005 yea, but .0005 no.

Rick
 
scdiveteam said:
Hi,

Paul's work is something else I agree but to what end does that calander bring to a cue. It is too large to fit on the cue anywhere. I am puzzled.

As far a .0005 end mills, you are mistaken on that one my friend. .005 yea, but .0005 no.

Rick
Click to expand...

I understood it as, it was to go on a matching case.
 
.0005 end mill is out of the question.

I also believe most of the detail in this was done by hand not a cnc. For example the ring around the center that contains the blocks with 5 dots that look like dice........no two are the same. If it was cnc they would be. Unless the programmer drew each block individually but there would be literally months worth of design work and the writing of a program to achieve this. it's just too erratic to be done by a cnc. Other aspects of it might have been done by a machine but not that detail. I'm not knocking it by any means, it's beautiful and impressive but it's definitely got some hand work in it.
 
maybe confused with engraving bit....that could possibly be sharp pointed to a half a thou
 
deadnutz said:
.0005 end mill is out of the question.

I also believe most of the detail in this was done by hand not a cnc. For example the ring around the center that contains the blocks with 5 dots that look like dice........no two are the same. If it was cnc they would be. Unless the programmer drew each block individually but there would be literally months worth of design work and the writing of a program to achieve this. it's just too erratic to be done by a cnc. Other aspects of it might have been done by a machine but not that detail. I'm not knocking it by any means, it's beautiful and impressive but it's definitely got some hand work in it.
Click to expand...

You have to keep in mind when the "original" work was created. They did not have CNC back then and this piece is an accurate recreation of the original. Could it have been cleaned up to make it look "modern"? Sure, but why would you want to?

I can assure everyone, none of this was done by hand.
 
Programming.....

I Think he Scanned it....
Still, a remarkable piece of CNC work...
His g-code must be 3 pages long... :p
How many would even attempt it??
GO Paul!!!!
Paul Drexler < One of the tightest inlays in the Industry.....
 
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Somebody is blowing smoke here, not sure who. I've been progarmming NC machinery since 1977 and cnc since the mid 80's and I think I can tell what it looks like. This would take hundreds of hours to program with that detail, and then to machine it with a .005 endmill in ivory, at least another hundred. I doubt there is a cue maker on earth that could do that, and only a hand ful of real cnc programmers. Besides that, where is the grain in this piece?
 
scdiveteam said:
Hi,

Paul's work is something else I agree but to what end does that calander bring to a cue. It is too large to fit on the cue anywhere. I am puzzled.

As far a .0005 end mills, you are mistaken on that one my friend. .005 yea, but .0005 no.

Rick
Click to expand...

Hi Rick,

There are CAM programs that enable you to "wrap" an engraving around
a cue - as mentioned by others - given enough time and motovation this
could be reproduced by any fairly competent CNC cowboy with a scanner
and the right CAM software.

All of the above is, of course - IMHO.

Dale
 
pdcue said:
Hi Rick,

There are CAM programs that enable you to "wrap" an engraving around
a cue - as mentioned by others - given enough time and motovation this
could be reproduced by any fairly competent CNC cowboy with a scanner
and the right CAM software.

All of the above is, of course - IMHO.

Dale
Click to expand...
Hi Dale,
Ive been looking for that conversion program, but, don't know or
what term to use/look for, to get info on that.
What is the proper termanolgy for that CNC process/convertion?
Can you P.m. me please?
Alton
Renegade_56 said:
Somebody is blowing smoke here, not sure who. I've been progarmming NC machinery since 1977 and cnc since the mid 80's and I think I can tell what it looks like. This would take hundreds of hours to program with that detail, and then to machine it with a .005 endmill in ivory, at least another hundred. I doubt there is a cue maker on earth that could do that, and only a hand ful of real cnc programmers. Besides that, where is the grain in this piece?
Click to expand...
I know what he means about the detail programing.. :smile:
Drawing all that in a CAD Program, using lines and curves, connecting and tweaking them to make the different shapes to form the drawing/image.
In essence, the tool path to create the drawings..

Scanning/conveters are available..
Bob Hergert "Scrimmed" his Ivory Aztec Calender..
 
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CueCaps said:
Hi Dale,
Ive been looking for that conversion program, but, don't know or
what term to use/look for, to get info on that.
What is the proper termanolgy for that CNC process/convertion?
Can you P.m. me please?
Alton
Click to expand...

Dale is correct.

"Wrapping" something around the A-axis of a cue does not require an actual "conversion." It's actually axis substitution, and BobCad can do it right out of the box. In the context of engraving cues, instead of moving the Y-axis on a 2D engraving, the A-axis would move, thus "wraping" the engraving around the cylinder.
 
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I never said intricacy or detail of that nature couldn't be done with modern tooling.......but it wasn't a .0005 end mill. That's for certain. A sheet of notebook paper is .003 thick. So the end mill would be 1/6 of that in diameter. It would also mean the end mill would have about a .0003 body with .0001 flutes and relief angles cut in there somewhere. I've been in the precision machining trade my whole life and work to a .0002 tolerance on a daily basis. Not only does a .0005 end mill not exist, it would be impossible to handle and would most likely not cut butter without snapping.

It's impressive work no matter how it was achieved. I have a tendency to believe this may have been photo etched. These numbers would jive with that.
 
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