We're doing a job at work that uses these MDF wall panels. http://www.interlam-design.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=binders.binder&productID=17&productFamilyID=7&binderID=1&clientID=1

@ $10 Sq. Ft., I thought I'd see how tuff it would be to make them myself. Here's a small sample. G-code created with AutoCAD and the macro I wrote.

NEAT!

I can't imagine how you would explain to the guy who walks up and asks "Whacha cuttin?"

Can you post pics of the installed panel when the time comes?

Scott

Amazing!!

I did not ever think you could route 3D in MDF. That must have created a lot of saw dust.

Steve

Many years ago I was involved in routing about a bazillion shutters for Pizza Hut from 1" MDF. Long story short - this was at a machine tool manufacturer, not a wood shop (we were building their router). The machine was set up with multiple spindles making as many as 4 shutters at once. The volume of dust/chips was absolutely rediculous! I filled a small dumpster with MDF dust every day for about 6 weeks. It was almost fun, actually...I was usually covered with carbide and HSS laden coolant as I was grinding tools at the time.

I guess you guys know the dust MDF can create. It sounded like a good contribution at first. Sorry.......carry on.

:wave:

Scott

That must have created a lot of saw dust.

Steve

Our router has a 10HP dust collector on it, and there is a ~3" long brush surrounding the tool and making a seal to the surface. I never saw any dust, although I'm sure there was a lot. :) I still have to do 8 4x10 panels.

Scott, I doubt I'll have any pictures, but maybe. I rarely see the finished product.

Gerry, I wasn't familar with Interlam Design, but I know of another company that imports these from Europe. We tried to buy one panel and found out that the cost was going to be over $900 after shipping, tariffs, etc. We decided to cut the panel ourselves just like you did. It came out very nice.
Anyway, Interlam Design saw the finished product and had a fit. They claim that they have a copyright on that pattern and sent us a "cease and desist" letter from their lawyer.
FYI
So I came up with our own design.

kinda neat idea i have seen some sound proofing stuff that was small wood rectangles of different hieghts glued together but this has opened some thoughts and instead of like $150 - $200 for about a 4x4 area might be able to do a 4 x 8 for about 1/4 of the price thats the great thing on this site always flows of ppls ideas

We're doing a job at work that uses these MDF wall panels. http://www.interlam-design.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=binders.binder&productID=17&productFamilyID=7&binderID=1&clientID=1

@ $10 Sq. Ft., I thought I'd see how tuff it would be to make them myself. Here's a small sample. G-code created with AutoCAD and the macro I wrote.

How thick was the original Gerry, and how deep are the waves?

3/4" MDF, cutting between 1/8" to 1/2" deep. Used a 1" diameter tool.

Neat stuff!!

Now, the big question, how long does it take to cut something that complex??

Neat stuff!!

Now, the big question, how long does it take to cut something that complex??

It's a lot faster than you think. It's just a series of splines that move along the X axis, with only the Z axis moving, not the Y. The problem, I've found, is that our machine can't read the code as fast as it's moving. (300ipm). I'll have to cut at about 150ipm, or the machine will pause every few inches.

Wow that is very nice :)
How does one make such nice waves in autocad? I bet this would look good on a nicely grained piece of wood with some nice staining. Sort of random wavy line drawing.

Great job!

How does one make such nice waves in autocad?

Switch to a side view, and draw splines. Then go back to an isometric or top view, and move each spline over by a certain amount (5/8" in my case). Then convert the splines to polylines. (free conversion lisps available for download.)

This gives some great ideas

We're doing a job at work that uses these MDF wall panels. http://www.interlam-design.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=binders.binder&productID=17&productFamilyID=7&binderID=1&clientID=1

@ $10 Sq. Ft., I thought I'd see how tuff it would be to make them myself. Here's a small sample. G-code created with AutoCAD and the macro I wrote.

Its more like $30 sq ft + shipping, now. And its still not any harder to do. Finishing is what cost. Even that's not that big a deal. Just time consuming. Using
super-refined MDF 2 http://www.plumcreek.com/ManufacturedProducts/MDF/ProductSpecifications/tabid/170/Default.aspx) will cut that down. If you can sell it there's money to be made.

To bad there isn't a distributor for the mdf 2 around here

Never used it, but this MDF is supposedly made for applications like this.

http://www.sierrapine.com/index.php?pid=70

Another way is to make molds and cast the patterns. www.modulararts.com make their panels
this way. I did some messing around using Raytie 100 which came out
real nice. But they were HEAVY as hell. Cooked up an idea to use the spay-able rayite to coat the mold then fill the core with expandable HDU. Cap it with MDF and let it cure. The HDU bonded the plaster face to the MDF back. Turned out a lot liter but really only cost effective for large orders of the same pattern. Besides its easier to just sit here and watch the machine do it.:cheers:

Thanks for the great idea, i think this is just the thing to spruce up my remodeling job at home! I'm thinking of making the pattern into 6"x6" or possibly 12"x12" square tiles for my kitchen and bar. I'll post a pic when I get em done.

Mike

Those are really cool. My wife wants me to make some decorative panels for the house now. I've seen designs that look like water ripples with very natural wave patterns that would look really cool tool. Would be much harder to design though.

Those are really cool. My wife wants me to make some decorative panels for the house now. I've seen designs that look like water ripples with very natural wave patterns that would look really cool tool. Would be much harder to design though.


Just depends on the software and amount of detail your looking for. Another consideration is weather you need to "panel" the tiles so the the edges are continuous. Which takes a little more time. But like anything, the more you do it the easier it becomes.

They are certainly eye catching. I believe vcarve has a feature in it that allows you to do that, just haven't explored it much. For this face machining I would say that I wouldn't use anything less than double-refined MDF (I prefer RangerBoard) or spraying primer on those panels would be like spraying water into dry soil.

Wow todd. that first picture is amazing. How did you make that? what software did you use?

Wow todd. that first picture is amazing. How did you make that? what software did you use?

I designed it in Adobe and modeled it in ArtCAM using the gray scale image. Came out pretty cool. The whole panel looks kinda like a germ.
But that's what they wanted.

Todd I'm curious as to how you sprayed the rayite? My understanding was it doesn't just work w/ any kind of gun??

Curious..

J

Its rayite 200 http://www.gypsumsolutions.com/newscenter/news/tooling/news_Rayite200.asp
The proper spray machine is the cost prohibitive part. I got good enough coverage with a modified piston pump. But was a big mess to clean up
fast as needed to keep everything from getting clogged up. Keep in mind I was just testing out the idea so the pattern was only 12x18.

@Todd71 - I signed-on just to tell you how great I thought your designs look, and to ask whether you used the same technique for the "wave" design as you used with the "germ".

The wife absolutely loves the Interlam product (starting to see it in many retail shops); however, it's not in the budget so I thought I'd try my hand. I have a local CNC shop that I source work to, but I'm not sure that I have the tools I'll need. I'm proficient with Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator and AutoCAD, but I have no familiarity with CAM software.

The CNC shop may let me get on their system and play with ArtCam, but I doubt I'd be able to pick it up in such a short amount of time.

Any suggestions for recreating this without a CAM tool, or possibly doing the majority of the work in AutoCAD, then handing it over to my shop to convert to a CAM drawing?

Thank you in advance!
-RM

"Any suggestions for recreating this........"

Don't be affriad to make mistakes. Learn all you can from them.
If you don't have time to do that, just buy it. :cheers:
Takes time to do anything right.
I've posted a basic idea of how to do the wave pattern at
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Creating_Wavy_Surface_Patterns.html

Good luck,
Todd