Litho with PhotoVCarve

[Caprirs]

I have done several lithos using PhotoVCarve. The software is just great. Easy to use with great results.

This one is of one of our cats who we lost a year ago.

There are more pictures here. Other lithos I have done are here.

The backlight is provided by a LED panel from these folks. Pricey but gives excellent light. I will probably use something less expensive and keep the LED panel for some other project. I also plan to add another litho on the other cabinet door as soon as I have a good enough image.

[lovebugjunkie]

Nice litho, I like the way you have it displayed.

Gives me an idea about some high mounted windows we have in the breakfast nook off the kitchen.

[pistolknight]

I'm very new to all this and would really appreciate your help.
I'm into trying litho's but keep having bother cutting them. To start off i tried cutting a few using Lazycam which came with my copy of Mach3 but i've quickly realized that it takes a serious amount of virtual memory to cut using Lazycam's raster image method. I'm now thinking that photoVcarve is the logical step forward for me to obtain better results. Can you give me a little advice for getting good looking litho's?
Thanks, David

[Caprirs]

David,

With PhotoVCarve, it's pretty easy. In fact, Vectric has a tutorial in PDF format that walks you through step by step on making lithos.

I start with 1/2" thick Corian and bandsaw to rough size. I machine a pocket slightly oversize of the final image so the floor of the pocket is 1/4" thick. I have to adjust the depth of the pocket because the Corian varies in thickness from piece to piece. From there, I follow Vectric's procedure.

[pistolknight]

thanks for the info. Corian is REALLY difficult to get hold of over here. Apparently, any offcuts have to be returned for recycling and only registered users can obtain it. Sounds like a load of BS to me but that's what i was told by several potential suppliers. I have managed to buy a sheet (3metre by 0.7metre) of 1/4" thick Formica solid surfacing which is pretty much identical to Corian for a good price. I will try the tutorial and get right back to you if i encounter problems.
Many thanks,
David