Thread: Pentograph used for wood

try a goolgle seach for "duplicarver"

duplicarver,Pentograph
ok the only think l can add is l have seen is one that used a 100mm grinder with a carving disc on it this was joined by a rod about 30 cm away to a wooden disc the same size as the the carver it all attched to other rods that let it slide up and down left to right

A pantograph (correct spelling, BTW) has a good theoretical basis, but for quality results they need very good bearings/bushes and quite rigid arms. Their only advantage is to provide scale changes (reduction or enlargement). Same-size Duplicarver-type apparatus are more reliable, and can be designed to mount a router (or Dremel), or a right-angle grinder with a carving disk such as Lancelot or Arbortech, or the smaller Merlin (cousin of Lancelot).

Joe

and they turn you into a machine operator,
not a carver

Originally Posted by underfoot

and they turn you into a machine operator,
not a carver

Ditto. They could have a role in taking the bulk off, like an Arbortech grinder or a chainsaw, but their cost implies that they are useful only for mass production.

No argument here. There might be an artistic validity in making a prototype in another material such as clay or built-up scraps, to be finally executed in whole timber. And/or shaping the rough blank, with fine details added later. The last application isn't very far removed from cutting the blank with a bandsaw.

Joe

Try googlywooglying "Copy Carver"... it uses a small router and can carve anything your heart desires... easy as! Ive had the plans for some time now but well... I just gotta make the sodding thing!

But a copy carver is about as close to what your describing as anything Ive seen

If I had a quid for every person who's 'advised' me to go down this road I'd be pretty well off-financially at least! Some things can't be quantified in monetry terms can they?!! And some folk miss the point don't you think??

Obviously some people have to copy an artists work as they are not creative

Hold on a tick!! MAYBE like me they have some things they would LIKE to have a few replicas of and like me arent as patient as they should be so maybe they need something that will give them an exact copy of something without having to actually redo the thing again and again and again... maybe?

but where does the original come from?

Originally Posted by clare

If I had a quid for every person who's 'advised' me to go down this road I'd be pretty well off-financially at least! Some things can't be quantified in monetry terms can they?!! And some folk miss the point don't you think??

Maybe I am missing the point but virtually all European carvers of sacred art shape the blanks by machine and finish the detail work by hand. What's the difference between churning out crucifixes and churning out horses if each one is individually finished? You would not want your next horse to look like a camel for art sake, would you?

Hi F&E, ! What's wrong with camels???
I guess it's the term 'churning out' which is the axis here and echo's a process which negates rapidly diminishing skills relating to art practice. Of course there are many who would argue these skills are now defunct and void-replaced by machines, and in some instances of required mass-production, then yes, of course, but in terms of the journey of art-making, I think not.

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

Maybe I am missing the point What's the difference between churning out crucifixes and churning out horses if each one is individually finished? You would not want your next horse to look like a camel for art sake, would you?

you're just in the mood for pushin some buttons Frank

I'd prefer an artcamel than a churnedhorse anyday!