Thread: copying 3d objects

I like it. Though, I'm not a carver, but its something I've always wanted to do.

I'm guessing from here (photo 5) you could lay the printouts beside your blank and draw in the high spots into the blank by eye.....like with a pen. eg. where the wrinkles in the coat are etc etc etc...on both sides.

For me, it still looks daunting from here on though.

Thanks a heap for passing on such a brilliantly simple idea F&E......A perfect solution for blokes like me that can't draw a straight line And it's especially easy in these times of instant digital photography....maybe you should have patented the idea? But thanks again, opens a whole new way of forming patterns .
John

Great idea Frank.
The british woodcarver Ian Norbury uses a similar technique where he
re sizes photos and pastes them onto the block,
your method would work particularly well with a symetrical figure,
(like those old art deco figures holding up lamps etc)
Another way would be to push a profile guage up against the
figurine then trace directly onto the timber,
any one else use profile guages ,or is it just me???
cheers underfoot

Thanks, Underfoot. I have used a profile gauge in the past (I think: you refer to those flat rows of metal wires that push in and out, isn't it?) for turning, but would not know where to start on a figure with multiple profiles. It seems to be a useful method. How do you ensure that the profiles you draw are actually orthogonal? Also, isn't it difficult to join a lot of short profiles when the work is much bigger than the length of the gauge? It would not work on fresh clay, though... Or are you talking of something I have absolutely no idea about?

Yep thats them,
there's gauges and there's gauges
carbatec used to sell a set of 5 that linked together to about
700mm , plastic body with adjustable resistance, so you can use it on clay and plasticene,
to get all four sides acurately just draw a line on four sides of the figure.
when I'm back in the shed I'll post a pic
cheers underfoot

i often take a photo of something from various angles trace the outlines in Photoshop, reize it to fit, print,and paste onto the wood. I also sketch and do the same. Its also a good way to do planning and try and work out whether a particular idea will work in a particular piece of wood.
Taking a sketch or photo into a 3d CAD program can be immmensely helpful if you have and can use one.

Iam itching to do a large detailed sculpture where its mostly drawn up already and i'll print it out tiled over many A4 sheets which i'll then lay out over the block.

For complicated projects, I do most of my design in CAD. For the complex shapes, full-size printing is more accurate than massaging photos. Glue the print (spray adhesive) onto the material, and cut out the piece. Best to scribe the cut line first to provide a neater line, vs tearing the paper irregularly. Sometimes need to use some solvent to help remove the pattern afterwards, even though the gluing is supposed to be "temporary." Also, for metal cutting, cutting fluid may dissolve the glue, so scribing preserves the pattern after the paper print goes that-a-way.

Joe