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Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)

Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)

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talking about removing the char from a laser cut in joinery.

this is a specialized kind of tool I use for removing the laser char and for relief carving. Yes you can carve with an airbrush something I learned from a glass sculpture back in my early days of graphic arts school. all you need is a drawing.


anyhow
here are a few links to videos showing micro sand blasting.

Sandblasting Archives - Everything Airbrush

Ideal tools for de-rusting, engraving, etching, matt finishing, cleaning surfaces and hard to reach areas. Mini Sandblasters can create an endless variety of effects in glass etching and can also be used to prep wood, plastic and metal surfaces prior to spraying. Realistic weathering effects are...
www.everythingairbrush.com www.everythingairbrush.com





starting out I had mixed results until I got the air pressure just right and the flow of the grit but once I got the feel for it I could remove the char with just a couple passes.

I do have several air brushes and mini sand blasters you can do it with canned air if you don't want to invest in an air compressor.

I do have some experience using an air brush so it came easy for me. I use to air brush motorcycles and cars. I had this old GEO jeep that had at least 10 different paint jobs I use to practice on.

DSCF2026.jpgDSCF2028.jpgDSCF2039.jpggeo2.jpg
 
sand carving or carving with a mini sand blaster is just a simple technique of masking. so to start with all you need is the stern drawing of the carvings then section by section you peel away areas and sand carve
here is a very simple example of how to carve with an air brush. I learned this back when I was etching glass and thought hum why not wood or stone or anything. So I took the basic idea and expanded it from etching to relief carving.
To carve is something you have a natural talent or not. But this is more a mechanical process of cutting out sections of a drawing and using it as a stencil. In time you can add depth and shape.

actually grave markers are sand blasted the same way. In model building you are taking an industrial size process and miniaturizing it.

 
Jolley Roger said:
Very interesting idea.
Do you need to use a sandblasting cabinet for this type of sandblasting?
Click to expand...


you can not sand blast out in the open because the grit will fly everywhere. If you are not concerned about saving the grit then what I do is blast outdoors and let the grit blow away. In doors I have used nothing more than a cardboard box with plastic wrap over the top and holes cut in the side for my hands. Once done I can pour the grit back in the container to use again.
 
Very interesting idea.

I don't know if the "idea" is to remove the laser char by sand blasting or carving with a sand blaster

here is a basic concept of carving with a sand blasting air brush


the idea is to blast different layers starting with a drawing on a mask stuck to the wood. first blast the back round so the shapes stand out. first peel off the light blue areas and blast that section lower
as7.jpg

here you first peel off the dark area and blast it. Keep in mind once you expose and area it will be hit again as you proceed. So do not blast it down to the final thickness

as3.jpg

once all the areas are blasted at different levels the a final blast of the whole piece rounds off the edges

as1.jpg
 
Cool idea Dave. I am wondering if the edges of the mask will hold up to the blasting in order to keep the shapes? Have you tried this yet? Definitely worth a closer look.
 
it would be a little difficult to carve this scroll work. Starting with a drawing printed on sticky masking

halifax stern0.jpg
you can cut out different sections and blast them to different heights

halifax stern 1.jpg

The start of the quarter badges

halifax windows2.jpg

detail in the scroll work and eagle are done the same way.

halifax windows1.jpg

you can even blast details for the pillars

as6.jpg

rather than "carving" in details what you are doing is cutting out masking
 
mrshanks said:
Cool idea Dave. I am wondering if the edges of the mask will hold up to the blasting in order to keep the shapes? Have you tried this yet? Definitely worth a closer look.
Click to expand...

yes i have done this and i found out there are different materials to use as masking some are rubbery which hold up better than masking tape. It also depends on the pressure the PSI the compressor is at, i have gone a little to much and blew away everything masking and all. You have to play around with the grit it goes from 100 to 1,500 and even much higher.

i started with larger scale just to get technique under control then moved on to smaller and smaller drawings and finer and finer grit. It also depends on the air brush your using some cheap models just blast out a wide spray. My brush i can almost dial it to a pin point.

i have not messed around with this for some time now but i would like to get back to it and maybe do a how i do it topic.
 
when you venture off and trying something new or different a little research is good

way back when I was in art school I worked for a glass sculpture and we did a lot of sandblast carving. I learned it from Mike Yates how to mask and carve. his studio had a large industrial sand blasting set up. one thing I do remember is having to swap out the nozzles all the time because the blasting also ate away the nozzles.

https://orchid.ganoksin.com/t/airbrush-as-sandblaster/10909

https://forums.watchuseek.com/f6/bead-blasting-airbrush-327616.html

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/297324.page

https://www.everythingairbrush.com/sandblasting.html

http://forum.make-the-cut.com/discussion/18487/air-eraser

www.micromark.com

MicroLux® Mini Sandblast Gun Set

Buy our MicroLux® Mini Sandblast Gun Set for only $69.95
www.micromark.com www.micromark.com
 
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