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Question about CNC milling (and also about brass casting)

I'm thinking about how to make some ornate guitar roses, similar to this
one:
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original is cast brass but I'm wondering whether a CNC mill could be
used to mill/carve the basic shape in a dense hard wood so I could then
hand-finish the carving and gild it with gold leaf. Has anyone used a
CNC mill for anything similar, or are there any CNC experts that could
tell me how easy or hard a task this might be?
(Hidden agenda: this would also provide the excuse I've been looking for
to buy a small CNC mill ;-) )
Alternatively, is there a sensible way to produce a brass casting to
replicate the original?
Dave
Reply to
NoSpam
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Long short is yes it can be done.
Have a look here at some examples
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That's the good news, bad news is it won't be a starter project and it won't cost 3 bob.
You are wanting to go into the realms of 3D carving and the software isn't cheap and the learning curve is even steeper.
John S.
Reply to
John S
Thanks John, the demo makes Aspire look reasonably OK to use but the price tag of well over £1k is probably more than I want to try and justify for casual use, especially on top of £2.6k for a KX1 (or £3.7k for a KX3). If there's nothing cheaper then I'll need to either think of more uses to justify the expense or go to someone else that is already set-up to offer a service.
Reply to
NoSpam
That's what I was going to suggest and if the item in question can be removed then a mould can be made from that with various materials such as latex, silicon or alginate products. Alec Tiranti has a few options
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That will allow the wax pattern to be produced which can then be used for the lost wax casting process.
Reply to
David Billington
I don't know anything about casting so would probably get someone else to do that for me, but I'd still need to make a master because I can't get my hands on an original part.
Reply to
NoSpam
Yes, it can be done on a small CNC mill, but the cost and learning curve are VERY steep - probably not worth it unless, of course, you really want to own and learn CNC. Lost wax casting is also possible, but a much simpler method is to use the Delt Clay system. It's really intended for jewellers who want to do one-off castings in gold or silver, but it works just as well with brass, copper or aluminium. This U-tube video shows what it is and how it is used.
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I've used it many times and it's capable of reproducing very fine detail. Here's a picture of a teddy bear pendant I cast in gold - it's about 30mm high.
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You can purchase the system from just about any jeweller's tool suppliers; I got mine from Sutton Tools in Birmingham - see
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Reply to
lemel_man
Thanks Gary, the video is interesting but I'm concerned that there are going to be a lot of failures before I can cast something that's 2-3 inches diameter with the level of detail I need. A gilded carving or a pro casting are probably the way to go.
Reply to
NoSpam

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