Sorry for the delay Hangwind, december was a crazy month at my restaurant (holiday parties galore), then waiting for a circle cutter that was big enough. Just not a good time for me to take a commission, didn't think about that back in November when we first started this.
Anyway, the hard part is done, after a few sketches and that great new picture I've got the stencils drawn up.
Here's the front:
Here's the back:
I'm going to redo the Porsche lettering and I've still got some details on the front I'm going to do as I cut. It's just enough to serve as a guide for me. There's also some left out circles for the center, it was getting too cluttered so I didn't want to draw them on yet. Also need to figure out what I'm going to do for the lugnuts, they're not circular due to the change in depth, but they came out looking funky when I traced the actual shape. I'll start cutting/dyeing tomorrow and I'll post updates after I get off work tomorrow night.
So, more delays on this disc, and another dye kicking my ass. I set in and cut the outline shapes for the top dye. I then cut the darker stuff on the inner rim and weeded. When I stepped back to see how it looked, I was very unhappy with the results. I weeded the entire shape to show what I was seeing more clearly in a photo. If you look closely, the widths between sections are off, as are the radii of the circular parts and the corners.
I found this to be unacceptable so I made another top stencil and tried again. The results were not much better and I was immensely frustrated. I had to step away from the dye for a day to take a breath so to speak, figure out where I was going wrong, and how to fix it. I realized I really needed one copy of the base shapes I can trace with a blade so that every curve is the same. I've been messing around with matte board to carve the two basic shapes out of and have gotten some good results.
I'm going to take another pass at making final version of those shapes and clean up the curves and edges a bit so they trace smoother with an x-acto blade. This should make cutting the top stencil much easier and produce something symmetric that looks great.
Splitting the cane and working the tapers takes time. Straightening the sections (hexagonal, 6 sides) is a lesson in perseverance. One slip of the plane or a few seconds too long with the heat gun or a glue line and many hours are shot. Gone.
But you start over with it because that's what you do to keep the quality high, to your own standards.
I have no issue with capitulation. No problem. The fact that you wrote it was kicking your azz makes me think you like a good challenge. I like that. I do too.
I'm sure the disc is going to come out just fine. Each challenge is a step up with you, a stairway to a higher plane of skills. That's the way I see it.
Thanks for the progress notes. That's what they are to me.
This thread is like a reality TV show... no way I would participate. Hats off to Burntneuron (and Moon on the sawblade thread) for having supersized Cahonas!
good dyes take time, specially ones more complex like this. cant rush it! you arent throwing the disc now and havent thrown it yet so whats the difference if you wait a little longer for a better product?