Scott Worden of Timber Lake Creations has enjoyed crafting wood for over 20 years. After working for a production cabinet shop for several years, Scott decided to open his own woodworking business. Since then the work he does has gone beyond cabinet making and evolved into working with businesses and individuals to design and create custom, one-of-a-kind products. These range in application from awards, promotional items and memorabilia to fine furniture pieces or even signage. Scott is happy to take on anything an individual or business can dream up that is made of wood.
Blending mechanical knowledge with a hobby of computing, electronics and woodworking soon led to Scott's discovery of CNC. His first CNC experience was in 2000 with a Shopbot PRT96, now he is using a Shopbot PRS Alpha 4896 with Vectric's Aspire software, Scott continues...
 "After struggling with and desiring to do VCarving type projects and finding no capable, competent and affordable software available, VCarve Wizard (VCarve Pro) came on the scene. I jumped at the chance to try it out and haven't once regretted it. I now use Aspire and utilize all aspects of the software – 2D, VCarving, and 3D. Many thanks to the Vectric team for a top notch and affordable product.
Most of my time is spent in 2D profiles and VCarving, an example can be seen above right, but on the odd occasion I also get to produce some 3D carvings, as below.
This 3D carved cherry mantel is one of my more recent projects. It was specifically designed to fit over the client's existing plain mantel. The client wanted the new mantel to be the focal point of the room."
  
For Scott's Mantel project the Oak Leaf Mantel design from VectorArt 3D was used as a starting point. Once scaled to the desired height, a copy of the model was made in Aspire so Scott could trim off the ends ready to add more length to the design. By duplicating the model in each direction; flipping and mirroring along the way, it eventually fit the required aspect ratio. Once combined into a single component Scott did a final scaling operation to fit the project exactly to size. Doing this kept the proportions as close as possible to the original design.
For machining a roughing toolpath was created with a 0.25" downcut endmill, raster at 90º (or perpendicular to the grain to alleviate splintering that would occur by going with the grain) and a 0.040" machining allowance to leave a little material for finishing. The finishing pass was done with a 0.125" tapered ballnose at 0º raster or parallel to grain. A surrounding rectangle was used as an offset boundary to create a clean wall in the recess. The combined roughing and finishing pass for the front and two ends took approximately 8 hours. Scott went on to explain how the mantel was constructed...
Construction
  "Construction began with the lumber selection to ensure I found the best pieces from available stock to give the nicest appearance for the face and ends and then required a glue-up for the 13 inch wide by 86 inch long top. .
After planing the front and sides to thickness and cutting to width and length, the ends of each piece had a lock miter joint cut into them. Lock miters give a very strong and accurate miter joint that is easily pulled together for a tight fit (above). Several 1/8" grooves were made down the length of the back faces to aid in stress balancing the carving on the front face, just in case there was a tendency to cup. Since the mantel slips over an existing beam mantel, that was all that was needed for the front and sides.
Once the oak leaf/acorn design was carved into the front and sides, the lock miters were glued and clamped. The glued-up top was then surface sanded, cut to size, and finish sanded. Pocket screws were used from the back side of the front and sides to secure them to the top. The crown molding was screwed to the front from the back side as well. A ¼" bead molding was applied to the bottom edge. Once all pieces were completed and assembled, it was then disassembled for staining, finishing, and glazing."
Finishing
"After the carving was completed, time was spent hand cleaning any fuzzies and sanding the edges of the recess. A broken in 180 grit sanding mop was used to thoroughly go over and buff out the remainder of the carved area.
  
A light stain was applied to all parts and once dry, two light coats of conversion varnish were applied to the carved area, with a light scuffing in between each coat. After that was dry, I applied General Finish Glaze Effects Van Dyke Brown glaze with a brush around the edges of and on the face of each leaf/acorn. After a little drying time, the excess was wiped off and then a second application of glaze was done. After some dry time, the second coat of glaze was lightly wiped off, leaving the desired amount of glaze on the faces of the leaves. A small stiff bristle brush was then used to blend the edges a bit. As much excess glaze as possible was rubbed out of the flat areas of the recess."
This process pretty much follows Tim Merrill's Glazing Techniques tutorial. When working with the glaze, Scott found that numerous light coats work best and wasted less glaze. This process took 4-5 hours to get the desired look. Once dry, two final coats of conversion varnish were applied to all pieces.
  Once finished, all pieces were again assembled to check for fit and finish and then disassembled for packaging and shipping to the customer.
Scott goes on to discuss how effective Vectric's software has been for his company, and what future projects he has lined up...
"Over the years, the progression of Vectric products has played a big role in the day to day operation of my shop, allowing me to take on projects that I wouldn't have considered before and saving me countless hours in design and toolpathing.
Aspire and the availability of quality 3D art from VectorArt 3D has added yet another dimension to our business, allowing us to provide products such as this mantel and the upcoming "Next Big Thing" mantel project (image below) - this one's going to be a tight fit! It's a 10 inch by 7 inch by 8 foot long butternut beam. A western scene of some sort is in the plans, using the new Design & Carve Series Western Scene collection."
Scott & Ramona Worden,
Timber Lake Creations.
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