Found this on Rob's, "Modelers Social Club Forum".....thought it might be of interest.
Fellow there from the UK playing around with making laser cut paving stone surface.
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi756.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx204%2F28ten%2FIMG_4660.jpg&hash=3f2a154c36353ba2624d1a034b596c67965aed69)
Jimmy Simmons is getting some great laser-engraved 3D results on brick (multiple scales N to 1/35!): http://monstermodelworks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=28 He's working on stone sheets, I believe, but they're not ready yet.
dave
Am I just having some sort of "moment" or is this reversed? I think I'm seeing raised mortar lines and empty spaces where the stones would go ... whatzit? -- Dallas
Just a senior moment Dallas.
Moi, aussi, Dallas. Is it an optical illusion or a mold? Stay tuned for our next exciting adventure! -- Russ
Yeah, I'm getting older by the minute ... but that still looks reversed to me. I seem to see a shadow on the downhill side of every (horizontal-ish) mortar line, which seems to tell me that THOSE are raised ... I searched out the forum Marc mentioned, and there's only the one photo ... so, we shall see ... perhaps.
I suppose at some point, laser technology will be able to reproduce MC Escher stuff in 3-D ... somehow .... maybe we'll have to add a few more dimensions to our reality before that can happen ... but I digress ... ;D
I too am having trouble seeing the lines as cuts. They look raised to me.
BTW, what size is it?
It also looks reversed to me as well .
What it looks like to me is stonework that has been built with lime mortar ( softer than stone) and at a later date has been repointed with a cement mortar ( harder than stone ) . The lime mortar was the sacrificial element of the wall and would therefore weather sooner than the stone and if repointed in lime would restore the wall to perfect health . The introduction of cement means that the stone becomes the sacrificial element and therefore begins to wear away from the action of frost and rain . Not good news for the wall as it will eventually need complete refacing , or worse , knocking down . When the stone has weathered to the depth of the new cement mortar the mortar will start falling out . This will make what was once a perfectly stable wall become unsightly and possibly dangerous .
I hope you are all following me as I will be testing you on it later . If you are all still awake ,
Nick
Thanks Nick.
Maybe that corner you are always going on about is not as exciting as you are always making out ;D
p.s. the mortar lines look inset to me
Quote from: gfadvance on February 27, 2012, 10:37:58 AM
Thanks Nick.
Maybe that corner you are always going on about is not as exciting as you are always making out ;D
p.s. the mortar lines look inset to me
You shoulda gone to SpecSavers !
I don't understand the need of anything like this.
I do understand the need to lasercut things that are either too small or too repetitive to be made by hand. Rough stone tiles don't fall into that category. Small brick patterns, (O-scale and smaller), small detail parts - yes, totally! But anything larger will look better if done piece by piece, as many here have proven.
The laser has become a wonderful tool in the repertoire of today's model builder, but just like any tool it needs to be used in the right way.
I'm mostly with BKLN on this one. I've gotten some laser kits with "stones" cut into wood that looked absolutely terrible, for two reasons: 1) the wood surface is too flat to represent the randomish texture of stone walls, and 2) the random mortar lines with an almost complete lack of resemblance to the way I see stone laid in full scale.
But for the stated application and what it's supposed to represent (paving stone), that stuff looks alright.
Quote from: BKLN on February 27, 2012, 11:13:16 AM
I don't understand the need of anything like this.
I do understand the need to lasercut things that are either too small or too repetitive to be made by hand. Rough stone tiles don't fall into that category. Small brick patterns, (O-scale and smaller), small detail parts - yes, totally! But anything larger will look better if done piece by piece, as many here have proven.
The laser has become a wonderful tool in the repertoire of today's model builder, but just like any tool it needs to be used in the right way.
When you have a new hammer, everything looks like a nail. ;)
It sure does look reversed. The pattern looks good. I'll agree that the larger you go you're better off hand stacking, but as most who have done it will attest it's time consuming and at times nerve racking and one of the reasons some modelers keep me in business. I'm not to hip on using wood for stone work either. I'm a bit biased, but for a good reason because I think plaster works better as a base material when simulating stone. In fact, I haven't seen a really good laser cut stone on any material that does a decent job at looking like real stone. However, in all fairness I use a CNC router for milling out my patterns, but I wouldn't use if to cut out wood parts for a kit.
Quote from: gfadvance on February 27, 2012, 10:37:58 AM
p.s. the mortar lines look inset to me [/size]
Thank god....a normal person. ;D
...all very true what Nick said.....common on paving surfaces the use low fire brick and limestone type materials.
BTW.....the example is of paving stones not a wall.
I came across the following picture while browsing the topic on the web. Sorry for the tiny picture, but to me the mortar seems to be raised above the stones.
Wesley, yes in your photo it does project. This is a way of doing wall masonry....though professionally I am not a fan of it, as it collects rain water more readily...which then seeps into the joints.
The problem with the laser cut image, is that it is upside down...the light source is coming from the bottom...thus casting a shadow upward....which because we are accustomed to seeing things lit from "above"....fools the eye into thinking the grout is raised. A simple way to tell that the grout joint is not raised, is by the surface textures.....if the stone were lower and the grout higher....the stone would not be the s,ooth finished surface of the material....rather the textured/burned away surface that occurs from the laser cutter...and which is clearly evident in the grout lines.
The concept the fellow is working with is interesting. The grout lines look pretty well done. With no depth engraving done on the stonework, it looks pretty flat though. Depending on the laser he is using, he could do with some 3D engraving of the stones on top. Either that or maybe doing some plaster surfacing of the stones to uneven it up a bit. Looks like he uses MDF or masonite. I find it leaves a granite like surface when it is engraved which migth work well.
BTW, thanks for the upside down comment. I turned the image over and presto it looked right!!! Strange how the brain works...
Yeah, I turned my monitor upside-down to fix that ... and now all the other photos on the site look fuggin weird. It's always something! :P
Quote from: marc_reusser on February 28, 2012, 05:26:59 AM
The problem with the laser cut image, is that it is upside down...the light source is coming from the bottom...thus casting a shadow upward....which because we are accustomed to seeing things lit from "above"....fools the eye into thinking the grout is raised.
I don't think it's upside down. I think the "shadows" are burns from the laser. (Odd that it only burns on one side of a cut, but that's how my eyes are seeing it.)