Deep 3D etching for texture

Made on a Glowforge
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I have really been hoping to be able to get some deep etching for texures and am finally getting something that I like after some practice :slight_smile: I started in Illustrator and made a circle with a gradient fill and a gradient border which I then converted into a texture.

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after that I exported it as png and brought it into the printer interface to etch it into some 1/8" walnut hardwood. I’m really happy with how the fish scale texture feels and expect to use it in another project soon :slight_smile:
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Oh WOW! I want to try that illustrator feature now, too!

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Rad. That looks really cool! Nice work :slight_smile:

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Mermaid scales!

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It’s so hard to tell from the picture. How’d the texture really come out? As you expected?

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I’ve got to try this Illustrator feature.

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Another squeeeeeeee! :heart_eyes:

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The 3D effect is amazing. I think that the walnut is going to be one of my favorite woods to use. :yum:

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Awesome!

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I’d love to give that sample a feel. Nice job!

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Great use of the pattern tool. Perfect example of easily using a 2d drawing program to create a greyscale depth-map style dimensional engraving.

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Omg, sooo cool! Looks a lot like the grips on some models of Kimber 1911’s…I can’t wait to make custom grips!

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That turned out so well! Definitely a type of pattern that could totally elevate something simple into something amazing.

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The gunsmith at my business park brought me some 1911 grip insert blanks, and the price list he had for custom ones. We won’t even need to start with blanks. This will be a potential moneymaker.

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So very cool. Who will be the first person to put it on a curved surface?

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whoa, whOA, WHOA!!!

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Very nice. just curious, how many passes did you do on the engrave. It looks to have some good depth to it.

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Who will be the first person to put it on a curved surface?

If the needed curve is shallow enough, it could actually be cut on the Glowforge.

In Illustrator, a second fill could be applied to the textured object. That fill would be a gradient defining the desired overall curvature. Setting the transfer mode of that fill to “multiply” would darken the underlying texture fill according to the gradient, so the texture would be cut progressively deeper as it approached the edges.

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This is awesome :clap:

How long did this print take?

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I love these and wonder if it can be pulled off in Inkscape or if I’m going to have to pony up for Illustrator. This use case alone would make it worth it in other packages won’t do it.