# Carving plywood



## cjskelton (Feb 27, 2015)

I had a piece of good quality baltic birch plywood left over from a Christmas gift project and wondered how it would work cutting a 3D image into it. I decided on the tree frog model in Aspire. It is in a shallow dish so I skipped the roughing cut step and went right to the finishing toolpath. I was hoping the different layers of the plywood would take stain differently and they did! I think it turned out pretty good. It started out as a test cut and ended up a finished piece. I cut it with a 1/8" tapered ball nose bit. Here is a photo of the finished piece. It as approximately 11" wide and 12" high.

Jay


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Jay , I never would have expected such a great outcome . Nice job


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Jay,

BB ply also paints real well!!


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## Scottart (Jan 8, 2015)

cjskelton said:


> I had a piece of good quality baltic birch plywood left over from a Christmas gift project and wondered how it would work cutting a 3D image into it. I decided on the tree frog model in Aspire. It is in a shallow dish so I skipped the roughing cut step and went right to the finishing toolpath. I was hoping the different layers of the plywood would take stain differently and they did! I think it turned out pretty good. It started out as a test cut and ended up a finished piece. I cut it with a 1/8" tapered ball nose bit. Here is a photo of the finished piece. It as approximately 11" wide and 12" high.
> 
> Jay


can't tell it is plywood. looks great.


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## ksidwy (Jul 13, 2013)

Living and learning! an artist always surpass any limit!
great Job,congrats. Sid


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## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Great job, Sid.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

I'm with Scott, doesn't look like plywood. Didn't think you could carve plywood either. You did an excellent job on that.
came out great.
Herb


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

That Baltic Birch plywood is some nice stuff to work with.

Don't get it confused with regular box store ply.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I love how the layers look. Seems to me that the greater the relief or depth of the carving, the more layers would appear. I would love to see a lizzard carved this way.


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## cjskelton (Feb 27, 2015)

Tom, the layers really give it an illusion of depth. It's only 1/2" plywood.


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## Lor68 (Jan 17, 2017)

Im just starting to self teach at the moment about wood and projects you can do with it. I became disabled this year and i told my husband i might not be good but it interest me and I enjoy it, so for christmas I got my first router. Your post amazed me, its beautiful. I can only hope some day to be able to do things like this. Thanks for sharing that!!

Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

@Lor68

Congratulations on your first (of many) routers. Glad you found us and welcome to the forum. Feel free to ask questions and join in on the discussions.

When you get a chance, please update your profile. A first name is more personal and an updated profile will tell members your region and tools and will lend to more detailed help if you require it.
Vince


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