This 5 hour class covers software and hardware setup for the Forge's CNC router, the ShopBot, using VCarve 11 Pro. Each student will go through the entire process of making a personalized v-carved sign using text, images, and/or basic shapes using the VCarve software.

Important Details

1. You must bring your own wood, or purchase a piece from either Forge Greensboro or another member.
2. It's recommended you bring your own Windows laptop. VCarve is Windows-only software, and we only have two loaner computers.
3. If bringing your own computer, you must install our special version of VCarve 11 Pro before the class.

Materials

You must either bring your own wooden board for the sign or purchase a piece from The Forge when signing up for the class. The size of the board can be as small as 6x6", or as large as 12x12", or anything in between. It must also be at least 1/2" thick. If it's too thin, you won't be able to cut very deeply, and that will limit your design. You should sand one side to a nice finish. Oversized, odd or non-rectangular shapes of wood can be used only with instructor approval. VCarving the back of a pre-made rectangular cutting board is acceptable.

If you do not have your own board, The Forge charges $20 for a board which is approximately 8x12" and pre-sanded. It could be cherry, walnut, maple, or some other American hardwood.

If you'd like, you can use our router table to add a decorative edge to your board before v-carving it, but this must be done before the class, and requires the appropriate woodshop clearance. We do not recommend routing your sign after you v-carve it because it's too easy for the router to cause tear-out and ruin your sign.

Design

When designing your sign, you will be able to use a variety of fonts, images, and shapes to create your design. You can download and bring images you'd like to use, but there are many limitations on what sorts of images and fonts are appropriate for v-carving and appropriate for the time limit of the class.

Detailed, "sketchy" images, or ones with fine lines are inappropriate for v-carving. Instead, designs with solid colors and smooth, bold lines should be used. Ideally black and white. Multi-color images can be used, but the require special care and often manual editing to make them suitable for v-carving, and the required work often won't fit within the time limit of the class.

See below for some good and bad examples of images and fonts for vcarving.

VCarve 11 Pro

VCarve 11 Pro is free for all members to download and install on their personal computers, but it will only work with our ShopBot. See: VCarve download and installation instructions

VCarve is Windows-only software, and we recommend you bring your own Windows laptop with VCarve already installed to save time. We have two loaner computers which two students can use on a first-come, first-served basis.