Shaving off long hours from carving
— Photo: S. Gopakumar
Quick and efficient: Working the CNC machine to carve intricate patterns on wood is easy.
The timeless beauty of wood has endeared it to architects and designers and made it the object of choice to add style and elegance to the interiors of a building.
Though plain, solid wood has a beauty of its own, most people will admit that a wooden frame or panel looks much better with a decorative carving or relief work.
But the tedious work and the time it takes for a carpenter to complete the job in the traditional manner is a dampener.
However, today, technology offers a solution to the problem.
Carving out works of art on the frames and panels in your house is no more a bothersome business, thanks to a new computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine available in the market.
Capable of engraving and embossing on a vast range of surfaces, the CNC carving router is making waves in panel-decoration works. Panel-carving works that usually take weeks to finish can be done within hours using the machine.
“The CNC machine can be used on many surfaces such as wood, acrylic sheets, brass, steel, new wood, multi-wood, multi-density fibreboards, aluminium composite sheets, granite, plastic and even thermocol. The range of surfaces it works on and the time it saves are the biggest advantages. Carving works that usually take one or two weeks to complete can be done in three to four hours,” says Prem Kumar, whose firm Travancore Wood Arts is equipped with an imported CNC carving router.
Mr. Kumar procured the machine from South Korea three years back after seeing a demonstration at an exhibition in Chennai. The technical advantages and design scope offered by the machine prompted him to buy it, says Mr. Kumar.
“At that time, it was a new technology in Kerala,” he recalls. Perfect finishing of designs and immense scope of patterns are its added advantage.
The machine can create any intricate design for a client.
The designs or patterns to be carved on the surface are first generated on a computer using special software named Art Cam and then transferred to the CNC router using a pen drive.
Front doors, kitchen cabinets, puja doors and staircase railings are the common areas where engraved or embossed panels are used in houses.
“Earlier, in houses, people used to prefer carvings of figures of gods and goddesses and religious symbols. But now the trend has changed to floral and simple geometric patterns. Meanwhile, in hotels, they prefer intricate art works on panels, mainly traditional Vasthu designs,” Mr. Kumar says.
Other than 2D carving, 3D embossing work and mementos can be done using this machine. Travancore Wood Arts recently made nearly 300 mementos overnight for the Indian Space Research Organisation.
“It is impossible to think of manually making 300 mementos in a day. Besides, the finishing that can be attained by machine work is truly unmatchable,” he says. The charge for 2D carving works is Rs.60 a square feet, whereas for 3D carving work, it is Rs.300 a square feet.
“The machine also offers great possibilities in signage works. We have already done a good number of signboards and hoardings for business firms in the city, including some leading hotels, which have been depending on agencies in Bangalore for doing this work until now,” Mr. Kumar says.
For details, call 9746 125510. E-mail: travancorewoodarts@ gmail.com
SANGEETHA UNNITHAN
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