> If you could paint on your IR reactive solution, then wash it off,
> would that work for you?

Yes, although wood has the distinct disadvantage of being porous.
..
Best would be a removable film that just peeled off. Maybe that's
something to investigate. Hot melt glue is very sticky and used by
woodworkers for temporary joins but also comes off quite easily.

If a clingy film could have a compound added to it that is blackened
by a DVD-type laser, and then peeled off after cutting, then I think
that would be a winner.

> It occurred to me that you could use your x-y plotter, and a solenoid
> with a sharp point to hammer a series of dots into the wood

Yes, or mount a motor (Dremel ?) with a pointed or very small burr
carbide bit. I'm going to see my saw doctor sometime soon about
pieces of carbide, I'll have to make a note to ask about that

> What about using your x-y plotter with a spring loaded pen with
> high compliance range to either draw directly on the wood, or use
> carbon paper method?

I think spring loading is going to have to come into it somewhere for
mechanical marking

> Another possibility would be R/C servos to drive an arm in polar
> coordinates, to trace your guide lines.

> And the 'reverse the idea' method. Drive your cutting tool in x-y-z
> to cut the shape and contours you want?

Those two suggestions are veering towards CNC, which I've thought
about. It's OK for more solid pieces but no quite so when working
with veneer and a 0.2mm blade. Often as well as the accuracy of the
cut, there's also making a cut with a minimal kerf so that pieces fit
back together (eg inlays and marquetry)

I've been working on this device to cut 3D contours with a scrollsaw

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97814409@N04/sets/72157635597240755/

and should be able to use the same method with 2D patterns. The
micro (the 43K20 I had so much progrmming trouble with) reads
a 1- or 4-bit BMP from a USB stick to control the steppers. If I
applied this to an X-Y plotter my plan would be a 2000 x 2000 bit
array in SRAM to give 0.25mm resolution on a 500mm square. That's
where a laser would have been really handy

Thanks for the ideas

Joe
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