Expanded PVC Foam -- Tessellation Tiles

CNC cutting Expanded PVC Foam tessellation shapes at Quelab:

Adam working with the big CNC machine

as Adric looks on

The EXQUISITE TESSELLATION shape,

7 inches at the widest points (with beveled sides),

that we cut down with the CNC machine

The tessellation shapes

all fit together tightly

to make a bigger shape

The YouTube video of the CNC cutting Expanded PVC Foam into tessellation shapes:

CNC Cutting Expanded PVC Foam

VECTOR FILE to upload to the CNC:

• EinStein.SVG (689 KB) -- single tessellation shape

VCARVE FILE -- the CNC file with the layout for 24 x10 sheet (1/8 inch thick), to cut out six Ein Stein "hat" tessellation shapes, with a 60 Degree V Slotting cutter bit:

• Ein_Stein.CRV (42 KB)

Training video for the ShopSabre CNC machine:

Router + Vcarve Pro Training -- SabreNation University

TESSELLATION PARTY

I would like to pass out tessellation tiles at a bar and encourage people to make a print while they drink their beer.  We would then piece the tiles together and make a big EXQUISITE TESSELLATION print before everyone went home.  This would be something like the Printmaking Social Hour at Remarque.

It would be asking too much of participants to carve linoleum with knives in a bar.  However they could just draw into the tessellation tiles with a ball point pen (by pressing down hard) if we used Expanded PVC Foam:

Printmaking -- Second Wind

Henry Morales drew into Expanded PVC Foam

with a ball point pen

to create the plate for this print

The artist only has to press into the Expanded PVC Foam with a ball point pen, or a ball modeling tool to make a design -- no carving knives needed:

Ball Point Pens

and two Tandy Craftool ball modeling tools

CNC

So I wanted to cut the Expanded PVC Foam into tessellation shapes to pass out.  However we CANNOT cut PVC on the laser cutter because that creates toxic chlorine gas -- BUT we can cut PVC on the big CNC machine at Quelab. On May 20, 2025 Adam cut down lots of sheets to make a big stack of tessellation tiles :

We cut down several sheets of Expanded PVC Foam

to make this big stack of tessellation shapes

We uploaded the SVG file into VCARVE software:

The VCARVE software 

automatically multiplied the single vector file

and spread it over the shape

We used double sided woodworking tape to hold the Expanded PVC Foam to the bed, while CNCing it:

Adam applying the double sided woodworking tape

to the back of the Expanded PVC Foam

Shop Sabre CNC

60 Degree V Slotting Cutter bit

The final cut tessellation shapes,

from 23.75 x 10 inch sheets

of  Expanded PVC Foam

Separating the shapes

from the scrap

The tiles before being unstuck from the bed

DRAG KNIFE

Earlier (May 14, 2025) Adam used a Drag Knife on the CNC to cut out the tessellation tiles from Expanded PVC Foam.  It worked, but the points warped the edges a little bit, as the knife has to swivel to turn corners.  With a little more practice there is probably a way to refine and work around this drawback:

On May 14, 2025 Adam cut the first PVC Tessellation tile

 on the CNC at Quelab

Adam cut the first PVC Tessellation tile on the CNC with a Drag Knife at Quelab:

CNCing with a Drag Knife

We used this SST drag knife 

attachment on the CNC

Adam first "focused" the CNC,

to adjust to the right height for this attachment

Adam put a couple of strips of double sided tape

to attach the PVC square to the CNC cutting bed

He imported the file to V-Carve

The diagram

of how cut,

and how the blade is going to turn

The first CNCed tessellation tile --

worked but the corners still need some refining

DIE CUTTING

Alternative

On May 20, 2025 at Quelab, John Murray and I tried to punch out tessellation tiles from Expanded PVC Foam, with the custom die Tim bought from the Ukraine on Ebay.

The Expanded PVC Foam and custom die were sandwiched between two pieces of steel on the Hydraulic Press:

The Hydraulic Press at Quelab

12 Ton Hydraulic Jack

The custom die

in the 7 inch tessellation shape

We could not punch deep enough to cut out a tessellation shape in Expanded PVC Foam (maybe the hydraulic jack was not working properly):

 

We were not able to make more than a dent

into the Expanded PVC Foam

on our first tries

• John suggested using a book press to hand crank and punch out tessellation shapes from the foam sheets

Moreover the custom die was just a little too high, to fit through our FISKARS FUSE (made for embossing):

The custom die was slightly too big

to fit in our FISKARS FUSE system