[CarveOne]

The machine spent three hours this evening cutting version 2 of the black walnut panel. There was a small knot in this piece of walnut. By carefully measuring the location of the knot versus where the left-most gauge is located I was able to cut the board to size so that the oil gauge hole was located where the knot was located. When the panel was being cut the pocket operation eliminated the knot completely.

I used a new 1/16" tapered ball nose cutter to cut the 3D Finish tool path and got smoother results than previously. The owner and his wife came over to see the operation while cutting was in progress. They went away happy with it. I'll leave the panel mounted to the machine table for a day to let the wood stabilize.

[leibowitz]

Looking good from here C1.....

[CarveOne]

I removed the instrument panel from the CNC machine this evening and sanded it with 80 grit, with more sanding needed with finer sandpaper. I'll round over the front perimeter edge with a trim router tomorrow. When Deft clear lacquer finish is applied it will turn very dark brown. These are the gauges that will be used. The smaller holes were a few thousandths under size, so I opened up the holes with a small homemade spindle sander.

[Arbo]

Looking good.

Question to throw out there as I know many read your thread… I have a guy in Israel that I made some lithos for in the past. I am kinda done making lithos, and he requested a few more… if anyone has the materials and desire to do a job for him, send me a PM and I'll pass his info on to you so he can get in touch with you.

[CarveOne]

I haven't done any of those so far. I stocked up on a bunch of the cutting boards from Walmart and was going to order some of the champagne colored Corian online but never got around to it.

Maybe someone will speak up.

[CarveOne]

We checked the fit of the panel one more time and it fits perfectly now.

I've sanded the walnut and applied three coats of Deft Clear Lacquer on the rear side. Sometime tomorrow I'll Vcarve my logo on the right rear side as requested by the owner. I told him that I had anticipated doing it on the rear side near the lower edge and had already created a reverse image version of the logo so that he could show it by using a hand mirror if anyone wanted to see it. This allows seeing it as a readable reflection.

After coloring the carved logo with something that shows well against the brown wood I'll spray on two more coats of clear lacquer to seal it. Then I'll work on the front side.

[Khalid]

CarveOne..nice panel. Why not you make metallic stamp energised with solder-iron heating element and smoke the stamp impression on the rear of panel.
PS: i see the panel is too thick and heavy. As this may be installed on aeroplane can't u reduce the thickness.

[CarveOne]

CarveOne..nice panel. Why not you make metallic stamp energised with solder-iron heating element and smoke the stamp impression on the rear of panel.
PS: i see the panel is too thick and heavy. As this may be installed on aeroplane can't u reduce the thickness.

Hi Khalid,

This instrument panel is being made for a custom car similar to the one shown here. This is the first photo I found that shows an instrument panel. A thick carved walnut panel is what he wanted and he supplied the wood for this project. The car will look more like this one with a much better paint job. It has similar button tufted black upholstery. When his car is completed I'll post some photos of it here. I have a 13" planer that can make the panel thinner but that isn't what he asked for.

Vcarving the logo is easy enough to do. I apply three coats of finish first, then I just put a mark where I want it located, zero the x, y. and z and the logo is cut at that location. I have the gcode set to start cutting 0.008" below the surface and the carving is about 0.025" deep. That will usually take care of any surface irregularities. On red oak and other light color woods I stain the cuts with dark gel stain. On dark woods I use a light color paint or marking pen after applying three coats of finish. Wood burning is certainly faster for the light color woods. I just like to do it with the CNC machine. Maybe we can design a CNC wood burning attachment.

[CarveOne]

I was anxious to see some finish on the front side so I skipped the logo until tomorrow. The front side will get two more coats. The lacquer seems to be easier than polyurethane to scratch. Maybe it will get harder with time.

[kuroguy]

The lacquer will continue to harden over the next month or so.

[CarveOne]

Most finishes will. I'll just have to be careful with it while carving the logo and handling it for other reasons.

[CarveOne]

This project is now completed. Unless it gets scratched up by the owner while installing it. Then I'll probably need to fix it for him. When the car is completed I'll take some photos of it and post them here and in the Vectric Forums.

[atwooddon]

Very nice, that will look great when installed. Bet you get some other orders for similar stuff after people see this.

Don

[CarveOne]

Thanks Don. This mounts to a flat board that was moulded into the fiberglass body. These would be easier to mount than on any other curved surface. I might consider it again as long as the carving is a flat piece of material.

[CarveOne]

I watched my neighbor and a helper reassemble the hot rod's fiberglass body to the chassis this afternoon. Then they assembled the lantern style tail light assemblies to the body and attached the oil dipstick tube bracket to the firewall. They probably have it ready to reconnect the wiring harness by now. My instrument panel has not been installed so far, but I expect it will be done over the upcoming weekend. Maybe I can take some photos and post them here, soon.

He made a new firewall from 0.120" 6061-T6 aluminum sheet and "engine turned" it on his drill press. It shows up really well behind the V8 engine. All of the axle, coil springs, shock absorbers, and lots of other chassis attachments are all chromed. It's looking good.

[CarveOne]

In order to have a sample of the of the Celtic weave on display at the upcoming Aspire Camp in mid May I decided to make another box like I made for "Bonnie" and to keep it as a shop sample later. I'll also have the ones with basket weave and with the rectangle weave that I took last year.

I cut the parts on Saturday and Sunday, sanded them, then stained and applied three spray can coats of polyurethane today. The parts will be glued together tomorrow morning. The text is the Magneto TrueType font and I used Aspire's Extrude tool to give it the hollowed out look. As I've done before, the hollows will be highlighted with Java gel stain. The box is stained with MinWax Early American.

I have a modified version of the Celtic heart cross under construction. It has already been cut and is in need of lots of sanding before applying the finish. I have three skeletonized versions of the crosses to take with me.

[widgitmaster]

Nice work as usual Carv'e!
Have you thought of putting a box in the box in the box.......
That should keep you busy
Widgit

[CarveOne]

No, I haven't Widgit. I use a 1/16" tapered ball nose cutter for the weave as it is now. If I scale it down three or four times the smallest box would need a cutter about the diameter of a human hair.

Others have made these in smaller sizes, or made the side panels rectangular, but not any that are nested that I know of. This one would be a good test for your newly built machine though.

[CarveOne]

It's glued together and almost finished. I've decided to darken the ellipse border next to the weave. There is one other issue to take care of and it's all done.

[TOTALLYRC]

Hi C1,
Beautiful work as always. I like the handles as well.
Gives me hope that when I get to it I can come close to your quality.

Mike