[Arbo]

I'm the culprit who recommends paint thinner. As long as the gel stain is oil based any type of solvent that cleans it off without taking off or softening the polyurethane or other finish under it - and doesn't prevent other finish from sticking to the wood - and doesn't kill you - is probably ok.

Paint thinner will dissolve clumps of gel stain back into the solution. It dries off the surface fairly quickly after it is wiped off. Some solvents will "cut" the oil based products, but doesn't really mix well with it and dissolve it. It breaks it up into flaky looking stuff.

Well, I used xylol on a test piece, so I'll look at it tomorrow to see how it looks. That stuff will take off the clear if you go on heavy with it, so you just use caution... and honestly, I'm not too worried if the clear goes away, if the stain stays in the cuts, the whole thing is getting more poly anyway.

I once put it in a think plastic cup, it ate right trough it... left some painbrushes in it as 'cleaner', came back to find the plastic paintbrushes gone, all but the metal and brushes...

I made them from some scrap pine. One end is round, with an offset hole.
Bolt it down to the table, and turn to tighten.

Perhaps I missed it, are there pictures of what these look like?

Today I started using blocks of wood up against my work piece. Seemed to work well, and I feel better about cutting as there's no metal clamp to accidentally run into... there is still the screw/knob, but that's mostly plastic.

Oh, C1, yeah, that projects section is something I don't recall seeing. But I just went there and started a new thread for us to have discussions like this, without taking away from other's threads. Hopefully everyone moves down there.

The all in one, 'how do I' and 'look at this!' thread... - CNCzone.com-The Largest Machinist Community on the net!

[CarveOne]

Here it is after staining. Normally, I only use the Java stain in crevasses, not as a surface stain. This time I decided to darken the outer parts and the back side - and tried Java. It gives the surface a dark rosewood color.

There are some places in the pocketed areas that need more sanding. Those will be done tomorrow morning.

Depending on how it looks after clear satin poly is applied I may use more of the Java for future two color projects.

[CarveOne]

I've never used Xylol, but figured that it was an aggressive solvent. It's probably a trade name for xylene. Will look it up sometime.

I thought that keeping the projects and discussions close by here in it's own forum would make them more noticeable for the newbies. I can always bookmark the other one to get there easier.

[Arbo]

I've never used Xylol, but figured that it was an aggressive solvent. It's probably a trade name for xylene. Will look it up sometime.

I thought that keeping the projects and discussions close by here in it's own forum would make them more noticeable for the newbies. I can always bookmark the other one to get there easier.

At first I thought maybe a sub-forum related to this one... Either way I don't mind, if they make one I'll just ask to get my new thread moved there.

[CarveOne]

Back in post #2370 I show my clamping arrangement for these crosses. There are two strips of plywood that form an L that are aligned with my X/Y axes. Those stay there for all size projects.

I block in the other two sides using small wire nails through 1/16" holes in small scrap oak blocks. You can see the round nail heads in the photos.

For this cross I added two smaller hold downs that are nailed to the plywood because the material was not staying down as well as it should. The double face tape I put on the back side of the material wasn't contacting the MDF due to a small curve on the backside. I didn't bother with surface planing these small blocks of oak for the crosses.

The smooth shank wire nails come out of the spoil board by using a wood chisel to gently pry the wood blocks up. Small holes are left in the MDF, but it does no real damage. It can eventually be repaired when necessary.

First time I replace the spoil board I will probably add some T-slots.

[CarveOne]

Yup, Xylol = xylene.

[ger21]

Perhaps I missed it, are there pictures of what these look like?

I don't have any pics of mine, but I got the idea for them here.
Vectric Forum • View topic - Keystone for arched casing

[Drools]

Thanks for the link Gerry. I did a quick dxf of different sizes from 1" to 3", I hope it helps..

[louieatienza]

Well, I used xylol on a test piece, so I'll look at it tomorrow to see how it looks. That stuff will take off the clear if you go on heavy with it, so you just use caution... and honestly, I'm not too worried if the clear goes away, if the stain stays in the cuts, the whole thing is getting more poly anyway.

I once put it in a think plastic cup, it ate right trough it... left some painbrushes in it as 'cleaner', came back to find the plastic paintbrushes gone, all but the metal and brushes...



Perhaps I missed it, are there pictures of what these look like?

Today I started using blocks of wood up against my work piece. Seemed to work well, and I feel better about cutting as there's no metal clamp to accidentally run into... there is still the screw/knob, but that's mostly plastic.

Oh, C1, yeah, that projects section is something I don't recall seeing. But I just went there and started a new thread for us to have discussions like this, without taking away from other's threads. Hopefully everyone moves down there.

The all in one, 'how do I' and 'look at this!' thread... - CNCzone.com-The Largest Machinist Community on the net!

Try using naptha; it won't harm a finish the way xylene can. I used to add xylene to laquer to help retard the drying time...

[louieatienza]

I don't have any pics of mine, but I got the idea for them here.
Vectric Forum • View topic - Keystone for arched casing

Thanks Gerry... great idea for sure.

[louieatienza]

I agree with you there C1, you will get small ridges if the Z is not penpendicular. I get a great finish when I plane my stock, it is just the time it takes that I would like to minimize. I don't cut to full depth each pass, my max cut has been .05 with a final cut of .01 so at 5 minutes a side you can get into 20 minutes of planing per piece of stock, thats not including time to flip, and reset Z-zero between cuts.
I do have a 12" 2 blade planer, (cheap C-tire one) it works well and I sometimes use to get close to the thickness I want then finish the stock on the CNC, however I usually only use it for softwoods.

Home Depot might still have them, Freud Diablo 1-1/4" downcut hinge mortising bit. You'll have to ramp down with them since they're non-center cutting, but they work great for surfacing. They had them on sale for $10 each and I bought three....

[Arbo]

Thanks for the link Gerry. I did a quick dxf of different sizes from 1" to 3", I hope it helps..

Thanks, as I look for better and better ways to clamp things, these might be handy.. will have to fiddle with them.

[CarveOne]

2013 projects list that have been promised (so far) are five more Paradise boxes and two more flag display boxes. Looks like I'll be busy next year.

One of the P boxes is for a raffle, one is for a friend's wife, and three are for my nephew's wives.

One of the flag cases is to have a white (or clear) rear panel with a lithophane of the retired Marine veteran's portrait that is back-lit (or edge-lit). That probably means that it has to be in a separate compartment and will make the case thicker than the last one I made. Details for both of these cases are sketchy at this point and will be discussed in January. I'm not expecting a lot of decorations and inlay on the cases this time.

Four people have seen the smaller CNC machine playing gcode music so far this weekend. One of them is a machinist who uses CNC milling machines at work and had no idea that this could be done at all. It's fun to casually remark that I taught the CNC machine to play Stairway to Heaven and watch for the looks I get from them.

Hopefully, my work will be finished on the new utility building skirting tomorrow afternoon and I can go on with other things.

[CarveOne]

This morning I cut and stained another two color Celtic cross like the last one I made. It's for my favorite waitress. When I showed her the last one I made, she looked it over and said "Really nice, this one is MINE." I said "No, this one is already promised." She frowned. I said "Yours is next."

I have found some more of these designs on Irish Celtic sites and will convert another one in the coming week.

[CarveOne]

Couldn't wait. Started on a clip art conversion from a free clip art drawing found on a Celtic history site in Ireland this evening and have it well under way. It's 11.25" x 17" ( 1x12 oak board) and the Celtic Christian cross is 16.5" tall, for a wall hanging. Still more work to do, like add a boundary vector so the whole board isn't cut 0.004" step-over at a time. Estimated cut time is currently showing 9 hours.

[cd_edwards]

Pretty sure I seem that on the Irish history site your talking about. Nice work though cant wait to see that one cut

[CarveOne]

Thanks Colten,

I need to find a 1/8" cutter that can cut through a 3/4" board. All I have on hand is a 1/8" collet adapter and a spiral RotoZip bit that is end cutting. I think my 1/8" router bit has just 7/16" cut depth. I'll try it with the RotoZip bit inserted as needed to have 1" protruding, then set up the tool path for cuts of maybe 0.050" steps and do about 15 of them per hole. Otherwise I could cut as far as the router bit can go and finish cutting the holes on my new Delta scroll saw.

I hope to get some time this evening to work on the file again.

[CarveOne]

I found some time late this afternoon to fix the remaining problems. The waste material is not cut anymore, I deleted one pocket operation that wasn't doing much of anything, the feed rate was increased from 150 ipm to 175 ipm for the 3D Finish toolpath, and the gcode file is written. The estimated cut time has been reduced from 9 hours to 4hours. The 3D Finish toolpath starts in the center of the circular area and goes around in circles for 3 hours 10 minutes.

I expect to be cutting this one tomorrow.

[PaulRowntree]

The 3D Finish toolpath starts in the center of the circular area and goes around in circles for 3 hours 10 minutes.

C1, do you find that the circular toolpaths create more or less fuzzies than with the grain passes? In softwood I tended to roughen the surface when going across the grain.

I look forward to the pics!

Cheers!

[CarveOne]

When cutting across the grain it shears the wood fibers and I think either way some parts will be fuzzy by either method. It's a lot like cutting across a bundle of ropes. It will leave loose ends. Cutting along the grain only pulls out a few ropes.

On the first Celtic Cross I used raster for the 3D Finish tool path and it did a lot of really strange moves but the rounded tops of the knots were very smooth. It also took more time to cut since it didn't spend much time at the 100 ipm it was set for.

I also used it for the Vcarved pocket around the cross area. Very clean there. Just remember that this V-bit has a very small flat on the tip that's about 0.005" wide. As long as I use a step-over of 0.004" or less it will act like a 0.005" end mill and leave a smooth surface. I always get some fuzz at the top surface of the oak that takes a little light sanding to remove. Fresh 320 grit takes it right off. Most times it's polyurethane as much as it is wood. For most projects I pre-coat with poly before cutting.

On the second two of them I used the offset tool path and got smoother results, so that's why I am doing it with this Christian version of the Celtic cross. When doing offset tool path pockets like the first version has it will leave marks in the wood at each corner and it shows as 45 degree turns with each step-over. Though very shallow, they are no fun to sand completely off. You won't see that with the raster tool path.

This time I have no need to do a pocket around the cross. For this one I'll not pre-coat with poly. I'll do that after the stains have dried. I'll use the antique walnut and Java gel stains as before.