My thought is that shellac would contain the epoxy in the pocket by not allowing it to seep into the grain of a wider grain wood like oak. Shellac is also excellent at adhering to nearly anything. I would think epoxy and shellac would bond well.
Worth experimenting. Perhaps I misinterpreted your goals or desired results above.
I understand I’m always floating too many hypotheticals in my head.
So let’s say we treat the v-carve more like we want to stain it or dye it. (Instead of what we were talking about before, I think, which was just filling it in with colored epoxy.)
We can start by step 1) covering a flat freshly surfaced face of stock with epoxy (or bondo etc.) and then step 2) when it’s dried, keep the same zero but engrave “through” step 1, then step 3) stain the new groves (the fresh flat surface from step 1 is protected by [and kind of impregnated by] a liquid mask. This is a much better seal than a regular adhesive mask), then as the last step we can remove the “mask” applied from step 1, revealing the fresh flat face with the stained / dyed engraving.
Shellac in the groove here could interfere with the stain’s effect.
The problem then though is what happens when in that last step I go not only deep enough to take the mask off, but then for some dumb reason I go even deeper. Eventually we will leave that sweet spot at the stock’s surface where we have a sudden transition in color.
Mr. Snake, in my opinion you are making this all too difficult. I don’t see how the end result will be any different to anyone that will be looking at your projects. I’m not trying to be offensive; just practical. The more you cut; the better you get. Complicated processes will fall by the wayside.
These are all interesting ideas, and I would recommend trying each in a bit of scrap (if you don’t have any scrap pieces, don’t worry, you’ll have lots presently).
Write up a description of each on an index card and tape it to the result and save them — eventually you’ll arrive at a point where you can pitch the failures and keep only the ones you want to replicate.
There are entire books on wood finishing — check and see what your local library has?
Also see:
Greetings and Salutations,
Here is what I do for raised aspects needing color.
For stain color variations I personally would go with Inlays or inserts.
I would love to hear about any other ways of completing stain variations in a project.
WOW! i have been wanting to do this! Awesome! Are there files somewhere to do this or did you just wing it?
Nice cut especially for your first one! I just did my first flag yesterday. Lots of learning and mistakes
I found some schematics (CAD drawings) online and drew it up in Carbide Create.
I could upload these to cutrocket I suppose as long as the cutrocket folks are fine with “lego like” bricks
The patent on Lego bricks expired a while back — so long as there’s no Lego logo, and they are described as “Compatible w/ Lego bricks” it’ll be fine — we even had a contest:
So this was my project that I completed last weekend and submitted for the Carbide Community Challenge #27 Letter Cut Outs…
I was attempting to share the 3D model files via Cut Rocket however the file type accepted seem to be .c2d files or public links to Fusion 360 projects which is a paid subscription feature and I’m using the hobby license so no go there. In any case if anyone is interested in reusing the .obj mesh files to use in your own creations/projects I’m sharing this public Google drive link (or PM me if that doesn’t work). All is original content I did using Blender 3D modeling software so it’s yours to use if you want to. If you do use the files I’d love to see what you did with them so please share pictures back in this forum.
I’m still learning, but I made this 4’ flag and created and inlaid the US Marine Raider’s Logo it into the flag. First logo I’ve ever built from just seeing a picture of a coin. I’m still in awe at what you guys can do with your machines. It lets me know the possibilities.
NICE!! great job Steven
That looks great!
How do you guys line up your boards perfectly square on the machine? Just starting out with my machine but I find myself always using oversized stock as I can never square up my stock perfectly to the machine.
Also, is there a tutorial for this style box by any chance? I’ve tried reading up on different joinery techniques like dog bones, t bones, etc. but doesn’t look like any of that is visible with your box.
Thanks!
I used a combination square to line it up against the front edge.
I wrote a bit about blind miters w/ finger joints at:
Not sure what machine you have but I have a Shapeoko Pro with the hybrid table so made myself a little jig which just fits in between the MDF slats sitting on the aluminum extrusion for the T-track system and use the 1/4" locator pin in the collet and jog the router on the X axis only to precisely position my backstops. Here’s a sketch of what my jig looks like.
Steps:
1 - Jog to a certain Y position close to where I want to secure my back stops/clamps that will become my reference that is perfectly parallel to my X-axis gantry.
2 - Jog on the X axis to line up the 1/4" locator pin with the t-slot to secure your first backstop/clamp
3 - Lower the Z-axis until the locator pin descends into the hole in the jig locking it into position
4 - Position your backstop/clamp up against the end of the jig and bolt it into place
5 - Now you need to jog on the X-axis only as so long as you do not make any movements in the Y-axis direction you’ll be able to get a reference line perfectly parallel with your X-axis gantry.
6 - Repeat 2, 3 and 4 lining up the 1/4" locator pin with other T-track slots and secure 2 or more of the backstops/clamps using this technique
7 - Once you have a row of backstops/clamps lined up using the machine you could then also make use of another clamp on the left or right as a stop block or align a square of some kind.
I prefer using this approach then just depending on the front edge of my table because if ever your frame is a bit out of square itself you may be a little off. I think using the machine itself in this way to set your backtops/clamps will likely provide your best parallel to the X axis gantry.
EDIT: I use the locator pin because it’s a full circle and doesn’t have void space (flutes) giving the best snug fit in the slot in the jig. I also made wider in the one direction so it’s easier to line up and drop the locator pin into the slot.
Finally got around to trying something I’ve been wanting to do for a few years. Took me 4 days, a day per side I suppose. This is a prototype in fencepost, still need some toolpathing refinement but I think I can make another without too much trouble. Will cut the end blocks off after sanding.
All cuts done with 1/4” ball mill, FOUR sides, no tool changes whoopee! Adaptive clear followed by finishing parallel. F360.
Will do walnut glue ups for final product.
I love this! What did you use for the software? It looks like something that might be beyond Carbide Create. Thanks for sharing this.
