Tried a unique clock. A little bizarre, but interesting.
Stands well on its own without having to attach it.
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Had family coming today. Wife told me Wednesday she wanted me to replicate a door decoration she saw somewhere. Cut the 22" circle with a palm router by hand. White Bunny is ¼" PVC cut on SO3. Text is ⅛" ply cut on SO3. Used a 1/32" endmill for the first time in probably 8 years. Poly on wood, spray paint on text (had to mix some colors I had on hand to get that light purple color).
I cheated on the pink and the eyes. Those are made from glitter eva foam sheets from my kids craft stuff. We’ll see if it lasts.
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… and you made it stick to the door with … 3M Command Strips!??
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Ahhh…This is the other last minute experiment. I have 3 strips of nano tape on the back, stuck directly to the glass. She likes the flush look and I like the lack of a flopping plywood on my glass door.
It might be on the ground in the morning, but, in my experience, that tape holds really well. We’ll see about the temperature fluctuations as we see 3 seasons per day this time of year.
EDIT: I’m convinced that nano tape would hold that in place for years. I couldn’t remove the thing! I told my wife we could just swap out doors when she wants to change decorations. That was when it was still a laughing matter. Nearly an hour later, I finally removed the thing. A generous amount of rubbing alcohol finally released the tape from the wood. Next time, I’ll use two SMALL pieces, close to the edge so I can use something to get under the tape. Lesson learned.
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Most any finish will go over epoxy. I use polyurethane oil based and it sticks to epoxy. I do not use water based products so not sure about them. I generally apply a coat of dewaxed shellac first (Zinsser Universal sanding sealer). That helps seal the wood and warms it up slightly. I use wipe on polyurethane for 3-4 coats. Be sure to mix the poly thoroughly and I pour it in a plastic paint tray. Use an old tee shirt and dont apply heavy coats. The poly will smooth out and dry over night so you can apply about 2-3 coats every day. Sand with 600 grit sand paper lightly between coats to knock down any dust nibs or grain that raises. If you dont put the dewaxed shellac it takes 1-3 extra coats to get a smooth finish. Oak is very grainy and pour-es so it really soaks up the finish for the first couple of coats. The epoxy will look dull as dishwater until the 2-3 coat of finish and it will be just as shinny as the product you use (satin/gloss).
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This is what you solve first and don’t mess it up with anything else you do. 
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I’m more a programmer than a woodworker but I have been learning as much as I can. I made this portable workbench from https://sawsonskates.com/ and did my best to do a good job. Unfortuately, I went to buy the wood after a rainstorm at the Home Depot and their wood was all fairly wet. I didn’t run into much trouble except for the plywood top. I got it mostly flat.
Being new to woodworking, I learned about dog holes and put those in the plywood top with my Shapeoko 4. Here are few photos. If interested, I logged most of my process here:
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I was inspired by @wilmatos1989
and decided to make my own coasters with the Seigaiha japanese wave pattern.
I used two bamboo trivets as stock and a 25° vbit to carve the patterns,
poured the epoxy (first the black/dark blue color, and then an extra transparent layer because I had gaps here and there)
surfaced,
Sanding then Osmo oil finish,
Finished coasters on their support (perfect fit on first try…it’s the little things)
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I made the first batch of signs for a local Girl Scout camp. I am doing the work for free and having them pay for materials. There are a lot more to do.
They wanted me to use PT deck boards and I was in such a hurry to get started I ended up getting only 1 dry board and a couple that were really too wet.
Original plan was to use my core box bit to carve the letters with the National Park Font. I didn’t like the way that simulated though, it left ridges in spots that I couldn’t eliminate no matter what I used for a stepover. So, I used a V bit and an endmill for a flat bottom. I also figured this would save me 1 bit change per sign since I needed the V and flat bottom on the arrows.
I put masking on the top and did the carves. It took a lot of cleanup time on the carve afterward. Then I put shellac in the letters and primer and 3 coats of paint with a brush. I bought regular exterior wall paint in quart cans to save them money over the rattle cans. 1 quart was $25 and probably enough paint for 1000 signs vs $12 for a rattle can which might do 4 or 5. Again, anticipating a lot more to come.
So, then a lot more cleanup when I pulled the masking off because in spots the paint came slightly above the surface and if I hit that with the sander it smeared.
In this pic I have 1 coat of poly, I added 2 more and will do another before delivery.
In the end, it would have been less work (and probably less time) to fill the letters with epoxy.
For the next batch I am going to use a single line font and go back to the core box bit idea. I will probably still brush but hopefully it will go cleaner. I may skip the primer, I thought that would make the colors pop more.
Too late since I have a lifetime supply of paint but I want to look into an airbrush as I can do that in the shop when the weather is bad. I can’t do the rattle cans in there.
It should have been a very basic project but consumed a lot of time. I did at least round over the ends of the boards on the router table to make them look nicer.
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Are you using oramask, or an alternative? Have you considered shellac under the mask, then again after the carve? Not sure where you’d save more time. The shellac should keep the paint from fading into the wood, so a white primer wouldn’t be necessary as long as you do 2 coats. This project would be a great excuse to buy more tools, specifically an LVLP gun. 
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I am using shelf liner which I have found a little friendlier than oramask. I did not shellac the wood before putting the mask on, but the bleeding was because of the sanding disk hitting and pressing paint that was proud of the letters slightly (yes, some gooping with the brush) not from the painting action itself.
I did put shellac in the letters prior to painting.
I have an HVLP setup. The LVLP looks interesting but I am not sure I could spray that one in the garage either. How much overspray is involved?
Doing 3 colors like this would mean lots of time cleaning the gun, but I am sure it would produce a better finish. I will check into it.
No idea on overspray, I’ve never used one. If you have the compressor for an HVLP setup, that’s probably best. The oramask seals tight to the wood, whereas the shelf liner may be letting paint seep underneath. If you do a huge run of signs, it might be worth your time to either seal the wood before masking, or getting the more expensive masking. If you are finishing with layers of poly, you could use that to seal the wood before masking, and then have less work afterward. Using a poly-safe cleaner on any paint might be faster than sanding, too.
I have never had trouble with this shelf liner before. It works really well but as some of this wood was a little wet there were issues.
I need to buy some new boards now and let them age before starting batch 2.
I am pretty sure my HVLP would make a mess in the garage. I will check the LVLP though.
I hadn’t thought of doing the poly first. I will give that some consideration.
i’ve made signs for years before I got a CNC. If I may,
- Quick sand the wood
- Urethane the wood 2 coats thinned 25%
- Cut the lettering
- Paint with an oil base, rustoleum works fine
- make sure all is dry, the sand the boards.
this is a before and after final sand and urethane - by hand
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The Most of the car was done with an airbrush. Windows and wheels done with a brush. No Masking. I just sand when I’m finished and
it’s all dry.
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I was using oil based wipe on poly since that is what I had, so thinned probably close to what you describe if not more. The paint I bought is water based. Since the poly was going on top of that rather than under I figured that was ok.
I looked at the airbrushes and of course they don’t work with the paint I already spent $100 on assuming I could use it for a lot of these. Hopefully the change in bit and font I plan will make the painting smoother and reduce the cleanup.
Even with all the issues these look 1000% better than what they are replacing
I have a cheap Chinese airbrush and compressor. I spray even thick acrylic paint through it. You can use poly over anything you want. The water based paint dries out and leaves only pigment behind so any top coat is ok. I use wipe on Minwax poly a lot. However last year I built a murphy bed out of maple plywood and some solid maple. I went to a store called Ollies which is a discount type of store and bought a gallon of Minwax polyurethane for floors. I thinned it 50% with mineral spirits for the first couple of coats and then thinned the last two coats with 25% mineral spirits. I used a natural bristle brush and it came out great. Wipe on polyurethane is just the same product only thinned around 50% with mineral spirits. So just buy regular polyurethane and thin it your self. It is much cheaper by the pint/quart/gallon for full strength polyurethane and thin it yourself. A pint of Minwax wipe on polyurethane is around $22.00. So you can stretch your dollars a lot by thinning the poly yourself and get the consistency you want. Thin a little or a lot. Polyurethane will cover over epoxy as well. One reason I like oil based poly is it adds warmth to wood. It is a slightly yellowing effect which warms things like maple. Water based poly works but tends to raise the grain so if you use water based use a damp rag to wash down the wood and then sand before adding the sealer and water based poly. After the first coat you will need to sand because even pre raising the grain the grain will pop back up. On Oil and Water poly use 600 grit between coats to knock down dust nibs and any raised grain. For porous wood like oak start with a grain filler to get a really smooth surface.
Water based top coats have less VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) and does not require the ventilation that oil based products need. Today many people are sensitive to VOC so make your choices according to the person receiving the work.
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I can see you spent considerable time designing this catchall tray. I just have a plastic tray that is about 2" wide and 10" long and sits by the BitSetter. I keep all my most used bits and my router wrench in there. It is messy but works. Plus it catches a lot of sawdust even though I use dust collection.
I made a torsion box for my SO3 XXL to sit on and made it have about 8" in the front specifically to lay tools and things I need right in front of the machine.
Nice job.
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