Those turned really nice, thanks for following up with us!
Thank you, Tyler. That sparks a memory from years past. Of course, Testors sparks a memory of many plastic models from many decades past too. 
Thank you, Tim. I’m tickled myself after waiting so long to be able to do them. I designed the single-stroke Art Deco font specifically for these, but I will more than likely end up using it for more panels. It’s all lines and arcs and takes into account the cutter diameter. I designed it by hand with graph paper and a calculator. I don’t know how I’d share it–I guess I could make a “sampler” in DXF with the whole alphabet and attach it in case anyone was interested (I know there’s at least one other Art Deco fan around here…
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You could also use these lacquer sticks Lacquer-Stik Paintstick | Micro-Tools or Markal paint sticks for filling in the engraving.
They are like crayons in that you just scribble over the engraving and wipe it away, then it hardens over a few days to a week, and then it’s done.
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You did a great job designing the font, I would imagine lots of folks would like to be able to use it including myself. It’s definitely art deco period.
OK, this won out, thank you @MadHatter. Mainly because I could buy just the one stick rather than needing to buy an assortment pack. Not that I won’t be trying the g-paint sooner or later…
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Thank you, Tim. I’ll attach a DXF this evening. I guess I really can’t call it a font, because it is just a collection of lines and arcs that I hand-placed on a grid in a sketch on my workpiece. I should be calling it a typeface.
“Typeface” it is! You designed it, you can name it!!
For what it’s worth, here’s a DXF of the Art Deco typeface. It’s scaled to 1 unit high. I didn’t have access to a computer when I designed it, but drew it on graph paper with the aid of some Pythagorean Theorem…
deco-typeface.dxf (15.7 KB)
[edit] For my .250" high text I used an endmill of .025" diameter, or 1/10 the letter height. That ratio looks pretty good to my eye. [/edit]
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Totally cheating here because I didn’t make this. I just wanted to share because I hadn’t thought of using the material like this and it seems easy. They just cut channels around the letters at half the depth of their stock. No glueing or fuss.
It’s HDU hand painted.
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Hi everyone, I’ve made some musical instrument trays on my SO5 with two types of design - a basic set in cherry, then a fancy set in walnut using metal inlays.
Pretty pleased with how they’ve turned out! For anyone interested, I’ve recorded the project as a youtube video which you can find here: https://youtu.be/oyEB2qLftNg
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Great video, though you’re gonna have to sacrifice a finger or two eventually. Blood for the blood god and all that 
Really appreciate how simple they are and how “fancy” does not necessarily mean complex. Looking forward to seeing if that follows through to the really fancy versions…maybe some subtle mother of pearl or faux ivory 
You got me wanting to play with inlays again 
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I intend to keep my fingers for as long as possible 
You’ve hit the nail on the head! It’s so easy to just add more to a design, although I think the constraints of doing it on a CNC force you to be more thoughtful and minimalist. If I do go for an even fancier set of designs I don’t want to just make them more complex - not sure what how to pull that off just yet!
I like the idea of mother of pearl - good shout - that’s what saxophone keys are often made of. Let me know if you have any other thoughts!
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Perhaps some Ebony (or black stained) for the piano keys and a set of strings for the guitar?
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@Redlander that’s a cool idea 
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I think the Light/Black wood mimics the keyboard on the piano as well as a version of strings on the guitar.
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I will have to try that on a sign for sure!!
Well, a quick update on my new and probably overly complicated pen holder from this post: What did you cut on your Shapeoko/ Nomad today? - #5227 by MadHatter
I am starting with a Sharpie pen holder, since I have a bunch of them right now.
The green part will be removable from the rest of the setup, so it should be a quick color / pen change when needed.
A heat set brass insert for threads, since they will be used a bit. The thumb screw is a bit long. I just grabbed one from McMaster-Carr for test fit. I’ll probably grab a shorter threaded one for the real thing. Or maybe just make a thumb screw with a regular SHCS and printed knob.
The pen holder will just drop into the trapezoidal / keystone shaped receptacle to prevent movement. I will probably add a couple of neodymium magnets to lock them in place.
I will also design a stand that will have an adjustable holder like the red one, so that you can index all of your pens to the same height, whatever height that ends up being. Ideally, I will design the holders so that when I (or others) design pen holders, no matter what kind of pen you use, you can use the stand to set the pen height the same as all of the other ones.
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