Post your woodwork here

[patches]

On 2/3/2023 at 10:00 PM, Rich Stan said:

Does anyone have any experience with a Zenbot Router cnc? I have recently inherited a full workshop and this was one of the newer tools my dad got and I never learnt how to use it.

 

It runs on Mach3 and V-Carve Pro software, lots of material online but hope someone has any useful tips before I go too far down a rabbit hole

Looks like a solid CNC. A little more commercial grade than an X-Carve or OneFinity.

What types of things are you looking to cut? 3D (or 2.5D as they call it) contours? 2D templates out f ply/MDF?

Whilst I don't have any experience with the CNC routers, some regular router basics will still apply. Speed, Feed, depth of cut (and number of passes).

On the modelling side, something free and easy like Autodesk Fusion360 (free for hobby use) is probably your best bet. Youtube will have loads of tutorials on this, as well as some specifically for CNC users. Fusion 360 or the like will make the modelling side easier, then Mach 3 will do the translation for the router to understand.

I don't have much value to add, but keen to hear about your learning experience if you do dive down that rabbit hole (I want to get into CNC routing and have already earmarked a spot for a small CNC in my garage, just need to sell a dirt bike to afford it 😅).

BTW, sorry for your loss 😥

[patches]

Fully acknowledging (especially to my wife) that not all my ideas are good ideas...

I decided it was time to get rid of my wood cart as it's rather space-hungry.

So with the price and availability of construction lumber, I decided to transform it from this:

Into these:

BTW, reversing a parallel clamp makes for a great way to support and level out a floating structure while building

With the shelf items stashed overhead, I can put the woodpile on the racking.

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by patches

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

9 hours ago, patches said:

Fully acknowledging (especially to my wife) that not all my ideas are good ideas...

I decided it was time to get rid of my wood cart as it's rather space-hungry.

So with the price and availability of construction lumber, I decided to transform it from this:

Into these:

BTW, reversing a parallel clamp makes for a great way to support and level out a floating structure while building

With the shelf items stashed overhead, I can put the woodpile on the racking.

 

Great choice of a final pic, because their space saving exercise ended well.........

But well done, looks like a solid solution and WAY more practical.

[Rich Stan]

13 hours ago, patches said:

Looks like a solid CNC. A little more commercial grade than an X-Carve or OneFinity.

What types of things are you looking to cut? 3D (or 2.5D as they call it) contours? 2D templates out f ply/MDF?

Whilst I don't have any experience with the CNC routers, some regular router basics will still apply. Speed, Feed, depth of cut (and number of passes).

On the modelling side, something free and easy like Autodesk Fusion360 (free for hobby use) is probably your best bet. Youtube will have loads of tutorials on this, as well as some specifically for CNC users. Fusion 360 or the like will make the modelling side easier, then Mach 3 will do the translation for the router to understand.

I don't have much value to add, but keen to hear about your learning experience if you do dive down that rabbit hole (I want to get into CNC routing and have already earmarked a spot for a small CNC in my garage, just need to sell a dirt bike to afford it 😅).

BTW, sorry for your loss 😥

Thanks, I am planning to do 3D contours to create inlays for boxes (names, shapes etc)

I have started doing some research and hope to run some basic 2d patterns this weekend all being well, will definitely pop in here with some feedback on learnings as I go down the rabbit hole

[patches]

9 hours ago, Rich Stan said:

Thanks, I am planning to do 3D contours to create inlays for boxes (names, shapes etc)

I have started doing some research and hope to run some basic 2d patterns this weekend all being well, will definitely pop in here with some feedback on learnings as I go down the rabbit hole

A while ago I had an idea to make some custom cupboard doors for an entertainment cabinet. The concept was to CNC the topography of a section of the NZ Southern Alps into plywood.

It was a little bit of a work around to export topographic data, translate it onto AutoCAD, then decimate and factor down the almost infinite number of varying elevations into a few dozen at heights that fit within a 25mm thick piece of ply (and also making it quicker and easier for the CNC router).

This is what the overall design looked like after I was done

This being a section of that (1 of the 3 doors) in a style and format that the CNC operators could easily use.

However, after all my efforts, when I sent it for pricing, I got a shock. I recall it was about R12,000 equiv. for all 3 doors (totalling 2200mm x 780mm, excluding the supply of the plywood.

That's a lot of money for some cupboard doors.

Anyway, just an idea of some cool things you can do/offer with the CNC, especially when yo don't have to pay the crazy hire-prices.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

10 hours ago, patches said:

A while ago I had an idea to make some custom cupboard doors for an entertainment cabinet. The concept was to CNC the topography of a section of the NZ Southern Alps into plywood.

It was a little bit of a work around to export topographic data, translate it onto AutoCAD, then decimate and factor down the almost infinite number of varying elevations into a few dozen at heights that fit within a 25mm thick piece of ply (and also making it quicker and easier for the CNC router).

This is what the overall design looked like after I was done

This being a section of that (1 of the 3 doors) in a style and format that the CNC operators could easily use.

However, after all my efforts, when I sent it for pricing, I got a shock. I recall it was about R12,000 equiv. for all 3 doors (totalling 2200mm x 780mm, excluding the supply of the plywood.

That's a lot of money for some cupboard doors.

Anyway, just an idea of some cool things you can do/offer with the CNC, especially when yo don't have to pay the crazy hire-prices.

@patches, that second pic would make nice decals for a motorcycle/car vinyl though.
Wouldn't mind a .pdf copy of it if you don't mind sharing.

 

[Rich Stan]

11 hours ago, patches said:

A while ago I had an idea to make some custom cupboard doors for an entertainment cabinet. The concept was to CNC the topography of a section of the NZ Southern Alps into plywood.

It was a little bit of a work around to export topographic data, translate it onto AutoCAD, then decimate and factor down the almost infinite number of varying elevations into a few dozen at heights that fit within a 25mm thick piece of ply (and also making it quicker and easier for the CNC router).

This is what the overall design looked like after I was done

This being a section of that (1 of the 3 doors) in a style and format that the CNC operators could easily use.

However, after all my efforts, when I sent it for pricing, I got a shock. I recall it was about R12,000 equiv. for all 3 doors (totalling 2200mm x 780mm, excluding the supply of the plywood.

That's a lot of money for some cupboard doors.

Anyway, just an idea of some cool things you can do/offer with the CNC, especially when yo don't have to pay the crazy hire-prices.

That's a very cool idea, I have been spending far too many hours googling what is possible and it seems with the right amount of attention to detail on the CAD design and staying within the machines dimensions there are endless things that can be created

[patches]

This weekend it was high time I checked something off my to-do list.

When we renovated the kitchen and laundry, I removed a wall which left some unsightly gaps in the 70yr old, native hardwood flooring.

Various excises like "I can't find the right lumber" or "the timber yards are only open on weekdays while I'm at work" had me procrastinating this for nearly 3 years. 

So after taking a day off work to visit some timber yards (and hardware stores), watching a Scott Brown video or 2, I procured about 5m of Rimu tongue & groove floorboard and got stuck in.

First was removing the damaged boards as carefully as possible so as not to damage the adjacent boards

Being able to plunge (with either the track saw or oscillating multi-tool was instrumental to this.

Next was to re-mill the new boards so that the groove aligned with the existing tongues.

Thank you slot cutting router bit which scared the crap outta me! I was checking the arbour nut every pass to ensure I wasn't creating a spinning ninja-star of death.

Turned out ok though!

Then, as the filler/last piece of floorboard had to be custom sized and needed the tongue removed (to allow installation), I added some 2x4" supporting pieces to reduce flex.

Once I ripped the filler piece down to width, I added the grove with the table saw (felt safer than the router), and chamfered the tongue side bottom edge to allow the strip to be taped into place.

Pre-dripped the nails holes to prevent splitting, hand nailed the boards down, wood filled, sanded to 240 grit and a few coats of poly urethane... done!

 

Not a perfect match for the existing boards, but same species and better than the gaping holes.

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by patches

[Capricorn]

12 hours ago, patches said:

This weekend it was high time I checked something off my to-do list.

When we renovated the kitchen and laundry, I removed a wall which left some unsightly gaps in the 70yr old, native hardwood flooring.

Various excises like "I can't find the right lumber" or "the timber yards are only open on weekdays while I'm at work" had me procrastinating this for nearly 3 years. 

So after taking a day off work to visit some timber yards (and hardware stores), watching a Scott Brown video or 2, I procured about 5m of Rimu tongue & groove floorboard and got stuck in.

First was removing the damaged boards as carefully as possible so as not to damage the adjacent boards

Being able to plunge (with either the track saw or oscillating multi-tool was instrumental to this.

Next was to re-mill the new boards so that the groove aligned with the existing tongues.

Thank you slot cutting router bit which scared the crap outta me! I was checking the arbour nut every pass to ensure I wasn't creating a spinning ninja-star of death.

Turned out ok though!

Then, as the filler/last piece of floorboard had to be custom sized and needed the tongue removed (to allow installation), I added some 2x4" supporting pieces to reduce flex.

Once I ripped the filler piece down to width, I added the grove with the table saw (felt safer than the router), and chamfered the tongue side bottom edge to allow the strip to be taped into place.

Pre-dripped the nails holes to prevent splitting, hand nailed the boards down, wood filled, sanded to 240 grit and a few coats of poly urethane... done!

 

Not a perfect match for the existing boards, but same species and better than the gaping holes.

 

struck me as stills from any of SBCs YT vids
good job Patches!

[patches]

This weekend on Patches' Noise and Sawdust Creations...

I made a plank of wood out of another plank of wood.

Look at that oaky goodness 😍

You may see this and think "who the hell has money to make stuff out of solid oak?"...

...well not his guy! So this weekend I tried my hand at hardwood edge-banding some oak veneered ply.

After getting a crisp rip cut on the 25mm thick ply and prepping the 30x10mm oak strips, It was time for the glue up. This can be done with the aid of brad/pin nails, clamps, or tape.

... I opted for all 3 😅

 

After the glue dried and any squeeze-out was scraped off, I flushed up the oak strips to the ply (as they protruded a couple of mm at top and bottom). With 3 boards to apply the edge banding to, I figured I'd flush these up with 3 different methods.

Method 1 (the cautious approach) - put down a strip of painters tape on the ply and use a flush trim bit in the router. The painters tape means the oak strip will still sit ever-so-slightly proud of the ply after routing. This can then be sanded flush.

Method 2 (the "aah, eff it!" approach) - just flush trim with the ply as reference, leaving no room for error.

Method 3 (the "I'm a real woodworker" approach) - flush it up using a block plane. This was the most time consuming, but also the most satisfying and therapeutic. There's something cathartic about making spirally plane shavings. The added benefits of this are that you can do it at night without annoying the neighbours, and cleaning up shavings is easier than trying to contain router dust.

After flushing up, I filled any brad nail holes, sanded, added a very slight round-over (2mm), and prepped for the next phase... joinery (still to come)!

Overall though, it came out pretty decent and was not that difficult. Would have been easier if I had more clamps though (the woodworkers unquenchable thirst)

Edited March 19, 2023 by patches

[patches]

Many of you have probably seen this, but for those who haven't, it could be a revelation...

CutList Optomizer (a free online tool that allows one to get the best layout of parts on sheet goods).

Simply input sheet size, kerf/blade thickness, and the dimensions and quantity of parts required. It can even take things like edge banding and grain direction into account.

[patches]

Recently tried my hand at some cabinet-making. Don't know if the Saffer in me that's stingy and refuses to pay NZ tradie prices for things I can kinda do myself or if I saw it as a fun project.

Either way, building some "boxes" was a little more involved than I initially thought

As per usual, it started with a CAD model of some kind (Fusion360 this time as I needed to sell the idea to my wife. When she doesn't need convincing I just use AutoCAD for simple sketches)

The cabinets in question are 3x 740H x 600W x 450D simple carcasses with hinged doors.

After settling on a colour and loading all the part dimensions into CutList Optomizer to determine quantity, I ordered the material. Two sheets of Melteca 18mm MDF (basically just fancy melamine).

Then the cutting started.

My small garage made it a little tricky to work with a full sheet, but the track saw was a life saver.

 

I started with all the rips. Then switched out the 3m rail for a 1.4m one with a rail square to cross cut.

 

All parts cut, labelled and checked-off against the cut-list.

 

One big underestimation I made was the time and complexity of applying edge-banding to the boards. Usually pre-glued edge banding is easily applied with an iron and some baking paper or a heat gun.

This edge-banding however, was 1mm thick ABS plastic so the iron just melts the face before it gets heat through to the glue. As for the heat gun, that works, but yields inconsistent results and is very finicky to use.

But never fear, there is almost no challenge that the addition of a new tool cannot fix. Enter the edge-bander...

The Virutex AG98 was the cheapest edge-bander I could find (and it still cost a pretty penny). In simplest terms it's just a heat gun with a spool, roller and guillotine strapped to it. But it works, and in hindsight it was worth every penny with the time and frustration it saved.

To trim the overhang on the edge banding, I tried one of those Fastcap style blade trimmers to flush trim, but the 1mm thick ABS is a little on the touch side for it and it left some "shuddery" edges. So I resorted to a cheap Stanley chisel, sharpened up as best as I could.

The process was therapeutic and satisfying... just look at those curls!

Roundovers were done with a 3mm router bit and a little custom jig to stabilise the router on the edges of the boards.

Joinery was done the via dirty-rotten-cheating-YouTuber method... aka Dominos.

My cheat-sheet written onto my sacrificial work surface to remind me where to layout each domino. Two combination squares set out to the common dimensions for quick marking. I'm a big fan of the small combi-squares!

 

The glue-up process was nerve wracking. The special melamine adhesive only had an open time of 12min so I had to work fast... but also had to stop for a quick photo 😅

 

Adjustable feet and door hinges (Blum soft close, with push-to-open) could be fitted while the carcass was in clamps and drying.

Finally after all 3 were assembled it was time to put them in place, level them and adjust door gaps evenly.

Three simple boxes, but a heap-load of work.

 

With half of the oak desk-top in place. The mitred waterfall end is joined to the top with Peanut (keyhole) connectors to allow for disassembly.

 

 

With a shelf added and the other half of the desk top laid in place. The left half of the desk has dominos glued into one end and loose fitting into the other for alignment, and cammed connectors to tighten the 2 halves together, allowing for disassembly if needed.

 

So after many hours trimming edge banding and slicing hands (that stuff is razor sharp until rounded-over), I have completed enough of the project to buy myself some time (and my wallet some breathing space) before I carry on with the next phase of this build.

Overall it was fun, a learning experience, and the result is not bad. Was it cheaper than buying some flat-pack cupboards (albeit they would be white)... definitely not (even if I excluded the cost of tools)... but that's not why we woodwork, is it!

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by patches

[patches]

Wife returned from 10 days in Sydney last night, so this weekend was a bit of a rush to finish up phase 1 of the study desk (and get the house in an acceptable state)

So after scribing the table tops to the wall (nothing like a straight something to show you how wonky your walls are), I cut a slot in for cable management.

I lined the slot with EVA foam strip and added some dust bristles (usually intended for the bottom of a door).

 

The idea behind the size of the slot is to offer more options when it coems to cable managment (as opposed to the 1x 70mm hole desks usually have), and provide a slot for laptop storage, if one wants more desk space (hence why I EVA foam lined the slot)

 

Under desk cable management was done with the aid of velcro... lots of velcro. Velcro on multi plugs, velcro on power supplies, velco on a compact USB-C doack, and velcro holding cablesin neat rows

 

After that, I scribed and added another waterfall end (deviating from the original design). Tidied the dining room and called it a day.

 

 

Phase 2 is likely to be a skinny pull-out bookshelf (sandwiched between the left of the cabinets and waterfall end), and a set of drawers (to the right of the cabinets). But for now... I'll take a break!

[patches]

In anticipation for the arrival of our first sprout, the study is in the process of being turned into a nursery (hence the fabrication of the new study nook shown in previous posts), decorative walls have been created, but now the elephant (or chipboard) in the rooms needs to be addressed.

When I ripped up the carpet in this room, I expected to find lovely native hardwood (Rimu) flooring, but to my horror I would a sheet of chip board (approx 2.4m x 1.2m) filling a void.

(Aforementioned decorative wall shown in background. Ignore the idea cabinet, this photo was used when I was getting rid of it).

So the challenge... New Zealand native Rimu is protected and using reclaimed timber is the only viable option to obtain some (unless one settles for Fijian Rimu).

Reclaimed and re-milled Rimu can fetch prices of up to R440 equiv. per linear metre (of 135mm x 19mm tongue and groove). I need about 30 linear metres.

So being the cheapskate that I am, I found a pile for sale, fresh from the renovation of a 100yr old villa. Approx. 130m worth of 140mm x 21mm T&G. So I bought it site unseen for about R7400 equiv. and ended up with this...

The wife come with me to collect it and looked at me like I had just sold the family cow for a handful of magic beans.

After a day of physical labour, scrubbing, hauling, and sorting (and numerous graunched knuckles), I found the best pieces to be stacked and stickered under the patio table

I then took a sample piece and ran it through the planer and the magic beans are starting to look promising

Still a looong way to go, milling, trimming and routing, but hopefully in the end it'll all be worth it.

...if not, I'll just buy a big rug to throw over it 😅

[patches]

Sent the wife this picture while she was out shopping yesterday...

She was a little alarmed! Note the 7 decades of junk that previous owners have just stashed under the house 🤢

Fortunately (for me) I had a new sub-floor installed by the end of the day. The sub flood was not needed (structurally), but I figured I may as well beef things up and make it safer while I'm still milling the reclaimed floorboards

[The Ouzo]

10 hours ago, patches said:

Sent the wife this picture while she was out shopping yesterday...

She was a little alarmed! Note the 7 decades of junk that previous owners have just stashed under the house 🤢

Fortunately (for me) I had a new sub-floor installed by the end of the day. The sub flood was not needed (structurally), but I figured I may as well beef things up and make it safer while I'm still milling the reclaimed floorboards

that first pic reminds me of my sisters place that they bought. Previous owner was a bit of an eccentric engineer type. Was obsessed with being 100% off grid.

On the property was a separate house to be used as a guest/granny flat. double story effort situated right next to his storm water catchment pond.

The wooden floor boards on the lower level felt a little bouncy, so during renovations of the main house they had the guys lift the floor boards to see what needs to be done. Turns out this dwelling is sitting ontop of what can only be described as a swimming pool. A large excavation, completely marbelited like a pool. Closer inspection of what it actually is meant to be revealed that it was an over flow for the storm water pond, allowing storage of an additional 30k litres of water.