XYZ in action

[boblon]

Dave,
That looks pretty nice. I know you only see the flaws, but look at the difference between this and your first cuts. WOW.

And I'm sure your imagination has to be running wild after getting this done and learning a liittle more about the software. The possibilities really are endless.

BTW, I do think your right, what you see is really just a step-over that's too large. Nothing more than that. Which means you did everything else perfectly

Good work.

BobL.

[dfmiller]

Will and Bob,
Thanks for the encouragement.
I am very pleased at my first attempt.
On to the next one. ;-)
It is a learning curve.
Dave

[aarggh]

Don't be disheartened as others have said, it's a great result and over time you'll naturally find better and easier ways to produce those results you desire. One finish you may find perfect for medium to dark timbers if you haven't already tried it Dave, is Cabots Danish oil. I've used it exclusively on all my wood work for probably the last 25 years or so, and is simply brushed or wiped on, left for about 10 mins, then a light buff off. It soaks into the surface and leaves a beautiful rich lustre, that "ages" the more coats you put on. On my door frames I've put upwards of 30 coats, sounds a lot of work, but it's no more than a wipe on, and then ten minutes later a wiping buff off, twice a day for a fortnight or so. Then once every few years a light wipe over again to just "clean" the surface. Barely any more work than dusting!

On really nice grained timbers like Tassie Oak or Vic Ash, the finish is spectacular, especially fiddlebacks.

Keep up the good work,
Ian

[dfmiller]

Ian,
Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement.
I have never tried that type of danish oil.
I have used the Watco stuff and have never been totally happy. Its seems to take many coats to get anything like a finish on it.
I do like the wipe on type of finishes. Generally I have had good results with the Polymerized Tung oil.
It's like you say wipe on, let sit then wipe off.
The fact that it to seem to pool after wiping off was the surprise for me.
Thanks
Dave

[aarggh]

Hi Dave,

No problems, happy to help. With the Danish Oil I have used other brands, but I have always found Cabot's to give the easiest application and by far the best finish. My wife goes nuts with me as I'm a bit of a stickler for design and finish, but even she is really impressed by the results. I have used a couple of the tung oil finishes in the past, but wasn't happy with them as in application they were more like a polyurethane, and didn't really soak into the timber surface as I wanted, and also left rub marks which drove me up the wall. Maybe it was the brands used, I don't know.

I really like the fact that if you stuff a coat of Danish Oil up, get bugs in it, or even forget to wipe it off, it doesn't matter at all! Just wipe over a fresh coat, which slightly dissolves the surface of the previous coat, and wipe off again after 10 minutes! It's just too easy! I don't even use brushes or cleanup of any kind. Just save everyone's soft material socks when they are replaced at home, washed of course :-), and after using it 2-3 times, throw out the sock after letting it harden outside to avoid any dangers.

Danish oil also soaks right into the timber cells, and let's the natural grain really show through, as opposed to sitting on the surface like most finishes do, so you can build up a really beautiful rich, patina, by just wiping once a day or so, letting it dry inbetween.

As it soaks in, you can also easily repair damage, I recently steamed out a gouge from one of the kids hitting something into the door jamb, sanded it, then applied several coats over just that damage area, and the repaired section is now indistinguiashable from the rest of the jamb!

cheers,
Ian

[dfmiller]

Ian,
I will have to try to find some Cabots.
Some tung oil I think is more like a Polyurethane. The stuff I have used is from Lee Valley.
Polymerized Tung Oil - Lee Valley Tools.
It takes a few coats to start to build up a finish. And it reveals the grain very nicely. Its fairly forgiving and that sign was the first time I have had any issues.

I have only used Watco Danish oil and it seems to never build up any finish. Maybe my can is old. I ended up using some water based Poly as a topcoat.

I do agree that oil is a great finish as you can touch it up and easy fix crap that gets in the last coat.

Thanks
Dave

[dfmiller]

Started on another sign yesterday.

It is my first attempt at a laminated sign. The top 5/16" is one of the Mahogany family and the lower is Hard Maple.
I had to finish cutting the profile on the bandsaw as I did not have a long enough cutter.

I have some finishing to do now.


I did have some issues getting the Z correct to cut through. I actually manually removed some of the by hand. I cut around the profiles and the material came off real easy with a chisel. I think the heat of cutting loosened the bond of the Polyurethane glue I used. At least that's what I hope or the glue did not bond well.

Dave

[boblon]

Dang Dave that's pretty cool

BobL.

[dfmiller]

Well thanks Bob,
I think its a good start. Still have to finish it though. ;-)

Dave

[ger21]

I think the heat of cutting loosened the bond of the Polyurethane glue I used. At least that's what I hope or the glue did not bond well.

Heat shouldn't cause the glue to fail. If it did, you'd probably see burning.
If there were any gaps in your lamination, though, you'd have a poor bond where the gaps were. A lot of people think the foaming action of polyurethane make is good at filling gaps, but the reality is that the gaps are filled with very soft foam, which has very little strength.

What I would do next time is to try to cut maybe 1/32 into the maple, so no cleanup is necessary

[Ken_Shea]

Looks real good Dave,

On the glue, did you apply and let dry according to instructions or did you do the manly thing and didn't bother reading the instructions

[dfmiller]

Gerry,
Yes that's a great idea. Next time I will make sure I measure the base material and ensure I allow for enough cut through. I am not 100 % that I checked the base material. I might not have jointed and planed the base. I may also not have clamped it well enough. I do have a couple of vacuum pumps here. I do need to get a vacuum bagging setup working for laminating stuff.
Gerry what type of finish would you put on? It hopefully going outside so I was thinking of some clear finish. I do like the wiping finish. Might try the exterior Watco Danish oil. I am not setup for spraying at this time of the year. And the shop should stay above 50F. I can bring it in the house if I have to.

Ken,
I was rather pleased. :-)
I have to admit I did not read the instructions this time. In the past I thought I had a good grasp of the directions. I will have to re-read the directions. I was using Gorilla Poly. They make the printing so small on the label. edit*** read the directions. I did what they said. Clear surfaces, wet one side, glue on the other. Clamp for 1 to 2 hours.
http://www.gorillaglue.com/glues/gor...irections.aspx

Thanks
Dave