So, I have made a bunch of stuff out of junk mdf and plywood, but I wanted to try to make something nice for my wife. I foolishly chose a walnut sheet that tore up like crazy and looked awful. So I bought a piece of baltic birch and made a beautiful pie box (My son chose the graphic for the top).
I didn’t need to glue it, but I did anyway. Put a few clamps on it.
Just a simple shellac over the wood. It looks nice.
The other project that I wanted to do was also a gift for my wife. I found the Death Star Trivet in the Inventables Projects, and decided that I wanted to carve that on a hardwood. I found a pretty piece of red Zebrawood, and got to work.
Let me just say that zebrawood was a poor choice for my first experiment with what is one of the hardest woods on the planet. lol. I was in over my head, and I learned a good lesson.
The first stage was cut with a 60 degree vbit.
For the sphere, I attempted to use a cove bit from my regular router bits. I very quickly learned that only CNC rated bits should go into a CNC router. The ensuing violence ruined my piece (and my underpants), and I was almost hit by the projectile bit three times as it ricocheted around my tiny shop.
I changed out to a 1/8th bit, and broke that too.
I had to make many adjustments in speed, and redid the whole job on mdf before trying on the zebrawood again.
With more time and attention, I was able to succeed with the cut.
Here is the final piece with just a simple mineral oil.
I also sprayed the mdf piece with a Beautitone dark bronze metallic enamel, and I hung it in my shop to remind me of the time and effort and struggle to make this work.
Both of these projects are on the Inventables Projects pages if you want to try them for yourself.
I am really enjoying this machine though, and it is capable of doing anything I throw at it. Wait until you see what I do next! 