Vectric Customer

My latest project. I did this out of mdf, so it's very brittle. I need to strengthen it up, but can't decide to coat it with the powdered metal to make it have the bronze effect or just a clear resin to have the natural look.

Gary

Great work. Amazing detail.

Thanks for sharing.

You never cease to amaze me Gary. Every time you post you just keep upping your game. That is one sweet piece of work. For what it's worth I would do the bronze coat in keeping with the theme. Thanks for sharing.

Wow...absolutely stunning.

Was this 2-sided machining done in slices?

Thanks guys for the compliments.

Some of the parts, such as the engine which require quite thick material, I sliced because of length of my mills. Most of the other components didn't need to be sliced. I decided to use a silver nickel metal coating, but it's still pretty fragile, so I need to quit using mdf and figure some other material.

Gary

Was this done in multiple parts and then assembled. I do not have Aspire but would like to know
how something like this is done.

Thank You
Don

garylmast wrote: I need to quit using mdf and figure some other material.

Gary,

Your models really deserve a better material. You'd better try PU board, which is often used for industrial mockups. Unfortunately, it's far from being as cheap as MDF…

Was this done in multiple parts and then assembled. I do not have Aspire but would like to know
how something like this is done.

If I've said this once, I'll say it a dozen more times, the double sided feature in Aspire is there best upgrade yet. This particular model was done in eight different Aspire (double-sided) files. I tried to group different components where it would fit best on the thickness of wood, i.e. the headlight and rear seat was cut out of the same piece of wood. The engine was sliced in half and was two double-side components cut out of the same piece of wood.

your models really deserve a better material. You'd better try PU board, which is often used for industrial mockups.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will tried PU Board on my next project.

Gary

Oh wow this is great! You can clearly see lots of hard work has gone into this I bet the new double sided feature made this much easier than previous versions !
Thank you for sharing this is excellent!

garylmast wrote:Thanks guys for the compliments.

Some of the parts, such as the engine which require quite thick material, I sliced because of length of my mills. Most of the other components didn't need to be sliced. I decided to use a silver nickel metal coating, but it's still pretty fragile, so I need to quit using mdf and figure some other material.

Gary

Fantastic work again, Gary! I really like this project!

Say, I just returned home from a CNC Conference where several folks use MDF to cut 3D models (in slices, two-sided carves, assemble, etc.). They are using MinWax Wood Hardener to "toughen-up" as well as seal their MDF models before filling and painting. One guy I talked to says he coats (or dips) his mdf projects several times, until the mdf can't soak in any more. Then he fills, sands, primes and paints the project.

I'll bet a lot of folks here on the forum have used the hardener themselves, as well.

I've used the hardener myself for miscellaneous repair of deteriorated outdoor wood in the past (I still have two partial cans of it in the garage), but never tried it on MDF projects. I certainly do have plans to try that now, after hearing their "testimonials"! I'm not sure if it will toughen-up extremely fragile areas of MDF sufficiently, but you might want to experiment with it some.

I bought the stuff from Home Depot before, but I think HD has discontinued MinWax products. Lowes carries MinWax products, though.

Here's a link about the product:

https://www.minwax.com/wood-products/ma ... d-hardener

Thanks Michael, I'll give it a try. I was also on my way to the to the supply house in Salt Lake City to buy some High Density Urethane Board. I'll let everyone know which is the better way of going on the next project. The mdf is cheaper, so I hope this wood hardener is a solution.

Gary

Try some 30 lb density if they have it. Still carves easily, but is much stronger/durable than the "standard" 15 lb that a lot of signmakers use. I think the 15 lb would NOT be an improvement over mdf.

Woo, thanks for sharing