I have been slowly remodeling our house and making all the door and window molding and trim pieces on my ShopBot using VCarve Wizard. I had three goals - look nice, be simple and be unique. VCW was a pleasure to use and helped me achieve these goals.
The images were from either the Vector Art Mega collection or Corel Draw clipart collection. Since all pieces were to be painted, the material used is MDF.
Tim
Home Remodeling
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tmerrill
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 4797
- Joined: Thu May 18, 2006 3:24 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: ShopBot
- Location: North Carolina
Home Remodeling
- Attachments
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Window treatment 1.jpg- Frame and panel trim pieces used under windows
- (84.62 KiB) Downloaded 906 times
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- Window treatment 2.jpg
- Design used for tops of doors and windows
- (101.16 KiB) Downloaded 1029 times
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- bathroom window.jpg
- Trim piece made for under the bathroom window sill
- (95.88 KiB) Downloaded 1159 times
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dighsx
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 939
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:36 am
- Location: Royal Oak, Michigan USA
- Contact:
Looks good Tim. It's clean and finished looking. Just remember to tell everyone you hand craved everything... hehe
Take it easy.
Jay (www.cncjay.com)
Jay (www.cncjay.com)
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tmerrill
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 4797
- Joined: Thu May 18, 2006 3:24 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: ShopBot
- Location: North Carolina
Thanks to everyone for the nice comments. I offered these pictures to show a different application for the VCarve products. Hopefully they will give both homeowners and shop owners looking for new markets some ideas.
In total, I have trimmed out 3 windows, 4 doors, and 2 closet doors. The rest of the house remains....
As far as the proceedure I used, this is what I have found works best for me. Most of the steps I got from people on this and the ShopBot forum.
After machining the pieces out of mdf, I give each piece 2 heavy coats of Zinsser SealCoat Shellac, being sure to sand between coats (I personally like SealCoat, but just be sure to use a dewaxed shellac). I follow this with two coats of primer (I've used both Zinsser and Kilz successfully), again sanding after each coat.
For sanding, I have found the fine and ultrafine synthetic steel wool pads very easy to use. They seem to be quicker than sandpaper, and fit into the curves and recesses better.
Then I painted the carved and pocketed areas with two coats of either tan or green latex wall paint, not being fussy about getting paint on the flat areas. When that was dry, I gave the surface a final sanding with the nylon pads and got ready to paint the semi-gloss white paint. To do this, I used a 2" or 4" foam paint roller designed for "ultra smooth" surfaces. I purchased mine at Lowes. It takes about 3-5 very thin coats. You want to get almost all of the paint out of the roller before you paint the surface around the carvings. If you have too much paint on the roller, or press down too hard, paint will roll over the edges of the carvings and you won't get a crisp edge. Keeping a damp sponge or paper towel handy will help with any accidents.
This probably sounds like a long process, but it really isn't. The shellac and primer dries very quickly, as does the latex paint because you are using very thin coats. It took me about two days to finish all the trim, with the most time spent on sanding. While the paint was drying, there was plenty of other stuff to do!
My wife and I weren't sure if we would like the two color trim, but ended up very happy. If you have the same concerns, consider that Plan 'B' could be to paint in the design with white paint and Plan 'C' could be to putty in the design, sand smooth and paint.
Hope this helps,
Tim
In total, I have trimmed out 3 windows, 4 doors, and 2 closet doors. The rest of the house remains....
As far as the proceedure I used, this is what I have found works best for me. Most of the steps I got from people on this and the ShopBot forum.
After machining the pieces out of mdf, I give each piece 2 heavy coats of Zinsser SealCoat Shellac, being sure to sand between coats (I personally like SealCoat, but just be sure to use a dewaxed shellac). I follow this with two coats of primer (I've used both Zinsser and Kilz successfully), again sanding after each coat.
For sanding, I have found the fine and ultrafine synthetic steel wool pads very easy to use. They seem to be quicker than sandpaper, and fit into the curves and recesses better.
Then I painted the carved and pocketed areas with two coats of either tan or green latex wall paint, not being fussy about getting paint on the flat areas. When that was dry, I gave the surface a final sanding with the nylon pads and got ready to paint the semi-gloss white paint. To do this, I used a 2" or 4" foam paint roller designed for "ultra smooth" surfaces. I purchased mine at Lowes. It takes about 3-5 very thin coats. You want to get almost all of the paint out of the roller before you paint the surface around the carvings. If you have too much paint on the roller, or press down too hard, paint will roll over the edges of the carvings and you won't get a crisp edge. Keeping a damp sponge or paper towel handy will help with any accidents.
This probably sounds like a long process, but it really isn't. The shellac and primer dries very quickly, as does the latex paint because you are using very thin coats. It took me about two days to finish all the trim, with the most time spent on sanding. While the paint was drying, there was plenty of other stuff to do!
My wife and I weren't sure if we would like the two color trim, but ended up very happy. If you have the same concerns, consider that Plan 'B' could be to paint in the design with white paint and Plan 'C' could be to putty in the design, sand smooth and paint.
Hope this helps,
Tim
- Attachments
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- door detail small.jpg
- Closeup of trim pieces used above doors and windows
- (51.03 KiB) Downloaded 520 times
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- bathroom window detail 2 small.jpg
- Closeup of bathroom tirm piece
- (81.1 KiB) Downloaded 542 times
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dighsx
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 939
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:36 am
- Location: Royal Oak, Michigan USA
- Contact:
Thanks for the info about the Zinsser SealCoat Shellac. I bought some yesterday to try out on a project with mdf and it's nice to know someone has used it, and it worked.
Take it easy.
Jay (www.cncjay.com)
Jay (www.cncjay.com)
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tmerrill
- Vectric Wizard
- Posts: 4797
- Joined: Thu May 18, 2006 3:24 pm
- Model of CNC Machine: ShopBot
- Location: North Carolina
dighsx,
I use SealCoat all the time. For hardwoods I start with a 1 lb. cut, followed by the 2 lb. cut straight out of the can. It give a beautiful finish on cherry.
For MDF, I just use it out of the can. It soaks in fast and dries quickly. It will still give an initial rough finish due to tuzz from machining but sands quickly.
If you are trying to avoid or minimize this, I read a post on one of the forums recently to use a lacquer for your first coats. I intend to buy a small can of Deft Brushable Lacquer Sanding Sealer to try but haven't done so yet.
If anyone else has any experience finishing mdf, your thoughts are welcome.
Tim
I use SealCoat all the time. For hardwoods I start with a 1 lb. cut, followed by the 2 lb. cut straight out of the can. It give a beautiful finish on cherry.
For MDF, I just use it out of the can. It soaks in fast and dries quickly. It will still give an initial rough finish due to tuzz from machining but sands quickly.
If you are trying to avoid or minimize this, I read a post on one of the forums recently to use a lacquer for your first coats. I intend to buy a small can of Deft Brushable Lacquer Sanding Sealer to try but haven't done so yet.
If anyone else has any experience finishing mdf, your thoughts are welcome.
Tim