New Project - Tea Tray idea

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Aussie
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New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by Aussie »

I have made several before... this one will be different.
I would like to do an end grain inlay in the base of the tray which will be 8mm thick this will allow me to do a detailed inlay.
My question is... I don't think the inlay material will be thick enough to be "stiff" and I think it will bow, my idea is to glue the end grain material to a sheet of 3mm anodised aluminum to prevent the end grain sheet from bowing.

Your thoughts and suggestions ? What glue would I use ?
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Ron
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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by martin54 »

Any reason why 3mm? For something like a serving tray I would have thought 2mm or maybe even 1mm would be enough, it may be that 3mm anodised is easier to buy :lol: :lol:
As for adhesives I can't really help, I use a specialist manufacturer for most of my adhesives & have done since I first started as a signmaker, I use these people who are in the UK but I expect you will have something along the same lines down your way :lol: :lol:
https://eurobond-adhesives.co.uk/
If ever I am unsure what to use I just give them a call & they keep me right, for something like this I would use penloc which is one of their structural adhesives, I expect you will have something similar, it's probably not the cheapest way to do things but at least I knew that if I used what they recommended I wasn't ever going to have problems as long as I followed the directions when using :lol: :lol:

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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by adze_cnc »

I’m having a bit of trouble understanding here.
  • why anodized aluminium? why not regular aluminium?
  • why aluminium at all? Why not MDF?
  • attaching the end-grain inlay material to the sheet of other material is temporary for the milling process? If so, the adhesive needs to be reversible.
  • holding the end-grain material to the substrate: how aout using cyanoacrylate and contact “shelf-paper” (a.k.a. Mactac in North America) as in this video ?

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Aussie
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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by Aussie »

Thanks for the response guys

Why 3mm anodized Aluminum - I have plenty of it available as I use it with my Laser.
MDF 3mm - do you think this will be sturdy enough with weight is placed upon the tray ? I expect the tray will be 460 x 340mm
No the base for the inlay will be permanent - mdf base would be easier to machine.

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Ron
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adze_cnc
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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by adze_cnc »

Aussie wrote:
Sun Dec 18, 2022 6:57 am
I would like to do an end grain inlay in the base of the tray which will be 8mm thick this will allow me to do a detailed inlay.
Here's where the confusion lies. This implies that the bottom of the tray is 8mm thick and that you will be inlaying 3mm end-grain into that and I supposed needing the backer aluminium to keep that end-grain material flat while you cut it.

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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by Aussie »

sorry about the confusion.
I normally cut my inlays in end grain 6mm deep, I believe the end grain of a panel 6mm thick will be too flexible.
My idea was to add 3mm of material to the base of the end grain panel to give it some stiffness (either Alum or MDF) this material can be added before or after the carve.

Hope this makes sense.
Ron
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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by martin54 »

I think 3mm MDF will be fine, after all once the inlay is complete you should have a fairly stable wood panel, I would glue the endgrain piece to the MDF before you start your inlay. you are going to have a very fragile female piece if it's 8mm to start & you are going to be removing 6mm of that depth in places :lol: :lol:

I had it in my head that your starting thickness for the inlay was 8mm but it looks from your last post that it is 12mm. regardless I still think the female will be a bit fragile after machining & I know you remove your material from the machine for glue-ups so I would still glue the 3mm piece on first :lol: :lol:

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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by LittleGreyMan »

Hello,

I'm with Steven and Martin.

But I think plywood would be less prone to warping and would result in a better gluing than MDF.

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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by martin54 »

LittleGreyMan wrote:
Mon Dec 19, 2022 2:31 pm
Hello,

I'm with Steven and Martin.

But I think plywood would be less prone to warping and would result in a better gluing than MDF.
Not sure if MDF was an option because it was already on hand but yes plywood would not only be easier for a glue-up but it would be easier to finish & give a nicer look, I know it is the bottom of the tray but you still want it to look nice, well I do anyway :lol: :lol:

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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by FabLab Wageningen »

Based on experience with good and bad wood suppliers - meaning mostly expensive and cheap wood suppliers - I would go for MDF over plywood 4 out of 5 times. Less warp, cleaner surface. The 5th out of 5 times would be when I choose plywood because of the finish, which obviously is, er, woodier. But 3 mm. good looking birch ply is 3 times more expensive than MDF in my quarters of the world.

Marcel.

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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by LittleGreyMan »

FabLab Wageningen wrote:
Mon Dec 19, 2022 3:29 pm
But 3 mm. good looking birch ply is 3 times more expensive than MDF in my quarters of the world.
Yes, and modulus of elasticity of good plywood is more than twice better than MDF. The choice depends on what you want to achieve.
In this case, Aussie coud use a thicker (and cheaper) plywood, glue on a thinner end grain board and Vcarve the resulting board, getting a stiffer board.

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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by martin54 »

In this case, Aussie coud use a thicker (and cheaper) plywood, glue on a thinner end grain board and Vcarve the resulting board, getting a stiffer board.

That was one of my thoughts when I typed my last reply, in reality the walnut end grain only needs to be a nominal thickness & once glued to the backing board the whole piece could be surfaced to whatever thickness was needed for the base of the tray. It might even be an idea to include the plywood/MDF board in the final walnut glue up but that needs a bit of thought about how you would clamp it :lol: :lol:

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Re: New Project - Tea Tray idea

Post by Aussie »

Thank you all for your suggestions.
Starting to mill the materials now, will post some progress photos along the way... Christmas maybe a speed bump.

Have a great Christmas and New Year.
Ron
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