Aluminum Plaque

[laconcepts]

Its been a while since I posted one of these.
Machined from 1/2 7075 T6 aluminum. 20" long on a Fadal 4020 VMC using Aspire.
Inlayed Challenge coins. These are the same coin in a heads and tails arrangement.

[ChrisInEstes]

Nice work!

I've always been afraid to cut aluminum on my router... Maybe one day I'll get it figured out.

Thanks for posting that!
Chris

[bill_w]

Very, very nice , well done. What kind of paint did you use?

[laconcepts]

Thank you very much.
Bill, beleive it or not the paint is Rustomeum rattle can. Some are their Metallics and some are not.
Thanks again
Kelly

[T.R.MacMunn]

Kelly, that is an AWESOME plaque. Very well done ........

[bill_w]

Thanks Kelly,
Aluminum is hard to get paint to adhere to
especially if there is coolant involved.

[laconcepts]

Thanks T.R. I appreciate that.
Bill, I always glass bead blast these before paint. If I cant fior whatever reason, I will use a brass brush and scotchbrite to scuff it up.
The only color that I had problems with was gold. I certainly have to scuff or blast for that. I certainly ageee with the coolant. I use flood coolant on the Fadal with full enclosure.

Kelly

[esteeme1]

Awesome work as usual Kelly.

[Woodbug]

Very nice. I have novice a question. After you apply the paint, how do you finish the surface. Is it fine sanded, wet sanded or milled?

[laconcepts]

Thank you very much Jim.

Woodbug. I start by glass bead blasting the entire part when all possible. Next I use a 4inch sanding block with 80 grit DA paper to sand out the toolpath marks. To do this I sand back and forth in a straight line. Make sure not to move over or side to side because this will cause crosshatch sand scratches that are more work to get out. When you are ready to move over, lift the block and then move over. Once the tool marks are out I mask and spray the areas. To remove the excess paint on top I repeat the steps above again using 80 grit. Once the paint is removed I start sanding in one direction only. (Usually pushing the block away from me) This allows me to control the control the straightness of the grain and even the grain pattern out across the part. The final step is to use about a 4 inch-ish piece of Maroon Scotchbrite, sanding in one direction slowly. This blends any grain irregularity out and also soften the grain coarseness. The result is what you see here.
I have stepped down to 120 or 220 before and looks good but the 80 grit and scotchbrite is my favorite.
I hope this helps.

Thank you
Kelly

[Woodbug]

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

[rscrawford]

That is a beautiful plaque. Very well done.

[fretsman68]

Always a pleasure seeing your work, Kelly.

Thanks,
Dave