Heart Inlay Cross

[CarveOne]

I was thinking of a new idea for using up some 1/8" Padauk and 1/4" Mahogany strips that were 2" wide and 24" long one day and came up with a new version of the Heart theme Cross. I found an outline I liked online and proceeded to figure out what to do with it.

The results are 1-3/4" wide by 3" tall with 0.070" deep pockets in the Mahogany so that the Padauk hearts and center piece are inlaid roughly half the thickness instead of being flush. The sanding and rounding over of the Padauk parts by hand with a hand made 1/2" by 3/4" by 3" scrap oak sanding block is very tedious work, but there are only seven being made this time. Two of the Padauk Hearts need to be cut again due to an unseen crack in the piece of wood. Three coats of clear semi-gloss polyurethane finish on them from a spray can.

Just having fun with the CNC machine hobby and making family members smile during hard times.

Richard

[Savannahdan]

Those are really nice. How do you hold down for such small pieces?

[CarveOne]

I cut each piece of wood one at a time. The sheet is stuck to the MDF spoil board with a piece double side tape at the ends and middle. A 1/16" hole is drilled through the wood at each corner and two in the middle edges of the wood. A 5/8" flat head nail is used to fasten the wood to the spoil board. I set the depth of cut to go through the wood about 0.004". The tape is a little thicker than that amount. Absolute flatness is not so important with this setup. The cutter is a 1/16" diameter carbide end mill. When the cut is completed, a wood chisel is used to pry the wood upward just enough to use a side cutter to lift the nails out. Then the wood is carefully pried upward, taking time to let the sticky tape come loose. The tape can then be removed by rolling it up and off the wood. The tiny holes in the spoil board can be filled by brushing on a coat of polyurethane and wiping it off. I surface plane the spoil board about every two years and re-coat with a couple of coats of polyurethane. Screws tear up the spoil board too badly in my opinion. Small nails like this do very little damage to the spoil board.

This method is used for my guitar top panels, fret boards, and other projects using the thinner woods and plywood.

Richard

[scottp55]

"Just having fun with the CNC machine hobby and making family members smile during hard times."

When you don't need the money....can't think of anything more important right now.

Well done Richard!
Nice to keep Padauk separate for sanding to avoid the color transfer!
scott

[Savannahdan]

Richard, thanks for the explanation. I do much the same other than I've been using the painters/duct tape superglue method. I know what you mean about screws messing up the spoil board.

[CarveOne]

Thanks Scott. I don't seem to have any bleeding problem with padauk like you seem to. I sanded the parts individually and always spray three coats of Minwax clear semi-gloss polyurethane on everything. Sometimes if there is a lot of sanding powder left, I save it in Zip-lock sandwich bags for future use, such as mixing it with a small amount of epoxy to make a putty and use it as a filler in what looks like a red color inlay when it is finished. I have a bag of other color woods that I saved also.

Savannadan, here is a photo of the strip of padauk still mounted to the machine. It's obvious that a surface planing is needed, but most of what I do doesn't need absolute precision. Maybe in the spring it will be done again.

Richard