A console table I made out of Red Oak. Drawer front is quarter sawn that I got lucky and found in a stack regular sawn red oak. Top is one piece 1 1/2 " thick. Drawer is poplar.
Looks fantastic. A piece that nice deserves really nice hardware, I think the pulls could be improved upon.
Thx…And I agree, they weren’t my choice, I wanted the hinged type, with the backing plate. But alas, she wanted the ones that I put on there.
1 Like
Should be a fun thread.
I know @zantax , @TexasCNC @FloridaYankee are wood workers as well. I think @GWH is too…
1 Like
In the other thread we were discussing transtint and depth of finish.
Here is my process for figured maple.
Here is the guitar body. Mahogany body with a layer of walnut for accent (that isn’t very noticable - should have used maple) and a quilted maple top. I buy most of my figured maple from a company in OR. I’ve built this shape 3 or 4 times. People seem to dig it.
I stain the whole top black.
Then sand it back. The black sinks into the figuring and won’t sand out. I repeat this process two or three times.
Then, stain it with the primary color, in this case, a ruby red. I think it’s transtint cherry red and red mahogany mixed.
The black provides depth and accent to the figuring and gives it a more 3D look.
Then, 3-4 cans (I don’t have a spray booth or spray gun) of nitrocellulose lacquer, hours of wet sanding, and a polish with 3M Finese-it.
Glossy and deep…
That guitar is outfitted with OBEL wiring.
6 Likes
Really nice work…Do you have the templates for the pick up cavities and neck pocket? If so where did you pick them up?
Very nice!
I get pick up templates from Stew Mac.
I have some neck templates as well, but I’ll often make up one specific for the neck if the situation requires.
This guitar, for example, is 24 frets so it’s deeper into the body than a typical bolt on. So I made a template specific to it.
Man, that’s high quality stuff right there. Absolute gold. Great job!
Did you do this on a CNC machine?
Kind of you to say. Thanks!
No. I build my templates with a painstaking combination of band saw, spindle sander, and router (using other shapes and curves and a pattern bit…). I usually use 1/4" MDF first, then Once I’m happy with the shape, I transfer it to 1/2" MDF, then rout everything by hand.
I’m not nearly as detailed and creative as TNT’s guitar, man that’s an art form… but I have a new machine that’s been kicking out pretty neat stuff. 
The first one is Walnut, raised lettering, filled with blue epoxy.
The second one is a cutting board out of Walnut.
The third is cedar, laser etched Venezuela.
Lastly, I made a plaque for a friend of mine out of a tree his son planted a long time ago. He had to cut the tree down as it died and he saved a slice. His son committed suicide last year and he asked if I could do anything out of the piece of cherry. I machined it flat on both sides, filled the holes with blue epoxy and laser etched it, then put a few coats of poly on it.
4 Likes
You do it the old fashioned hard way! I’m not that talented, I depend on computers. 
Here’s my new machine:
It has a 5HP spindle + 2 X 2.25 HP routers and a 7W laser. Next machine I’m buying is a 100W laser stand alone… I’m running out of space though!
My goal is to move to my property in the future and I’ll build a 50’ X 25’ workshop. Right now, I’m building a new cabin out there that will turn into a shop when I move.
4 Likes
Love the epoxy…what do you tint that with? Pour it about half way up the raised letters?
beautiful piece of wood right there!
Laser etcher? Man, you must have some shop!!!
And hear I thought I wouldn’t be weeping at my desk this morning…what a story, and what a lovely piece. That is really, really special. Thank you for sharing that.
Sending the Dunnam’s positive vibes…
1 Like
Wow! That’s awesome.
Why is it on a wood base like that?
So I just used Mica pigment to tint the epoxy.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078MH2C5J?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
My laser etcher was the cheap part, that’s a $700 add on to my CNC. It’s a J-Tech and it just attaches to the side of the router. It’s decent but man is it slow. That’s why I’m going after a 100W laser now.
I’ve done the pour both ways, pour it over the letters, then machine it flat and pour it 75% of the way up… I like it the best when the letters stand proud better.
Appreciate the vibes… Jason was a friend of mine and had a head injury when he was 40. Never was quite right again and tried suicide several times. The last straw was when he was in Brazil for a job and was fired I guess. His dad is one of my best friends.
I’m lazy… I used a forklift to push it into my garage. I was going to take it off but decided to leave it because the goal was to move it to my property quickly… well, that’s 45 minutes away and I use the machine almost every day now. It’s living here in my garage until I move to my acreage. I left it on the pallet so it’s easier to move when we get ready to do so but I’ve been kicking around the idea of putting casters on it and pulling the pallet out.
I picked this Norma up at a garage sale for $40 , I think it was. Sounded nasty for the 5 minutes it worked, (think Hound Dog Taylor’s tone). Would love to do a build and use those gold foil pick ups. Really haven’t gotten into the problem, electronics aren’t my thing. Other than soldering up pick ups/ controls etc.
2 Likes
Well, get to it! Post pics…
A tip or two from out of the boat building side of things that I’ve come across which may find other uses…
First when fiberglassing over wood cover the glass and epoxy with Mylar (IIRC) and squeegee the heck out of it. When the epoxy cures the Mylar will come off clean.
What you’ve done is compress the glass layers. It will look nearly finished when the plastic comes off and you’ll have a lot less sanding to finish up … with a lot less of the materials you paid for ending up being sanded away.
When vacuum bagging you leave the Mylar in place for the full cure.
The second tip was from a fellow glassing a 40’ boat: he mixed aluminum powder in with the epoxy which let him better see where epoxy had been already applied. It also gave the boat a consistent base color which made it easier to see where paint might wear away later.
