First Try with the Blue Tape and CA Glue Clamping Method

[rowiac]

Someone on here posted a video from Mark Lindsay's channel on YouTube of the no clamp/no double-sided tape method of workholding, so I decided to try it.  Here's the video for reference:

youtu.be/3uTsQ3dYRrk

I bought the FastCap CA Glue and Activator set on Amazon (Why not get the whole set? I'm sure I'll find other uses for it).  I used some 2" wide blue tape I had lying around and applied it to both the spoilboard and bottom of the workpiece.  Then I added some thin lines of the medium CA glue on the workpiece tape and sprayed some activator on the spoilboard tape.  I lined the piece up and pressed it down for a few seconds and voila!  Instant holding!

Here is the FastCap kit with the workpiece already glued down. The clamps are there just to hold my spoilboard down--I have shorter screws for that now:

Cutting the workpiece:

Attachment Deleted

The cut-out workpiece--I had tabs on the profile cut, but they weren't needed:

Attachment Deleted

What it looked like after I peeled it off:

This worked great for me and I didn't have to worry about clamp placement to avoid the cutter.  I will be doing this a lot more in the future.

By the way, I think that any medium body CA glue should work.  The activator is handy but maybe not absolutely necessary if you want to try this with materials you already have on hand.

[Bruce]

I use regular super glue with blue tape. Works good but I run out of super glue too fast.

[rowiac]

Mar 17, 2019 23:00:12 GMT Bruce said:

I use regular super glue with blue tape. Works good but I run out of super glue too fast.

I probably only needed two pieces of blue tape for that job and I only used a single line of CA/super glue on each piece of tape (one side only), so I didn't really need much glue either. Those cheap tiny tubes of super glue might get used up pretty quickly though.

[rcferguson]

Mar 18, 2019 18:15:21 GMT rowiac said:

Mar 17, 2019 23:00:12 GMT Bruce said:

I use regular super glue with blue tape. Works good but I run out of super glue too fast.

I probably only needed two pieces of blue tape for that job and I only used a single line of CA/super glue on each piece of tape (one side only), so I didn't really need much glue either. Those cheap tiny tubes of super glue might get used up pretty quickly though.

Wouldn't double-sided tape work just as well as tape and superglue?

[rowiac]

Yes, but double-sided tape is a pain in the neck to deal with and harder to remove than blue tape. Using blue tape on both sides and gluing the pieces of tape together is really easy to do.

[Bruce]

That's a great looking sign by the way, Rowiac! Nice work. Who's the Ford fan?

[rowiac]

Mar 18, 2019 21:20:01 GMT Bruce said:

That's a great looking sign by the way, Rowiac! Nice work. Who's the Ford fan?

Thanks!  I made one Ford sign for my son-in-law who is a Ford mechanic and my wife wanted one too (see has an F-250).

[James@fireaxe]

Mar 17, 2019 23:00:12 GMT Bruce said:

I use regular super glue with blue tape. Works good but I run out of super glue too fast.

Same. I use the super glue and blue tape method too.

[Bubba's Workshop]

I see your using poplar, How does that cut? When I Make my signs I usally use clear pine. Just wondering how the paint looks.

Love the sign, looks nice.

[rowiac]

Thanks. Poplar makes lots of fuzzies, but I switched to a downcut endmill and that cuts nicely. Unfortunately I don't have that option for the V-cutter, so I have to sand off the fuzzies with my orbital sander and then touch up by hand with sandpaper.

Staining is tough with poplar. I've used water-based wood dye to make it darker, but some areas absorb a lot more dye than others. I've found that using several coats of polyurethane spray without stain or dye works pretty well though. Once my poplar material is used up, I don't think I will use it again.