kb9jlo
Junior Member
Posts: 73
|
Tips
Aug 10, 2016 4:27:19 GMT
via mobile
Post by kb9jlo on Aug 10, 2016 4:27:19 GMT
Thought I would throw out some of the things I was doing. Please add yours too.
I got the unfinished kit. I wanted to finish mine to kind of personalize it. I am going to finish the bed with several coats of Krylon satin black. The rest of the frame will be gray hammertone. Any way my tip is to seal the MDF with a couple of coats of shellac. It seals it up nicely, dries fast and when you sand it will be glass smooth. This keeps you from having to use a ton of primer to seal up the MDF.
Shellac is an interesting finish. BTW, the other layers will add the other protection and will go right over the shellac. If you check out sanding sealer for wood you'll find it's just thinned shellac.
Oh, one more. My hands, fingers are not as strong as they used to be. I used slip joint pliers to help me press the bearings into the V wheels. And I put a black sharpie mark on the eccentrics to show me the tight side.
|
|
|
Post by aforww on Aug 10, 2016 4:43:51 GMT
Hopefully you used dewaxed shellac, I've made that mistake before lol. Mine is supposed to be here Friday so Don't have much more in the way of tips than that lol. Mine will also be getting custom paint. I'll probably just do one light coat of shellac, sand, then an a white epoxy enamel paint job with my woodworking logo in there somewhere. Haven't decided if it's going to be painted on, vinyl, or maybe my first project will be my logo milled from walnut stuck on the side.
|
|
|
Post by Derek the Admin on Aug 10, 2016 5:13:46 GMT
We are excited to see your custom work, fellas. It's going to be cool to see what you guys do with a blank canvas.
I have gone too crazy with shellac on MDF before, shellacing only one side of it and I actually cupped it. Whoops. In general though I love shellac. I find that the edges of MDF still want to suck up a load of shellac. We edge seal all of the MDF prior to painting with 50/50 mix of wood glue and water. Both of you guys already know this I'm sure, but for the sake of others that will read this is is important to note that MDF swells with moisture. You want to thin the glue, but don't do it so much that you are giving the MDF a bath. Brush the water/glue solution onto the edges. Let it dry, put on another coat, let that dry, then sand the edges smooth. If you do not edge seal it will be much more difficult to get the edges to take paint
The V wheels can be tight when pressing in the bearings. I have not tried this but I wonder if leaving them in the hot sun for a bit would help make the bearings easier to press in.
Good idea on marking the eccentrics. Take heed of the warning on not to make them too tight.
How far in the build are you, Dan?
My general tip to everyone is to lay the hardware bags out, label up, in a logical manner. Group the M6 with the M6, M5 with the M5, etc. The build is a lot more fun when you aren't digging under piles of other parts looking for a screw. It's easy to get excited and get disorganized, but it pays to stay cool and keep it organized,
|
|
|
Post by aforww on Aug 10, 2016 5:52:25 GMT
I don't find myself using MDF for much outside of jigs in my shop. I hate the stuff lol. However, when I do use it I take a modified approached of your wood glue on the edges. I use thin CA glue. Soaks in nicely and dries like a rock. Really helps with the edges getting beat up. Personally, I think every single hobbyist should have Fast Caps 2P10 glue kit in their shop lol. Love the stuff.
|
|
kb9jlo
Junior Member
Posts: 73
|
Tips
Aug 10, 2016 13:46:09 GMT
Post by kb9jlo on Aug 10, 2016 13:46:09 GMT
We are excited to see your custom work, fellas. It's going to be cool to see what you guys do with a blank canvas. I have gone too crazy with shellac on MDF before, shellacing only one side of it and I actually cupped it. Whoops. In general though I love shellac. I find that the edges of MDF still want to suck up a load of shellac. We edge seal all of the MDF prior to painting with 50/50 mix of wood glue and water. Both of you guys already know this I'm sure, but for the sake of others that will read this is is important to note that MDF swells with moisture. You want to thin the glue, but don't do it so much that you are giving the MDF a bath. Brush the water/glue solution onto the edges. Let it dry, put on another coat, let that dry, then sand the edges smooth. If you do not edge seal it will be much more difficult to get the edges to take paint The V wheels can be tight when pressing in the bearings. I have not tried this but I wonder if leaving them in the hot sun for a bit would help make the bearings easier to press in. Good idea on marking the eccentrics. Take heed of the warning on not to make them too tight. How far in the build are you, Dan? My general tip to everyone is to lay the hardware bags out, label up, in a logical manner. Group the M6 with the M6, M5 with the M5, etc. The build is a lot more fun when you aren't digging under piles of other parts looking for a screw. It's easy to get excited and get disorganized, but it pays to stay cool and keep it organized, Glad you brought up the glue sizing method of sealing MDF. In the store fixture industry when we made store fixtures that were supposed to look like fine painted furniture that was the method used to seal up MDF. We would machine up the MDF however we needed to and then glue size it to seal it then paint it and it would look fantastic. Keep in mind that store fixtures have to be sturdy and look nice not actually "be" furniture. And YES balance the sides. If you finish one side you have to finish the other. If you veneer one side you should veneer the other. That even applies to laminate if you're not using contact cement. Contact cement can give you some leeway. In industrial work though laminate is usually applied with white glue and "cold pressed" to set the glue faster and you must use a backer or it will turn into a potato chip. No matter what the substrate is. We shot for 3/4" finished stock so it was 11/16" particle board, 1/32" laminate on finished side and 1/32" backer on non-finished side. Sorry, I'm blabbing on. Basically what I'm saying -- the glue sizing (50/50 white glue & water) is another good alternative to seal up MDF. I wanted to stay away from the water - didn't trust myself and went with shellac. Plus shellac dries fast. I'm jumping around a bit on the build since I'm painting. Y axis plates made up. Y axis belt plate made up. Z axis plate all done up to spindle mount. homing switch plates made up and switch on X axis plate. One other little tip. Making up Z axis plate I put the rods in the linear bearings when I tightened the screws. To hold things straight. Plus, I just wanted to see the rods in there and how the bearings worked!
|
|
kb9jlo
Junior Member
Posts: 73
|
Tips
Aug 10, 2016 13:51:20 GMT
Post by kb9jlo on Aug 10, 2016 13:51:20 GMT
My general tip to everyone is to lay the hardware bags out, label up, in a logical manner. Group the M6 with the M6, M5 with the M5, etc. The build is a lot more fun when you aren't digging under piles of other parts looking for a screw. It's easy to get excited and get disorganized, but it pays to stay cool and keep it organized, RIGHT! Like I can slow down to do that! Ha, ha! Seriously I'm trying to lay things out and take my time. I want to enjoy the build. The finishing and painting are tedious though. Wish I could speed that up. I need to hire someone to do my sanding! I'm anxious to see how the hammertone finish turns out. I plan to have enough paint built up on everything to do aluminum.
|
|
|
Tips
Aug 10, 2016 23:32:35 GMT
Post by kevin on Aug 10, 2016 23:32:35 GMT
My general tip to everyone is to lay the hardware bags out, label up, in a logical manner. Group the M6 with the M6, M5 with the M5, etc. The build is a lot more fun when you aren't digging under piles of other parts looking for a screw. It's easy to get excited and get disorganized, but it pays to stay cool and keep it organized, RIGHT! Like I can slow down to do that! Ha, ha! Seriously I'm trying to lay things out and take my time. I want to enjoy the build. The finishing and painting are tedious though. Wish I could speed that up. I need to hire someone to do my sanding! I'm anxious to see how the hammertone finish turns out. I plan to have enough paint built up on everything to do aluminum. I can't blame you. As much as you know you need to slow down and go systematically sometimes its hard not to dive in. It looks like you are making good progress though. I bet the hammered finish is going to look great. Do you have an estimate on completion?
|
|
kb9jlo
Junior Member
Posts: 73
|
Tips
Aug 11, 2016 3:42:20 GMT
Post by kb9jlo on Aug 11, 2016 3:42:20 GMT
I can't blame you. As much as you know you need to slow down and go systematically sometimes its hard not to dive in. It looks like you are making good progress though. I bet the hammered finish is going to look great. Do you have an estimate on completion? Probably this weekend I hope. The hammertone paint will be the hold up. With our heat and humidity I can only paint so many things in the evenings. Plus, with my bum shoulder I can only sand so much! I do have one side of one end painted with the hammertone. It is really sharp. Has texture and that hammertone look to it. The shellac sealed up the edges and the primer smoothed everything down. Truthfully for me it's fantastic but it does really look good. The hammertone paint is enamel - so you recoat in an hour or 48 hours! Ugh. I hate that. But I tried to push enamel once before and it crackled and screwed up something horrible so I will obey what it says. If I can get all of the other pieces, one side, tomorrow night then I should be able to finish it up this weekend. We'll see. I brought the hammertone pained piece back into the garage (partial AC in garage) and it doesn't outgas much. Man the primer was horrible!
|
|
|
Post by aforww on Aug 13, 2016 4:26:22 GMT
Looking forward to seeing it. I just got the base color coat on mine. Once it's set up I'll do my stenciling and apply the top coat. I'm super stoked about this paint scheme idea. It takes me back. Looking forward to seeing yours KB. I like hammer tone enamel. It's a very interesting look for a project like this.
|
|
kb9jlo
Junior Member
Posts: 73
|
Tips
Aug 14, 2016 2:23:36 GMT
via mobile
Post by kb9jlo on Aug 14, 2016 2:23:36 GMT
I'm pleased so far with the color & look. I really wore myself out this week and so I'll start working again either tomorrow or Monday.
|
|
|
Post by aforww on Aug 14, 2016 4:46:47 GMT
I'm pleased so far with the color & look. I really wore myself out this week and so I'll start working again either tomorrow or Monday. I may, or may not be able to do much with mine this week. Texas weather. Been well over a hundred degrees lately then, all of a sudden it does what it does best. Falls apart out of nowhere. Calling for rain all week down here in the south and there's so much humidity no finishing goes right. Fingers crossed.
|
|
kb9jlo
Junior Member
Posts: 73
|
Post by kb9jlo on Aug 14, 2016 19:08:20 GMT
I fought that too. My Satin black on the bed is 'splotchy' but it is the bed and the bed is going to get scratched, cut and generally mutilated I'm sure. We're in the middle of corn country and it's amazing how much water corn puts into the air when the sun is shining. Fortunately, Decatur where I live hasn't had a lot of rain. But it's been all around. The state fair is going on in Springfield about 40 miles away and they got 5" in a little over an hour and flooded the campgrounds and a whole bunch of camping trailers (lots of folks stay there while showing and stuff). It looked like the campers probably had 18-24" of water in them. Of course that's nothing like Louisiana! Keep all those folks in our prayers. A.F. - My parts are all painted. I should be starting on putting this all together. Man I'm ready to hear & see this thing.
|
|
|
Post by Derek the Admin on Aug 15, 2016 2:14:32 GMT
I highly recommend using a waste board to place over the bed. A piece of 1/4" MDF is a great choice for this. It doesn't eat up too much Z height, was pretty darned flat anyway, and will save your bed.
Places like home depot sell 2'x2' sheets of this for three or four dollars around here. Just cut out a couple different sized 1/4" thick MDF pieces and lay them under the stock you actually want to cut before you clamp.
We actually have some extra beds made that we are going to sell once we can get them listed separately, but I really want to help people keep the cutting tool out of their original bed if I can.
EDIT: You are almost never going to get things just dead perfect when it comes to zeroing the end mill to the stock top, stock thickness measured right, etc . If you machine right down to the bed you are bound to scar it up.
|
|
kb9jlo
Junior Member
Posts: 73
|
Post by kb9jlo on Aug 15, 2016 4:54:27 GMT
I have another tip - - when driving the screws into the v-beam extrusions pre-start the screws before ever attaching anything. Just drive the screws into the extrusions a 1/2" or so then put the washer on and drive it through the appropriate panel. (hee, hee: autocorrect edit)
|
|
kb9jlo
Junior Member
Posts: 73
|
Tips
Aug 15, 2016 14:55:51 GMT
Post by kb9jlo on Aug 15, 2016 14:55:51 GMT
Derek, I got some time to work last night. And since parts were painted and all the "subassemblies" were done it went together quite quickly and easily. Can you look at the Y axis pictures and see if everything looks OK? It lined up perfect, parallel and square the belt hold down bracket I forgot to put lock washers, but i used super glue in the holes. I'll see if the screws will move tonight and if they won't I'm going to leave it as-is. goo.gl/photos/pwN2qnoDdZN2NZxf9I was having an issue aligning the v bearings on the X axis. It never seems like you can get all six wheels to turn. i move the eccentrics and you could get different wheels to turn but no matter what I did I couldn't get all six to turn. It doesn't appear to wiggle at all. And it moves freely. Right now the top three wheels move and the bottom middle wheel moves. Weird. Advice? Of course I'm assuming it will be a completely different situation under load.
|
|