After seeing Steven’s notebook posting ( Wooden notebook ), i figured I’d post the one I did this weekend using wood and acrylic. This is a guest sign in book for my mom’s wedding this weekend.
It was a simple project, just carved out the design with a 1mm down cut bit, mixed up some casting acrylic and various mica powders. Made sure to overflow it a bit to get a good seal on the top. Let it all cure overnight, then threw it back on the CNC.
Used a 3/4" straight cut bit and made a box in Easel to “fill in” .01 from the surface. Took about 3 minutes to do it and it worked out perfectly.
Ran both pieces (front and back cover) through the thickness planer till they were thin, but still sturdy.
I did some sanding through 400 grit to bring out the colors on the acrylic, then 4 coats of wipe on poly. Then got some leather straps and made the binding.
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Very nice. Using the x-carve to just mill away the excess acrylic overflow was a genius idea! I would have been sitting there for an hour with my random orbital sander messing with that.
That was my thought exactly. It does make a mess, but man does it save on time. Not to mention the masted sand paper.
This is excellent work. I love posting of projects like this. It shows the creativity that we all can learn from and improve our projects as well. Thank you
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Same here, we’re all still learning and this is the best community to do that in.
Great work. Love the piece.
Thanks for sharing
Wow after doing a few epoxy overlayed cutting boards I might have to try that idea of milling the excess off.
it’s worth it. find a large bit, like i said i used a 3/4", and mess with the speed and feed rates. i kept the Dewalt 611 in between the 3 and 4 on the dial, and the feed rate was pretty high at 65 in/min. it was good though, no shards, melting or lines left behind on the acrylic. saved me so much time and i can’t wait to do it again with a few other ideas i have.
I’m still learning settings and everything. I’ll try with leaving the dial on 1. But I couldn’t carve with that high of a feed rate with a 1mm bit. Tried it a little faster than what i had and it broke the bit, twice. I guess top milling is easier to run high feed rates with? I was nervous about the acrylic shipping out so i kept it at 65
That looks great! How do you get rid of the air bubbles? Every time I use epoxy I end up with tons of small air bubbles.
Add just a touch of heat with a lighter and bubbles are gone
i used the suggested .028
Like Philip said, I use a small butane torch. quickly graze just above the surface of the epoxy/acrylic and they pop. for the larger areas, i use the random orbital sander without a pad on it and let the sander shake the bubbles to the surface. if i plan on milling it off, i don’t bother with the torch when i see bubbles.
