Shop update #225 (2-16-22)

One of the leaders from my son’s old Cub Scout contacted my wife on Wednesday and asked I could make some last minute plaques for the company that she works for.  She had a budget that worked for me so I ordered some S4S Red Oak from https://www.cherokeewood.com/ #notsponsored  They are not a sponsor but they are local to me and I use them whenever I need hardwoods.  They also have very reasonable shipping costs. 

If you ever order anything from the website, tell them that I sent you!

I ordered the Red Oak in 24″ x 6″ x 3/4″ lengths and then trimmed them down to 6 x 8 blanks.  I’m making 13 plaques but I got enough oak to make 18.  I’m still learning my way on the laser engraver and wanted enough to make a few mistakes.  I will use the extra to make future birthday presents.

I took all the info sent to me and formatted it for my xTool D1 laser engraver.  Each plaque had different information and text on it.  I then spent all of Saturday engraving them.  Each plaque took about 25 minutes.

I broke out the router table and gave each plaque a slight chamfer to give it some depth.

One of the plaques had some tear out in the chamfer so I had to make it a little deeper.

Once that was done, I mounted them on my X-Carve CNC machine and routed out holes in the back to use as hanging points.

I plan on sanding them tomorrow night and then give them 2 or 3 coats of an oil based finish.