Shop update #86 (6-19-19)

Do you remember the planter box that I made a couple of weeks ago?  One of the attendees at the retirement party saw it and contacted me about making a large puzzle piece plaque for her.

I stopped by Home Depot on Saturday and picked up a 1 ft piece of Birch 1×8 and a 2 ft piece of Oak 1×8 as a backup.

I did a quick Google search and found a free puzzle piece that was already in .svg format.  I imported it into my Free Easel account and modified it to make the bottom flat.  I added in the requested text and then broke it into 2 separate parts so that I could use a 60° V-Bit for the text and a 1/8″ 2 flute bit to cut out the puzzle shape.

I setup the piece of Birch in my X-Carve CNC machine and carved the text first.

Once that was finished, I cut out the puzzle shape.  I tend to run the machine a little slow so each step took about 20 minutes.

It didn’t quite cut all the way through so I used a razor knife and flush trim bit to remove the excess.

I then masked off the letters and gave them a good coat of black spray paint.

I let it dry overnight and through the day on Monday.  That night I sanded off the excess paint.

I plan on rounding over the edges, giving it a good sanding, and putting some finish on it this weekend.