Floating Anchor

[BillK]

Made this as a birthday present for someone who has a nautical themed room. Cherry wood from a local sawmill, natural clear finish. Created with Aspire.

Comments and questions are always welcome.

[basecircle]

Hi Bill real nice carving.I am sure that the person receiving this Will hang with pride. Basecircle

[jeb2cav]

Really nice work Bill. Where did you place the tabs for the final cutout? What size is this overall? Thanks for sharing your work.

[BillK]

Thanks Basecircle and Joe.

Joe,

I used to have issues with using tabs. I did a project 1.5" thick as a cutout. On either side of the tabs I got indentations the size of the tool over the full width. After much filing and sanding I tried a different method.

I measure the wood's thickness, for example .730 at the thinnest, then subract .015 and so set the depth of cut to .715. This leaves a very thin, but strong layer of wood holding together the part and the waste. As a result, I no longer cut into my scarf board and I cut the edge finish sanding time down to next to nothing. Later, I read somewhere that this is a technique called "skinning" leaving a thin skin to connect the part to the waste. Sometimes I use my scroll saw to cut through the skin, or a coping saw or utility knife. The remainder can be taken off with a file or a flush trim router bit. This works great for inlays for me which I do a lot of.

The anchor size is approximately 8" x 10".

[tonydude]

Bill,

Thanks for explaining the skinning part, gonna try that next time I cut something out. By the way nice work on the anchor.

Tony

[Keith Hodges]

BillK, now I have a name for what happens to me a lot. I buy lumber from a sawmill, most is more than an inch thick. I more than make up carve time by seperating mine on my bandsaw, or, like you, scrollsaw when theirs sharp turns. I like it.

[BillK]

Keith,

Yes, it happened actually by accident to me the first time. I was trying to cut through a large piece and miscalculated the thickness when I removed it from the Shark. Necessity, the Mother of invention.

[Keith Hodges]

It was an accident for me to a couple times. I make my stands for my acrylic lights, and the last file is its profile cut. I make the stand out of 2x4's, and I save a lot of time by just cutting it out on my tablesaw. Other more intricate cuts like I said, bandsaw or scroll. Doesn't make a lot of sense watching 5 or 6 passes when one will do.

[BillK]

Very true Keith, save wear and tear on the CNC and get the next project started. A couple of times with a thick piece, 1 1/2"+, I cut the profile down only 3/4", scroll saw out the shape in the groove, then finish with my flush trim router bit in my router table. The top part is a perfect guide and I find the bottom section comes out smoother. On some pieces if it lends it self to it, I'll then flip the part over and pass the CNC edge half through the trim router.

It solves the dilemna of the thick pieces: you may not have enough height in Z to zero a long bit to cut all the way through. With this method, you can use a shorter bit to just work down to where your trim router bit will work.

[Keith Hodges]

Sounds like we're pretty much on the same page. Love being in good company!