mistermikev Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 wow, that fine detail there looks really great. nice work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 I imagine this part will have a high pucker factor. Ebony cutting cross grain is tough and chippy! You've got the chops though, so I look forward to good updates tomorrow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 I’m puckering alright. Actually not worried about the excavation, high speed endmills cut well, and its shallow. Getting the thin curves to be visually accurate (realism) is the hard part. Your eye can see the slightest curve changes. I thought it would be cutting the thin pieces, but that’s not been an issue. I’ve still got some work on the smaller “planet”, it need to be trimmed down to make it more believable like the printout. My plan is for the “star with rays” to be silver. The rays will need to be dead straight, and thin AF. If I can get it 92.6% right . . . and look like two planets with edge lighting and not two clunky chunks of pearl - I’ll be happy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 You've gotten me thinking about how to do this in pearl now. It's a nice thought exercise. Short of CNC cutting or masking the outline (not an option in this instance) it's tricky as hell to do by hand, and just as hard to inspect by eye prior to installation. For my own part I think it would work well as a pantograph job. Attaching the face of the material to a temporary supporting backer, cutting in mirror from the base and then installing the piece with the backer attached. Larger circles as template guides are easy to make. Regardless of how I'd approach this, how you've done it is pretty damn exemplary. Like you say, regular shapes like curves and straight lines are hell for spotting irregularities by eye. I think you're more on the side of 92,7% if not more already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 21 hours ago, komodo said: MADNESS!! I'll say. And in ebony, no less. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 The astute can see in the earlier picture that the small planet had too much circumference. Major pucker as I cut the thinnest sliver off of the thinnest piece and it’s thinnest part. Lots of blade lube, slow and steady, keep the blade vertical. If the blade tilts at all, you tend to push the piece up and slam it down cracking it. Then some uber fine filing and sanding to get it close. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 I've seen cat's whiskers that were thicker than that. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 As mentioned I’ve recut one side of the small planet. In the second picture with the long whisker - that one broke and has been CAd. Though I’m saving it as a backup. If you look at the design, long skinny bits going horizontally down the board are no big deal. Going vertically has to follow the radius, so that’s a trick. It’ll probably require being more than one piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lumberjack Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 Incredible work on this guitar, especially that ridiculous set of inlays. Looking forward to seeing them set in! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 Excavated and inlaid. Many ideas of templates and circular jigs have been in my head, deciding how to do the routes. In the end I did it freehand using my 1/32” mill, which is really no issue as thats exactly how slow you should be doing it. The only real problems are visibility (lots of light, head magnifier), and clearing the dust (stop often and brush). It’s still somewhat sloppy, but the ebony dust / CA trick works the absolute best with Gaboon. Inlays pressed in, packed with saved Gaboon dust then flooded with very thin CA. My wife asked “are you happy with it”? As I told her, I really don’t know until it’s filed and sanded down. That’s when you can really see the fruit of your labors. The accuracy of cutting and filing the pearl ends up being way more important than the excavation of the ebony. I know there are inlay artists who will cut it so close that you can actually snap the inlay in....I’m not one of them. Ha. That last pic is for @Prostheta, thats my largest silver wire hammered down to make the star flares. I’ll probably try it with my smaller wire as this is still pretty fat. Those channels might be sawed with my .008 saw. I can see the end of the tunnel now! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 Very cool! If you wrap a piece of tape around your cutter shank like a flag, it'll help blow dust from the cut. Visibility is always difficult, and I think that's a better option than an air supply like my old Stewmac base used to blow it around. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 11 hours ago, Prostheta said: If you wrap a piece of tape around your cutter shank like a flag, it'll help blow dust from the cut. Genius! 50k rpm fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 I'm just surprised that you'd never come across this little cheat before. I believe that @Andyjr1515 does this also? I've also (let's talk top end silly here) seen people 3D print fans that fit over the shank of your router bit, however I can't say that I'd be too convinced over the remaining visibility or having pearl dust blow around the place. Away from the cut, sure. In my lungs? Nope noooooope. The pearl planetary light arcs look very neat. I'm sure they'll come out even better once filed flat. Can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 I’ve used the same as a depth gauge for drill bits but hadn’t considered doing it on a router bit. RE: pearl dust. I wouldn’t want to route it. Even with the jewelers saw it creates dust so fine that when you brush it off the surface, it goes into suspension and rises up like a cloud. I’m masked always, even for little trimming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 Susie Gardener built a nice dust collector to her inlay cutting bench: Just a piece of plastic tube split in half, the upper half over the bench. I'd add a piece of pantyhose either directly on the top or where the tube connects to the vacuum. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2020 Next stop, silver star flares. That bit on the end of the big one should disappear as I do final sanding. That part broke and sank a little lower, so the ebony/CA is built ip on that edge. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted January 16, 2020 Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 Impressive attention to detail. This is going to look spectacular 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2020 Slow going. Tiny and careful work. Right now I’m getting the tiny star flares in, but also one of the bigger flares must not have seated on one end, as it is extremely thin and pulling up. So, I’ll have to either feather in a piece on top of it or get it out and put a new one in. When all the flares are in, I’ll drill and place one star at the center point to hide the joints. The channel for the small flares is .008 to give you idea of scale. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 .008? Yikes. How's the silver at those thicknesses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted January 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 @Prostheta It's fine. It's still quite metally, snips with fret trimmers but with just a little bit of al dente. Silver is an excellent material. In college I took every jewelry smithing class they had to take advantage of the large studio while I was there. All the other graphic deigners took photography, which I thought was ridiculous as I could do that any time and anywhere. I played with copper, brass and silver a lot, and silver easily takes the cake overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post komodo Posted January 20, 2020 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 I guess this is done. After putting the center star flare star in I wish it was the smallest instead of larger, as it breaks the illusion. But the flares nexus was also not realistic. Also, since the top flare tilted on inlay and is very shallow on one end, it may disintegrate as I do final sanding, so we may not be done yet. Lastly, the two tiny pearl areas to the left of the star flare just disintegrated as there was so little area. I may be able to set in some tiny triangles, but not today. Overall I’m happy I could get this much! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 That looks killer! But it makes my eyes vibrate just thinking about attempting to do it. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted January 21, 2020 Report Share Posted January 21, 2020 Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 23, 2020 Report Share Posted January 23, 2020 Magnificent. Never again will I grumble about cutting out my Swifts! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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