Frank, I appreciate your thought process and you sharing your “mistakes” as a learning experience. You thoroughly investigate your errors and show your audience your lessons learned. I am an Engineer so I am often analyzing my actions.
Every time I want to do an inlay i have to go back to a video i watched that very clearly laid it all out for me - it wasn't nearly as complicated or hacky as yours, but maybe I wasn't doing as deep of an inlay that it mattered? This is the tutorial i have bookmarked as a refresher each time -- The VCarve Inlay Technique by Shawn Gano
Frank, making a 2 hour job last a month is called retirement! It is those problem solving situations that makes the grey matter work and keeps the interest up. I have been adding 'features' to my drill press (motorised up/down table, automatic lock/unlock and air or lubrication blast inspired by Marius Hornburger) for the last 2 months as I wait for parts or change the arduino code to get it working as it should.
Gave up on clamps long ago. I just screw the work to the machine bed. Easy and quick. No obstacles. Inlays are about the bits and the depths. You should make a wood "press" to glue the inlays (like a sandwich). That will help the inlay to go down nice and straight. Nice work on a pretty sophisticated project. Thanks for video!!!
in the future, no need to have a symmetrical shape, you just need to mirror the inlay and use this mirrored shape to program the cnc. when you actually "rotate" the part to glue it in, it's kinda mirroring it again so it fits perfectly!
My god frank, you make everyone on RU-vid, woodworkers film making look like amateurs. Amazing work as always. Love your videos, and cant get enough of watching them, i always end up going back to your older videos and watch them again for the 10th time
Im glad that you figured out the issue and impressed and pleased that you kept plugging away at it until you had something. Weaker willed folks might have given up. I also enjoyed the recurring theme of tossing the work piece onto a surface and letting the autoclamps do the rest. Ive been watching you for 7 years and its still fresh and new yet familiar and comforting. Keep up the good work.
Now that is a really nice platter!! love the inlay of maple! Almost makes me want to make something like that! Alas, no CNC or lathe!! The finish is wonderful!! Your videos and woodworking are TOP notch!! Thanks for sharing!! Always look forward to your videos!!
When pushing the plugs in place you're trying to compress air and glue (you have a pretty tight fit of your pieces, the glue is a good sealant for trapping the air) so a tiny hole somewhere in your plug or your main pieces might help with clamping, because then the air can escape.
That's fantastic, Frank. The only problem for me is that since I don’t do CNC work, my head is spinning from all the explanations lol. That doesn't detract from how amazing it turned out, though. Bill
So very pretty. That looks so good. And so technically complex. Seems like it'd be far stronger than normal (thinner) bow ties. The striped inlay pattern is really cool. It's so fun to watch the constant learning and technical improvement. Always impressive. A clock face like this would be amazing! It doesn't have to have numbers, just positions. Maybe symbols for the cardinal points?
I absolutely love your combination of hi-tech and analogue craftsmanship, Frank. As always, the finished piece was incredible. Thank you so much for all the effort you put into sharing your thoughts and processes with us.
Always a pleasure to see your work come together. The ability to create, program, figure out the right material, and then make all that work out time after time is a great thing. I used to run CNC milling machines in the 90’s, so I am not sure about the software you have today. Couldn’t you do the tool path for one quadrant, then mirror that in the c axis and the y axis? That should ensure symmetry. Great work Frank, thanks for sharing.
Wonderful video Frank! I've recently been learning how to do inlays on the CNC too. I'm using the same 6.2 degree bit. I've found that cutting into endgrain makes for super clean inlays, so you might try that sometime. I've been using Fusion 360 to make the tool paths. It seemed to work okay but kinda hacky at times as well. Would be interested to see you try it!
If you were going to do these inlays on a much more expensive or harder-to-replace substrate, it might be worth investing in a low-cost 3D scanner. You could scan the cutouts and their corresponding inlay pieces to confirm they match geometrically before gluing them in... Thank you for innovating at the cutting edge (pun intended) of CNC woodworking:)
This was a awesome video dude! You should look into a arbour press if you looking for something inexpensive. They are small but have a range of forces (1/2 to 5 tons???!) and would be perfect for the inlays. The throat of the press could potentially be the only limiting factor.
About the press/holding jig (for glue ups of big pieces where clamps doesn't reach.). I think you could put your pieces under a bench and use rods to push the piece against the top. Those rod doesn't have to be perfect, better if they are flexible so you can bend them into position. I hope it make sense.
Too bad you've already done the globe, I would have thought the vcarving would have been the way to go on that. Being a retired engineer, I appreciate your measured approach to developing new skills and processes, and am dying to see what you decide to do with this one on a sphere.
Your gluing issue at 14:04 seems like an interesting issue in hydraulics. Might be fun to experiment with different types of glue, potentially with different solvents. Or carving in channels for the excess air/glue to escape.
Another great video. thanks. I didnt quite get why this had to be V carved vs a normal straight bit. does the pattern not go all the way through? Ill have to rewatch. thanks
Great work as always Frank! I am also struggling using a tapered ball-nose (TPN) bit instead of a 'pointy' V-bit. Could you share how you have set the TBN in Aspire? This would really help me out.
20:58 For your next project that requires something held down while it dries but is too large for your clamps, go to your local Value Village or Goodwill store and see if they have an old barbell set and use one of the round disk weights as your clamp... Alternatively, your local Habitat Restore should have some pavers or patio squares you can use... Or, if you live in (or near) a Rural area, see if you can find a large rock with a flat face on it to use as a weight...
You probably missed the feature have been able to make steps with the aspire program but it has been 6 months since I have used the program so can’t quite remember how
Why does the green radial arm saw always require so much jerky motion to pull it through? The larger radial arm saw is so smooth when you use it... I've always wondered.
While you had it on the CNC, cutting the outer edge, why not make a circular impression to add the chuck? This would have insured that it was centered and you wouldn't need to waste the block you did use. If you are going to turn off the extreme bottom of the inlays, then you should just go ahead and go deeper with the pocket, this would allow the glue to escape and possibly allow easier insertion. The inlay "bottoming out" would be one cause of gaps.
