Barrette in Manzanita and Turquoise

[joeblow]

My wife loves barrettes and really nice and unique ones are hard to find.  We took a 2 week vacay to the Southwest this past Spring and we stopped at a small woodshop in Jerome, AZ where I was able to buy a few small branches of Manzanita which is just beautiful wood but never grows big enough for any real usable lumber.  Also stopped at the Kingman Turquoise Mine on the way to Vegas where I was able to purchase turquoise at wholesale pricing.

Our anniversary is in a couple weeks so this is what I came up with for her.....

2 sided job

2 rail sweep on top and bottom

clipart from Aspire

.0312TBN with 3% stepover for final finish pass

CA finish buffed and polished

1.25" x 4" in size

I really enjoyed making this for her

[johnb]

Joeblow...that is beautiful
Can you explain a little more about buffing and polishing cyanoacrylate?

[gerry]

Very nice. It's definitely a very unique piece.

I would also like to hear about the cyanoacrylate application and polishing. I'd read about turners using it, but not flat pieces. I've recently been playing with a low speed buffer that I installed a Beall Wood Buff System on. I've tested it with some topcoats and have finished some projects with Watco Danish Oil, then buffed. Nice hand rubbed look.

[joeblow]

Jul 25, 2019 9:18:59 GMT -5 johnb said:

Joeblow...that is beautiful
Can you explain a little more about buffing and polishing cyanoacrylate?

I have been using the Beall 3-1 lathe mounted buff system for a number of years now to finish smaller pieces.  Since purchasing the AR6 with rotary I don't use my lathe much anymore so it has pretty much become a dedicated buffing station.  For me, this was the missing link to finishing my finishes.  Works incredibly well on unfinished wood, rattle can lacquer, oil finishes, CA finishes, etc.

For this piece I wanted the hardness of a CA finish.  I applied 5 coats of thin CA and then filled any recesses/defects with a thick CA.  I did use an accelerator on the thick CA applications.  Sanded the back of the barrette to 1500.  Thankfully the front only had one plunky spot in the upper left hand corner so carefully sanded that area after filling without hitting the carved portion.  After that, I applied about another 10 or so applications of the thin CA.  I wanted enough buildup before buffing so as to not cut through the finish to bare wood. 

I started with the tripoli and used a slower speed (about 700) to keep the buff on the looser side to be able to buff out the model on the front.  Any faster and the buff would have only hit the peaks.  Then followed with the white diamond and lastly applied the carnuba with the final buff.  The piece did not need the carnuba at all but it really puts a nice "feel" to the piece.

Tips for applying the CA.....Work fast.  I used a folded up paper towel for the back flat side.  Wet the end of the towel out and wiped once only for each application.  Bad things happen if you wipe more per application or apply to slowly.  For the front I used modeler brushes and again only brushed once per application. 

A CA finish is a very hard finish and I felt it was best for this piece to hold up to the wear and it really does buff out beautifully.

[johnb]

Wow...just as in house painting (where preparation is 90% of the work), the REAL "work" in this piece is in the finishing

[gerry]

Thanks.... Excellent info.

[joeblow]

Jul 26, 2019 11:35:13 GMT -5 gerry said:

Thanks.... Excellent info.

You're very welcome Gerry.  The more you use the Beall buff the more you will like it.  I'm considering the bowl buffs thinking it might be easier to buff 2.5/3d work. 

Johnb....Exactly!  Preparation and Finish seem to always be the brunt of any job.  A bit went into the prep side long before I secured on the CNC and pressed play.  This is what I came up with.

My 1st post showed the branch I started with but here's a few more pics...

I decide to put the branch in a form that was uniform and measurable which made it easier inputting the job dimensions in Aspire's job setup.  Branch is hot glued in numerous places and then I filled with an expanding foam thinking it would grab any areas not held by the hot glue.  I used to use a 2 part expanding foam a long time ago when I was making forms/molds for fiberglass layups.  I didn't have any on hand so simply used the expanding foam you would find at the big box stores.  It was all an experiment but I think the foam worked well.  Next time I will order the 2 part which is much denser and stiffer after cure.

Once formed, I cut it to size on the tablesaw and cut a pocket on the front side to verify where the branch sat before tooling.  The form made it easy to flip and register for a 2 sided job and Z was always set to the top of the form so no issues there.

I would love to hear any suggestions or feedback as I think I will be doing similar jobs in the future.  There is something pretty neat about seeing what comes out of the middle of a branch.

[johnb]

Brilliant holding technique! I did notice that HD had a (much) firmer one part foam available in my local store last week. I don't recall, but I don't THINK it was a "Great Stuff" product, although I'd think their "Big Gap"products would be inherently stronger/stiffer. I know that the "Minimally Expanding" foam is denser than the regular stuff (and it won't spread your door jambs). I would think that, if you built a temporary lid for your form and screwed it down leaving a hole for the straw, you'd get a dense enough "pack" from that. Whatever overfills is gonna "grow" right out the hole, but I'd put in some "extra holes" in the top and sides anyway. (whereas the full expansion stuff might actually spread your form apart if you use too much, even without a top)

Since you can buy enough of the two part to fill 2 cubic feet with (closed cell) foam for about $45, that might be cheaper in the long run unless you have a big project or embed enough projects to use up a rattle can's worth of the one part all at once. I've used the "self sealing straw" foam for some of my shop construction, but I always ended up using it all up within a day or two. I don't know how long you could "hold it" and still have it work if you only use a little at a time.

Just out of curiosity, did you set the "work perimeter" to the size of the form and sacrifice the form in milling or use the size of the embedded branch?

[joeblow]

Jul 27, 2019 14:39:54 GMT -5 johnb said:

Just out of curiosity, did you set the "work perimeter" to the size of the form and sacrifice the form in milling or use the size of the embedded branch?

Having learned recently it is best to minimize your job dimensions relative to your model in order to maximize the resolution in Aspire, I zeroed X and Y in the center and used a dimension that was a 1/2" larger than the model for length and width.  What was critical to me was establishing a Z to work with which the form I made provided.  I used the thickness of that form and adjusted the model position in Aspire after measuring where the top of the branch was relative to the top of the form before tooling.  My 1st paths on the front were conservative and I ended up lowering Z an additional 2.5mil and then when milling the back side just set my Z 2.5mil higher to compensate.  The model measured precisely what I inputted in Aspire when completed. 

Thanks for the foam tip.  I will definitely check it out next trip to HD.  I used to get 2 part in small sizes years ago and simply measure out as needed.  Would last about 6 months or so.  Here's a link if you're curious...

link