Every since my buddy Al put a Langmuir Crossfire Pro CNC plasma cutter in his shop, we’ve talked about doing a joint metal / wood project. A wonderful reunion of three couples, all lifelong friends, finally presented the perfect opportunity to make commemorative plaques a joint project. Starting in Al’s shop, we cut out mountain scenes with an alpine lake in the foreground out of 16 ga. sheet metal. Taking the digital file we had created in Inkscape, along with the metal scenes back to my shop, the process continued on my Openbuilds CNC router. After gluing up and carving three 10 inch x 18 inch plaque blanks, two-part epoxy pours added color. Once the epoxy cured and was sanded, a couple of coats of Minwax Water Based Oil Modified polyurethane sealed the plaques. Finally, the metal scenes were permanently affixed in their pockets with 4400 psi 5-minute epoxy.
Setting up Al’s CNC plasma cutter
The first cut out mountain scene
Sparks fly as the white-hot plasma burns through metal
PPE all around
CNC plasma cutter control software
Some initial cleanup with an abrasive disc
More cleanup with another angle grinder
Mill scale is stubborn
First test cut on the CNC router
The original profile was offset out 1/16 inch
A home made bending roll helped straighten the sheet metal that was slightly warped from the intense heat of the CNC plasma cutter
White ash boards ready for glue up
Edge glued with Titebond III
And clamped in parallel clamps
First bit of engraving with a 60 degree vee bit
Pocketing some areas with a 1/4 inch up cutting end mill
More detailed vee carving
Carved plaques ready for the last few steps
Sealing end grain in the carved areas with dewaxed shellac to prevent the colored epoxy from bleeding too much
Ready to mix and pour two-part epoxy tinted several different colors
Disposable syringes help to deposit the epoxy more accurately than pouring
Blue for the alpine lake and white for snow on the mountians
All epoxy colors poured and finishing after a 24-hour curing time
The Marietta Wood Works branding iron
Adding the MWW brand on the back of the plaques
Sanded and ready for polyurethane
Epoxying in the metal mountain scenes
Painters points helped hold the metal mountin scenes flat while the 5-minute epoxy cured
One of three finished plaques commemorating good friends exploring mountains and alpine lakes together!
