Finally going a lil more public with Project FireBeetle!

[GuitarPhotog]

Bookmatching is a common practice for guitar makers who often choose an asymmetrical grain pattern, then bookmatch the pieces to create symmetry along the axis of the guitar.

You can see lots of examples at my web site www.guitarphotography.com

<Chas>

[tony.latham]

I've heard it's done in teardrops, too.



T

[daveesl77]

Yes, bookmatching is where you slice the wood and when you fold it open the two pieces have mirror images of each other. The cut slices remain together, but open like a page in a book.

In the case of my cedar strips, I would take a 2x6x10' rough cut, dry cedar board and run it through my bandsaw. I use a 3 tpi (tooth per inch), 1/2" wide blade, coat with beeswax. With cedar I wanted a wide open spacing between teeth as the wood is very soft and creates lots of sawdust. The open gap allows the blade to expel the dust easier. Never go cheap on a bandsaw blade, as a good one will last a very long time and make a ton of cuts. But you don't have to mortgage the house to get a good one either. As an example, I used one blade to make over 1,500 linear feet of cuts in the cedar, plus I can't count how much more in other woods, I paid about $50 for it. Before you ever make a cut, always "tune" the saw. Lots of vids on how to do this, it is easy.

I found for this build I liked cuts that were 3/16" inch thick the best, but I test cut stuff down to 1/32". Bandsaws by their nature do not cut perpendicular to the table, but have what is called "bandsaw drift". Look this up on youtube, as it is difficult to describe but easy to correct for. Most bandsaws have a small table, so you make a much bigger one, I make mine out of 3/4" mdf, it is 18" wide and 24" long. I built a fully adjustable fence and a DIY bearing roller pressure plate. My bandsaw top also aligns with my DIY router/scroll saw table (2'x4') and my tablesaw top. This allows me to lay long pieces of lumber down on both the infeed and outfeed sides.

And by the way, there are "butterfly cuts". I had them on a couple of sailboats I had. They are kind of like a double dove tail and used as a mating joint and look beautiful.

dave

[GreenViking]

Thanks guys, all nice examples!

[GreenViking]

I know it has been a few weeks, here are some pics I took from the models been working on in the shop.
Since the laser I have access to is not high enough power for etching metal, I etched the acrylic to get a rough Idea of how I would like to go about "tattoing" the aluminum skin before wrapping. Also been busy with a lantern design I am working on for limited edition release... and a website... and business classes... been real busy!




I have already etched glass with laser, so I know I can do some pretty fancy custom teardrop windows that will look fantastic playing with the sun and moonbeams. In the winter of 2016 I hope to be accepted for a 4 month artist/design high tech residency in SF and that will allow me to produce the FireBeetle at a high degree of finish... meanwhile will continue on the mule prototype at TechShop.

[GreenViking]

It was suggested to me to possibly try acid etching the designs onto the aluminum skin by using vinyl lettering masking as a mask. Anybody here have experience with acid etching aluminum? What chemicals to use? Thanks!

[MtnDon]

We used to use muriatic acid to make copper clad printed circuit boards. We also etched labeling into aluminum project boxes using the same thing. Muriatic acid is a less pure form of hydrochloric acid. Both very dangerous if handled improperly. Fumes very bad too.

[GreenViking]

Thanks MtnDon, I do not think muriatic acid is in my future!!!

BUT, I did come across some stuff called ceramark and Theramark for laser etching into aluminum and steel. Looks real promising! Now need to find a co2 laser in the Bay Area big enough to due a 5x10 sheet of aluminum. Will do some smaller scale experiments in the next month or so on the shop lasers as a proof of concept.

[Plainsgirl]

How is your progress going, Green Viking? So keen to see more!
Kerry