Little something for the Golfers

[keninar]

Since the weather is beginning to straighten up and football season is over, golf has become a topic of discussion at work. I don’t play often, but many of my co-workers do. As such, I am always trying to think of things fro them from the shop: custom turned tees, golf ball business card holders, etc. The gold ball holder is not an original idea, I ran across it some years ago on another CNC site while researching designs to build my own. Then came the CW, and I’ve finally gotten around to trying to make one.

Enclosed are pics of 2 versions; one with external hinges and one with a “lip/lip” structure (my preference). The walnut holder is from 1.25” thick stock; while the pine one is from 4 layers of .75” stock. Pros and cons on both designs, personal preference.

Obviously the 1.25” thick stock cannot be “cutout” because of the depth, but perhaps one could do it in a 2-sided carve. I chose to carve a “story cut” on the outline and finish it up on the bandsaw. Same thing for the holes for the balls: could have been carved or pocketed. I chose to spot a centerpoint and drill the holes with a Forstner bit on the drill press. Still have a problem spending “machine time” on something that can be done on an existing machine. The pine design, on .75” stock, will handle the cutout and circles, even allowing for a dished recess at the bottom. Again, personal preference.

The names on the top were centerline carving. The walnut box had the name filled with FIMO clay, baked then sanded. Both concepts present well – again, personal preference.

Many of the challenges I ran into while designing these were answered by posts here in one of the forums. Thanks to all who contribute – you never know how your answer to problem “A” will help the person looking to answer problem “B.”

Many Thanks to all.

keninar

[dltccf]

I like it, our church is sponsoring a charity golf tournament in about 6 weeks. This is a great idea for making for one of the prizes. Would you be willing to share the mpc?

[rcdages]

Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really a great idea. I like the choicwe of the font. What is the name of this font?

Keep up the grat work.

[easybuilt]

I love it! Great job.

[tierman]

Great project as with all your work, Robt.

[mtylerfl]

Hi keninar,

Excellent work! What a great idea, too.

Thank you for detailing your procedure. I really like how you use the various tools to work most efficiently. Not everything needs (or necessarily should) be done 100% on a CNC. Other tools in the shop often make sense to augment what is done on the CNC. The old saying, "choose the right tool for the job" is certainly emphasized on your project.

I do have a question about the FIMO clay bake in the walnut top...I have used a lot of Sculpy clay (virtually the same as FIMO). I have never tried baking the clay along with a wood item. Any caveats or things to watch for when doing that? When I bake Sculpy, I set the oven at 275 F and bake for about 15 or 20 minutes for say, 1/2" thick clay. I imiagine the baking time would be less for a thin layer like you used in the "inlay" of the lettering. Is that correct?

Again, excellent ideas, implementation and design!

[keninar]

Thanks to all for the kind comments. Will be glad to share the mpc's - allow me to "clean 'em up" first (and get back to where they are located - darned work keeps getting in the way of the fun stuff!).

Michael, My experience with FIMO and wood has been most positive. The FIMO spec, per the packaging label, is to bake at 230 F for 30 min. I will admit I got some really strange looks from my darling bride as I selected her brand new Air Cushion cookie sheet to hold my wood pieces. Been married long enough to recognize that look, and rapidly swapped my projects to an old sheet!

Depth of the clay has been averaging app .25" (many, many coasters and now the golf boxes) and it all seems to be cured by 30 min. The 230 F temp hasn't been a problem to date. Have used this approach with pine/fir, poplar, maple, walnut, red and white oak, all with good, stable results. I'll admit, I haven't run the combustion parameter tests on the woods, but did stay real close int he first couple. Saw no flames, so took that as a good sign and now only pay attention to the timer.

Hope this helps.

Again, Thanks for the comments. Will post as soon as I get access (darned work, again!)

keninar

[keninar]

My apologies for the delay in getting these file posted: Darned work seems to continue to get in the way of the RFS (Really Fun Stuff!). The 2 files (top and bottom) are designed for 1.25 thickness stock.
The recess in the underside of the is done with a carve and a vector - but you may have a better way to accomplish this. The text (which was just good old Arial Black for Joe's Balls) requires the Center line software and a 90 v-bit; but can be done as a raster carve quite easily. I do 'em both ways, especially when I don't want to mess with the clay.

The components here can be easily taken apart for those that may wish to use standard 3/4 stock, making a 3" tall holder.

There is no pride in authorship here - there are probably many ways to make this project more efficient. All I can say is it works for me - and perhaps it will spur additional interest.


To the forum - Thanks!

keninar