How thick?

[SteveEJ]

Hey folks,

I am making a cedar bench for my daughter for a wedding gift (her wish). The cedar is 2" thick and 14" wide.

Question:

1 - Anyone have a good wedding pattern that could be adapted for the top if the bench? It can't be too deep because it will be sat on and there doesn't need to be and patterns in the buttocks.. LOL

2 - I have never carved anything thicker than 1". Any issues you can think about with 2" stock? I have one shot at this and don't want to mess it up.

Thanks!

[aokweld101]

My understanding is that it will take up to 5" thick I'm sure someone will chime in if I'm wrong and it would be just like anything else that you would carve in 1" board. The parameters I thought where 14.5 x 5.0 make sure that if it's long to support the board

[fwharris]

Steve,

My suggestion for easing the pain in the posterior would be to do a V carve instead of a raster/pattern carve. ;)

Only issue with the 2" x 14" x ?? would be the out feed supports to carry the weight and keeping good tracking.

[SteveEJ]

Thanks for the feedback. I am looking for a VCarve DXF that I can use. I have outfeeds so weight will be supported. I may end up freehanding a heart and bells although I am having a blank on it right now.

[gregsolano]

My garage is a real mess so I cropped the pics to try and hide it but it did not work! LOL! Anyway here is one I am working on right now. I used a standard 2x10 (really rough to start with). I used a mdf sled due to my not trusting the flatness and straight edges of the board, although I use a sled on 99% of my projects. The length is 42 inches so I used roller stands at the infeed and outfeed sides of the machine to ensure it could handle the weight. It handled it with no problem. I did carve the seat a little deep but I sat on it and it does not seem to rough to sit on. I think the sled with masking tape on the bottom to ensure tracking roller grip was the key. I have carved other benches in the same manner as well as large signs with no problem using roller stands and my mdf sled.
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[JoeinWestMich]

I have carved 2" with no problem at all. Just tell the software the wood is this thick. Be careful with 2" stock to make sure the thickness is uniform the whole length. You will likely need to thickness plane even if you buy finished. That comes from experience :). As mentioned above, provide support. Please post a picture of your finished project - sounds like a good one.

[SteveEJ]

Looks great! The roller outfeeds will be a must! This may turn into a very fun project!

Thanks for the info!!

[DickB]

Another idea for a bench top is to use a 2-part poured finish over the carving. This is a custom table top I made for a customer's boat, where the table top can be lowered to form a bed, and the top needed to be smooth. I used Enviro Tex Light over 1.25" maple. I was very pleased with the way it turned out, as was the customer.

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[Digitalwoodshop]

I love the lake board...

As a pre emptive strike... I would order some X Drive Gears and if you use Sand Paper Belts have them..

That will take the stress out of the wedding project as you may have a weak tooth on your X drive and even if you do it all right the tooth may pop off and you will get a X Error...

And before you start.. replace the 2 inner Y Gearbox Bearings....

Sort of like changing the car oil before a Family Summer Car Vacation...

Good Luck,

AL

[SteveEJ]

Dick, Great idea and Great looking table!

Al, thanks for the heads up! I will be going thru the machine tomorrow and may start a vector carve to keep it simple.

Steve

[crfahy]

6530865309 Thought you might like this. I'm not sure who shared it in the past, but it's a nice v carve for a bench.

[SteveEJ]

Thanks Colleen!