Mount rushmore

[allen levine]

Pieces will be recut if fitting around eyes don't close up enough when pushed together to glue

 

[allen levine]

Its been brought to my attention that I have a lot of negativity in some of my posts
So I won't be negative I'll only state that I'm wasting my time with this but will finish
It's above my skill level and glue up so far has been corrupt
I must have recut 40 pcs already and some multiple times
I have to stick to intarsia that has more layers and less interior cuts until I'm experienced enough
And I made a huge error uesterday
Frustrated with poorly fitted glue up I forgot to use a shim to raise the nose on George w
And could not get it apart so I moved on
I thought about trying to cut it out or glue on a part above it all seemed logical but doing a practice piece it looked like doo doo so I left it
I did shim the face

 

[allen levine]

Just to clarify I'll give an example
The eyes are approx 3/4 inch wide and 1/2 height and it's 6-7 pieces
That's a lot of small pieces and alot of allowance needed for blade width compensation
Layered pieces not worried but so many inside cuts I'm just not there yet

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Considering the amount of detail in this pattern, I think you've gotten a lot farther along than most of us here would have been capable of. I'm still betting it'll look mighty impressive when done.

 

[allen levine]

I'm getting close to ending it but my son said keep going he will take it
Yeah he has everything he's ever owned he never gets rid of anything
I thought with me it's mt no more
Glue up is horrible and I've recut so many pieces

 

[Rennie Heuer]

I'm getting close to ending it but my son said keep going he will take it
Yeah he has everything he's ever owned he never gets rid of anything
I thought with me it's mt no more
Glue up is horrible and I've recut so many pieces

I've been to Mt Rushmore, and I don't seem to remember that guy on the end.

 

[allen levine]

i figured at least one head shouldnt have gaps, although elen says I have holes in my head and many loose screws
although my nose, my cheek, my ear have all been torn apart and sewn together again by a plastic surgeon.
my buddy said I should get my money back.

 

[allen levine]

I kept going discovered why so many misfits and bad fitting parts
Thinner blades I used to watch kerf couldn't handle thicker wood at least for me and cuts weren't perfect
So slight not noticable until I tried to glue up
Recutting alot
Up the road I will redo this pattern in 1/2 inch and use shims make my life easier and maybe have more experience
Here's where I'm at around 120 more pieces and most are tiny

 

[Charles Lent]

@Allen,

I have never done much intarsia, but learned early on to cut, fit, and add each piece, as I cut it, fine fitting each to the previously cut pieces, one at a time. Doing this will eliminate most of the blade gaps, if you trim carefully for perfect fits. Work from one side of the pattern to the other, cutting and then fitting each piece as you go.

Charley

 

[allen levine]

Yeah for 35 or 50 pc project
Internal cuts are difficult but 150 parts with internal cuts at 3/4 inch is extremely difficult for me
I can't use a 2 blade for sharp turns and angles
I'm not making excuses my point only is I'm not ready for this and might not ever reach a skill level needed
When I ordered pattern I never looked at part count

 

[allen levine]

I'm not filling in any more gaps it looks better untouched up
There will be a sapele frame with maple backing
It's finished I wiped a little mineral spirits to get better look

 

[allen levine]

For the pc counters
It calls for 306 pcs
6 pcs were optional to cut in middle making it 312 pc total
I counted this morning approx 90 pcs I recut but I believe it was more since some I just tossed the rest are all over the floor and work benches
I'll give it lacquer later in week
After a year of these skinny ca glue bottles falling over 30 times a day I finally made a stand why didn't I think of that 8 months ago?

 

[Jim DeLaney]

I'm not filling in any more gaps it looks better untouched up
There will be a sapele frame with maple backing
It's finished I wiped a little mineral spirits to get better look

What's not to like about that? Looks good! Frame it and be proud of it!

 

[Jeff Bower]

Jim I agree, that looks great! Allen, you're being to hard on yourself!

 

[Kerry Burton]

[...] with me it's mt no more [...]

Allen, we really need to meet up sometime. You're hilarious!

When I ordered pattern I never looked at part count

Ouch. But ... you're DOIN' it, man!

There's no one else responding to threads anymore [...]
Is anyone else reading this stuff anymore?

After being gone for quite a while, this has been one of the first threads I've read. As Page 1 went by, I thought "Huh - Allen pumped out 15 of 20 posts himself ... the first 7 with no replies. I remember him being a go-getter, but this is above and beyond!"

Anyway, all I can say (besides the fact that Lincoln, with mineral spirits applied, registered as 'Elvis?!' from the corner of my eye ) is
WOW ... WOW
Ain't no way I would have the patience to do what you've done, especially in an ice cold shop. Your version of "Mount NoMore" has your own personality wrapped up in it; I hope it stays in the family for a good long time.

 

[allen levine]

Allen, we really need to meet up sometime. You're hilarious!


Ouch. But ... you're DOIN' it, man!


After being gone for quite a while, this has been one of the first threads I've read. As Page 1 went by, I thought "Huh - Allen pumped out 15 of 20 posts himself ... the first 7 with no replies. I remember him being a go-getter, but this is above and beyond!"

Anyway, all I can say (besides the fact that Lincoln, with mineral spirits applied, registered as 'Elvis?!' from the corner of my eye ) is
WOW ... WOW
Ain't no way I would have the patience to do what you've done, especially in an ice cold shop. Your version of "Mount NoMore" has your own personality wrapped up in it; I hope it stays in the family for a good long time.

And from one angle I thought it looked like a young roy orbison

 

[allen levine]

Now that I'm done with the piece besides cleaning up some glue spots I decided I had some time today and thankfully it's still warm outside so I decided to start frame
After an hour milling and cutting I realized I made the frame pieces too narrow wasted a few board feet of sapele ;will us for future smaller frame) and recut
Then realized my frame making jig for matching angles is way to short
Usually I just use the fence and a block of wood but this frame is huge so I rigged up whatever I had in track and came
Up with this solution
It's only for 2 cuts but accuracy is very important as you know when making a frame
Works great
Eventually I'm thinking time to make a much larger jig

 

[Charles Lent]

A #2 blade is a pretty big blade. I use 2/0 for very tiny pieces.

Charley

 

[allen levine]

Not sanded frame glue has to dry then I'll sand out spots best I can and sand frame
Frame will get 2 coats tung oil then lacquer and back board of maple will get 1 coats of lacquer as well as the piece
I'm in the home stretch
And expect
To have this finished by end of next week
I liked the hard maple backer had some spalting and I cut curves since I think it just looks better

 

[Rennie Heuer]

Looking better at each step.