Tree of Life

[John TenEyck]

I cut this simple project today and installed it. 1/8" acrylic, cut great with a 1/8" 0-flute bit. With no vacuum hold down, though, it took a lot of blue tape and CA glue to hold it down so the cutouts didn't cause problems. The alternative to using a profile cut would have been a pocket toolpath, at a cost of about 10X in machining time.

Simple project, but it makes a nice addition on my deck.







John

[Edward Weber]

Looking good

[stan kern]

Nicely done , looks good on the wall
I did 2 of these in 2020 laser and plasma
https://youtu.be/T9qJdCW7wPw tree of life laser cut


https://youtu.be/Tb-tgJGApJQ tree of life plasma cut

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Liked! Subscribed!

[Jim Becker]

That turned out very well, John. I agree with the profile cutting vs pocketing.

[Grant Wilkinson]

Very nicely done, John.

[Keith Outten]

Nice work and it is in a perfect spot!

[Michael Burnside]

Pretty cool. Do you have a link to the stand-offs you used for hanging?

[John TenEyck]

Pretty cool. Do you have a link to the stand-offs you used for hanging?

Here you go. 8 pieces for $10, with mounting hardware. Amazing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CQ94W7P...t_details&th=1

The threaded stud is 3/8". I used 1/2" diameter holes in the acrylic to allow for expansion/contraction.

John

[al ladd]

Very sweet. This is one of those beautiful designs that digital fabrication has made possible, and so brightened the world a bit.

[George Yetka]

Very Nice Work

I could never get on board with the Ca/Blue tape. I like double sided tape its not really much more money. A roll of 1" is $6 for 60 ft. A roll of blue is $5 and you get 90' equivalent. So less than 2 x the price not including CA. This is available in 2" roll

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[John TenEyck]

Very Nice Work

I could never get on board with the Ca/Blue tape. I like double sided tape its not really much more money. A roll of 1" is $6 for 60 ft. A roll of blue is $5 and you get 90' equivalent. So less than 2 x the price not including CA. This is available in 2" roll

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thanks.

The cost is pretty much a wash. What you're buying is $0.18/ft. What I buy is $0.08/ft x 2 sides = $0.16. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHW3XQKT...t_details&th=1
Once you add in the CA glue it's probably more expensive. However, double stick take is a bear to get off; I bet it would have been a real challenge on the small sections of acrylic on this piece. Even on wood I had problems getting it to come off completely and cleanly. If you cut into the double stick tape it makes a mess on the cutting bit. I tried the very tape you linked to. I still have most of it.

John

[Michael Burnside]

I've used miles of this stuff. It is the only tape I would use/recommend.

https://www.amazon.com/XFasten-Doubl...zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Never, and I mean never, had any residue what-so-ever, even if leaving on for a day or two. The tape comes off completely, doesn't tear when removing and is extremely strong. You need a lot less to hold a part down compared to CA/blue-tape. Maybe 4 corners on a typical part, or a strip down two sides. So the cost factor, not a concern of mine anyway, is likely higher than calculated. It really goes a long way. Complemented with a low clamp/stop or two and it's all you need.

That said, in this particular application I think John's approach would have been my route too given all the tiny pieces and a need to, likely, cover the entire bottom of the part. I loath CA/blue-tape but it has it's place.

[John TenEyck]

Thanks to you both, George and Michael, for the discussion. The first tape was a bust for me, but perhaps I discounted 2 sided tape altogether w/o considering other options. I'll give that stuff a try, Michael, on projects where I'm not creating lots of little pieces. Actually, it might work really well with my clock parts, where I am making lot of little pieces to keep. I use blue tape and CA now, and it's not always easy to make sure I have CA where those little pieces are going to be.

And I'm also going to try the spray adhesive approach, too. That would be the simplest approach if it works, except for having to use a temporary spoilboard to keep things clean. Melamine might work well, though, and clean up easily for reuse.

John