VW VAN CUT FOR A FRIENDS BIRTHDAY

[britetomro]

I would like to extend my thanks to Lawson 56, Grampa and TD Painter for creating great patterns for of the VW van from the attached photo. Of the 3 pattern creators, I chose TD Painter, he had the detail I was looking for on this project. I still hold down a full time job so with work, this project took my a week to complete with doing a little at nights. I already had the frame made from my last setup on making a number of frames for future projects, just had to apply the finish. There were approximately 90 cuts overall and the pattern was enlarged slightly to approx 10" high by 14" long. I used baltic birch ply at 1/8" thick and stack cut 4 pieces. I also cut the 2 mats for this project and even included a dust cover on the back of the frame along with appropriate hanging hardware. The frame is made with Philippine Mahogany with an inlay if Purple Heart. The interior dimensions of the frame is approx. 16" high by 20" long. Thanks for looking and I look forward to any comments.

[Scrappile]

You certainly did a beautiful job of this.  Great cutting and the matting/framing looks very professional.  A+

[trackman]

A on pattern making —A on cutting —A on frame making.  Very impressive!!!

[DWSUDEKUM]

Excellently done project.  Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

DW

[RabidAlien]

Awesome!!

[John B]

Beautiful. Great work all around.

Cutting, frame and presentation are all excellent.

[amazingkevin]

Beautiful cuts!

[wombatie]

Oh what a fabulous piece.  Are you by any chance a professional framer?  Because you do an exception job.  Every thing about this is perfect.

Marg

[Tomanydogs]

Wow picture and frame are excellent. What a great present. I’ve tried making simple frames, spend a whole day and in the end it looks like . Gave up on making them. Well done. 

Irene

[Scrolling Steve]

Nice, Very nice !

[daveww1]

terrific job

[britetomro]

Many thanks to all for the great comments. In reply to the professional framer. No, just a common woodworker. All of the cuts for the frame are done on the table saw, even the rabbit on the back side. Easier to make two cuts for the rabbit on a table saw vs using a router with multiple passes to get the debth needed. I have found however that cutting the 45 on the frame corners in most cases do not provide the best results. I cut the 45's on the table saw with the pieces about 1/4" longer than needed. I also have a dedicated tool used for cleaning up the 45's with perfect precision. It is a guillotine cutter with knifes which are ultra sharp. An arm/lever is used to advance the blade to make the cut and each cut can take a micro cut at a time. The leftover cut is very smooth and great for the glue-up. I also like to add a decorative inlay to the frame which in itself can create a problem with matching the corners during assembly. When I make a decision to make a frame for my cuttings, I will usually make about 10 frames at a time and assemble them. The setup for the machines takes a little time so why not produce more. It is just as easy to make 10 frames as it is to make 1 or 2. I will usually not apply finish till the frame is needed. Again, thanks for the comments.

[Macman]

One word from me - Wow! 

[smitty0312]

That's a great looking piece....I have a buddy that would love that! He's a VW nut.

[britetomro]

Dan, I have a second one framed and I am of the belief that everything I make is available for sale. If there is an interest, let me know. Thanks, Ron

[des_bond]

Brilliant work looks amazing, is there any chance you could share the pattern as had a close friend pass away and he loved vw and would like to do this for his father as a gift

[heppnerguy]

On 10/29/2018 at 10:09 AM, britetomro said:

Many thanks to all for the great comments. In reply to the professional framer. No, just a common woodworker. All of the cuts for the frame are done on the table saw, even the rabbit on the back side. Easier to make two cuts for the rabbit on a table saw vs using a router with multiple passes to get the debth needed. I have found however that cutting the 45 on the frame corners in most cases do not provide the best results. I cut the 45's on the table saw with the pieces about 1/4" longer than needed. I also have a dedicated tool used for cleaning up the 45's with perfect precision. It is a guillotine cutter with knifes which are ultra sharp. An arm/lever is used to advance the blade to make the cut and each cut can take a micro cut at a time. The leftover cut is very smooth and great for the glue-up. I also like to add a decorative inlay to the frame which in itself can create a problem with matching the corners during assembly. When I make a decision to make a frame for my cuttings, I will usually make about 10 frames at a time and assemble them. The setup for the machines takes a little time so why not produce more. It is just as easy to make 10 frames as it is to make 1 or 2. I will usually not apply finish till the frame is needed. Again, thanks for the comments.

you are talking about machines I have never heard of before. Obviously you know what you are doing. I can add only one thing to what all the other comments that are made here and that is 'I thank you for posting this real work of art.'

Dick

heppnerguy

[spirithorse]

Excellent work and the frame and mat really make a wonderful presentation!
Thanks for sharing and God Bless! Spirithorse

[munzieb]

If you only had this bus now! They are worth a lot. Fantastic cutting.

[ben2008]

5 out of 5 stars. Superb

[Denny Knappen]

A wonderful job of cutting.  As a framer, that is a professional framed project.