@ GenericEric - Thanks!
Started on the Control Panel box, this one has proven to be a little tricky.
Usual print the plans, tape and trace with straight edge where possible:
The tuff part was that piece at the bottom of the picture (which was off slightly due to an oversight, and I had to reprint). That piece (and it’s mirror) were designed to wrap around that larger curve. The challenge was getting the slope of the box (6 degrees) to match up all around. Fortunately using SketchUp I was able to get the curve to unfold into 2D (using the “unwrap” plugin).
To get the correct circle cut out I used one of the corners of the 1/2” piece of wood for the CP top, and used the circle jig on the router to get the correct size:
Then attached it to the underside of the CP which I already cut all the straight lines:
Used the flush trim bit on the router to get the finished corner:
Next was tackling those side pieces. I actually ended up with two, one represented the exterior, and one the interior:
The exterior is longer while the interior is taller. You can see the exterior on top of the interior print above. You’ll notice how its longer, and you can also see at the top the interior poking up. This is because of the 6 deg slope. The higher edge is on the inside. Hopefully this makes sense.
Anyway the real challenge began with attempting the kerf cuts to make the bend. I used the kerfing calculator here:
https://www.blocklayer.com/kerf-spacingeng.aspxIt was very helpful, you just need to know the radius of your curve, the angle it will be bending (“Curve Sweep Angle”), width of your blade, and wood thickness.
I had done kerfing before with the base, but it was stiff. I did a practice piece to make sure I knew what I was doing and it came out great:
I then tried it on the actual piece and it wouldn’t budge. I was scratching my head a lot thinking maybe it was the difference in wood species, or maybe the depth of cut was different. Reached out to bperkins (as usual), and he asked what the direction of the grain was that I was cutting? Hmm….light bulb went off after he explained it. I thought it might be helpful to share.
Here is rough cut cross section of the wood (it’s easier to see when it’s ruff cut):
Plywood rotates between layers the direction of the grain. The Red arrow layers (yes veneer exterior as well) are running left to right, while the black arrow layers are running forward and backward. You want the bottom layer (don’t count veneer as bottom layer) to be running North and South for a bend that goes left and right. If you had the Red arrows on the bottom then it will be stiff.
Here are two virtually identical set of cuts:
The top one bends by lifting it with a finger, the bottom one I can hardly bend. In my testing I had to cut just a little bit into that bottom layer to get it to bend easily. Here’s an example of how easily it should bend:
And wrapped around the curve:
From the back:
On it’s side:
Quickly thrown up on the machine just to feel like there’s progress:
Lot’s to do, but thankfully the rona has yielded more garage time.