Scribing plywood (Now with more RAD)
 

So here's a problem I'm hoping the wood-gurus can help me out with.

Here is my stand currently. It is a flush-skinned box essentially. The walls are drywalled now too which complicates what I am considering here.:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/skin9.jpg

Here is a tank I recently found on RC:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...f/IMG_3657.jpg

Rather than trim my stand I now want to scribe both horizontal and vertical lines into my plywood skin to create the effect of multiple pieces of wood. I only need to remove a saw-blade's width and about as much depth-wise. Maybe a bit deeper.

I thought about using a guide and setting my skill-saw blade to do this but I can't do the flat trim that meets the glass nor the edges of the plywood that touch drywall.

I also have a heavy duty utlity knife and I could score both sides of my scribe line and carefully go down the line scooping out the insides. Tough to get uniform depth this way tho.

Perhaps saw where possible and then do the edges with knife/patience lol?

Any ideas on how to do this? I require very straight and uniform lines or I'm not going to do it!

Thanks!

gonna be very difficult indeed without takin the skin apart.....also incredibly difficult to get perfectly straight lines with a skilsaw(even with a guide) but if you wanna try that route then get as close as you can with the skilsaw and then try and do the rest with a dremel and guide????? I dont know????.....I think it would be a challenge for a master carpenter to make it look perfect after the fact.......the easiest would have been to do it on a table saw or router table before it was assembled....

Thanks man I was hoping you'd pipe up here.

I'm not going to do it then. It has to look very clean or it's all fail. I may adjust my plans to do very narrow and shallow trim almost like pin-striping. I'll need to make the trim wide enough to bridge the gaps between canopy and doors. Matching for the stand I guess.

Poop!

Dremel tool with router attachment will do the trick. A little costly maybe, but comes with a guide that should make a straight cut without too much trouble. I used one of these to route out the grooves on wooden frame to install screening on a reptile enclosure I built for my daughter.

https://blu1.storage.live.com/items/...=1&ck=0&ex=720

Definitely a dremel with a flex wand attachment and a small circular type saw bit will do the trick. I have one and have use it for a similar project.

Or how about my cheap blade and some patience? I just snuck downstairs to test this idea out:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/scribe1.jpg

I scored both sides of the valley and popped it out quickly in small bits to the depth of one ply. It's actually pretty easy to remove if you stick to ply-depths =)

This took maybe 2 min. I'm going for it after I do a test going with the wood grain as well. Used the piece of drywall sanding screen to quickly sand inside the valley. I know I could do this even cleaner but once I paint this will easily look good enough.

that does look pretty clean!....... thats gonna take some time tho:razz:......have fun mang:wink:

just thinking about that......it works going across the grain......gonna be harder going with the grain.....the blade will tend to follow the grain....

It is indeed going to take time.

I would have to have my vertical lines match the vertical gaps between the canopy doors i think for continuity. and my horizontals would have to be the same distance from the stand ledge as the canopy edge to the bottom of the doors I think.

I'll pencil them in and decide If I wanna commit :biggrin:

Hmmm brain-lapse. I had meant to post that I'm going to test this going with the grain as well first. I should be in bed instead of using knives maybe!

Ok def should be in bed. I *did* say this :lol:

I know:biggrin:.....Im just sayin it will be more difficult getting a clean line with a knife going with the grain.........how long is your longest line?:razz::wink:.......

The front horizontal will be the full 8 feet and is against the grain.

The verticals on the stand and canopy are with the grain. So very short on canopy... but 40"+ for the stand's front.

I think so long as I really giver'er against the T-square and cut through the surface cleanly it'll be ok.

super ghetto rough-idea:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/scribe2.jpg

I'd also have to the the underside of the canopy overhang... this won't be fun.

Yes I like talking to myself!

So it's a really good thing I remembered the skin was ghetto-built without mitred edges. It's just brick style like my 225 doors:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/build/tilebox3.jpg

So my clean lines would really be tough to creat once I hit plywood on-end. and then I don't have the benefit of chipping a ply-depth into the wood either.

Here's what I will do. Way less scribing as well!

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/scribe3.jpg

Its doable on a table saw with a good finishing blade. Some painters tape along where you want to cut will further reduce/eliminate splintering.

The point is, the stand is assembled already and the tank is sitting on it:wink:

stand
 

your simplest way is to glue on cut door skins or other 1/8 ply-depending on the finish-also use a 23 gauge pin nailer

That's what I was thinking as well, chances are the access doors above will also stick out a little to match. I think the scribing idea is a bad one :wink:

Yeah I had thought of this too.

My trouble with that is I spent a lot of sweat getting the current box patched and smooth. You're right tho that is likely the smartest solution to getting what I originally wanted.

I might even do a test with my knife cutting on-end into some plywood. I'm stubborn (and also sold my truck so no hauling sheets of anything anymore lol).

what about cabinet moldings glued on the exterior?

Yeah that's what I currently have (and was going to do here as well):

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/skinned1.jpg

looks impressive to me!

Yeah it may be =)

I was going to install the doors so they are flush with the canopy with a gap that matches my scribe width.

There is plenty to go wrong here when I could just copy my current stand and be happy. Browsing build threads is sometimes a bad idea.

paint those lines in a color that looks similar to a shadow.

so if its going to be all white - go with a light gray. You will get a similar effect and you can stick to you old design. It'll be believable as long as you dont flood the front of the stand with light - keep things dim :)

I'm actually going against everyone's better judgement and I'm going to attempt to hand carve idea 1. I'll have pics soon (and maybe tears).

If you scribe the line out and use a small carving tool by hand it might turn out better. using a saw or dremel there is always a better chance to screw up, i speak from personal experience faster is not always better. :biggrin:

Yeah I'm doing it how I feel comfortable doing it. This means many hours and my utility knife =)

I would screw a striaght piece of wood to stand to use as a guide and then use a router and a small bit to carve the lines, the screw holes can easily be filled with wood filler.
Then simply sand it and paint it.

Only bad things happen fast, all good things take time.

my experience with actual blades is i end up shredding the good side somehow all the time. tape or not. I'll bet my blade is old and cheap tho.

Or you could just leave the stand as it is and just paint it.

Or just follow your track record.... Sell it and start over :biggrin:

I think this one is a keeper with it built into the walls and all of Bretts hard work. I cant wait to see it all done, got to see the tank before the walls and finishing work and I must say its a BEAST!

I own a hammer, I could help him take those walls down to get it out :razz:

ok I'm now at the point where on a whim I could go either way. The decision will likely be spur-of-the-moment and at 2am when I'm not fit to decide. So have your fun you MFs =)

And no a wall cannot contain my builds. The last 400 was in a wall for a very short time before I myself took a sledge to it lol. Looking back now... thank frag because I think it looks pretty hideous lol.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/392.jpg

Well in that case........I will be standing by with my sledge hammer in hand waiting for the call for destruction :twised:

Well if your going to leave it open to debate.... Are you sure you are fit to decide this at any time of day?

You must BELIEVE in the power of the SCRIBE!!!

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/scribe4.jpg

In summary:

Going with the grain is FULL-ON-BAWLS. Removes in one strip with a much sharper edge. Heck it even sliced easier and took half the time =)

And plywood-on-end isn't even that bad for a really quick attempt.

GAME ON.