Making Flatwork

[Rick Turner]

Touchy, touchy, touchy!

Brad, you can stuff it.

Too many people on too many forums seem to be unaware of how to search for information on the Internet. And then they ask questions on forums and often get bad information. I don't see what is so wrong about suggesting that if someone wants to know the real difference between, for instance, Formica and Masonite, that they should simply go look up those terms on Google. Why ask a bunch of pickup winding dweebs (of whom I am one) about whether these materials are the same? No, they're not, but for what they are, one is likely to get much better information elsewhere, and Google is a good place to start, and that would lead one to:
Formica Group - Leading HPL Design, Manufacturing, Distribution and Interior Doors,Entry Doors,Exterior Doors,Glass Doors-Masonite

I don't know about you, Brad, but I like to do pretty deep research into any and all materials I use. A forum like this may be good for suggestions re. applications for various products, but it's not the best place for a deeper understanding of how those materials are made, what they're made from, etc.

There are some real researchers here, and I have great respect for them. Then there are the noobs who should learn how to do research. Then there are the touchy ones who react to any perceived slight.

Toughen up a bit. And don't go calling people arses until you inspect your own for your head...

[David King]

Relating to the thread at hand now. I hate routers. I do all my flatwork cutting on the bandsaw with a thin kerf ground tooth blade like a woodslicer that leaves an almost perfect edge. I can cut a stack of forbon 10 pcs thick so it goes fast. For radiusing corners I just touch them up on the belt sander. They are then dropped into a plywood or aluminum drilling guide that uses an indexing pin on the bottom to locate each hole. The pin is held in a fixture that's clamped to the drill press table and lined up perfectly with the drill chuck. This is about the quickest way I know to drill these things.

Lucas mentioned PCB and it's great for the reasons he speculated on. Go to a PCB house website and use their web based software to design your flatwork and let them do it for you. Two things to keep in mind however; never put the copper side against the wire or you will get a shorted coil. Run some radian cuts outward across the copper to break up eddy currents. DO have the holes through plated so that your magnets will be grounded and you won't have to bother with eyelets for your connections.

[SonnyW]

PCB material is fine, but not so easy to cut unless you can scare up some of the old paper/phenolic kind.

One source for the old paper/phenolic and linnen/phenolic material that I remember being commonly known as Micarta is from McMaster Carr, they call it Machinable Garolite(LE) now, but it is the same stuff, like what Dearmond used in the 50's on some of their bobbins. The PCB material such as G-10 is also listed under Garolite.

McMaster-Carr

[big_teee]

Relating to the thread at hand now. I hate routers. I do all my flatwork cutting on the bandsaw with a thin kerf ground tooth blade like a woodslicer that leaves an almost perfect edge. I can cut a stack of forbon 10 pcs thick so it goes fast. For radiusing corners I just touch them up on the belt sander. They are then dropped into a plywood or aluminum drilling guide that uses an indexing pin on the bottom to locate each hole. The pin is held in a fixture that's clamped to the drill press table and lined up perfectly with the drill chuck. This is about the quickest way I know to drill these things.

Lucas mentioned PCB and it's great for the reasons he speculated on. Go to a PCB house website and use their web based software to design your flatwork and let them do it for you. Two things to keep in mind however; never put the copper side against the wire or you will get a shorted coil. Run some radian cuts outward across the copper to break up eddy currents. DO have the holes through plated so that your magnets will be grounded and you won't have to bother with eyelets for your connections.

That sounds cool.
Could you show some pics of the drilling guide in service?

[Beef Coon]

Thanks for all the info.

There's a local engraver I've done a bunch of work with and he's going to do a test on one sheet and see how long it takes to make a few pieces to give me an idea what he'll charge.

[RedHouse]

Touchy, touchy, touchy!

Brad, you can stuff it.

And don't go calling people arses until you inspect your own for your head...

Your post #40 was a decent post I would have liked to thank you for that, but then in your inevitable (cough, cough) "style" you just had to add the arse bits in #41 and #42, that snarky crap is what I'm talking about.

Rick, I had some great respect for you when you first arrived here on our forum, but since then with your "style" of posting the "smarter-than-thou" and I'm-the-last-word-on-everything attutude, well, it gets old.

I would encourage you to think twice (or more) when you post, more people will appreciate your contributions just as I (would have) with your post #40 above, had you not added the snarky shite after.

With all love-n-respect, peace out.

[RedHouse]

Hi Rick,
"LMGTFY" is the netizens standard reply and it works pretty well and it's exactly what you did.
Brad is going to try to mess with you, that's what he does. Best just ignore him like the rest of us. If you searched here for threads relating to Brad being less than solicitous you would find a plethora but luckily he also contributes useful info from time to time so we don't mind so much.

David, are you still sore about that whole CNC winder thing? your posts are not showing the luv.

[David Schwab]

PCB material is fine, but not so easy to cut unless you can scare up some of the old paper/phenolic kind. The fiberglass/epoxy stuff is a drag to work with using low tech tools.

I use a micro table saw with the steel blade.

I have one of these:

[David Schwab]

Mild reply...

Try harder to be less of an arse!.

I have to agree with Rick here. It takes a minute or two to Google Formica and Masonite to see that they are not the same thing.

I don't thing he was being rude. More of the "give a man a fish" thing. Learning to search for things is a very god skill to have. There are quite a few people here who just want the rest of us to give them answers and don't want to do the leg work to find them.

[Lucas]

I use a micro table saw with the steel blade.

I have one of these:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]24571[/ATTACH]

nice!

[RedHouse]

...There are quite a few people here who just want the rest of us to give them answers and don't want to do the leg work to find them.

Yeah, but that ain't me (as you well know) so let's just let 'er rest right here ...'eh?.

[Beef Coon]

That sounds cool.
Could you show some pics of the drilling guide in service?

Would love to see some pics too, if you could.

[Beef Coon]

That sounds cool.
Could you show some pics of the drilling guide in service?

Would love to see some pics too, if you could.

[copperheadroads]

I have make many pickups from flatwork & the only bobbins I make lately from flatwork , odd stuff that I can't get from my suppliers like my steel pole pickups
As David King mentioned you can rough cut your pieces first ,then drill the holes first using a template or jig ,then sand the corners round & you can get good results with sandpaper stuck to a flat surface

[Beef Coon]

Bought an old Rockwell drill press as well as a used 14" bandsaw and little belt sander this past week.

For those cutting flatwork with a bandsaw - what kind of blade are you using?
Thanks.