Make A Wood Dash For Your Car. Or Just Watch Me Do It. Whatever.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ย. 2024
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All it took was starting a new project to get him to put some work into the old ones!
I feel personally attacked even though I'm not Matt 😅
Works for me 😅
The more one gets stuck, the more one finds other things to do.
This is the way
Works on me every time. 😅
The reason they use engineered wood substrates in cars isn't a cost saving measure. Its because MDF\Ply with a veneer doesn't shrink or expand to the same degree as solid wood in an environment with fluctuating temperatures and humidity such as a car. You may find over time your new pieces warp or crack because of the environment they are in and machined MR Moisture Resistant MDF with veneer is the better option. Real wood veneers will look better than fake ones though ;-)
Well said. You stole my thunder
"Fluctuating temperatures and humidity"
Its a car kept in a garage in southern california, the ultimate car preservation cheat code.
Besides, he's got a CNC machine. He can just make another.
Yes, this.. They used solid wood too, until it cracked... didn't last. Plus, the burl grain pattern has a certain luxurious harmony that plain flat boards cannot convey.
Would pakkawood work
They still use veneers today at Rolls-Royce and Bentley
Couple things about that wooden dashboard from someone who's done it... You're going to need to keep the car out of the sun. Preferably in a meticulously climate controlled environment even assuming the wood was kiln dried professionally. Still, warping (and discoloration) and cracking is quite likely over time. I predict, unfortunately, that without great care you'll be redoing these again before long due to the inherent instability of solid wood in that environment. Ideally, a beautiful wooden burl veneer would be used (instead of plain straight grain) next time, and use an extremely moisture and heat stable base like resin or carbon fiber. That's really the way to do it. We applaud your efforts, and we all love love love your channel.
did he varnish the back of the panels? I didnt notice, if he has not it will very VERY quickly banana
The last sentence sums it up really well. Keep it up Matt!
@@nononanonon walnut and citrus oil...
The mounting for the three lower pieces are all kind of flexible. in fact I currently have the glove boxes only held on the inside. there are provisions for mounting the bottom, but with the kick panels, they kind of nicely squish in place. so I hopefully have enough flexibility in mounting that i doesn't crack. also it's parked in the shade in southern california, so that will help. I appreciate the note. Good thing about having a TH-cam is that if this does fail, I get more content :)
I was wondering about that. My step dad loved surfing and was a big car guy, so he always wanted a woodie wagon. I remember his friend Matt was a furniture restorer/maker and the amount of wood he rejected for that car must of been half a forest in Canada. I learned a lot from that man, he was very cool.
Woodworker here.
You did an amazing job with the walnut. The only concern with the dashboard could be expansion and contraction of the wood thus cracking it. I hope it won't happen, but i think there is a reason they used veneered plywood in the first place.
Anyhow that's problem for a future Matt 😂
All hail the algorithm!
I love your videos ❤️
Me and the guy I worked with used to call our oscillating tool "Buzzy McBuzzface".
Because "hand me buzzy" is much easier to say.
But there was a downside to our incessant tool renaming, no one else in the shop knew what the hell we were talking about.
The orange deadblow hammer became known as "whack-a-mole"
The 15" adjustable wrench, "plan B"
1/4" impact, "tink-tink" (think lower case ugga-dugga)
1/2" impact "Mucho Huevos"
super shallow spline drive ratchet "money-maker" (because it meant we didn't have to remove panels to get to the bolts)
16" metal shears (think really big side cutters) "everything remover"
the 3/4' deep well impact socket was "lucky"
Hammers were known as "UFIGs" (acronym for Unidirectional Field Impact Generators) not to be confused with OFIGs (omnidirectional field impact generators, ie: grenades)
And so many more. Looking back, this was likely the reason no one really wanted to work with us, and probably why were always selected for the "random" drug tests. It was either that, or the time we put "10hrs of humans screaming" on the stereo and blasted it all day. The world may never know.
Had an iron six foot long pry bar. Name: Persuader
I like it. it will henceforth be referred to as Buzzy McBuzzface
@@SuperfastMatt How do you get the dimensions for the curves?
Solid wood is not used because solid wood moves, cars are never in room conditions so the wood would warp and crack. That's why manufacturers use veneer.
That dash and instrument cluster actually looks really good with the new carpet and door cards - good work matt.
Thanks!
I think you should've put USB charging connectors inside the ashtrays. Also, I really wanted to see that car with nice rechromed bumpers and a super nice paint job!
I love your videos. It's nice to see somebody else that obsesses over details and overcomplicates things. I put myself down so much for overcomplicating things. And I have my own law: nothing is simple. And I put myself down for being unable to keep anything simple. And yet here I see you being the same way and yet accomplishing wonders, and not upset at all with yourself for taking the time to get it right, you just accept it.
The reason they used and still use baltic birch plywood with a veneer is because of the constant expansion and retraction nature of wood as temperatures and humidity changes with the seasons, the cross sectioning of the ply eliminates cracking, checking and distortion... Bentley and Rolls-Royce are high end hand made cars, they don't use baltic birch because they're cheap, they use it for longevity and quality.... i still liked your video, you do amazing work.
"Flush trim bit" is the correct term... if the bearing is on the top of the bit, it's called a "template bit". There's a lot of variance in there, but those should be the more traditional terms.
Also "Oscilating multi tool"
For sanding too, some tips of the trade is to only use any single piece of sand paper for 20 minutes. The rate of material removal degrades to the point of uselessness after that. You might also consider getting a festool dust extractor to push into your sanders. Your lungs will thank you, and I promise it will be your favorite vacuum to use around the house and shop. There are other good dust extractor options, but the Festool Midi has proven it's price point to me, so that's what I'm recommending.
Some more tips/tricks for tear out. Use CA glue for those small chips next time. CA glue will work the same as the woodglue, but will dry extremely fast. For cracks and stuff that you want to "fill", squish some glue into that crack, then run your sander over that crack w/ glue. The sawdust from the sander will stick to the glue and blend the crack pretty darn well.
For finishes, poly certainly has the best durability. However, hard wax oils are way easier to apply and look better. The wood has a depth you just don't see on film finishes like Poly. Plus you don't have to worry about dust nibs getting stuck in your coats and having to sand between coats.
Also, others have pointed out why veneer is better than solid harwood for applications like this. I will also add that it is significantly easier to just CNC a solid hardwood piece. So your new car trim may not last as long as the previous trim, but at least you could make it without developing an entire new hobby and skillset. Plus the tools/machines needed to do it. I hear you would have plenty of garage space if you wanted to learn it though. /s
- a woodworker
Thanks for the info. I would really like to set up a shed in the back yard for woodworking that has dust extraction. that might come this summer.
I really want to get into an argument with someone now, so I can call them an "oscillating multi-tool."
As an experienced woodworker of 345 years, we call it Trimmy McJimmy.
Personally I like the nomenclature- the long turner, the pinchyman and so on.
Well the guy's an idiot, so what do you expect.
Fun fact - we Brits still do have six hands: However, most cars only have one glovebox these days, so we tend to leave four of them at home. We don't really need them so much these days, since we decimalised our currency, and around the same time someone invented the pocket calculator.
Algorithm duly hailed.
I love seeing you back on the Jaguar. Just a thought on the ashtrays, but I've seen restomod cars where the ashtrays have been converted with USB charging ports inside them. Just open the lid or slide out the ashtray and plug your charge cord in. They usually put a mounting plate inside the ashtray for the charging ports. When not using the USB ports, just shut the ashtray and it looks stock.
I CAD'd up an insert for the front one that has a lighting port and a slot for my phone. it blocks the rearview, but I might add it anyway.
The idea of solid finishing face wood is a modern one, which I find amusing since we have more stable engineered substrates we can use today. Even high end antique furniture used veneer (albeit thicker) over cheaper wood, partly for cost, but also so the base structural wood could have the desired qualities and the grain oriented for strength and longevity instead of aesthetics. I hope you sealed the entirety of the wood, even the parts you won't see to reduce warping. Also, slot the screw holes to allow for some expansion and contraction along the grain. Looks really good!
I sealed the back sides as well. the brackets i think will have enough flexibility to account for dimensional changes, but we'll see!
Hi Matt. RR and Jag make their panels with plywood and a thin veneer because wood is susceptible to shrink when it dries and splits since the metal behind does not shrink. And in a car wood will dry fast because of the greenhouse effect. So smart people invented a wood made of several layers of wood glued together with the grain oriented in random directions and called it plywood. The random orientation of the grain a makes it resistant to shrinking. Of course plywood and veneer is less expensive, but it's not the main reason why RR and Jag use it. The main reason is that the customer is not happy when his dashboards splits in two just one season after he bought it. This say your dashboard looks great. For the time being.
Pro wood finishing tip - if your finish is glossier than you like, you can gently rub it with some fine steel wool (000 or 0000) and it will magically go from gloss to semigloss to satin the more you buff it. Doesn't take too long, be careful not to overdo it. Your dash looks great, and you're adding fuel to my desire to build a CNC router. While I second the comments about plywood/veneer vs. solid wood, black walnut is fairly stable and weather resistant, I've used it successfully for outdoor projects. Finishing all sides of the wood will help here. I bet it will hold up just fine. Walnut would actually be a good boat building wood, but is considered unlucky because it is a "coffin wood."
Awesome work, Matt - Algorithm hailed. I love that you keep coming back to the Jag, despite having so much else on your list. Looking forward to seeing how you adapt the gauges.
There is a very good reason for veneer on plywood vs solid wood: it's not just cheaper to make, it's also far more dimensionally stable. I'd love to see a revisit video after a year or so to see if your new parts warped at all.
Appreciate the work you are putting into the aesthetics of this car. So many of us get into the mechanicals and then “good enough” the aesthetics and comfort aspects. Those are things that you really have to live with. They are worth the time too.
Funny about that; I learned a long time ago this rule for older cars: Snazzy body and interior, 90% chance the mechanicals are crap. Humming crisp beautifully built engine and mechanicals, 90% chance the rattle-can primer was the last effort the body (and interior) got. My work tends to fall into the last category.
The router bit is called a flush trim bit, at least in my experience. that dash looks fantastic, good job!
Veneer was probably higher end than real wood back in the day. The Titanic had Linoleum floors, it was the most luxurious and high class flooring of it's day.
Most wood glue only takes a day or two to fully cure, unless it's a special type of glue, you are using it in a non standard but still correct way, or just doing it plain wrong. For anyone unaware, glue is not a gap fill.
I haven't really seriously considered getting a 3D scanner because they're still quite spendy, but it sure does look like the workflow is a whole lot quicker and easier than "measure with a caliper and get close enough modeling something simplified and approximate in Solidworks".
For the gauges, consider the X27 motors. They’re very cheap because they’re a common failure point on GM vehicles and thus are sold in many places.
They also don’t draw much power at all.
The only annoying thing about them is that they don’t have any sort of limit switch. The Arduino library written for them by Guy Carpenter just has them mash into the physical end stop for homing.
It works because you don’t really care share your other end is, just that 0 is indeed 0.
They can be driven right off an Arduino, or pretty much any 4 wire stepper driver. It would be cool to see someone implement a Trinamic driver on one so that your homing could be more reliable.
I'm sure I'm not the only woodworker in here who's said this-> many fine figured wood that's used in furniture isn't stable enough to survive as a board.
Veneer is the best way to see and use the gorgeous figured and sometimes exotic hardwoods if it's going to last.
I'm always excited when your videos come up. Keep up the great projects!
veneer on marine plywood would be a safer choice than solid hardwood since wood moves and bows when it dries
I visited Jaguar many years ago and was given a sample of walnut burl veneer. Actually 2 samples from adjacent slices.
I made a lamp base with a nice symmetry line down the centre.
You've missed out on the symmetry possible using veneer. Having watched them do it, I'd say veneer is the more expensive process for top end cars.
For windshield wipers, if you've got 12v output, they make "hot rod" standalone wiper motors that just take 12vdc. I spent a lot of time modifying an electric motor to the old linkage in my 55 GMC that was supposed to fit a 55 GMC, and found out the motor isn't very good anyway, and it took up a ton of room and interfered with everything. So now I'm likely replacing them with the "hot rod windshield wiper" individual motors.
I love the Viper, but please finish the Jagwaaar. I remember you saying you wanted it daily driver quality and I will hold you to…oh, look a project on my car….what was I saying?
I have a 2005 Chevy blazer And while none of them come with exotic woods They did sell plastic wood like stick ons for the trim...........I went out and bought walnut burl veneer And done my own work on the window switches and backing on the door handle .. I do not own a CNC Or the time to shave pieces into curves And shapes ....I made a formula that soaked my wood And molded my wood That took 2 weeks before drying, trimming and gluing on my pieces...along with a copper flake inlay Takes me back to when Rolls Royce was actually Hand made skills And not machines they are today
Others have mentioned it, but yeah, they make it out of engineered wood or ply with a veneer because completely natural wood will end up warping, cupping, separating, or cracking in the car environment where there are wild temperatures swings and fast humidity changes. But maybe it won’t be a problem for a garaged restored car in California, so you’re probably fine.
I’d also be worried about strength across the grain for like the gloveboxes and thin wide panels.
I'm hoping the mild weather will help. in any case, i have all the CAD models so I can re-make it out of more stable materials later if needed.
Disregarding the modern seats and seatbelts I do wince at the thought of even a minor car crash in one of those back in the day. Slamming face first into the dashboard while doing a 40 to 0
I'd probably replace the wood glovebox handles with leather loops. Also, put USB charging ports in the ashtrays.
Glad you put the ashtrays back in. Wouldn't be right without them.
Thanks for another entertaining video.
I wrote this comment, and then went on to read some of the prior comments, only to realize that my comment was ridiculously redundant. So I am editing it so as to just say this:
Don’t let your wood warp Matt !
As a Jag and Rolls guy all I can say to you, as a real engineer.... you could look it up! It's all built on Mahogany. Very stable stuff, built on an old boat building tradition. That's why its still around, "You can look it up"
You don't know what you're talking about.
Love how there's a verb for every tool.
Lathing, cncing, to bandsaw something out...
The dash is very pretty. But I echo the concerns of the woodworkers below. Also, in defense of veneer; veneer is superior to solid wood in some applications. You can use a highly figured and beautiful wood veneer, like a burl, in a situation where the solid burl would have no structure or strength. It also makes rare woods go a lot further.
I thought woodwork for an old car would be boring ... thanks for proving me wrong!
That actually turned out really nice looking, great job Matt!
Thanks!
I agree that using solid wood will most likely warp -even in LA. One more thing that I didn't see in the comments is that walnut really fades in UV light. Use a real good marine grade varnish that has a lot of UV blockers in it. Epifanes is a Dutch product that is rather thick and has a lot of UV protection. Available at most marine supply stores. Cheers
Totally agree. I have recently re-veneered the wood of a 1959 Jag Mix and it has all received 8 coats of Epifanes 2 part Polyurethane Marine varnish. It is an aliphatic poly so crystal clear, high UV protection, no crackling and tough as nails. It is the rubbing down with 400grit between coats that is the drag but killer finish.
Once I put a vac on my CNC router, I couldn't believe I didn't do it sooner!
The wood re-enactment had me feeling as though I was there when you bought it! Thank you
I love the way you expose your mistakes... great craftsmanship isn't "not doing mistakes"... is the way you recover from them...
Great work. I think one huge perk most people don’t realize with using veneer on a core (e.g. birch plywood) is it is significantly more stable and won’t move as much.
Your feed rate in wood can be a lot higher, and your bits will last longer as a result. When cutting wood the material acts as the coolant, so you want to keep plowing it into new (room temp) material. Chip size should be like .003" if I remember correctly. Feed rates of 300ipm on a 14,000rpm router are what I landed on. Shallower cuts or smaller bits if it's taking too much power, and obviously can run slower feeds for any intricate details.
I will also 2nd the comments that veneer isn't inherently lower quality, especially with the correct base material. It's also arguably better environmentally as it uses less wood from slow growing high value trees. In any case, I love the way it came out. You do beautiful work. Sanding is the worst.
*HAVE YOU VARNISHED THE BACKS OF THE PANNELS* others have pointed that this will likely crack and warp - but it will crack and warp WAY faster if you have left the backs open and the fronts closed.
You are creating a hydrostatic imbalance between the two sides and it will banana
looks great!!! looking forward to future Matts rewiring work.
I actually finished it yesterday after the video was made. it was a quick rewiring; not really video-worthy. but it does all work so that's nice :)
@SuperfastMatt Good job Sir!
Having made a custom wood dashboard for an open topped kit car, I went the veneer route onto marine plywood with waterproof glue. OK so I had access to a vacuum veneer press. But with the usual 20 plus laters of yacht varnish rubbed down between hand it was bullet and rain proof. A solid wood dash would have never been stable on its own.
I am about to embark on doing it again for the new car.
You show a lot of good tricks in this one for lining up brackets and hinges for mount locating. Double sided tape for the win. NICE!!!!!
Careful on using MDF for the subsurface on your CNC. Counterintuitively, it’s really rough on bits. Like 3D sandpaper. Plywood is a better option for flat/cheap.
Good choice with the solid wood. In the future don't be shy trying veneer, it is super easy, the experts try to make you think it is difficult. I did years of laminate surface construction and when I one day tried wood veneer, WOW, so simple and more forgiving than you would ever imagine. Great work!
the argument for veneer is the stability of having a plywood substrate.
Those router bits are called a few different things! Flush trim bits, top bearing bits, pattern bits, template routing bits. But sometimes the term "pattern bit" refers to those bits that have the bearing on the bottom, and are intended for use in a router table to cut templated parts. Also as an ex-shop teacher, that on-edge router table cut scared the shit out of me! Please don't be cavalier about the router table. You got away with it, but that cut was a good way to lose a finger. Set up a fence to properly support the work as it moves across the bit. Or since it's an odd shaped piece, maybe build a sliding fence to cross cut it like it's a dado cut on the table saw crosscut sled.
I screamed when I saw the edge router part. Matt, if you read this I love your videos and I want you to keep your thumbs so you can keep making them. But you WILL LOOSE A THUMB OR WORSE if you keep using a router like that.
The use of veneer made for a more interesting surface. Solid nut has a rather boring surface and it tends to get black/blue where it connects to metal and there is also humidity. It also could get lighter color where wood glue was used. It is a far better wood for construction (music instruments, guns, high end furniture). It is very expensive, but I just think finding someone who can veneer pieces like that might be challenging in the US.
My Dad had a black 1951 Mark V, there was a red light on the dashboard for low fuel level, it came on about 15 miles before it stopped but on windy roads it flashed on and off sooner, wonderful smells and feel of leather and wood, a huge tacho and small speedo all of which no other car in town had because they just about all land rovers ! Thanks for bringing back those great memories ! Maybe you could use the fuel light to alert you to a low range remaining. Regards Doug
Awesome. I believe that a veneer is often used instead of solid wood because it's less likely to warp.
You didn't mention the type of polyurethane you used, but fair warning: standard polyurethane finish is NOT good against UV rays...like we get from the sun...which is usually shining on a car. Marine varnishes are the proper way to go for moisture and UV resistance.
That is an absolutely beautiful dash. Honestly stunning.
The Reason the high end cars use veneer and not solid timber is due to movement and warping. The base ply is able to withstand huge temperature and humidity changes. Solid timber will crack and warp in normal car conditions in a hot summer.
Make sure to seal front and back equally to reduce warpage. If the glove box lid tries to curl, try routing grooves on the inside face allong the grain to reduce the total amount of timber that is expanding and shrinking.
Another option is Cactus juice to stabilize the timber. It is a resin that penetrates the cells/pores. Used for knife handles of unstable timbers.
Looks awesome Matt! I had the same issue with saw dust in my garage whenever I did one of my infrequent wood working projects and always worried about setting the garage on fire the next time I used a grinder or welder. I finally built a mobile work bench on casters that incorporates my small table saw, miter saw, router table, etc that I can roll out of the garage into my driveway.
I had to laugh when you mentioned the wiper motor system. I have the same one in my 65 MGB, and I am looking forward to seeing what you are going to replace yours with. Mine works, as long as you like the two speed type, stop and slow. I learned a long time ago that Rain-X is your friend.
Hey I'm a sawyer and you're totally correct- besides a couple things. Old school veneers could still easily be cut to piece. But veneers themselves can be absurdly difficult, let alone depending on what it was made from. Dont down on veneers, sometimes they're a small piece of something you'd never see in in your life. But please keep holding people to a standard.
This video makes me appreciate the vacuum hold down and dust extraction on the cnc at work
This inspired me to finally work on the dash/cluster of my 90 Cherokee. Wood interior here we come.
Ash trays would make neat pockets for usb charging ports.
I love the updated look, I knew a guy from NYC that had a classic 57 Chevy Belair and he didn't have windshield wipers at all so he applied Rain-X on on it and made rain just bead up and off so he never needed the wipers after that.
5:03 use hobby servos not steppers ….. much easier to control since they have a feedback loop inside of them and they are also really easy to control with just an arduino
Often times there's a reason why veneered ply is used instead of solid wood. Think about how wood fibers expand and contract with environmental conditions, then think about how most ply is bidirectional, rotating the grain 90° each layer, and how each sheet of face grain is glued to the next layer; it's literally more dimensionally stable, second only to fiberboards, and in many ways similar to gluing together multiple blocks of wood with varying grain orientations. This is also why plastics and composites are used modernly, other than scale of economy and better manufacturing methods, not to mention weight and material usage, they're just more dimensionally stable than wood products are, and even then heat warping is still an issue with a lot of plastics; now imagine heat not being the only factor but also humidity. If you want a wood look to anything in a car, leave the wood for a non-structural beauty panel that's properly fastened, preferably adhered, to a material that is properly used for structural intent; this is why most mounting brackets and mounting assemblies are metal, for strength and rigidity, no matter what the beauty panel is made of.
It's too late for this project, but you might want to think about using dust collecting equipment on your router and CNC machine in addition to wearing some type of reasonably effective respiratory protection when you're working with wood, especially walnut. The dust can irritate one's lungs, resulting in an asthma-like attack or worse. The wood also contains natural poisons, such as juglone. Look it up and take care of present and future Matt.
I do really need to get a comfortable, reusable mask...
You are not wrong. There was a famous clinical study made about the very high rate of adenocarcinoma of the ethmoid sinuses (nasal cancers) among furniture makers in High Wycombe carried out in the 1960s. It was found that there was a causal connection from bneing exposed to the wood dust. Of course, those workers were exposed to it day after day, but it's going to be one of those things that just ought to be avoided. There are now legal limits (at least in the UK) on the level of exposure to wood dust by these sort of workers.
All the bits you lost for you wipers were fitted on most uk cars up until the 90's. Rimmer brothers is one place off the top of my head. Take your pick of cars, it's just a worm drive system, all off the shelf pal.
It sure looks like what I had on my Hillmans.
It's all progress...
A project like this will always have little details to tweak, but it's looking great so far!
PS .. since you are actually trying hard to make the jag aesthetic .. please fix/replace the remaining two smog coloured headlights, they really spoil the outside, especially as the two new ones looknso swanky. More hails etc.
Love that job you are doing bringing that old Jag back to life, in a practical way!
All the old Jag parts are valvalueable so don't toss them. Many a fine Mk V guy will be interested.
Keep Calm and Carry On...
I love how you spent time making ash trays for a car that no one is ever allowed to smoke in. I would have done the same tbh.
The wiper mechanism does not use a 'screw', the form-wound wire acts as a gear rack, the wiper wheelboxes have helical grooves cut into then that engage the wire rack. It's like a rack-and-pinion steering system but in reverse. The rack is moved back and forth using a worm gear-driven eccentric which transfers the back-and-forth movement of the rack into alternating rotation of the wiper arms. British cars have used this type of mechanism for decades, you should be able to get the parts you need. The tubes inside which the rack moves are nothing more than sections of brake line.
If you move to Scotland, sun damage, to dashboards is less of an issue....Paul, Scotland.
Oh, I really enjoyed this video. One main reason I watch this channel, besides Matt's characteristic language and speaking pattern, is the exciting projects that are undergoing. One is this Jaguar. I would love to see it finished with (I wish) spoke wheels and, as much as possible, look like the original, knowing it is a converted classic vehicle to electric drive. Very fancy. But that is my thoughts about the whole thing. I loved the remaking of the wooden dash and door panels. Looks really good. Nice work. And a top entertainment video.
That interior looks amazing, great work!
Glad you like it!
I pumped my RF tyre today. Just having a little rest ATM to get over the exertion. Changing a fuse would put me in hospital. Matt, your skill and tenacity are outstanding.
"flush router bit thing" is called a pattern bit. The reaon they didn't use solid wood is because laminated wood plywood) with resorcinol glue holds together much better and prevents checking.Also, one final thing- Polyurethane has neither the UV resistance of a good spar varnish, or the easy repairability of shellac or lacquer. It does have the advantage of easier initial application.
Just fantastic that you’re not afraid to take on any thing, any medium, any method. My dad said “Don’t be afraid of not getting it right first time, or the second time. Be afraid of not trying at all”
Certain types of walnut are only available because it's a veneer, curly walnut for instance. Veneers were used extensively in the 20th century for absolutely everything from furniture to radios, and the cheap version was made with solid timbers and obvious joins.
I live in an old Northern Calif Black Walnut orchard. So I bought a wood mill recently and began milling .... Some of it has cured 3-4 years. And I have a 1964 Triumph Spitfire so it's getting some real nice grained panels. this wood is Claro, which is juglans hindsii, the cats meow of black walnut
I absolutely love your Approach of knowing how to do it right or at least knowing you are doing it wrong, but doing it how it goes anyway. I doo my private projects the exact same way. And I enjoy the the results, best idea jet was not to brush of the rust/ salt compound of a old breake rotor out side of my shop. Since I enjoy the istant rusting of ansolutly anything not submerged in oil
Amazing - the ash try’s would make a great location for USB chargers
Part of the reason for using different woods is stability. When it’s mixed up it won’t warp like a solid piece might do with change of humidity.
You could make your solid wood dash more stable for a car environment by laminating (gluing) two pieces of walnut together. It is cheaper than the super thick (hard to find) piece you used and it also has kind of a "plywood" effect making it more stabile.
The router bit is called a trim bit or a flush cut bit.
You can keep most of the dust out of your garage when you use your CNC for wood by putting a fan in the door and blocking off the rest of the door with cardboard or plywood (fan blowing the air out). If you want to save your neighbors from the dust, you can use a cheap furnace filters in front of the fan to catch most of the dust. Put an opening in the plastic in your garage so that you suck air from the area you want to keep clean.
I hope you did not have too many problem scanning the right side of the dash when you could have just mirrored the left side in CAD.
DeWalt calls it a Multi-Tool.
FEIN (which I believe was the original that every company copied) calls it a Multi-Master.
Plywood ALWAYS used an odd number of laminations.
I'm building a speedboat with a solid maple burl dash that cost me less than a dime because I cut the burl from a tree I was paid to remove from my neighbour's back yard, so this was a very useful video, thanks!
0:26 - looks like veneer over plywood?
1. Plywood does not move (expand / contract due to atmospheric moisture like humidity / sweat, etc) as much - so you have a plywood base
2. The veneer therefore does not have enough thickness to absorb water / dry out and thus "move" = crack / warp, etc.
3. Plywood is cheaper than birdseye maple or walnut burl, etc, which matters for 1000s of vehicles in production
4. Plywood is bendable / shapable / steamable / kerfable - all the -ables and thus easier to form into the desired shape in steam presses of as part of the automated or production line process.
5. Veneer is easily molded to the existing shape of a plywood form
You can stabilise solid wood using something like cactus juice to help prevent it from moving / warping / cracking.
Stunning result, well done.
Veneers are usually some of the prettiest woods you'll find if you don't actively go to a log emporium and get an uncut log yourself so it makes sense why they'd use them, also much lighter weight.
Beautiful work. Massive wood has its problems, but if you take care to keep the car at a relatively even temperature and humidity it should last. There is good reason that all expensive furniture is veneered. I restored my 1954 XK120DHC in 1963 (cars were not cared for well and didn't last long back then). I had the dash restored by a professional woodworker, whereby the word "restored" might be replaced by "destroyed." Rather than using veneer he used brown paint to "touch it up." I was only 22 years old with little experience, so I just accepted it and tried not to think about it. I left the States forever in 1965 and never learned what happened to the car. Is (was) yours a Mark V?
I'm gonna pick option B (Just watch you do it). Since I don't have walnut or a CNC machine it would make it rather difficult to try and follow along. Also I don't own a car.
I guess I could make a wooden dash for my wood cabinets, but that seems slightly redundant...
it seems like there's some room on that dash for a round LCD panel to display some of the various Tesla related information...
SWEET! - I also prefer REAL wood panels in my classic ride - 78 Bronco. I redid the bed and door panels with 3/4" American Walnut planks Rivnutted to the steel. Hand cut and LOTS of wood rasp (before I had a router) and lots of Pure Tung Oil. You can hang from my doorplanks and I can't tell you how sweet it is to have the flathead screws just pocket in find the thread and pull up tight when removing and replacing a panel. I have one nice wide solid piece of walnut saved for the dash once all the gauges are set up.
I know you love to experiment, but for my project, I grabbed a GPS Spedometer from Speedhut. They should be able to provide you the guts so you can reuse your own face. Likewise, if you're using a BMS that outputs State-of-Charge as a 0-5V value, you can use the movement for a Wideband O2 gauge as a fuel gauge, you just need to match the sweep length. Temp gauge is also easy enough, you just mount the sensor into your battery coolant flow. Modern digital tachometers use a PWM squarewave, usually fed by a wheel on the ABS, which is definitely an option if you've got the encoder wheels on the Tesla hubs. I used an Arduino to pick up the RPM signal message on the CANBus and translate it into PWM using math. There may be a better option, but one hiccup I ran into is that there's a millisecond method and a microsecond (I think, it's been a while since I did this) method, and there's a place where you have to swap or you get weird readings on the tach. For me, this meant initially the tach would go nuts under 700 rpm and then be accurate over 700. So there's just an IF in my code that says "if it's under 1000, use millisecond, else use microsecond". You may already know all of this, but just in case, maybe I can save you some time.
With some wood boat experience -- one could say the plywood of old was stable - from a warpage view and less expensive (in their day) pretty Of course the veneer checks, delaminates with time . The truth is all wood hates UV light -
Nice job and nice video --- what, you didn't want to do 20 coats of varnish - and do it again in 15 years - With the boats we have used two part polyurethane (Bristol brand is one) but it lets loose after 10 years sort of like chipped nail polish - the thought is it to brittle at the wood surface interface.( also a boat/wet issue - less so for a car) SO newest aproach is base coat - 2 varnish then 3 or 4 polyurethane - but will have to wait 10 more years to prove
Good stuff Matt. I like your overly complicated approach to making all the new parts that saved having to do woodworking the hard way.
Coating all the bare wood pieces with West System epoxy and 207 UV hardener would stabilize the wood and provide a perfect base for the final finishes: matte, satin or gloss. The epoxy effectively eliminates expansion / contraction of the wood by way of thermal cycling.
I thought you said the gloveboxes need to be assembled with your clothes off, and I was afraid this had turned into an Only Fans debut I really wasn't interested in seeing.
11:44 - WOW, that dash is the best looking part of the Jag! I think you should take up smoking so you can use the cool dash ashtray - but only if you smoke right handed.