I finally did it. I veneered my Buzz.

[mistinthewoods]

Hello again NotCigs friends. I haven't been on the forums much lately, just a few minutes here and there, but I had to take time to show this to y'alls. I finally took the batteries out of my Buzz long enough to dress it up the way I had planned and there was nothing easy about it. So, anyway, here's some pics.
My raw aluminum Buzz as it was when I got it.

Here's a shot that sorta shows the figure in the maple.

Here's a straight up shot of the button side.

Lastly, a shot of the LED side. See? the LED is lit! I didn't screw it up, it still works great! (whew!)

I've done this to Chucks, GLVs and my own home made copper pipe mods but the Buzz was by far the most challenging one I've done. I had to be really careful not to get sanding dust, glue or the sprayed on acrylic into any of the many holes in the tube. I'm pretty happy with the results but I wish I could have done it before it was assembled.

 

[scinsc]

Terrific job Mist!

 

[Chelseafn]

Wow!! Very nice work!! Looks amazing!!

 

[Rosco]

Wow....that looks really nice. Congratulations, it's amazing how it changes it.

 

[keyzygirl]

Another beautiful piece of craftsmanship.Your amazing!

 

[Brutus Buckeye]

That is beautiful!

 

[El Dee]

I'm gonna have too agree with the others....Nice, very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kellie]

That looks awesome. I wish I could do stuff like the. Mike had to help me to tighten screws lol

 

[Ruppy]

That is absolutely beautiful! Can you possibly give us a materials list and a brief description of the process. I could probably accomplish that if I knew where to start. My wife would love hers to look like that.

 

[Pokeygizmo]

Very nice, Mist! It's beautiful.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing

 

[Bovinia]

Absolutely gorgeous Mist!

 

[5cardstud]

Mist you are a true artist my friend. That is stunning. I'd have to say nothing short of spectacular. I love it. Now when I get my Pro I can expect you to put the fessional into it. The Buzz Professional.

 

[hairball]

That is absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful work you do. One problem, if you tell people it's a Buzz, they will expect Mike to have them available....LOL....Mike you up for it?....I want one!

 

[Poppa D]

That's really nice, lots of detail, I'm impressed.

 

[mistinthewoods]

Thanks for the compliments everybody.
@ Ruppy: I used commercial veneers (non-backed) and pre made decorative bandings. The process is a little involved. First I cut a template out of tracing paper and wrap it around the Buzz to carefully mark out all the holes and the button recess. I then lay it on a piece of veneer that I cut to the same size and mark the centers of the holes with the point of a compass. I measure and drill all of the holes to the correct size on the drill press.
This is where it gets complicated. The veneer will not bend to the necessary radius without being softened with steam. I have built a steam chamber for this purpose. It consists of a piece of 4" PVC pipe cut to about a foot with 4, 1/8" vent holes drilled into it. I put PVC caps on each end and a piece of hardware cloth (like chicken wire) in it for a floor. a larger hole is drilled in it to accept a rubber cork which has a 1/2" hole in it with a piece of 1/2" copper flex tubing in it. The tubing runs from the plug in the chamber to a plug in an old tea kettle that I fill with water and put on a propane camp stove. I lay the veneer on the hardware cloth "floor" in the chamber, put the end cap on the PVC chamber and fire up the stove. When the steam has been coming out of the vent holes for 20 minutes or so I know the veneer is pretty soft so I take it out and quickly wrap it around a piece of 3/4" copper pipe and wrap it with rubber bands to hold it in shape while it dries. The next day I have a wooden tube of about the right diameter.
Masking off all of the holes in the Buzz body so nothing gets in is a whole "process". It took me a while to figure it out. If you REALLY want to try this I'll explain it in a PM or something.
I glue the veneer on to the body of the Buzz VERY CAREFULLY and "clamp" it in place with a special stretchy tape used for masking off curves in auto body painting. Electrical tape might work as well. When the glue is ste I take the tape off and cut the strips of banding to length. I lay the banding in place where I want it to be and mark the edges with a woodworker's marking knife (more difficult than it sounds). I take an exacto knife and cut the veneer on these lines and peel it off where I'm putting the banding. I then epoxy the banding in place. I clamp the whole thing into a form that I've made to force the bandings to conform to the curve of the Buzz. The bandings can't be steamed because they are made with water soluable glue and fall apart in the steam chamber. when all the glue is set I unclamp it and trim the ends flush with the end of the Buzz using a VERY sharp wood carving knife. I double check all of the masking to mace sure it hasn't come loose anywhere and start sanding everything smooth and flush. I start with 220 grit paper and finish with 320 grit. Then I rub it down with tung oil to bring out the figure in the wood and allow the oil to polymerize for 24 hours. I then spray the whole thing with four coats of polyacrylic, smoothing with 0000 steel wool between coats. After the last coat I unmask everything and put the caps back on. That's all there is to it. Easy!

 

[mistinthewoods]

Mist you are a true artist my friend. That is stunning. I'd have to say nothing short of spectacular. I love it. Now when I get my Pro I can expect you to put the fessional into it. The Buzz Professional.

Thanks buddy. I don't know if I'm willing to take that kind of chance with someone else's Buzz. I was scared that I may get dust or finish on the circuit boards inside and screw it up. If Mike could send me an empty tube and assemble it after I got through with it then I guess I could. Quite a few hours in it though. Lots of stuff to work around on the Buzz.

 

[BuzzKill]

Amazing Mist !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! very nice work Bro !!

 

[Ruppy]

@ Ruppy: I used commercial veneers (non-backed) and pre made decorative bandings. SNIP.......

The process dosent sound horrible. Ive done a few similar things doing construction years ago. It was just a larger scale bending wood for fixtures and such. Only other question I really have is where did you get the veneers and banding? Local or internet?

Oh and thanks for the super detailed post

 

[Wharf Rat]

Is that ALL!!!!!

Thanks for the compliments everybody.
@ Ruppy: I used commercial veneers (non-backed) and pre made decorative bandings. The process is a little involved. First I cut a template out of tracing paper and wrap it around the Buzz to carefully mark out all the holes and the button recess. I then lay it on a piece of veneer that I cut to the same size and mark the centers of the holes with the point of a compass. I measure and drill all of the holes to the correct size on the drill press.
This is where it gets complicated. The veneer will not bend to the necessary radius without being softened with steam. I have built a steam chamber for this purpose. It consists of a piece of 4" PVC pipe cut to about a foot with 4, 1/8" vent holes drilled into it. I put PVC caps on each end and a piece of hardware cloth (like chicken wire) in it for a floor. a larger hole is drilled in it to accept a rubber cork which has a 1/2" hole in it with a piece of 1/2" copper flex tubing in it. The tubing runs from the plug in the chamber to a plug in an old tea kettle that I fill with water and put on a propane camp stove. I lay the veneer on the hardware cloth "floor" in the chamber, put the end cap on the PVC chamber and fire up the stove. When the steam has been coming out of the vent holes for 20 minutes or so I know the veneer is pretty soft so I take it out and quickly wrap it around a piece of 3/4" copper pipe and wrap it with rubber bands to hold it in shape while it dries. The next day I have a wooden tube of about the right diameter.
Masking off all of the holes in the Buzz body so nothing gets in is a whole "process". It took me a while to figure it out. If you REALLY want to try this I'll explain it in a PM or something.
I glue the veneer on to the body of the Buzz VERY CAREFULLY and "clamp" it in place with a special stretchy tape used for masking off curves in auto body painting. Electrical tape might work as well. When the glue is ste I take the tape off and cut the strips of banding to length. I lay the banding in place where I want it to be and mark the edges with a woodworker's marking knife (more difficult than it sounds). I take an exacto knife and cut the veneer on these lines and peel it off where I'm putting the banding. I then epoxy the banding in place. I clamp the whole thing into a form that I've made to force the bandings to conform to the curve of the Buzz. The bandings can't be steamed because they are made with water soluable glue and fall apart in the steam chamber. when all the glue is set I unclamp it and trim the ends flush with the end of the Buzz using a VERY sharp wood carving knife. I double check all of the masking to mace sure it hasn't come loose anywhere and start sanding everything smooth and flush. I start with 220 grit paper and finish with 320 grit. Then I rub it down with tung oil to bring out the figure in the wood and allow the oil to polymerize for 24 hours. I then spray the whole thing with four coats of polyacrylic, smoothing with 0000 steel wool between coats. After the last coat I unmask everything and put the caps back on. That's all there is to it. Easy!

 

[breaktru]

Sweet...............