Wood veneer on a Chuck (With Pics)

[tonypilot7]

(Edited version of the switchectomy post on Thagbuilt forum)


I have seen a few posts here asking about wood grain finishes so I thought I would show off what I did to my Chuck.

I found this material at Lowes:

I bought the 12 x 48 inch (enough to do at least 20 chucks) piece in red oak. It was all that Lowes had at the time but if you go to the website : Band-It® Products | Real Wood Veneer There are all kinds of exotic and purty woods to choose from.

Then I cut a piece and dry fitted it.

This veneer has a heat activated glue backing material. I used a hobby iron to Iron it on to the Chuck housing. (you can use a regular clothes iron also.)

Cut the hole for the switch:

sanded the crap out of it..

And she is ready for stain and varnish.

Stain applied

This color really made the wood grain pop out.

sand-varnish-wait, sand-varnish-wait,sand-varnish-wait...

Ok, so after about a zillion attempts to get an even sanding on this thing, I finally figured out a solution...

I turned my drill into a lathe by wrapping a piece of scotch pad tight around a long 1/4 inch socket extension then jamming it into the bottom of the chuck tube.

That made things a lot easier. It also allowed me to wet-sand between coats of varnish.

Reassembled the chuck and gave it a couple of coats of carnuba and:



It's part chuck.... It's part oak...

I call it.....

The Choak

OOOOHHHHHHH YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH

 

[Automaton]

That is WAY cool! Beautiful work, and I love the color of the stain. Just beautiful.

 

[Eekaa Chu]

Very cool!

 

[Mr.Self_Destruct]

I love it! Nice job!

Can't wait for someone else to make one and engrave artwork.

 

[NCC]

That's great!

I shudder to think of what the results would be if I attempted something like that.

Very nicely done!

 

[WillieB69]

Very nice looking. You do excellent work!

 

[dspin]

Looks great, I would never be able to do that

 

[Xanax]

How much wood could a Woodchuck chuck if a Woodchuck could chuck wood?

 

[tonypilot7]

How much wood could a Woodchuck chuck if a Woodchuck could chuck wood?

As much wood as a woodchuck would chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood.

Thanks for all the comments guys, I think it turned out good for my first attempt.

Since I have a ton of this stuff left over, I'm contemplating building an altoid's box mod and veneering it just for fun.

 

[WillyB]

Very nice, and I like the large pics you posted (couldn't spot a seam).

 

[Gamer]

HOLY CHUCK!

Very nice! Love the wood look, woods getting quite popular

 

[Harleymedic53]

Totally subscribing to this thread. I think what the OP has done is the greatest thing since the birth of ecigs!! im gonna try to wrap my BB in wood, i think it would look amazing

 

[Harleymedic53]

I did it tthis on my BB!!! I love it soo much. All sanded and ready for stain and varnish. R there any places to get small cans of stain/varnish? Suggestions on colors? Im thinkin like a cherry stain. The wood is red oak.

 

[librarising]

Beautiful work! EnJoy!

 

[JamBandPhan]

What a great idea! I think I will wood out some of my Rivas, did you guys have to prep the PV surface? sand or rough it up to help it adhere better? I love the wood look.

 

[Harleymedic53]

When i decided to do the wood look my BB was already stripped of paint. Im sure it'd help if u rough up the surface. This was the first time i've done this and im supirised how good its turning out

 

[JamBandPhan]

Is this wood material easy to manipulate? I was trying to think of a way to cover the cone too. I guess I will find out soon, as I already ordered some. I like the organic look of the wood, mixed with the technology. I had been thinking about making some kind of wood drip tips, and I am a bit surprised somebody else has not already done so. I am excited to try this project out. I hope I get as decent results as what I have seen here so far. Nice work Ya'll!

 

[eciglopedia]

What is a chuck? I must know....

 

[tonypilot7]

I did it tthis on my BB!!! I love it soo much. All sanded and ready for stain and varnish. R there any places to get small cans of stain/varnish? Suggestions on colors? Im thinkin like a cherry stain. The wood is red oak.

That looks freakin' awesome!

I used Minwax for both the stain and varnish. A word of warning though, don't use the fast drying polyurethane varnish. it dries waaaaay too thin for this type of application. You will have to apply a million coats and it will leave you with runs and ugly spots that you will have to sand on forever to get out. Also, test everything on a scrap piece to get the color right. I lucked out and got close to the color I was aiming for but my second project didn't turn out like I wanted.

What a great idea! I think I will wood out some of my Rivas, did you guys have to prep the PV surface? sand or rough it up to help it adhere better? I love the wood look.

I roughed it up a bit with some red colored scotch pad

Is this wood material easy to manipulate? I was trying to think of a way to cover the cone too. I guess I will find out soon, as I already ordered some. I like the organic look of the wood, mixed with the technology. I had been thinking about making some kind of wood drip tips, and I am a bit surprised somebody else has not already done so. I am excited to try this project out. I hope I get as decent results as what I have seen here so far. Nice work Ya'll!

It was a lot easier to mold it around the tube than I thought it was going to be. It doesn't bend against the grain too easily though so if you are going to get fancy with the direction of your grain, it could be a nightmare.

What is a chuck? I must know....

The Chuck is a customizable Sherman tank masquerading as a 3.7v or 6v mod. It is made by Jeff at Thagbuilt.com and is directly responsible for my quitting analogs for good. Look under forum suppliers for thagbuilt. there is a ton of info on it.

 

[JamBandPhan]

Thanks for the reply, if I can make this work on my riva, I will post pics Any tips on the heating process? I will be using a standard clothes iron.