Wood Prototyping or Model Making

[racecar builder]

What is a good wood to use for this in a woodshop?

Guy at machinable wax outfit listened and told me just use wood.

What would be a good wood to use for 'fake' milled and turned on a lathe parts?

Is there any such thing as a wood mill benchtop shop tool?

Happy holidays!

 

[middle.road]

I like Maple, Walnut and other similar hardwoods, even the cedar around here is nice to work. Pine splinters to much.
Do not forget dust collection and cover your ways. I also wear a respirator when working wood.

And here's something I found out just last month, Western Red Cedar is worse than Walnut for particulate matter...

 

[francist]

Typically one that is even and consistent in density and grain. Basswood or linden were and still are favoured for their resolution of fine detail and ease of working. They are dense enough to resist crushing but still soft enough to carve well. The great Grinling Gibbons used linden almost exclusively. Basswood, I believe, is still favoured by decoy carvers.

For full-sized work in pattern shops, pine or mahogany were often the woods of choice. Both work well and are quite dimensionally stable (little tendency to warp). Car body patterns were often carved full on from mahogany.

A medium-hard maple would be a reasonable choice for smallish items. The grain and pore structure is quite tight so it disguises well. Walnut works well but is a little more open so needs more filling if you’re trying to make it completly smooth. Mahogany even more so yet. I would stay away from oaks, cedars, firs as they can be troublesome to get consistent cuts with.

-frank

 

[RobertB]

+1 On the Basswood. Easy to work, easy to sand, fairly stable and reasonably priced. Downside is it is soft, so does get dinged pretty easy. If that is a concern then Maple is a good choice, though is pretty pricey if you need bigger pieces.

 

[tghsmith]

most medium to hard even grained wood will work well,, fruitwoods, dogwoods and hollies turn very well and can be given a burnished finish..

 

[Latinrascalrg1]

If you are looking for something that cuts easily, is light weight and is still able to hold fine detail look into some 2 part expanding rigid-foam. It comes in many different densities which is rated by how many pounds a cubic foot block weighs. Some of the very dense formulas are strong enough to be structurally sound building materials that can be poured in place and cut to shape. I used this stuff covered with fiberglass to make/repair light weight customizing auto-body parts for things like flared wheel wells or bumper covers etc.

It does however make a huge mess if you don't take preventative steps by using a vac system to contain most of it before it can spread everywhere!

The link is just an example for the type of product.....I have never used this specific brand before!

Pour Foam: 2 Part Liquid Polyrethane Expanding Pour Foam | AeroMarine

www.aeromarineproducts.com

 

[Martin W]

MDF works well for prototypes. It’s cheap and can be glued easily. It shapes and cuts well with carbide. Sands easily.comes in various thicknesses.
Make sure you buy 100 % softwood mdf not hardwood softwood mixed mdf. They are usually cheaper and not as dense. Good brands are Superior MDF or Flakeboard. Arauco (spelling?)
cheers
martin

 

[benmychree]

I make a lot of foundry patterns, and use sugar pine exclusively, machines well, is durable, and stable.

 

[middle.road]

I make a lot of foundry patterns, and use sugar pine exclusively, machines well, is durable, and stable.

Sugar Pine, John? Now I gotta go do a search on that.
There was still an active Pattern Shop in the mfg plant I worked at long ago. Loved going in there. The gent in charge was a wealth of info - if only I had been smart enough to pay better attention.
The wood used in the patterns was beautiful to behold. I never heard of Sugar Pine.
When they purged it back in '80 my father bought the patterns, his plan was to flip them at the Antique Shows that were so popular then.
My folks were dealing in antiques back then, doing all the shows and such up in northern IL.
The larger gears and others sold off, but they still had two stake trucks worth of patterns.
They ended up going to the end of year bonfire at the high school. *SIGH* If but I knew then what I know now.

 

[benmychree]

Sugar pine is a western costal wood, relatively soft, close grain with little or no prominent grain, it is or was used for moldings, it is getting a bit hard to find, but I'm working with a quantity that I bought many years ago.