cnc dash wood

[Jazgeek]

Hey all, as some of you may know I've been working on cnc programming to cut new dash panels out of anything from plastic to aluminum (wood preffered). I personally am doing wood for myself and I've sort of run into a road block.

I've done test cuts out of mdf and they look great with fit and function and now I'd like to move onto something a little more decorative and permanent.

Problem being is that I have no idea what wood to use. I'm concerned about cracking and warping.

Any suggestions?

[mdrburchette]

I've had good success with mahagony, black walnut and birdseye maple. Oak will splinter pretty easily and most pine will warp. Of course, I'm doing it the old fashion way so you may not run into the problems with splintering. but the console piece may cause problems when installed since it's supposed to be 1/8" thick. You gotta worry about it cracking when it gets glued onto the metal plate.

[dahliacactus]

If your willing to share your CNC programming please let me know.

[fiat218]

cnc means?

[Jazgeek]

Computer Numerical Control


I gave up on this project because apparently everyone's dash wood is slightly different meaning they were probably made by hand by Luigi

[fiat218]

oh ok lol
like a motherboard on the back side?

[engineerted]

The best is to use a wood veneer over a stable backer board, like mdf or hard board. Solid wood is very subjective to temp and humidity levels that cause it to expand and contract, thus causing cracks/splits.

Ted

[tomalvis]

I took my existing dash panels and simply glued a very thin birch veneer. Then I stained the veneer.