A friend of mine had started a customization project on a Tricycle for his youngest. The tricycle had a back step that was simply plywood with a metal frame and frankly was just boring. After all why have a Schwinn when you can have a Smith with a Legend of Zelda tribal Logo.

For this project I used:

5" x 3/4" x 48" African Rosewood board I picked up at my local Woodcraft.

2 Ounces of two part craft resin.

Brass Screws I had left over from another project.

Some painters tape.

Step 1: Measure, Measure, Mill and Glue

The pictures I of this part vanished some where between this update and last update on my iPhone, and did not back up.

First thing I measured the existing Step as this would be my template. It was just a little wider than the piece of Rosewood, and was only a 1/4" thick. So since my band saw has seen better days (when it was built in 1951) So I cut the wood down to 2" strips on the table saw. Then raising the blade of the table saw just a little over 2" to prevent blowout I split the pieces in half. Be sure to use shims to keep the two parts from pinching on the blade and becoming inconvenient missiles. This is much safer on the band saw or if you don't mind the waste using a thickness planer. If it doesn't feel right don't do it.

Next I used a joiner, I took the facing pieces pushed them together and then ran those edges through the Joiner at the same time. This means that even if my joiner was off a degree or two they will still glue together, or at least that is what YouTube has taught me. This was my first time actually doing something like this so it was surprising to see it work so well.

I glued a total of 4 pieces together that gave me an 8" x 15.5" at roughly 5/8" thick. After sanding and running through the Joiner a few times I got it close to a 1/4" and smooth, and ready for the Xcarve.

Step 2: Layout and Running in the CNC

Now I am not an expert on the CNC, but my background does give me some experience in layout and design.

So after a few run's on the design side of this with my friend we cam up with the following design built in Adobe Illustrator. I exported as an SVG, Easel has a great walk through on the settings needed for the document settings. The SVG is far cleaner when importing instead of the image trace on the PNG.

Ran a few tests on some scrap flooring and after I felt comfortable I was not going to ruin the piece of wood I just worked so hard on gluing together. I ran it through the mill and after a quick coat of paint and a sand It turned out pretty good.

Step 3: Tape It Up and 2 Part Resin

**So this 2 part resin I purchased from a craft store a long time ago. As an important consideration you should know that this heats up and will leave some of goo off the bottom of the tape.**

Using some painters tape I taped up the surface leaving and then cut the tape away from the letters and Logo.

Be Careful and make sure you check the entire area if you look closely I missed cutting the tape from around 3 holes in the logo.

Using a paper copy of the template I marked out the mounting holes and made sure the layout would be centered.

Step 4: Drilling, Cutting, Finishing and After Thoughts.

I cut out the general area staying about 1/8" away from the marking lines, then I drilled out the mounting holes.

I used bolts to attach the template to the the work piece and used a spiral sander match the shapes.

I used some finishing paste to seal the surface, I thought of using some self leveling polyurethane but I was concerned with the added thickness and how it would look with the resin.

I put the metal brackets on the work piece using some clamps to hold in place pilot drilled the holes and used the brass screws to close it up and finish the piece.

After thoughts:

Over all I am happy with the outcome but I think if I did it again I would get some Black dye for the resin and maybe add some sparkles to match the paint. I might also Cut it out Drill the pilot holes and then paint the polyurethane on before the resin.

When I get pictures of this on the Tricycle I will update this Instructable.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.