Tag Archives: wood

I made some things!

I know I don’t post here often enough, and every time I think about it, I just kind of brush it away, but hey, I am doing it now!  Mostly because A lot of the stuff I would post regularly, I do over on the Comic page.  It’s no good excuse, but aside from the comic and work, most of what I have been doing has been pretty mundane.

Till now.

If you follow along on the comic, you know that I picked up a 3D Printer and have been having quite a bit of fun with it.  It’s been a blast.  We have made all sorts of useful things for the house and some costume pieces as well.  The most exciting thing to come from it has been a dive into 3D design using 123D Design (it’s a simple CAD program) that I have used to design some game boxes for card based games like Fluxx and the Looney Pyramid games.  Not to slight the boxes they come in, but the StarFluxx box used to travel with us in Sarah’s purse for play while we were out and it got pretty beat up.  So I designed a cool box that holds the cards and travels well.  Likewise, the Pyramid bags are cool, but they get cumbersome.

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Also, on kind of a dare/challenge from my Son, who is really into period re-enactment, I made a wooden looking version of one of the Pyramid games, that can be taken to events and not look like a 20th century plastic game.

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The printer I picked up is a Makerbot Replicator 2, it was on sale from Amazon for a fraction of the normal cost.  It’s build area is roughly 11x6x6 (inches).  Since it’s not one of the new fancy versions of their printer, turns out it’s incredibly easy to work on.  If you have ever been around any sort of 3D printer, you would learn quick that all sorts of things can happen to them from jamming to parts failing.  So having something that is easy to fix and repair is vital.  

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This is what happens when your extruder is leaking and it’s not caught in time.

Downside to buying an older version is that you don’t get all the bells and whistles, so I have had to improvise.  One of the great things on newer versions is a build in camera to show the print as it’s happening.  This way, if something goes wrong, you can address it quickly.  Also, it’s great fun to watch something getting built.  You may think it’s boring, but it really is fascinating.  To make up for this shortcoming, I have setup two cameras that stream to the website and show the current build as it happens.  

Sometimes I am building plain stuff, other times it’s cool stuff. So if you are interested, just click this link, or check out the tab on the top of the page for 3D printing.

In the meantime, get out there and make stuff!

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Almost done with the Tardis!

Been a little while since an update due to my starting the new job.

While I was at work the kid Started in on the signs for the top.  Went for all wood and painted using a stencil.  If we go full size I will definitely look into getting signs made.

Also, I think I see a table saw in my future.  All of the cuts here were made with a handheld circular saw or a hand skill saw, and it shows. (and it makes me sad).  But hey, this small one was more meant for fun and learning!

So here is where we are now:

We stuck the front door sign (phone box sign) on with Lamination and sticky back.

Whats left is the Lantern, and Window framing, and then some touch up painting!

Planter Box for Sarah. Spent all day Saturday building this from…

Planter Box for Sarah.

Spent all day Saturday building this from scratch.  Sarah wanted a raised planter-box for an herb garden out on the deck.  This is 7ft long, 2 1/2 ft wide, and 3 ft tall.  Still need to paint/treat the plywood inside base so it won’t rot.  Will try and get pics up next weekend when it is filled and in place.