Some recent attempts at stuff

Kat · April 20, 2019, 7:13pm

I have been using the Mr. Beaver HDZ for a bit now, and have to say it is awesome!
So, I have this J-Tech laser, but no place to keep it when not in use. As, my loving wife pointed out, I do have a shop full of tools and stuff, and make and sell boxes from time to time. So I decided that it was time to stop being lazy. Kind of. lol. I used a single pine board, 2X8, laid out my idea of things, and decided that it was time to give it a go. I knew there were a few things I wasn’t sure of so I made this a little undersize for a prototype.

I didn’t quite get the channel for the cable running from the laser where it needed to be, so some chisel work was needed. To keep the cable in the channel for this I just used some craft stick thingies my wife had. Lessions for the actual box. I need to move the cable channel down from where I had it, make the channel deeper, and a little larger. There are two screws that stick out on the back of the laser that I accounted for, but my measurements were just a bit off that I need to fix. The black velcro strap I use to keep the extra cable out of the way when using the laser. The little dog bone in the corners of that pocket, well, my X belt gave out on me. lol.
Oh, and always check youre retract hight as well. As, you can see this one got a bit taken off the side. lol.

Next up, my wife to me this e-cig thing. There is no way to stand it up, and this annoyed me. Enter one again the Shapeoko and my scrap wood pile.

Some red oak, poplar, and cedar, and some self adhesive cork for the bottom.
This is a photo type for an idea I had about doing a Yin Yang.
The idea to see if I could cut the shapes and do a glue up, then mill them. I mean I know others can, but I wanted to see if I could. lol. Again I used some wood from the scrap pile, Poplar, and red oak. The zippo lighter is just for scale.

This is after clear coat. No stain was used. My alignment of the wood was a bit off, so the fish are a little further into the yin and the yang than I wanted. Overall though, I was pretty happy with it.
Oh, as for the Beaver HDZ. The e-cig holder pocket is 1.5 inches deep. The box is, well pretty thick. lol. Other than my X-belt breaking (nothing to do with the HDZ) there was no slop what so ever. With the Stock carriage I could and have done the same, but it was a slower process, and a bit of a nail bitter from time to time. No hit on the stock carriage, just how it is.
Any ways, hope you folks are having some fun.

gdon_2003 · April 21, 2019, 5:16am

Kat rick,

I think you made a pretty good attempt. The things look good. Each project you learn more and do better. After all, some of us get older and wiser and others just get older. I like the little vessels. I do segmented turning and there is a technique where you make the bowl or vessel, then cut it on a bandsaw then put contrasting wood in and glue it back together and you have what you made on the CNC. The little parts of a segmented bowl are a part management nightmare especially with feature rings with hundreds to thousands of pieces of wood.

What exactly is the object in the little vessel that has the fish scales on it. Is it a thumb drive or a lighter or something else?

I have given this advise to others. Do not point out your mistakes. Your eye will go directly to the mistake every time you look at it but others will not. Do not be so hyper critical of your work. Every craftsman is too hard on themselves. When you show your work to friends and family they will ooh and aww and will not point out your mistakes, so you should not mention them. Just be happy with the result and make it better next time. Failures make you progress. If you were perfect every time out you would get bored and wander off somewhere else and do something else. If every baseball player batted a 1000 it would be a boring game (more boring than it is).

Kat · May 14, 2019, 1:24am

Sorry for the long delay for a reply. The object I think you’re referring to is an electronic cigarette (or E-cig) my wife got me to help with cut back on my smoking. Pack a day for oh, about 28 years now. Yeah, I’m kind of stupid. lol.
As for pointing out the mistakes. I’m with you. lol. I would never point them out to a customer. But I don’t mind pointing them out on here. To be honest, while I am nowhere near the level of a lot of folks around here. My hope is that maybe some new folks might look and say oh, it’s ok to make a mistake. I may be completely off the mark, but then again I am a bit of an odd ball. lmao.

Kat · May 14, 2019, 1:43am

This was a quick something for a friend of mine. To be honest. I did this last minute between a couple of other projects. The main reason for quick and between is because this is the second one I made. While being tired and somewhat brain dead finishing the first I had a brain fart and painted then applied lacquer. Needless to say that did not work out so well.

So, what do you do when in you’re shop, full of tools, and you need a bottle opener. Well have some fun with the Shapeoko of course.

It works great by the way. lol.

Awhile back I got a J-tech laser (4.2w). At the time I ordered mine I got the right side mount. Every now and then I found that it came a little to close to my clamps for comfort. I was just starting to figure a new mount for it when I found that J-Tech was offering a new mount that will allow for center mount or right side mount. The kicker for me was that it used screws top and bottom of the router bracket to hold in place. Which means I could very simply take off the mount when not in use. I figured for the price, I would give it a go.

I have to say, so far I am not regretting this. It has worked really well for me.
Oh, I also got around today to installing the new steel core, “Y” and “X” belts from Beavercnc. No photos of that. lol.