Should we hold our breath? Can’t wait to see it…
(re: knife sharpener)
Do not hold your breath — I have sketchbooks full of someday projects…
Apparently the Worksharp Precision Adjust is viewed as a good value:
and a lot of folks have been making 3D printed upgrades — lots of other options out there, or just go old-school and get a Lansky.
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Finished another project for a local brewery of creating tap handles for them. Small numbered set for their house taps and a couple of larger ones that will be used at locations where they have distribution.
Kitsune is fox in Japanese, so the handles are meant to look like fox tails if that wasn’t obvious. 
The owner and his business partners are all super-nice and we’ve become good friends, but opportunities to get paid projects like this have grown from making a few giveaway items like coasters etc. which for me at the time were just fun to do and more of a learning experience. I realize this could have been a calculated and intentional effort to get business, but for me it’s been more enjoyable to do what interests me and find opportunities that align with that. We’ll see what’s next.
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As I run out of personal projects to build, I’m starting to get interested in selling things. I just can’t think of anything to actually sell, yet.
I’m always blown away by the things people come up with to sell from their CNC. This is super clever and really well done.
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What worked for me was just indulging in making small things I liked or wanted to see if I could do. Never with the intention of making a complete product, other than an occasional birthday gift or someone asking if I could make something particular for them. Once your work gets around requests will gradually come to you. At least that’s been my experience so far.
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Rich - Your beer tap handles are awesome! Coincidentally, I just made some tap handles for my niece and her husband in Chicago. They have a “kegerator” that comes up through the granite countertop. But tall handles interfere with the cabinets above, so they are limited to 3 1/4" handles. I made them custom handles for their favorite Chicago beer (312, using screen traces of the actual graphics), and for their homemade beer (“Ziegbrew” - a play on their last name that begins with “Zieg”. They aren’t as nice as yours, but I couldn’t squeeze much into a 1" x 3 1/4" space, so I just lasered the designs into some hard maple and walnut. For the threads, I epoxied a 3/8-16 nut into the base of each handle. I didn’t want to buy EZ-Lok inserts as I didn’t think I needed them for a non-industrial/commercial application. They won’t take as much abuse, or be subjected to the same leverage, as tall handles in a brewpub.
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Hey Steve - Those look great! I’m familiar with 312 as well - it’s a good summer beer.
I used the EZ-Lock inserts and ended up drilling 15mm, rather than the recommended 13mm, because the hard maple was unrelenting to the threads, even at 14mm the install notches were breaking. At 15mm they screwed in, but a little too easily for my liking, so I added a light coat of JB Weld to the interior before screwing them in.
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Nice!
What material did you use for the colors?
Very nice looking tap handles. That’s a great way to advertise your work.
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312 is definitely a nice beer. I’ve been up to Chicago to the Goose Island brewery, lots of good beers there.
I really like the smaller handles. They look really nice. I made a keezer (kegerator made from a freezer) last year. This motivates me to make some tap handles for it.
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The wife requested a spice tray since we don’t have any free space on the walls. (Tile and cabs) Individual pockets hold the 6 oz bottles. Oak, cherry and mahogany with oil finish.
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I LOOOOVE that! I bet she does too! Great job!!!
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I have no idea what it’s for but that’s IMPRESSIVE!
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Thank you. Yes she does. It was quite chaotic with spices all over the island.
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Tell us how you managed the cylinder section? Do the four setups include the bore?
Got another kit from Rockler to make a little camping hatchet for my father. The handles / (scales?) are Wenge. I’ve never worked with Wenge before but it machined quite nicely on the Shapeoko! Finished with a beeswax finish. I really like the grain on this wood!
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Nice scales. My experience with wenge is it is very splintery. I have had the same experience with Purple Heart. My last wenge project was making a chess board. I picked out a few splinters. The Purple Heart was even worse and I got about 5 splinters just handling it.
Is this a Father’s day present or just a present?
Rockler has a lot of nice kits. I stopped in Houston Saturday on the way home to look over the old store I used to go in all the time. I worked across US 59 in Greenway Plaza and would go in there a few times a week on the way back from lunch. I mail order from Rockler and Woodcraft but love to go into the stores when I can to pick up odds and ends. I can never pass a clearance table without looking.
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Thanks, Guy!
Yeah, a Father’s Day gift for my dad. I hope he likes it. I made my mother a sign for her garden for Mother’s Day and he’s been jealous since.
I hope the Wenge holds up well with use. It’s quite smooth and comfortable to hold now, but we will see how it ages, I suppose!
Thought about getting out the MC etcher and etching something on the metal like our family’s last name, but I’m running out of time before the weekend.
This is my first Father’s Day, we had a baby in the fall. I’ve asked my wife for a quiet air compressor so I can add air assist to my SO 5 for when I start milling aluminum. Her response was, “you don’t get to make requests for Father’s Day” but I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask. 
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