The number of tools a man owns is only limited by the space he has to put them in.
The advantage of having a hole in my head is it lets some fresh air in.
Recent tap handles photo dump…
This first one is for a Front Pourch Brewing in north Phoenix. It’s based on the label they use on their cans, but extended to a vertical extreme to make it work for a handle. The trees and base are a solid piece of natural walnut and the bear in the hammock and fronds/sign are their graphics under epoxy resin on maple. In case you were wondering, yes, the bear in the hammock swings and real sand glued on and sealed at the base. Small section of blue epoxy resin (leftover from another project and cutout) to represent the sea in the background.
Below are three I made for Dark Sky Brewing in Flagstaff. They have a ‘paranormal’, space, aliens etc. theme because the Lowel Observatory is nearby and they like creative handles. This time I made two sizes of retro-style rockets, aliens abducting Bigfoot and their Skeleton mascot Tiny on a skateboard. Tiny is posable and removable from the handle, so he will likely end up wearing a bunch of different costumes. The real Tiny is probably 18’ and at their front entrance.
And lastly, I made ska-themed handles of Walt Jabsco and Betty Beat during a lull in activity to entertain myself. Unsurprisingly they have had zero attention in my store for several months so I sent them to Ska Brewing in Durango as a gift - no intention of getting any business in return, just happy they are being used and appreciated.
Sorry for the long post, hope it was at least somewhat entertaining.
Nice work for sure!
You learned what I already knew. Makes a pretty good mess. Cutting tempered glass results all look the same.
There is an umbrella over the table which is built into the pool. Seems a silly thing, but having some shade while relaxing in the pool is quite handy.
Problems arise when your beverage container runs low and the wind picks up. So, here is a solution via scrap wood, Carbide Create’s Circular Array tool, and three little rubber feet.
@HaroldO
Excellent adaptation for securing objects by the pool!
I cant put any of my machines on wheels because my floor is not level. The person that did and finished the floor of this shop didnt work it level, he just eyeballed it, and he didnt put a vapor barrier down before pouring the cencrete. So, now i fight moisture in the shop through the floor, the floor being unlevel, and no matter what I do to work around, just doesnt seem to work that well. There is no way that I can afford to tear out the floor and redo it. The building is 40’x40’ @ 8" deep at its thinnest areas. I moved my S5P over 3 feet from where I built the table and assemblied it at, and just that move over had my machine table rocking enough that i had to put a 3/16" shim under one complete side to get it to stop rocking, which also means my machine table is out of level. I figure my spindle is not trammed anymore.
Its a complete nightmare. Then I crashed the machine on a hard crash, but not do to my fault. I had to go to the power company and complain of their issues with our power out here. The power just went out and then came back on in the middle of a cut. The machine was in full cut, and then it shutdown, power flicker off, but not before the spindle plunged into the material while still spinning 18,000 rpm. It broke my bit, ruined the material and cut, and wasted all of the time I had already ran the project. We have been having these power flickers for 2 years and I have been complaining to them this whole time. This is probably more the reason I have lost interest in the machine because I cant trust the power coming to my shop. It flickers at random times throughout the week, each week. What does a person do when I have 7 to 10 hour cycle times on projects and the power flickers off and on randomly?
Even a 2 to 4 hour project can still be ruined and stopped from this issue. Would be pissed to have some expensive material on the machine and in the process of being worked, to only have the power flicker off and destroy the material. Then I would be out the material, possibly the bit, my time, and who knows what else.
While that is a great idea and makes life simpler, most pools today have enough salt content to rust any metal quicker than if its outside the pool. The water will find and attack any imperfection in the finish.
I had a basement floor with similar issues. Consider putting down some pressure treated 2x4’s and covering it with 3/4 ply, shimming to get level. You’ll lose a little ceiling height, but you’ll have a flat floor. Leave air vents at the ends of each run of joists, so that air can flow underneath. You can put a moisture barrier down (or seal the concrete) as well.
I dont think I have an issue with a loss of ceiling height, because I have open rafters in the shop and my ceiling is 9 feet in the air to the cross supporting of my rafters. Even my bay door is built for a 10’x10’ door that slides to the side like an old barn door from the outside. I like this idea because I can put down a vapor barrier below the wood and control the moisture in the shop better. And I can level everything out to this unlevel floor and have all of my machines on wheels that I want for moving around. Not everything will be on wheels, but not having to worry about what is level and what isnt level would take away a huge headache.
Plus when I build big pieces of furniture that require a large area for assembly, I can trust that the piece is level after completion and wont require some extra installed adjustments. I have even thought about going as far as having a company come and spraying a foam barrier under my slab, if it was possible, to create the vapor barrier that way. I dont know all the things avaible for fixing a contrete slab that is missing a vapor barrier and is also cost effective. Cant afford thousands of dollars on this and each idea will cost a pretty penny regardless. Im just trying to do the lesser of the evils.
I was thinking about using self leveler but worried it would crack and cause issue with use and the moisture coming up from below.
Some folks have addressed EMI by using a suitable UPS battery backup w/ line filtering (and which generates a sine wave for powering a trim router, not sure if the VFD has the same requirement).
I am running the 65mm spindle, not a router. I have looked into backup generators but this wouldnt stop my issue. The power would still flicker off before the generator would kick on, which would still cause my machine and computer to shut down and stop production completely.
I dont know about a battery backup for the 5 Pro. I dont know anything about this stuff and if it is available a t a reasonable price or what. Must do some more deeper research. Seems that I am doing that a lot lately.
I have an old tractor and it has many issues that I have been working on getting fixed so I can have a working tractor without these issues. Researching and finding replacement parts for it has been really tough. So much to do and not enough time to do it all. Lol
There’s no metal involved with this project. The piece is all scrap wood, mahogany mostly. It is secured by the umbrella pole and rubber feet. When the party is over, we’ll dry it off and put it away with all the other party supplies. Once the wood gets bad, we’ll make another and not even worry about it.
Here’s my post showing that a decent UPS will keep your machine running through unexpected power flickers and outages.
The reason for the router on the wasteboard was at that moment, the mounted router was not working. I think it needed brushes, so I just plugged in my spare and turned it on to show that the UPS could handle the load of the router, laptop and SO3 with ease.
Pools are much like boats. The happiest days are the day you get it and the day you get rid of it. In between it is a hole in the water to pour money into. A friend of mine had to have his pool relined this summer. Something went wrong and had to drain the pool and blast out the old lining and then spray in a new one. Then fill the pool up with water again. All very expensive.
Your drink idea is a great one. I will admit that sitting in a pool with a cool drink is quite relaxing. Fun in the sun and the pool.
It’s my daughter’s house. New construction. They entertain a lot, including this weekend. Southern California allows for much pool time.
A quick little token for the niece. Inspired by Ed, Edd, n Eddy
Less than 2 minutes to cut, much longer to post process.
I would highly recommend going the ups route… but don’t go cheap. I got one for the same reasons you talked about but it was under sized. Failed after a short amount of use.
As far as the floor… before I started my CNC journey, I thought about floor leveler and even tried my hand at it… spent way too much time and money before I gave up and hired a concrete contractor. SO much better. They added 3" and I can honestly say I don’t regret losing that space or the money I spent with him at all!!
To prevent the loss of power scenario on some of my equipment I have purchased solar generators (Lipo4 battery with inverter). There are models that have UPS swap time for computers, one of the more sensitive electronics we can own. I use a small one for our internet router for example. It stays plugged and fully charged and will run the router for over 10 hours. I do not have one on the cnc as of yet but there will be one eventually. However we do not normally have issue with phases dropping out. Sounds like you might be more susceptible to power outages in your location. I waited for sales and packaged deals with solar panels to recharge if needed. They work great and are all pure sine wave tech.
There are numerous brands but I went with Ecoflow to meet some of my requirements.