Category Archives: Other Projects

I made a couple more patches on the embroidery machine - the one on the left is Mario in the Megaman suit (found the image online), and the one on the right is a motto I can really appreciate - "built not bought".

Carter and I have continued to try lots of different types of root beer from all over the country. The last time I posted, we had tried about 20 varieties. Now, we're up to nearly 80! I've had to build more shelves. :)

Those who follow this blog know that I love patches - my daily-carry backpack is covered with dozens of them. Because of that, I've always been interested in machine embroidery - as I'd love to have some personal, custom patches to put on my stuff. Make Magazine recently reviewed an entry-level hobbyist embroidery machine and that was basically all it took to convince me to give this a shot. I'm really just getting started and learning, but I've already made the Millennium Falcon patch you see in the bottom right photo. Pretty cool!

Carter recently had to do a project for school, to teach the younger grades about pioneer times. She made a board-game-slash-diorama about the cattle drive. She made it all herself - it's actually pretty impressive in person.

Back in August of 2016 I posted about all of the pins the kids and I had collected, and how we were sticking them into the wood of the shelves near my electronics workbench. At the time we probably had about 30 or so. We figured it was time to post an update - there has to easily be over 80 there now.

I've continued tasting any bottled root beer I can find locally, and have expanded the brands I've sampled from 12 (in the last post) to about 20 now. Although I think my favorite is still the Bulldog. I need to find some new grocery stores in the area - I've tapped out the varieties available in all my usual (and some not so usual) stores.

I don't drink, but I like the idea of craft beer. Recently I found out that there are lots of small bottlers that make root beer in the bottle, and I've been sampling all of the ones I can find locally. I think I've tried about twelve different types so far. My favorite to date is probably Bulldog (9th from the left). The weirdest one so far is the Bundaberg (the short, stout bottle - 2nd from the right) - it was really fruity. I found a cool place online called "The Root Beer Store" that stocks more than 100 varieties at reasonable prices - the only issue is the shipping is a killer. Glass bottles filled with liquid are just really expensive to ship. Which is too bad - but for now I'll just stick to what I can find around here.

A few years ago I made a bunch of little bird house xmas ornaments on the lathe, and gave them out at our family Christmas party. Every year since, I've wanted to do something similar again but couldn't find the time to make all of those ornaments. This year I tried something different - all of these were made on either the 3D printer or the CNC machine. Some of the wooden ones still need a little sanding and some lacquer, but overall they came out pretty cool, I think.

I saw things like these on youtube recently - they are called "fidget spinners", and are for people who need to fidget with something - think the compulsive pen clicker types. You pinch them by the center bearing, and spin the outer body. They are actually pretty fun to mess around with - everyone I've showed them to so far has enjoyed fiddling around with them. I made the one on the left on the CNC machine from bubinga and brass, and the one on the right was made on the 3D printer.

Carter recently asked me to make a big letter 'C' to go above her bed. I cut it out of MDF on the CNC machine, and she painted it. She used to have a canopy hanging there, but she kept accidentally pulling it down (although I suspect that was less "accidental", and more because she was always playing with it). I like that the kids are really starting to get into the mindset of what the CNC machine, 3D printer, and laser engraver can do - they often come up with ideas for projects on their own these days. It's great that those machines are becoming part of their "mental toolbox" when brainstorming ideas.