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Category Archives: Other Projects
Cattle Drive Diorama
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.
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Pin Wall Update
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.
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Root Beer Sampling – Update
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.
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Root Beer Sampling
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.
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Christmas Ornaments
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.
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Fidget Spinners
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.
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Carter’s Big C
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.
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Kickstand Puck
I promised my Dad in May that I was try and make him a kickstand puck for his motorcycle, but had been stuck on how I would attempt it for a while. Last weekend I finally decided to go for it, using a pewter casting method I had read about online. I used the CNC machine to cut out a mold for the pewter, dusted it with baby powder (as a mold release) and then poured in molten pewter. What you see here is the result. At first I wasn't too keen on the pitted surface finish, but it has definitely grown on me - it brings home the idea that it was hand cast rather than made in a factory.
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Screenprinting
Since the last time we posted about screenprinting some t-shirts, we've made a bunch more screens and a heap of new shirts. Here's a sampling of screens we've made in the last couple of months. From left to right they are: an Undertale-themed shirt we made for my nephew's birthday party favors, a Cthulu emblem I though was cool, the Team Valor logo for Pokemon Go, a Fallout 4 Vault 111 logo, Makey the Makerbot (the Make Magazine logo), and another Fallout 4 themed logo.
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Pin Wall
Every time the kids or I get a pin we stick them here. The kids sometimes get them with Pokemon cards, and I always get one in the Loot Crates we're subscribed to. We're slowly amassing quite a collection. It's fun to look back through them and remember where they all come from.
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