As mentioned in the previous post, we recently added a CNC machine to the shop. After viewing several tutorials and playing around with the software, we were off to make some things happen! For some reason, I expected to take it out of the box and start cutting and carving perfect objects right away. Did not happen!
I looked around the shop and realized that out of 10 pieces of machinery, there were two that I did not have to tune before using. They were the lathe and the planer. All the other tools had to at least be squared. If the unit has a table top, it had to be squared. Saws have to be adjusted to cut square to the table. The bandsaw has all kinds of adjustments.
Well, out of the box the CNC cut deeper on the left side than it did on the right. I put the square on the table top and found that the top was bowed upwards in the middle, it dropped slightly on the left and right. The top is made of multi-track t-track. I took the top off and disassembled it. I rearranged some of the multi-track pieces several times, but could not get the top level.
After examining the multi-track pieces, I discovered that the edge where the next piece joined was not square, it had a small angle on it. So every time I tightened the table top to the bracket on the bottom, it would pull the top in a bowed shape.
I finally gave up and decided to "redneck" it by inserting shims at each corner and two other low spots. The result was a perfectly flat table top. I used plastic pieces cut from small retail packaging, you know, the kind you need tools to get in to.
I put the top back on the machine and made a couple of cuts. It was still cutting a little deeper on the left. I loosened the table top brackets that connect it to the frame on the right side and inserted shims there. After a few changes, I got it to cut evenly side to side.
Finally, I used a sheet of plywood to cut a line around the perimeter. This line came out just right.
The entire process took the better part of the day, but we now have a machine that cuts or carves perfectly flat. We are looking forward to incorporating it into some of the products we offer. If you see any items over at Lucy Hardware that you would like personalized, just drop us a line.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Busy Christmas
We would like to thank all our customers for the Christmas and after Christmas orders this year! As far as we can tell, all of them made it to their destinations on time. Now is the time to identify some goals for the coming year.
First, we will be expanding our shipping policy and opening the store to selected oversees locations beginning this month. Later, if all goes well, we will add some more locations. Initially, we are including Canada, Australia, US territories, and the UK. Additionally, we are adding Alaska and Hawaii.
Sometime in the coming year we intend to open a sister store on Etsy and expand our product line to include mostly personalized items. Some of these items will be cutting boards, signs, desk top name plates, and other items.
We have recently added a CNC machine to the tool shed and are learning how to use it, or, how to use the software. The machine is pretty simple! This equipment will also allow us to incorporate various designs in our existing product line.
Even though we had about all we could do the last two months, we did manage to add some clocks to our product line and hope to have some pop up cigarette dispensers ready by the end of this month.
Well, there you have it. We had a good year and want to thank you very much. See you on the disc golf course!
First, we will be expanding our shipping policy and opening the store to selected oversees locations beginning this month. Later, if all goes well, we will add some more locations. Initially, we are including Canada, Australia, US territories, and the UK. Additionally, we are adding Alaska and Hawaii.
Sometime in the coming year we intend to open a sister store on Etsy and expand our product line to include mostly personalized items. Some of these items will be cutting boards, signs, desk top name plates, and other items.
We have recently added a CNC machine to the tool shed and are learning how to use it, or, how to use the software. The machine is pretty simple! This equipment will also allow us to incorporate various designs in our existing product line.
Even though we had about all we could do the last two months, we did manage to add some clocks to our product line and hope to have some pop up cigarette dispensers ready by the end of this month.
Well, there you have it. We had a good year and want to thank you very much. See you on the disc golf course!
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Busy October
October is a busy month for us every year. It is the first month with cool weather after our long and hot summer. We try to catch up on camping and fishing and cycling and all the other outdoor activities we enjoy. I did not include disc golf because we play that all year, hot or cold, wet or dry!
October is also the month of my birthday! I tend to celebrate most of the month. You can do that when you get older. Other family birthdays in October include my son and his mate, my grand daughter, two of my nephews, a niece, and a nephew's wife. Yeah, we have pretty much re-named the month to Partytober.
This year we also mourned the passing of my better half's dad. He also loved to be outdoors every minute he could.
This year, my son and his wife came to our house for a long weekend of various outdoor activities which included disc golf in the dark. We had lights that attached to the bottom of the disc and lights on the baskets. This was our second experience at night disc golf and I never get tired of watching the discs in flight with the strobe lights attached.
Needless to say, we didn't have a lot of time for attending to our blog and other social media sites as we barely managed to stay on top of orders with all that partying going on. But, we are getting back in the groove now.
We just got a load of beautiful walnut in and have begun processing it for various projects. Of course, the band saw quit again and I just now finished repairing it. The blade somehow got out of alignment and was moving forward and backward in the cutting area.
A new sanding box has been added to the shop. It works like a dream and is so much better than what we were using. We made a top for it rather than using pegboard, and added a baffle system to direct suction to the shop vacuum.
The next shop project I would like to construct is a clamping table. I'm thinking about 6 feet long with clamps every foot or so. Presently, I put six bar clamps on a 6 foot folding table. It would be much nicer to have a permanent table that I did not have to assemble and disassemble each time I used it.
Tomorrow I will be on the planer. All day. I hope she let's me take a break for lunch!
Have a great weekend.
October is also the month of my birthday! I tend to celebrate most of the month. You can do that when you get older. Other family birthdays in October include my son and his mate, my grand daughter, two of my nephews, a niece, and a nephew's wife. Yeah, we have pretty much re-named the month to Partytober.
This year we also mourned the passing of my better half's dad. He also loved to be outdoors every minute he could.
This year, my son and his wife came to our house for a long weekend of various outdoor activities which included disc golf in the dark. We had lights that attached to the bottom of the disc and lights on the baskets. This was our second experience at night disc golf and I never get tired of watching the discs in flight with the strobe lights attached.
Needless to say, we didn't have a lot of time for attending to our blog and other social media sites as we barely managed to stay on top of orders with all that partying going on. But, we are getting back in the groove now.
We just got a load of beautiful walnut in and have begun processing it for various projects. Of course, the band saw quit again and I just now finished repairing it. The blade somehow got out of alignment and was moving forward and backward in the cutting area.
A new sanding box has been added to the shop. It works like a dream and is so much better than what we were using. We made a top for it rather than using pegboard, and added a baffle system to direct suction to the shop vacuum.
The next shop project I would like to construct is a clamping table. I'm thinking about 6 feet long with clamps every foot or so. Presently, I put six bar clamps on a 6 foot folding table. It would be much nicer to have a permanent table that I did not have to assemble and disassemble each time I used it.
Tomorrow I will be on the planer. All day. I hope she let's me take a break for lunch!
Have a great weekend.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Milling Lumber
We have been busy milling lumber here the past few days. My dad had a barn full of rough sawn maple that we picked up in a couple of loads. Now, we purchase a lot of lumber from the sawmill and it is considered rough sawn too, but we found that some rough sawn is rougher than others!
My dad's maple comes from some trees a logger cut down for him. They were rough sawn in the field with one of those chainsaw mills. The pieces were curved in many directions and in all kinds of widths and thicknesses.
We first had to cut the pieces at the curves and knots to end up with some straight and usable lumber. Most of it was 10 feet long to begin with and some was 12 feet long. It was so rough that it had to be resawn to over 3/8 inch to get 1/4 planks. It ranged in thickness from just under 3/4 inch to 1 1/2 inches. The 3/4 inch boards planed smooth at 1/2 inch.
Most of the sawmill lumber we get is uniform in width and thickness and although it all has to be resawn and planed, the settings don't change a lot between pieces. This wood we got from my dad was a totally different story. Constant changes in settings for the equipment meant that processing this wood took a lot longer than normal.
I am happy to report that we are nearly through, and it is getting easier as we started with the worse pieces. I am very happy to report that the finished product is beautiful. This wood had been in his barn for 10 years or more and is absolutely dry. It is very hard but it sands and works pretty good. We are exited to begin working with it.
Our first project will be our take on some very old asian style lunchboxes. The small lunchbox will have three smaller boxes inside. Two of these boxes are sandwich sized and they fit on top of a larger box. This larger box is big enough to hold a drink and a banana. These boxes are held in place by a sliding door.
The larger model will also have two sandwich sized boxes and a drink box. In between these will be two boxes large enough for 2 sandwiches or an apple or orange.
The lunchboxes can be used for other things and one of our family members has requested a small one to carry a few extra diapers, wipes, and other baby stuff for a short outing. Our son wants one for a toolbox for his smaller tools used to work on computers.
We will post some photos shortly.
My dad's maple comes from some trees a logger cut down for him. They were rough sawn in the field with one of those chainsaw mills. The pieces were curved in many directions and in all kinds of widths and thicknesses.
We first had to cut the pieces at the curves and knots to end up with some straight and usable lumber. Most of it was 10 feet long to begin with and some was 12 feet long. It was so rough that it had to be resawn to over 3/8 inch to get 1/4 planks. It ranged in thickness from just under 3/4 inch to 1 1/2 inches. The 3/4 inch boards planed smooth at 1/2 inch.
Most of the sawmill lumber we get is uniform in width and thickness and although it all has to be resawn and planed, the settings don't change a lot between pieces. This wood we got from my dad was a totally different story. Constant changes in settings for the equipment meant that processing this wood took a lot longer than normal.
I am happy to report that we are nearly through, and it is getting easier as we started with the worse pieces. I am very happy to report that the finished product is beautiful. This wood had been in his barn for 10 years or more and is absolutely dry. It is very hard but it sands and works pretty good. We are exited to begin working with it.
Our first project will be our take on some very old asian style lunchboxes. The small lunchbox will have three smaller boxes inside. Two of these boxes are sandwich sized and they fit on top of a larger box. This larger box is big enough to hold a drink and a banana. These boxes are held in place by a sliding door.
The larger model will also have two sandwich sized boxes and a drink box. In between these will be two boxes large enough for 2 sandwiches or an apple or orange.
The lunchboxes can be used for other things and one of our family members has requested a small one to carry a few extra diapers, wipes, and other baby stuff for a short outing. Our son wants one for a toolbox for his smaller tools used to work on computers.
We will post some photos shortly.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
JellyBean Bakery
Folks that know me will tell you that I don't really have a sweet tooth, what I have is a head full of sweet teeth! Yes, I am a connoisseur of sweets. I have tested sweets from coast to coast and in several foreign countries. I can tell you that without a doubt, the best cupcakes I have ever enjoyed came from JellyBean Bakery in Princeton, NC.
I must disclose that the owner, Jennie Bailey, is married to my nephew. However, I can assure you that neither he nor I know anything about making cupcakes, but we are both pretty good at eating them. Matter of fact, the whole family does a pretty good job at putting cupcakes away. At one time, my son had the nickname of "cupcake" after an afternoon at his grandmother's house when he ate about a dozen or so. We couldn't figure out why he was sick until someone opened the cupcake box and discovered they were gone!
We just returned from Fresh Market grocery store, where I saw a cupcake with chocolate icing, yellow cake, and bavarian creme filling. It looked as good as it sounds! Naturally, I added it to the cart. I could hardly wait to get home to try it! Well, they nailed the bavarian creme part, it was very good. But, the cake was course and dry. The icing tasted like icing from a can. Mind you, this cupcake looked the part of a world champion cupcake. Sadly, it performed like a 1st grader!
I probably wouldn't have been as disappointed with it had I not been given the opportunity to try some of Jennie's cupcakes. Her's always look absolutely great. But it don't stop there. The cake has a consistency that is "just right" and the moisture is perfect. But the best part is the icing. I don't know how she does it, but she makes the creamiest icing I have ever enjoyed.
The latest of her cupcakes that I have tasted was lemonade flavored pictured above. She hit the flavor perfectly! Some of her new flavors that I can hardly wait to try are strawberry cheesecake, banana pudding, Oreo, and chocolate peanut butter mousse.
If I didn't live so far away, I would think up reasons to drop in just to see what new concoctions she might be working on. I wonder if she needs a cupcake tester?
I must disclose that the owner, Jennie Bailey, is married to my nephew. However, I can assure you that neither he nor I know anything about making cupcakes, but we are both pretty good at eating them. Matter of fact, the whole family does a pretty good job at putting cupcakes away. At one time, my son had the nickname of "cupcake" after an afternoon at his grandmother's house when he ate about a dozen or so. We couldn't figure out why he was sick until someone opened the cupcake box and discovered they were gone!
We just returned from Fresh Market grocery store, where I saw a cupcake with chocolate icing, yellow cake, and bavarian creme filling. It looked as good as it sounds! Naturally, I added it to the cart. I could hardly wait to get home to try it! Well, they nailed the bavarian creme part, it was very good. But, the cake was course and dry. The icing tasted like icing from a can. Mind you, this cupcake looked the part of a world champion cupcake. Sadly, it performed like a 1st grader!
I probably wouldn't have been as disappointed with it had I not been given the opportunity to try some of Jennie's cupcakes. Her's always look absolutely great. But it don't stop there. The cake has a consistency that is "just right" and the moisture is perfect. But the best part is the icing. I don't know how she does it, but she makes the creamiest icing I have ever enjoyed.
The latest of her cupcakes that I have tasted was lemonade flavored pictured above. She hit the flavor perfectly! Some of her new flavors that I can hardly wait to try are strawberry cheesecake, banana pudding, Oreo, and chocolate peanut butter mousse.
If I didn't live so far away, I would think up reasons to drop in just to see what new concoctions she might be working on. I wonder if she needs a cupcake tester?
Friday, August 14, 2015
Cigarette Cases
We have been busy making some cigarette cases lately. We also made a couple of cigarette boxes for a coffee or end table. The cases are of several different designs. I really like the ones with the magnets, they are quite durable.
The table top box has room for cigarettes and a small lighter.
Check these and others out at Lucy Hardware. We are taking tomorrow off, going to play some disc golf. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
The table top box has room for cigarettes and a small lighter.
Check these and others out at Lucy Hardware. We are taking tomorrow off, going to play some disc golf. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Sweet!
Check out the new tissue box covers soon to be listed at Lucy Hardware. They took some time to get the pattern correct and make the correct cuts, but I think they turned out very well.
I generally rely strictly on math to make cuts for patterns in constructing projects like these, however, I found with these boxes that the math didn't always work out right. I didn't have to be off much on a piece for it to compound and ruin the design.
I eventually went to the "doing by the old eyeball" method. It was a little nerve wracking at first, but it worked out well. I suppose I like the math method because it is logical and I feel secure in what I think the end result will be. It works for me every day. But it failed again and again on these boxes.
Many more years ago than I care to admit, I done a lot of projects by the eye. Heck, I didn't have tools that were accurate. I didn't even have squares or measuring devices that were accurate. I was pretty comfortable eyeballing it, drawing a line, and making the cut. It always came out close enough that the belt sander could fix it.
Now that investments have been made in real tools, and we have spent a lot of time using them and learning to trust in the results, it is pretty scary to go back to the eyeball method. Oh, I am sure I could figure out where I went wrong with the math, but with the results above, I think I will carry on with the eyeballing.
I generally rely strictly on math to make cuts for patterns in constructing projects like these, however, I found with these boxes that the math didn't always work out right. I didn't have to be off much on a piece for it to compound and ruin the design.
I eventually went to the "doing by the old eyeball" method. It was a little nerve wracking at first, but it worked out well. I suppose I like the math method because it is logical and I feel secure in what I think the end result will be. It works for me every day. But it failed again and again on these boxes.
Many more years ago than I care to admit, I done a lot of projects by the eye. Heck, I didn't have tools that were accurate. I didn't even have squares or measuring devices that were accurate. I was pretty comfortable eyeballing it, drawing a line, and making the cut. It always came out close enough that the belt sander could fix it.
Now that investments have been made in real tools, and we have spent a lot of time using them and learning to trust in the results, it is pretty scary to go back to the eyeball method. Oh, I am sure I could figure out where I went wrong with the math, but with the results above, I think I will carry on with the eyeballing.
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