Projects
A Learning Experience
I struggled for some time getting the vacuum assisted lost wax casting system to perform properly. I thought it was mostly my fault and I almost believed the technique was beyond my ability. I was considering jumping over to the centripetal casting system. I decided I needed to keep trying as I knew the equipment I had was working perfectly and the only weakness was myself. It has turned out that the vacuum process is not beyond my skill and ability, but was something I just needed to practice to develop the proper skill.
Now my vacuum assisted casting is going very smoothly and I am not in the least intimidated by the process. There is a lesson to be learned here which is to pay close attention to what is going wrong. My lesson was to have faith in myself and work past the early failures.
I didn’t just find out about this little secret of success called “keep trying”. I have practiced it all my life. It is the very reason I am now confident with vacuum assist. Quitters are never successful people as they find failure as something to fear and don’t want to risk appearing weak or unable to perform, even to themselves. The usual “out” is to blame the equipment.
It’s not the equipment.
I have discovered I can learn from my mistakes when I accept the responsibility. If you have been reading my blogs for any length of time you have seen when I admit getting something wrong. I usually call it “a learning experience” and will describe what went wrong. I believe learning experiences should be shared so that someone else doesn’t have to make the same error to receive the lesson.
In my major occupation where I ran multimillion dollar projects, we… Continue reading
Flight of Fancy
I had a long hiatus (about four weeks paid time off) away from my regular employment, creating time to take a good long at the route I should be heading with my at-home workshop activities. What I do for the rest of my life should be something I really enjoy. I have been making small wax carvings by hand and machine.
I have come to a personal decision about my capabilities in creating precision miniature wax carvings. The results of my experiments have shown that even with my PN, I am capable of detailed hand carving but not in the speed and degree of accuracy that I would like to perform. I suppose that is because I have spent most of my life being very accurate with dimensions and machine tools and maybe six months wax carving by hand. Duh?
My plan at this point is that I am going to continue putting effort into perfecting my CAD/CAM creative effort but not abandoning the hand work. I have discovered both to be very enjoyable. To those of you who follow my “in the shop” ramblings about machines and machine software, you will see that machine carving will continue.
Everything I do in my CNC interests is scalable. That means the effort and skills to do small scale carvings are the same whether one inch high or twenty four inches high. The size of the tool bits and the machine just change.
I am totally blown away by what I can do with small machines and tiny milling bits. This is where I have spent most of my time and money. I presently have what I need as far as the machines capable of doing the detailed work. I will be writing a lot more about how they work and how… Continue reading
Model Engine Builder
I have always looked forward to getting my copy of M.E.B. I just received notice Issue #28 is “Finished and Ready for Download” which is a new term due to digital publishing.
If you want to build model engines this is the publication to get. There is also a free Newsletter:
Go check out their website listed above or click on the logo and start your subscription today.
The Hobbyist’s Machine Studio?
I have been wondering if I should call my workshop a “studio”. Sounds more “artsy” doesn’t it? Since I am not working like a production shop just making one thing over and over, maybe the new description is more accurate. However, it doesn’t seem as hard core and “man cave” sounding like “workshop” or “machine shop” so maybe I should leave it as is. Is there an image to protect?
I’m just funning of course as I don’t really have an image I am concerned about. I just do what I do because it is stuff I like to do. I don’t care what the place is called where I do it. If you want to know the truth, it is a garage. The Aussie’s (and probably others) call it a shed or shedding. Go figure, but I kind of like their term. Another example; I call the location of my ham radio station my “shack”, but it really isn’t.
As far as the number of projects, I do have more than one under way. I am guilty about jumping around between them because there are so many things I want to try and so many things I can do. I just don’t seem to have enough time to do everything one at a time. I have to have something else to do when the glue is drying or parts are on order.
So maybe I need to be more “studious” with my projects? That infers more attention to detail and higher quality, right? I am thinking a studio is where you are more studious with your work and therefore your work is of higher quality. A workshop is where you simply pound things together with a hammer until they fit – more caveman style.… Continue reading
Dauntless Ordered
Dumas Model of the Dauntless
Oh boy… I am in big trouble now. I have a new passion. It is the construction of the boat Dauntless. I just haven’t seemed to be this excited about a hobby project made from wood since I was building and flying model airplanes. This is liable to become an obsession. There just something about a model boat that is going to be four foot long or there about.
I especially like the idea that I am going to be doing a lot of engineering and special construction for this project. Everything from the control system to the smallest hardware detail will be under my decision on how it will be made.
I also see a lot of fun in operating the boat once it becomes water worthy. I would really like to find some locals in North Texas who have the same interest. I am not looking for help but rather kindred souls who also build and operate large scale boats.
Another scheme I am harboring (pun intended) is to look for opportunities for products I can offer in my web store. I am thinking various components for large scale model boats that perhaps I make in my machine shop. I am thinking drive shafts, fittings, maybe even cast parts (from pewter) for ships fittings.