If you’re considering some built-in furniture, these before and after transformation photos of projects I’ve worked in the last year might help you flesh out some of your ideas: natural wood, or painted? floor-to-ceiling, or just partway up the wall?
Honoring my Commitment to Clean Energy
Sustainability3 CommentsI have committed Branching Out Wood to dedicate at least 10% of revenues to net new solar projects. In the years since opening up shop, I wanted to provide an update on how I’ve followed through on that commitment, as well as provide a few pointers to resources you might find useful in helping to evaluate whether solar would be useful for you.
Four Nifty Steampunk Display Technologies
Technology & Steampunk4 CommentsI love incorporating old technologies in bespoke designs, so let’s check out a few old display technologies. You’ve probably heard of the Nixie tube (or seen it in one of my creations), but have you heard of the one plane display? And you may have seen flip dot or split pane displays on a bus or at a ferry terminal, even though both are electromechanical display technologies of yore, yet available in new form factors. These are just a few of the ingenious devices that would allow display of complex information, and fit perfectly in a “Steampunk” aesthetic. And as an added bonus, check out the display made out of 6400 spools of thread!
Semi-Affordable 5 axis CNC Milling
CNC4 Comments3-axis CNCs are very accessible now to a small- to mid-size shop. But how might one go about upgrading that to a 4-axis or even 5-axis machine? And what are the limitations or barriers along the way, in hardware, in work area, in software, and of course, in cost? Join me in the journey as I pull together all my research of the last few months on how to upgrade my Inventables X-Carve.
Use (or Avoid) the Force!
Workshop & Safety2 CommentsThis guide helps make sure you keep your fingers (and yourself) safe when working with large power tools, via tips & guidelines that encourage you to think about the force the tool is applying to the workpiece in relation to your hands and your body, not via a listicle of obvious-and-generic pointers.
Tools Tools Tools
Workshop & Safety4 CommentsThe fifth in my series of tool posts, a full shop can still benefit from some small additions and upgrades - this post outlines a number of tools that don’t necessarily allow me to do anything new, but rather, allow me to do things I could already do either more quickly or with greater quality: a track saw, a large angle grinder, a domino cutter, right angle drill, a helical cutter head on my planer.