The X-Carve served me well for three years, supporting everything from delicate jewelry box engraving to cutting solid ipe stair treads. However, as more commissions require or can at minimum benefit from the CNC, I increasingly pushed up against its limits. In the first of a three-part series about the process of upgrading this machine, I walk through my requirements for the upgrade and how that maps to the prior limitations of my equipment.
Gershwin Day Bed Completed
Products & Shows2 CommentsTips for Creating the Ultimate Indoor Workshop
Workshop & SafetyCommentFeeds & Speeds
CNC, How To & CalculatorsCommentJust scratching the surface of the “feeds and speeds” topic that any good machinist knows, I learned quite a bit about how to make my CNC work go faster, and what tooling to use to better match a machine’s capabilities with the material being cut. Read on to get an overview of spindle speed, travel speed, tool size, and horsepower - and why it matters.
Tambour Track Sizing
How To & Calculators14 CommentsIf you are making a tambour door - think roll-top desk - there are some critical relationships between the size of the slats, the size of the tenon, and the minimum radius that can be supported as the door slides around corners and contours. The rules-of-thumb and anecdotal experiences I found online did not tell the complete story which led to a brief panic in my project. With some pen & paper, I was able to translate an understanding of the geometry to a quick adjustment, and to a concrete equation which provides some guidelines for anyone building their own tambour door.
Art Deco Room Divider & Storage
Products & Shows2 CommentsA preview of a beautiful art deco inspired room divider and storage system that is now in progress. With about a thousand pounds of raw materials, and an estimated three months of full time labor to bring it to fruition, I am as excited to work on it as I am to see the finished product. Get a sneak peek of the finished piece here.