Riding the rails

One of the last items we need to design and create for the WhistlePunk Hollow project are the train rails that will be up on the trestle. The train actually sits on some sturdy angle iron and the rails will be just for show. It made perfect sense to machine them from Precision Board rather than source and purchase the real thing. For the end closest to the public I decided to use 40 lb HDU and for the rest we'll stick to our usual 30 lb board. The rails are to be machined in halves from 1.5" thick Precision Board. We'll then glue the two halves together and finish with the Modern Masters rust paint that will make the rails impossible to tell from the real thing.

I started with the half rail profile and two straight lines three inches apart.

The rails would be created with the SWEEP TWO RAILS function in EnRoute. I like to create these kinds of files as a mesh file , tweak it as necessary and then merge it with a relief to get a routing file. Mesh files can't be routed until they are merged with a relief. The command prompts take us thropugh the process of creating a relief. First it asks me to select the first rail...

Then the second rail...

And then the profile is selected twice - once for each end.

I then created a vector box around the mesh and created a zero height relief. 

I then selected both the mesh and the zero height relief which allowed me to open the combine mesh and relief function. I made sure it was set to MERGE HIGHEST function.

I then used the slice function to create a rail profile relief without the flat background.

I routed twenty two rails for our project - eleven from each sheet of 1.5" thick Precision Board. We'll glue these up and then trim them up to get them ready for the rust paint which is on order.

Next up are the rail plates complete with spikes to 'fasten' the rails to the wooden ties. Stay tuned...

-dan

Handy program

EnRoute is a at program to generate routing files and I use it for that every time I need a piece cut. But I also find EnRoute is a great program to use when I need to create a file of any size that needs to be precise. I've used it to generate the plans for all sorts of projects including layouts for the Adventure Golfs we build and our property layout for when we were building our house.

Yesterday I needed to draw a plan I would send off to the folks who were cutting us a thick glass coffee table top. We had hand sculpted the base of the table to look like the 400 year old trees of a plantation my clients had visited in Florida. When they told me of the trees I imagined the stories those old trees might have told if they could talk. And so I sculpted fourteen faces into the trunk of the tree.

When the sculpt was finished I moulded threaded rods into the tips of three branches. These would accept the studs with caps that would hold the tempered glass in place.

I then carefully measured the distance between the three center points of the studs and then used these measurements to generate  the placement of the holes and arcs of the tabletop edge.

I then created the outline of the table using these radii and the straight lines being tangent to them. The hole outlines were also located using the intersection of the lines and measurements.

When I deleted the unwanted lines I was left with the table outline and the holes in the right place. This file I saved as a DXF file which I forwarded to the glass shop for cutting with their water jet cutter.

I look forward to seeing this project done.

-dan

Onsite work

I absolutely love designing in EnRoute on the computer and then routing our pieces on the MultiCam but the truth is that this most often gets us about 50% of where we are going. It's a good thing I also love to do the hand work and finishing.

The WhistlePunk Hollow Adventure Golf project is now in it's final stages after more than six months of production. All of the features except the small signs we built with the help of the software and machine are now installed. We just got back from three days onsite, working long hours to tidy the job up. A few things simply had to be built in place because of their size and complexity. As we worked out in the weather the last three days I was reminded of how much more efficient it is to work in the comfort of our shop/studio where everything is where all the tools and materials are handy and the conditions perfect.

In the last three days we welded/lathed mudded and carved three bridges and a giant rock waterfall feature which is part of the logging train feature we built in our shop.

The sign over the gate which was completed some time ago also was installed.

While I was with the small crew in Squamish the ladies were busy in the shop putting the final glazes and paint on the small signs.

I'll be heading back to Squamish for a few more days next week to tidy things up there. I'll grab a bunch of shots of the finished project then. Stay tuned...

-dan

Final concept

The projects I build all start with a pen and ink concept drawing (now digital). This drawing is my way to work out many of the  challenges. Even so it is kept loose - all freehand in order to allow lots of 'wiggle room' to facilitate the addition of new and better ideas as the build begins. The Institute for Study of Mechanical Fish challenge sign is no different. Today I spent a little time woking up the final concept drawing. Even as I worked my ideas changed. Not everything was noted on the drawing for as I begin creating the files and then modelling the sign things will continue to change - right up to the final stroke of paint. There will be lots of fun surprises along the way.

Stay tuned for this fun project to come to life!

-dan

A sign challenge

When I was in Bridgeton, Indiana last week I was sitting at a table with Doug Haffner and Jamie Oxenham. Jamie had done a nice sign a while back that we commented on. I love a challenge (probably more than almost anyone) and a challenge was thrown out to design and build a new sign that would push the bar upwards from this fine example.

Jamie insisted that this piece was merely a practice piece and could do better. Doug boasted he had a better design already in mind. I of course knew I could beat both of these guys by a Yarrow mile. The contest was instantly on. The rules were simple and scarce... anything goes with a deadline of the end of summer. Then the bravado began and the trash talk of course. 

Doug is claiming that he operates in stealth mode and won't reveal his plans until he is done. I doubt he will reveal much on his blog until the project is well underway.  Jamie will undoubtably build his design in his favorite 3D software. He may post a few pictures on his blog.... time will tell. I of course fear nothing (especially my esteemed competition) and will be documenting the design and build process here in great detail. My 'competition' can look all they want. :)

After the camp I had a long plane ride home. The first leg was a one hour flight from Indianapolis to Chicago. By the time we landed I had filled fifteen pages in my sketchbook with ideas and sketches of the many details I would build into my design. In the next days and weeks I'll be doing the final version of the design and then start in building the 3D files in EnRoute before routing the pieces and then assembling and painting the final version. 

Just in case my fellow sign makers don't yet have their designs nailed I'll save lots of planned details to be revealed as I build. But for today here's the concept for the fish sub...

Bring it on Doug and Jamie. The challenge has begun!

-dan

Workshop in Bridgeton, Indiana

Last week I was in Bridgeton, Indiana, helping to teach a 3D sign workshop there. I was one of the teachers that included Peter Poanessa, Sandy Baird and Jamie & Jody Oxenham.  Rob & Deb Jones were our hosts who did a wonderful job!

With about 50 attendees it was a busy time with lots of sharing and learning all along the way.

The setting was beautiful with the centerpieces of the town being the covered bridge and the old mill - both spectacular attractions!

For those interested it is going to happen next year about the same time once again. May 29 - June 1, 2014. For information go to www.3Dsigncamp.com

-dan

25 dimensional signs in a hurry!

The MultiCam has been kept running plenty of hours as the fronts and backs (and middles too) of the hole markers and rules signs have been cut.  The files were very large with all of the woodgrain detail and were cut overnight while I slept.

While the rule signs were being cut I laminated the hole markers. Each had a piece of 3/4" plywood laminated into the center to ad strength and also provide a secure attachment for the screws.

The next task is to laminate the fronts and backs of the rule signs. They too will have 3/4" plywood glued into the center. 

The next task is to use the die grinder to add woodgrain detail to the edges. Even with 30 lb Precision Board this job goes quickly. And then it is off to paint. Stay tuned for that process.

-dan