WELCOME!


It is hard to believe that it was only seven years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Through extensive research I quickly found out that with the relative simplicity of EnRoute, CNC routers were capable of just about anything imaginable. This journal will chronicle that journey to date and continue each week with two or three entries as we continue to explore just what is possible with this wonderful software... -dan

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Plumber's nightmare

The whiteboard for the Multicam boardroom project needed a pen holder. It needed to fit in to the theme and attach to the wall. I thought about it and sketched a bunch of ideas in my book before coming up with one that I liked. It would resemble one of those vacuum tube deals where messages were sent through pipes... or perhaps a pipe system for carrying voices to the next compartment. What it really needed was pipes and rivets, some Victorian style cast brackets... and at least one pressure gage for good measure.  I dug through my bin of leftover plumbing (from past projects) and discovered I had enough pieces on hand to do the job. I measured everything up and then designed some flanges and bracket pieces to be routed out of MDF. The rivets I had already done using 30 lb Precision Board. I loaded everything into the truck and headed out to the worksite to put it together.



I measured and cut and glued the pieces together. Then I glued on the rivets and laid on a coat of  primer to add a little texture and age. It looks kind wild but should fit right in to the room and work like a charm. It is probably the most elaborate pen holder - at least in these parts. I've yet to add a LED light to the top of the penholder. (its the wide pipe with the side cut out of it)  The gage has to be fabricated. It too will have a LED light inside. This conglomeration of pipes and doodads will mount to the wall tomorrow after the glue and paint have set real good. It's the fanciest pen holder I have built to date.

-dan