lasercutting, oh deer!

My first lasercutting Ponoko experiment arrived in the mail, and I was pretty excited. It was definitely a learning experience, as I made a bit of a mistake, even though I CADed this up in 3d! Anyway, only lap-joint aficionados will notice the error in my image of everything still in the plywood. Nothing a little wood filler can't fix! And, of course I had two of them made because I was so confident in myself, ha! Anyway, I still just love the deer. I'm so used to bandsawing everything, and those antlers... lets just call them really difficult to cut on a bandsaw, even for me, the undisputed Queen of the Bandsaw.



And here is my new lasercut boy deer with his wife that inspired him. Next is a moose and finding a lasercutter who won't make me go broke with shipping costs. Oh Ponoko, I love you, but shipping charges from New Zealand kill me!

vintage modern, surprise surprise

I just took this survey on sproost.com and I think the results are pretty accurate. I'm vintage modern/contemporary/rustic revival.

time for some clocks!

I think clocks are the obvious next thing for me to start designing and selling. These are two really, really quickly done SketchUp renderings, and the beginnings of my first clock ever.

new (in progress) woodcut that needs a title

I'm working on a woodcut that I haven't thought up a title for yet. There is something about factory buildings (or should I say, the factory buildings that I envision in my head) that really intrigue me.
Here is the process of this one so far: sketch in moleskin, quick quick sketch with a sharpie, and then the in-progress woodcut.

SketchUp/Ponoko Deer

In preparation for the Alaska market, I wanted to make a wooden moose. Anyway, I thought I'd make a deer with antlers before upgrading to a moose. I've been thinking a lot about how to make the things I sell less labor intensive, and when a good pal of mine told me about Ponoko.com, I thought it was about time I had something laser cut! Ponoko is a laser cutting company who is marketed to appeal to people who like designing, making, and selling things (me!). Unfortunately they are located in New Zealand, so they won't be a cost-effective option for me for the long term. But, I've got two of these deer being made right now! They will be about 12" tall and made of (duh) plywood.

I forgot to mention that I made this deer using Google SketchUp (my BFF)! SketchUp is my favorite CAD program besides Solidworks, and since it is free, I lean towards SketchUp. I use it exclusively at work (I mean, instead of any other CAD program) and have really adapted it to suit my every need. There are add-ons that you can download, also for free, that allow it to be customized. Hooray for SketchUp!

China, like woah

So, dear blog, I went to China for 2 weeks but that was almost a month ago and I haven't told you anything about it.

Well, here are some things I saw in China:



Snake wine, yum! Even though that snake wine is, in fact, partaken of in China, there is still lots of good food to be had. Really, really good food.


"Push your finger into the gears!"

new addition to the Wilderness

I've been wanting to make more plywood animals for a while now, and finally I made a doe. Next I'm going to make a deer with the same body but with antlers that will enter the head in a perpendicular plane. Eventually I might make some of these to sell but at the moment I'm still behind on making Cacti.