Watcha Makin'?

[aigheadish]

I forgot pictures but I'm making my shop warmer! 

My shop has a high cathedral type open ceiling that many months ago, when it was hot out, got half insulated. It was a miserable job sweating my butt off and getting covered in fiberglass. I hated it. Thusly, I quit for many months. 

Well, a buddy and I were talking and I told him that my math skills were terrible and I over bought rolls of insulation, like 3 times too much. He's got a project that needed some insulation and he came over to help install and got 4 rolls out of the deal. It made life much easier to not climb up and down a ladder a million times and he was smart enough to suggest laying some half sheets of plywood over the rafters making it feel much safer to move around. Also, the throwaway coveralls made it much nicer.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, since Poston and Southside are very much still around I won't go messing with it. That's their thing. 
 I am looking for an access to the city market where the price would be easy to get, I think. A store or shop that would either sell on consignment down there would be ideal. Finding that outlet is the tough part, but the prices would justify the drive down to deliver. Consignment shops around here don't handle the pricier stuff so much and they take a decent cut but the market doesn't justify the markup needed to cover that cut that I can see.
 First option is always a direct sale. After that it becomes work. I do have a client who may be able to spend some time with his contacts in the City and find me an outlet for higher end stuff.

 Austin, that insulation is gonna make it a whole lot better!

[tule peak timber]

Those market access contacts take a long time to develop, feed and nurture. Be patient and work at it 

[terrifictimbersllc]

Posten Whitehead

:D Careful,  we're all getting older here

[tule peak timber]

Sauna doors and trim I built a couple weeks ago. White oak and hemlock. Customer pics of install in an apartment build.

 

  

[aigheadish]

I hope so Tom, the entire front of my shop, the big 16'x8' doors up to the ceiling (sloped to probably 16'-18' high) is still uninsulated. All the studs on that side run horizontally so I'm trying to decide if I should just roll over the whole thing with insulation or wait until I can get some foam board to stay between the lines, since I can't jam the insulation in between the studs like normal installation...

You can kind of see here where I'm asking about on the right side of the picture (my helper took a picture or two, like a creep!). The perspective in the picture is looking almost straight up, the insulation you see behind me ends at the peak of the roof. 

[Magicman]

No, the SGU = $300. 

A quick FF search will find many instances of it's value:  SGU

[Andries]

Thanks for the catch MM.
Ummmm, I had prolly converted to Canadian $$ 

[firefighter ontheside]

Leave it to Danny to have the definitive answer.

[terrifictimbersllc]

...Or it was just adjusted for inflation... :D

[doc henderson]

may need to be adjusted for inflation and consumer price index.

[21incher]

Some wild cherry plaques and modifications to dollar store cutting boards


 
That wild cherry is my favorite wood to engrave. The burned areas are a very rich red color. Can't show  the rest of my fridge magnets because  of language. Time  to resaw more cherry.

[Crusarius]

Kinda of ironic this moves to laser engraving just as I decide to bust out the laser and have some fun with it.

My wife is heading to a craft show on saturday and I figured I would take advantage of here and get some advertising. So I made up one sign for here and a business card holder for me.

The table is also some real nice walnut I glued up. No pictures of the table.

First picture is the sign for my wife.



 

Second picture is a plug for my latest endeavor, I even added a business card slot to it.



My wife made the logo I just ran the laser and found the material.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Sawing being a bit slow i decided to consume some rough 1" white cedar and made 7 of these bluebird houses. Put them on FB marketplace, who knows.  

 

[21incher]

Kinda of ironic this moves to laser engraving just as I decide to bust out the laser and have some fun with it.

My wife is heading to a craft show on saturday and I figured I would take advantage of here and get some advertising. So I made up one sign for here and a business card holder for me.

The table is also some real nice walnut I glued up. No pictures of the table.

First picture is the sign for my wife.



 

Second picture is a plug for my latest endeavor, I even added a business card slot to it.



My wife made the logo I just ran the laser and found the material.

Nice job.  I have found lasers are quicker and more fun then my cnc router.  Basically  no noise and no chips. They also are excellent for cutting precision fitting box joints in seconds. I can only  cut up to 1/2" material with my blue diodes but thinking about  big 120 watt co2 if I can find a supply of Baltic Birch for making kits to assemble. 50 watt co2 should be here in December.  
Starting a batch of slate coasters now And a bunch of wine glasses next.



Playing with lasers is addictive and precision without  investing  in thousands of dollars worth of tooling.  

[Crusarius]

I was wondering about getting a giant laser to mount on my CNC. I am using an atomstack pro+ I think its only a 5 watt laser but I am probably wrong.

Burns walnut really nice. it is funny the way it burns different at each part of the wood. The sapwood had the lightest burn to it which surprised me. the transition from sap to heart had the deepest. then the heart was in between the two. I thought the sapwood would have been the deepest but maybe its due to density and water content.

[Crusarius]

I like the granite coasters. never thought about doing granite. I have wondered how it works on glass though.

[doc henderson]

sap wood burns deeper but may still be lighter.  each growth ring will be denser and darker.  this is why maple is good for photos.  has small grain and a broad range of darkness/grayscale.  Walnut engraves dark, but not much contrast as the wood is dark also.  glass is "etched" not engraved.  for thin glass like a wine glass, it may crack, so you have to lower power and keep speed up.  if you want a smooth surface on a sheet of glass, then you invert the image and engrave on the back side.  If you are getting cracking, you can coat with a thin layer of dish soap to dissipate the heat.  wine glasses I do on the outside and use soap.  turkey called are done on the backside and are thick, and do not require the soap.



 

the PJs Hyde House is engraved on the back side to keep the front smooth and easy to clean.  image inverted.  nice little library if I do say so myself.  holding up very well.



 

[Crusarius]

thanks doc. thats gonna be really helpful. 

you guys ever try laser on plexiglass? Actual plexiglass, not lexan.

[doc henderson]

Yes, backs engraved and fill with paint or carnauba wax.  rub-n-buff sold at hobby lobby.  also, at lower power or it will melt and loose detail.  I just went to find a couple examples we did for my son, of some gaming emblems.  could not find them spur of the moment.  here is another neat deal on canvas.  also, leather does well.



 

[aigheadish]

I don't know if my 20w(?) ortur is up to it but I'm going to try engraving copper for some parts at work. As I understand we pay a buck per for a serialization engraving on some of our other pieces of copper but not on the ones I'm going to try. We'll see, likely this weekend.

If it works I'll decide whether to try to charge my workplace or suggest a laser so we can engrave it all ourselves. 

[doc henderson]

Laser engraving in General Woodworking (forestryforum.com)

i do not think a co2 will engrave all metals.  you can get a spray on ceramic that turns to glass when heated/laser engraved.  you can paint and engrave through paint.  I do a lot of painted/powder coated meatal insulated cups.  

[21incher]

Remember you have a blue diode and doc has a co2tube that are different wavelength.  
I see grain variation on photos but can control it by tweaking the flow on my air assist.  I have an Atomstack A7 I stretched to 4 ft long signs and that has given me many problems.  I recently made some signs and focused it 2.5 mm high on ash with the results looking like inlaid walnut. Here's one of them.


 
For glass it has to be painted black with water based paint so the laser doesn't  just pass through and becareful with the power levels. I recently did a video building  an acrylic  bender and showed what colors of acrylic I was able to cut. Clear is out along with lighter colors. Black cast acrylic cuts  beautifully with a diode laser and cut quality goes downhill with colors but try samples before committing because there is a wide variety of acrylic formulas. The expensive ceramic coating works great on metal and glass also. Always be sure there is outdoor ventilation for your fumes because they are harmful to your health pvc fumes can kill.
A cnc router  cannot achieve speeds required for a large co2 tube and it's  all mirrors so total enclosure is a must plus with wood dust around it would be a fire hazzard.  For best results use lightburn software.   

[Crusarius]

Doc, that canvas looks great. I was wondering how it would work on fabrics.

21, that looks great. I really like the way it colors to look like walnut. I have just started to use lightburn and may actually buy it. so far it is the best I have used.

[doc henderson]

prob natural fiber like cotton.  jeans ect.  leather is good.  although I do have a different laser type as pointed out.  do you have a book?  I have a couple pages telling setting and tips.