I think you are being too modest, I can see how you’ve adapted the idea but your version doesn’t look like a copy. I’m looking forward to seeing the end result. It’s generating a few ideas of my own.
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Wow, absolutely beautiful job on that, David! I have no doubt it will come out to be the work of art that you envision it to be.
Jerome sounds quite interesting, I think my wife & I will need to take a trip over there at some point, so thanks for the heads-up on that! We are moving to the Prescott Valley area, and Jerome is only like a 40 minute trip from where we’ll be at.
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Thank you for that, Charles! Sometimes when I’m working on a project, I tend to lose all perspective on it, and I can’t tell if I’m heading in a good direction or not, or whether it’s coming out well or not.
I’d love to see photos of any of your past or current (or future) projects. I learn so much from what others have created!
David
Hi Bill,
Wow, it really is a small world! I know this is a forum about Onefinity CNC concerns, but I have to digress for a moment to comment about Arizona. My wife and I first visited Sedona some 12 years ago, I believe, while we were on a road trip. We only spent a couple of nights there, but we fell in love with it. It is strikingly beautiful, and there are seemingly endless trails, each one with more beautiful vistas than the next. We have vacationed there every year since, staying for between a week and ten days at a time. We were last there this past October. While there, we have visited Jerome many times, taken the Verde Canyon Railroad excursion, visited Cottonwood, Prescott and other towns in the area as well.
Unfortunately, the Sedona downtown (technically uptown) has gotten way more crowded and has been built-up significantly over the past dozen years, and has some brutal traffic jams quite frequently these days. But the surrounding areas are as beautiful as ever.
I have often fantasized about moving to Arizona, but both my wife and I have deep roots in the New York/New Jersey area, and we have three adult children who live in the area was well (at least for now), so moving to Arizona is for us just that: a fantasy. But we hope to continue to visit the area in the future.
I wish great things for you in your new life in the Prescott Valley area. I hope you do get a chance to visit Jerome. If you do, check out “Nellie Bly Kaleidoscopes.” That’s the store where I saw the CNC generated wall art. I know the name suggests that Kaleidoscopes are the mainstay of the store, and they do have a lot of those. But they have wonderful and creative art of all kinds there, and it’s really worth checking out.
David
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Noted! We just got moved yesterday, and have SO much to do! This area is really great, and we love it so much more than north Phoenix where we moved from. We were only there about 2 1/2 years before discovering the Prescott/Prescott Valley area, and immediately fell in love with it. We moved from SW Michigan to Phoenix after deciding to take the plunge.
If you’re ever in/around Prescott and want a cute, quaint place to stay, I highly recommend The Motor Lodge in Prescott, as well as Forest Villas Hotel in Prescott Valley. We’ve stayed at both while checking out this area. The Motor Lodge is pretty close to Whiskey Row, with a ton of interesting restaurants & shops. Forest Villas is more in the ‘busy’ area of PV, and while a really nice hotel, it is not surrounded by the cultural influence like The Motor Lodge.
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We will definitely check those out. Thank you!
When you get settled and finally get your tools up and running, I would love to see pictures of your work!
David
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Will do! But my typical work these days is pretty utilitarian. I have a bunch of address signs to make, and I also do parts for Xometry. I used to do more creative type work, but transitioned into what I do now.
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Hey @Samjemb,
As promised, here’s my first official work since the move. Also as mentioned, it’s pretty utilitarian! I needed to make a custom wrench for the hex feet to level the stove. Worked perfect! 
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Hey Bill
Glad to see that you’re back up and running! I wouldn’t have thought of making my own wrench, though I did make several iterations of my own low profile T-track clamps and accessories. I Have also cut some shelf brackets and other utilitarian items, and I just started thinking about making a simple unit to organize and house my ever increasing number of CNC router bits.
I feel very lucky to have made it to my retirement years in reasonably good shape (health and otherwise), and to be able to spend some significant time making various wood projects strictly for the joy and challenge of it. One of my first projects was a small library table for my son and daughter-in-law, both of whom are musically inclined. The top of the table is a relief of two musical staffs with six bars of John Denver’s “Country Roads.” I cut it with a 1/4" border around the edges and filled in the relief with clear epoxy. I made the legs with reliefs of various guitar tuner heads, bridges and a string connecting each tuner head with each bridge. Of course I made a gazillion mistakes along the way, but it was fun and full of challenges.
Below is a photo of where I am with my “layer art” project. I am cutting one side of a frame for it as I write this. I’ll post a photo when the project is complete (assuming I actually ever get there!)
I sincerely hope you are enjoying your new home in the Prescott Valley area!
David
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Hey David, you mentioned in a previous post that you were using basswood 1/8" sheets for this project and that they were slightly problematical in the more delicate areas to work with. At my lumber suppliers the other day I noticed a product called ’ 1/8" polyback birch ’ , a 4’x8’ sheet of clear birch veneer with a thin backing of some kind of plastic( I’m going to guess polystyrene ) that comes in a tad under 1/8". Grabbed a sheet( $110.00 CDN) but haven’t done anything with it yet. My biggest annual project comes due in less than a month and I still have a lot to do. However, it looks like it will work with minimal to no sanding, take stain and be more than robust enough to hold even the most delicate designs. My one concern would be if the edges would stain like the veneer. We’ll see, I’ll let you know how it works out when I get to it.
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Hey Charles,
I am very interested to hear how you find working with the polyback birch. After I cut out and stained the basswood pieces, I glued the layers together using Titebond Ultimate wood glue. Can the polyback birch be glued front to back? I assume that that might require something other than wood glue.
In hindsight, I realize that I could have cut the basswood in a way that might have reduced the ridiculous amount of sanding that I had to do with each layer. I used a downcut bit (to preserve the top edges of the material) and had it cut through using two passes. I also set the depth to a couple of hundredths of an inch thicker than the material and used a piece of the basswood as a sacrificial wasteboard (I had bought a pack of twelve sheets, so I had extra.) What I should have done was make the first pass with the downcut bit, but then make the second and final pass using an upcut bit to preserve the underside of the sheets. That might have saved me some of the literally hours I spent sanding all the various edges of each layer.
I know it may take a while, but I can’t wait to hear what you find, hear and how you work with the polyback birch. And I can’t wait to see what you make with it!
David
We used the Carbide Compact Router, it crapped out after less than 10 hours of use.
As a follow up to the Open Build ER11 Router. I am very pleased with it. No running hot. Little less noise. A lot less vibration. I have done several multi hour cuts and absolutely no heat build up at all. I bought some more nuts and collets so bit changing is a snap.
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Hello All,
I’ve been using the Menards brand Masterforce router for a few months now and it’s working great. Comes with collets for 3/8" or 1/4" bits and has a few features that other routers don’t have like LED lights on the bottom and a digital speed display. I don’t really trust the display but it’s easy to read and gives you an idea of what the 1-6 speed settings mean in RPM. The router itself looks a lot like the Carbide 3D router offered for the Shapeoco on their website with the added features I mentioned. I do see lines on the sides of my wood cut pieces if I don’t do finish passes but without any experience with other routers I don’t know if that’s normal for other routers or if it is runout due to poor router design.
Not sure how different it is compared to the Makita but it’s a cheap option to start for $55 if you can catch them on sale.
Masterforce® 1-1/4 HP Variable Speed Fixed Base Compact Router
All in all I’m glad I started with this and if it burns up I’m only out a few bucks. I could almost replace this twice for the cost of a Makita compact router.
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Did you make a warranty claim?
Hey David!
My sincere apologies for not responding to this sooner, I just now saw your post from Apr. 8.
Wow, I love that layer art project, that’s SO beautiful! Nicely done!
Thank you for the well-wishes for our recent move. So far we absolutely LOVE it here! Such a beautiful area!
Similar situation here, though we’re tethered to South Texas. We have decided to buy a small home (1950s era, 600 sq ft) in Iowa near my extended family. It will be our “get out of the heat” home for 4 months each year. Good thing is that a home like that, on .25 acres, is probably 60-80K.
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Update, Ran this for a few days after this post and of course it gave up the ghost. It worked well for quite a while but its toast now. Upgraded to a Makita and noticed a nice bump in runout performance, less vibration with longer tools and the Makita is much quieter in general. Still an ok low cost option but don’t it to last forever. I haven’t replaced the brushes yet but the LED lights won’t even turn on so it might be bigger than just the brushes.
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Pretty sure that for $55.00 you’re not going to get the highest quality bearings. While some people have had problems with their Makita, there seems to be a high degree of variability with them. Mine’s been running fine with little to no heat for two years now. Others have literally had fires start from overheated routers. Seems to depend on if you got a ’ Friday afternoon ’ one or not.
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