Instructables.com is a web site to which I subscribe and have for a few years. I like the site because it features everything from art to zoology projects. Cooking and wood working are my two special interests. Lately there have been 3D printing projects too. I can see great things in 3D printing, but not for me at this stage. Similar to CNC controlled routing I have retired from production situations and so don't need the latest technology to complete in the market.
Last week there was a 3D printing project that caught my eye. I liked it enough to really check it out and so decided that I could make the project using old school techniques. I am old enough to remember "pattern makers". Google doesn't even know what I am talking about, I checked. A pattern maker worked from drawings to make a perfect wooden model of an object that was then to be cast in metal, the pattern. Now the object exists only as a computer drawing and pattern makers are very nearly extinct. I decided to make the 'pattern' the old fashioned way.
Shawn the Sheep is famous among my grandchildren so I decided to copy the idea of Shawn but skip the 3D printer part of the project.
If you feel like a little sheep in your bathroom these are all the tools that I needed to make Shawn. Since I used wood, I needed the saw. If you made Shawn from foam core or card board you wouldn't need the saw.
To get the curved body I cut a vitamin bottle with the utility knife, stout scissors would work as well. The legs are chop sticks and an awl would have made the holes, the drill made it easier.
That is the finished sheep parts. Four legs, cut and painted, the face and plug cut with the coping saw. I sanded the face and legs a bit, but not much and glued the eyes on.
I know this is not a "work shop" project in the tradition of furniture and canoe making but I included it as a reminder that making stuff, that is fun and poplar doesn't have to involve tonnes of money or equipment. The body was re-purposed plastic, the legs were re-purposed chop sticks. (I always save my chopsticks from restaurants) The only cost was the googly eyes, a low cost craft item. My sheep's face is roasted maple, because I had some laying around, but painted card board would work just as well. Using painted card board would make this a kitchen table project for kids.
While the glue was drying and because I am trying to finish up, fix up, put to use or throw away things lately, I decided to finish my hour glass. I bought the blown glass part of this project while in Sweden a couple of years ago it has sat waiting for be captured in wood since then. The hour glass is actually half size and so runs about 30 minutes.
My initial thoughts were for something thing fancy. I haven't abandoned those thoughts completely but at this point it is two squares of mahogany and four 3/8 dowels. But, what it is, is finished and usable. Until now it was stored away "safe" awaiting purpose.
I have come to believe that the person with the least junk wins, not the person with the most stuff.
cheers, ianw
.
No comments:
Post a Comment