Don't Underestimate The Force

Last week I got a phone call...one of those calls you kind of have to pinch yourself and ask if it's happening.
A nationally syndicated television show is in Texas helping a family whose home burned down in the horrible fires that happened there. Being in Texas, they called CarveWright (their home base is there) to see if they might want to lend a hand.

When the producers told CarveWright what they wanted to do- they said "Oh, man! You gotta see what this guy in Illinois is doing with our machine. I bet he'd help out..."

As it happens, the father and two twin boys are huge Star Wars fans. The father had collected Star Wars stuff since he was a kid...all lost in the fire. They told me that the plan is to do a Star Wars room for the family and asked if I could come up with anything that I could make and send in just a few days.

I agreed to help and even told them what I thought I could make and send. A fast call to my local Azek pvc distributor (Parksite) scored a donated 3/4" thick sheet 4' x 8' long. All I can say is, "Todd Farden, Parksite and Azek, you rock!"


From the beginning, my plan was ambitious. It included 6 items, while they were expecting much less. Even one was an undertaking in the time frame, but I just felt it was something I couldn't pass up...a chance to help a family of sci-fi nuts like me, a chance to make Star Wars stuff with a blessing from Lucasfilm, and a chance to participate in a tv show my daughter and I love to watch. I couldn't do it small!

I had to invent a way to do a couple of the projects and pushed myself to try new things along the way. It was only 3 days, but it felt like 2 weeks. Todd stopped by and was even wrangled into helping me bend some Azek I'd heated up on the grill. I think I better come up with an Azek oven pretty soon!

The last push was an all-nighter, but it was worth it. I completed everything, boxed it up and sent it off to Texas.  I hope more than anything those 2 boys like what I did.
 
I had a chance to create a new way to carve images, a sink or swim introduction to the airbrush and a variety of techniques to adapt and learn. Stay tuned!


I love my little CarveWright and wouldn't trade it for the world..but you can probably guess that my mind was racing with the possibilities of what could be done if I had a larger new cnc machine.  Maybe by the time they need help with a "Star Trek" room, I'll be able to make some of those dreams even bigger!

Being part of it was an early Christmas gift for me and I couldn't be more thankful even if none of the items make it on air. I find it fitting for this family that the original Star Wars film's subtitle is "A New Hope".

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