One of the truly fun things about doing the variety of work that I'm now doing is that I can have many projects working simultaneously. I may be working on several different projects all at once. What I try to do, is make at least one of those projects a challenge to myself..something that will push what I've learned so far, and help me learn new things. It may be a sample for my business, a gift I intend for someone...or just something I think is too cool not to attempt.
I've had this one in the back of my mind since I first started working with cnc machines. It turns out there are many many people who have built them in various ways. Some with plastic, some with aluminum...some with paper mache. There are plans all over the internet, but many find that the challenge is large if you want it to look decent.
So, this is now one of my side projects. I'll work on it a little bit each day between the jobs I need to finish and begin this year. It's a project that will force me to think about how to carve and/or create many many pieces.
I began with some work completed by Wes Thierry over at http://westhierry.net/wordpress/ .
I'm also using a reference model found on Google's 3d warehouse. In some cases, I'll seperate pieces from that accurate 3D model, and then export them as individual 3D models. I can import pieces into my carving program and carve each piece. In some cases, it'll be far more easy to treat them not as 3D models to carve, but to use the piece as a guide as I build my own files. The joy of pink foam is that I can make a prototype and discover whether it's working or not before I commit to some other material like PVC or HDU.
I know it's going to be a challenge, but I think it will be fun. I'm excited to get started and I hope you R2.
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