Good and Great News!

 Spring Poppies !

The WoodRat is Back!!!

I saw a tiny ad in FineWoodWorking magazine the 90’s and mailed the company over in England.

I’d say mid to late 1990’s.  Still have the promotional stuff they sent back.  

WoodRat link in here

You can also see the manual that came with the machine I eventually purchased.

I love this wonderful thing.  I use it on almost every project and if I don’t I certainly entertain the idea to see if it’s feasible.

I’ve hacked it in a hundred different ways, come up with novel and most surprising ways of doing a task on it.  

WoodRat link

The inventor of the WoodRat, Martin Godfrey I guess, was getting on up there in years and he had to stop the business for a few years.

But the great and good news is there a new owner of the WoodRat!!!!

So exciting for me!!

Sandwiched between The Joe Sam painting and my espresso machine.

Latest little thing I added is a Dead Man’s switch.  Idea came to me while thinking about a project while I sitting out in Death Valley last Fall.  (See project below)

I think one of the best things about the WoodRat is how analog it is. It’s basically an XYZ movement of a machine using your hands instead of pushing a computer button.  Cranked with a handle, you can write stuff on it,  It’s a beautiful hand-eye dance.  Meditation really.  

Lately I’ve been getting into using end mills instead of router bits.

Please check out the WoodRat if you are a woodworker.

So I’ve been getting inquires on how I made a hanging lamp from last year.  This is the perfect opportunity to showcase the WoodRat.

This was not CNC, this is WoodRat.

This is the second coopered hanging light I’ve made this way.  The wood is routed out to where it’s thin enough for light to shine through.  The light shines through pretty good when the wood is just a couple thousand over 1/32”.   Around .041”

There were 15 staves in this particular lantern.

Made a clamping table for the WoodRat for repeated ability to hit that .041”

This is the simple way to determine line spacing for this particular size of cutter.

Cut an angle on the staves and glue it up.

Hanging it temporarily until the correct person accepts it.

It’s a Mood Board!

 

Breaking the three month silence to announce the latest Mood Board for the Modern Generation!

This one’s for you Nick!  I know, I know, why does it always have to be motor related things. This is more about the repeated color hues.

IF you WANT, go to this here link to get into the Mood Board

Let's bang this one out.

 Gotta get this out before I get too sleepy because you won't be seeing anything from me until well into Spring.  Hibernation calls.

 

 Starting a new direction on wood+light bulbs=hanging lamps.

The first of a few and I'm still working out the kinks, still almost a proof of concept.  And no, it’s not done with CNC.

Flat Light

Texture Light

 24 staves on this first one.

 

Taped the joints

 Flipped up to vertical because I needed to show it like that to a couple of people so they can start thinking.

 Glued it into a circle,  put in a structure to allow to hang and for light bulbs.

 Hung it temporarily.  Listen to this, this is not it's permanent way of hanging or the light inside. Tied it with some rope, threw in a bulb from above.

It’s getting darker!  Let's turn on the single bulb inside!

 

OMGEEE. Bonus Pics

Something else glued up waiting for me to wake up in late Spring

 Hanging painters tape and some of Annie's tile patterns