Making the Moon

[@Xaqaria]

Shout out to the spouses out there that aren't directly involved in the craft but still have incredibly valuable insights and suggestions.

[@frankmakes]

Yes. She oftentimes sees my crisis in a way that I haven't seen it and helps to solve the problem.

[@ektopia]

Kind of blew my mind this time. Bravo!

[@woodturner1954]

You are indeed a genius at transitioning real world and animated/video world into wood. I love watching your videos, the process of working it out in your mind how to do it as well as the actual work.

[@KurtFitzy]

3D Environment Artist here, cubemaps/spherical projections are still used very frequently in modern games! There's a lot of options for *how* the texture is projected or what kind of object it gets projected on to now compared to the past. Regardless of the details, the same basic principle is still a ubiquitous method for skyboxes and many many other use cases like faking reflections or making a fake portal with depth.

[@MCsCreations]

I did it in college, I had to make a small game. In my search I discovered it was possible to do with a sphere as well, but I just couldn't find good images to use. 😬 I did it in Java with an OpenGL plug-in, something like that, I don't remember very well... But it was very fun and the game was a city during the night where you controlled a flying saucer and had to abduct people... 😂

[@ThePlacehole]

It's worth pointing out that cube-maps and equirectangular ones are completely different ways of mapping a sphere onto a texture.

[@pernilsson9493]

Love the crosshairs in the moon shots 👍👍👍

[@Monotof1]

My first thought on how to solve the alignment problem of the irregular pieces without the border: Cut out the pentagons with those angles beforehand and then build a more complicated jig to hold them on the CNC individually. Especially with those biscuit slots already cut, that should be possible.

[@derekhartley4480]

I was coming down here to say the exact same thing. Good thinking friend.

[@esbenablack]

Fastened from below with a screw in the center, oriented with one side against a sacrificial fence. Could be incorporated into a jig.

[@burningSHADOW42]

I think it would be enough to have either the whole or part of the stop block in the angle cutting jig at an angle. Because the pieces do have a perfectly straight surface you can cut against, the problem is more, that it is not 90° against the table. But since you have the clamps to hold the thing down you should be able to use the already cut sides as a reference.

[@sambrookes2318]

If you cut an angled fence then it will line up without any additional work.

[@samwinters1690]

This was my thought as well. You could make a pentagon key and a matching hole on the back of the tiles. The key could be placed on the cnc bed to locate the pentagons for surfacing. And it could be located on the table saw sled. You’d then lift the pentagon off the key to rotate it to the next side, no need to keep the edges straight to ride on the table saw jig like current set up.

[@jtwieme]

Love the subtle addition of fiducials on the model moon footage 🤩

[@tomlinandy]

Angle the fence on your pentagon jig to match the cut side and it will sit square I think! Always look forward to your next video and can't wait to watch them when they're released. Love your storytelling and visual effects. Just a delight to watch. Thank you!

[@Mr.Glitch247]

This is the answer!

[@tuekaae5218]

This, or simply add a small spacer bit of wood, maybe 1×1×10 cm that will support on the clean cut surface of the wood, not the curved edge

[@MrSilvermatch]

I think you could cut out a smaller pentagon in the backside as a 1st CNC operation, that way you'd have a reference have the piece being registered on any jig you make just by adding the equivalent of that small cutout as a protruding on your jig

[@iamflipachip]

This is exactly what I was going to suggest.

[@KickedInBirdcage]

You are an absolute genius. Love that you share your projects Frank. Thank you.

[@-Deena.]

Your production quality, cinematography and editing are really quite astonishingly good Frank 🧡

[@GeeksWoodShop]

Frank, as always, your ideas are so fun, and it's a joy to watch them come to life. This one is no exception, amazing and fun and inspirational! Thanks!

[@TheBearDenPhotography]

I was just wondering the other day where Frank was? And here he is with another of his amazing sphere projects. To the Moon Frank, to the Moon!

[@dgtlionbarger]

Videos that show just why something might be so expensive are the favorite videos I love watching

[@mason.berlin]

you set the standard for woodworking videos on youtube imho. I love your whole series of spheres!!

[@StephenBoyd21]

Like your sphere, you are multi-faceted Frank.

[@MisterKisster]

I was thinking before i even watched you create this piece that it would certainly be a candidate for living in a museum. You are one of the most creative wood workers i have ever seen.

[@jamesjacoby]

Side lighting to make harsh moon shadows for the flyovers is perfect. Love the project.

[@donnecheli2721]

I’m not sure if you already mentioned this Frank, but if you cut out a hexagon into the bottom of the larger hexagons, you could index the carved hexagons on to a ‘tenoning’ hexagon into your ‘mortised’ hexagon on the bottom of your carved large hexagon…..

[@theseconddarrin3788]

I like the separation between the hexagons. It looks like a mini death star. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@bobflores]

Problem solving skills are so very important in life. You are a very good problem solver, Frank. Cutting out the pentagrams with the appropriate angles first. Hold them down on the CNC and then cut out your map with little to no seams might work. Maybe use your wife's idea of the biscuit slots to assist with the hold downs.

[@jonathandunbar7721]

software + hardware + hands = the triumvirate of creativity

[@plasmashears]

The seams actually look pretty neat here. It kinda goes well with the spiral contour on each face.

[@stevebader6385]

As your projects become more complex and computer oriented, I am able to understand less and less of the process, but it has not diminished my enjoyment of watching.

[@fleurdelune5240]

This is a fascinating project to watch, listening to your thoughts on how to make it work and what you would do diffrent later. Your wife idea of using the biscuit jointer to hold the pieces together was grand. 🌚 ❤ Thanks for sharing the audio of the moon landing. I was three years old when it happened but I remember my dad walking with me to the corner gas station where they had a 📺 and with me sitting on his shoulders I got to see it happening. Thank you❤

[@quirin5061]

i think you're really close to having it perfect! if you cut a matching angle onto the piece of wood on your jig that the moon piece registers against you should be able to get it completely seamless

[@drewliedtke2377]

The “conclusion” cut is giving MST3K

[@sapelesteve]

When it comes to woodworking, Frank is definitely in a world of his own! 👍👍🌕🌕🌑🌑

[@TheFamilyWoodworker]

Always love your spherical creations.... Also borrowed your idea about constant rotation in the lathe in order to round out the form. Thanks for these videos!

[@samuelschuur7044]

Forgive me if I'm wrong but instead of holding the pieces from the bottom can you not just put a matching angle on your tablesaw fence? This way it will register flst against the angled surface with no indeterminancy from the curve and youd have no seam.

[@charickter]

Fantastic, Howard! Love when you include a space theme in your projects! Oh! Maybe a large model of Jupiter textured to simulate the latitudinally banded clouds of gas and the Great Red Spot storm! 😃

[@kenc2257]

That was amazing. I had no idea about the whole "skybox" 3-D environment thing. Really, didn't even know the backside of the moon had been mapped.

[@seregon888]

You could cut the back stop of your jig at the same angle as you do the pentagonal pieces - that way the pieces would sit securely against it. You'll probably need to adjust the side/depth stop between the first two cuts (made against a straight edge) and the remaining cuts (made against angled faces). You might even be able to get both cuts out of one profile - vertical at the bottom to match the uncut faces, sloped back at the top to match the cut faces.

[@ArmyCore_EOD]

It doesn't need to be this complicated. Add a relatively thin spacer between the fence and the piece. They aren't being clamped against the fence, the fence is for alignment. They're being clamped down to the sled. So a big step over with a gap to the actual fence would let the straight edge at the bottom rest against it and the curve at the top would be held away.

[@brockroberts4258]

Frank, you are a madman - I love it!

[@awildschuetz1]

That's a remarkable outcome for a really cool idea! I bet you could set up indexing pins on your CNC table to place each of the 12 pieces on for cutting, then have a table saw sled with matching indexing pins for cutting the angled, straight line cut edges of each piece, and finally make a skeleton with 12 sets of indexing pins for the pieces to mount to in a sphere. This could be a jig for repeatable dodecahedron sphere making, no matter what the surface finish looks like. Also, have you considered sand blasting or soda blasting the CNC cut surface on the finished product to remove the tool marks? Just a thought.

[@figrollin]

I'd love to see you make a large d20 dice, Frank. The polyhedral shape would probably be second nature to you, but I know you'd do something interesting for engraved letters!

[@howesfull8]

Another great video. I like watching and listening to your thought process. And....those radio calls still get my heart rate up.

[@virtualfather4117]

What if you cut the pentagons first Then make a pentagon cup like hold that you could insert the pentagon into the holder which would hold the pentagon and allow you to cut the moon surface all the way to the edges. Then assemble with no lines showing. You have such a creative mind. Thank you

[@griffinwolf5704]

Looking forward to seeing the next phase of this project/series of projects Frank! Great video as always

[@stevenjones6982]

Awesome video, Frank. Thanks for making and sharing!

[@monoptique621]

Congratulations ! This lunar sphere would make an excellent protective shield for a spacecraft. Greetings from France.

[@davidpeterson5186]

Thank you for incorporating the Neal Armstrong radio transmissions from the moon!

[@Via-Regia]

Outstanding Art…I could listen to that voice for hours...

[@tylerkrueger1571]

Cut an apposing angle on a strip to use a a backer on your jig to support these pieces

[@Topsy-nu6vk]

This was exactly my thought. Your table saw jig for cutting the angles has a square registration fence. This is why the shape of the top surface interferes. If the fence is instead angled to match the cut, then the contour on the surface won't interfere. You'll be able to cut as close as you like.

[@LucyGirl-61]

Love your videos. I often share parts with my geometry class.

[@burningSHADOW42]

To solve your seam problem: Just angle the upper part of the wooden stop block of the jig. Or you could use a something like a shim or space with the right angle. The pieces you cut have a perfectly straight side you can reference against. The problem is mostly that the reference surface on the piece and the reference surface on the jig are at different angles. If both surfaces have the same angle, you can easily reference them. The clamp should prevent the piece from riding up und the slope.

[@carolynhudson6858]

having made a few icosahedrons using nothing but a miter saw from wood i feel like i would have gone that way over a dodecahedron just for the reduced curvature at the edges however i did not have a cnc mill like you do i feel like if I did I would have tried having the mill carve the geometry of the back and mating faces first with some sort of interior dumbbell/bowtie cavity for holding together the parts and a slightly larger like 1mm matching pocket for a jig to hold those each part for 3d milling their faces using painters tape and superglue on their now carved interior faces. and then dry fit everything cleaning up the milling as needed to get a good fit and then clamp and glue the matched bowties to one side of the correct faces and build the shape bit by bit finally using rubber bands to hold the shape together while the glue sets. The bowties should do most of the work but the bands i think will let you finetune the clamping pressure

[@inpectore5951]

Idea: center locating pin (center of pentagon) on the sleds referencing against table fence (or any other parallel to the cutting blade device) So you'll get both distance (pin) & angle every time from fresh CNCed surface (fence or such) For "device" I'd look toward adjustable parallelogram frame

[@BenlshTracker]

Really enjoy your mixed analog and digital workflows! Always learning something new from your videos

[@scikick]

Your videos are always such a treat to watch. Much love and admiration for your craft!

[@bob_._.]

To cut the edge angles, make a cradle (for want of a better term) to fit your table saw miter gauge with a 72° notch which will hold the corner of a piece. Then set the blade to the proper angle for the join between pieces.

[@chrisahola7809]

Very nice Frank. I always enjoy your videos. I just went back to watch the tomato cage and seedling episodes. So I can get my garden ready for the up coming season. Thanks for shearing.

[@randycosgrove3608]

As always very interesting. I'm not a computer kind of guy so I'd never get involved with a CNC the way you have but that doesn't stop me admiring what you do.

[@killymxi]

There is a flat surface on each side of pentagons to hold against the table saw jig, it is just not vertical. You just need the wall of the jig to be low enough so it makes contact with the right part of a pentagon.

[@StephenG__s_i]

Very cool; My thought is build a finished "flat" sphere first, then index it in a jig on the cnc, so you can orient the target face vertical, and then carve the 12 faces; no gaps, everything is continuous.

[@NCMOUNTAINMAN]

Yeah. What he said. Frank you are a true genius. Good wood working and a good video.

[@sdspivey]

To "clamp" a spherical object, use cling film. You can wrap it snugly initially, then add more tension on later layers. You will need to get one of your clones to help, unless you can grow extra arms. For a long board, you can clamp the ends, like you did, then run a skim pass across the top. This should tell you where adding side clamps will be out of the way of the bit.

[@ArtturiSalmela]

13:03 Now that all the sides are angled, I think you could have an angled thing you put the pentagons against to cut the rest of the seam out.

[@jimphubar]

I like them as tiles. Coasters, tabletop or other thing.

[@runrin_]

could you try sand (regolith?) blasting the surface to give it a grainy texture and remove the fuzz? loved the apollo references - especially the reseau plate grids. cute touch!

[@royunderwood7514]

Always great original ideas. I definitely appreciate your work.

[@luc369]

13:18 I'm not sure I can explain this well, but you could put a straight piece of wood in front of the fence that is shorter than the spherical part of the pentagon. That way you could avoid the arc and get a streight cut.

[@PMoney365]

Alignment problem Idea: - joint and plane your blank. - Drill perpendicular reference holes in waste sections of the blank - model the inside form of the sections (basically the pentagonal pyramids that hold the structure together) and cut these first on the cnc (blank upside down) - flip the blank over, align the reference holes - cut the lunar surface. All of the alignment is done on the computer and cut on the cnc. You could probably even model in dovetails or fingers to make them align perfectly. Just my 2 cents having never used a cnc.

[@BuriedAliveBySquirrels]

That's incredible work. The look reminds me of the Satellite of Love from MST3K.

[@boastboy]

What an absolutely epic project! I thoroughly enjoyed it. And thank you

[@dennisletkeman]

To hold the parts in your jig without that straight side, just use a low spacer of a set width to use the straight side you have lower down on the piece.

[@LostWhits]

Could you place the blanks on the cnc and cut the interior surface. cutting a centre locating peg and the internal bevels. That way when the first run is complete you can flip them. load the pieces individually using the peg as a key to then sculpt the exterior. Does that make sense? Then you could skip the table saw completely and have the bevel angles cnc precise, removing such a large seam. I love the project and can't wait to see what else you can come up with. Perhaps using a Reuleaux triangle to create a shape of solid width.

[@wizardofboz]

I made about a 6" diameter globe with 6 pieces, i did my math wrong and somehow they still fit together. I had the same problems with cutting the edge and then having a fence registration point, and decided next time I'm going to cut registration pin holes on the bottom of the pieces as a first step, flip the stock over, then cut the contours. After separating them, it should be pretty trivial to make a pin jig that all the pics will fit into, and i can creep up on the edge cuts to eliminate the edging, then leave the jig in that position and cut them all so they are all identical. I'm crap at blender though, so there's no way i can do it with pentagons. Biggest I figured I will be able to go on my bench top cnc is a 12" globe.

[@MCsCreations]

Stunning, Frank! You over did yourself this time! 😮 Really well done!!! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@jeffmayhew4148]

Frank, this is amazing stuff! Thanks for sharing.

[@LadyTigerLily]

Your editing skills have gotten so advanced, Frank! What a cool and awesome project!

[@Craftlngo]

If you use a dowel in the centre of the pentagon, you would have a reference each flat side is equal distant to. You could use this for your table saw jig.

[@jimmyrk3]

This is a cool project. when you get the edges sorted it will look great. As a side note. when you said your wife suggested and it worked perfectly sounds a lot like my house, I am almost to the point of asking her first and not even trying to figure it out. It would save me a lot of time...😁

[@staviq]

You need to make your height map extrusion along "normals" not along an axis. When you make an extrusion along an axis, you go from ......... to ,iiIIIii, which means, the edges of the pentagon will meet as _\/_, and even if you trim the pentagon edges, so they meet a a proper angle, your surface features will still have the wrong angle, and you will end up with something like hair parting there. When you make your extrusion along normals, you go from ......... to ,\\II//, which will make the pentagons meet as _\\_||_//_ Starting with a circular base, doesn't account for the extrusion angle.

[@capnskustomworks]

That’s looking awesome!!! I wonder if one could build a little sled with compound angle sides for them to sit in? Like one spot that registers agains two untrimmed edges to slice off that strip, and a spot that registers against an untrimmed edge (to be sliced) and one trimmed edge, to complete each pentagon?

[@alastairmackay4589]

You are now officially in supernerd territory! There’s as much maths and engineering as there is woodworking. Amazing. Pretty soon you’ll be using your cnc machine to do major surgery

[@geraldhayter]

Love your creativeness - what about gluing and assembling the sphere completely with a mark in the centre of each pentagon so you could index the whole thing under the spindle some way for the machining?

[@tiffanysandmeier4753]

This was so cool. Good luck figuring out the seems.

[@fretwoodmack1331]

Cost could easily get out of hand, and the pattern would not be controllable/repeatable but one of these with Mappa Burl would be incredible to look at

[@tatwo_]

I like how it looks with the seams.

[@hammerman2002]

What if, instead of a fence to cut the pieces to size, you used a jig with 3 (I think, but two would probably do it) pins on a sled, and use the CNC to cut 5 holes to match those pins in the back of the pieces? Then you cut a side, rotate, cut that side, rotate, etc until you cut all 5 edges, then repeat on each piece? That would give you repeatable workholding away from the blade and away from the curved/unpredictable edges. Kind of like a fingerjoint jig, but in two dimensions?

[@RicardoJunqueira]

Heya Frank. I missed you. I'm so glad you're back.

[@joepnormaaljovink]

Maybe create five different jigs to hold the pentagons? First jigs with 4 plumb sides, second jigs with 3 plumb sides and 1 angled. Third jigs with 2 angled sides and 2 plumb etc. Allows you to hold the pentagons while cutting each angled side... 12:48

[@mikewallace3895]

As always thoroughly enjoyed your video. But I have a question: If you used biscuits for assembly how did you get the last piece installed?

[@MacMcNurgle]

Would it be correct that the CNC would know the position of the centre of the pentagon's reverse side? Thus the inside of each piece could have a hole that is central to each piece. Many connection options arise from there, it would seem. A sphere with a dozen posts. An armature with a dozen arms. I enjoy watching your work. Cheers.

[@duaneheadworth6275]

Really cool. You have the earth and the moon now. I was wondering if you use any CAD software and is there any you recommend? My son uses blender but he would like to model a shed we are building together this summer and wanted to create it in a CAD software and then import it into blender so he could have all the inside and outside dimensions more accurate. (relative) I have looked around but haven't had any luck finding something decent that doesn't require an annual subscription. Thanks for sharing.

[@alanesq1]

Could you screw a wooden pentagon to the underside of the segments to use as a guide when cutting them on the table saw and then remove it afterwards? You could make a jig which the pentagon slots in to, cut a side then rotate it...

[@larrybud]

I think the way to put this together is to make a smaller, solid dodecahedron of proper dimensions that you'd glue each moon piece to

[@screamsofthedead]

This looks very good! I can't wait to see more!

[@jeffmayhew4148]

What about making your segments larger than their final size, milling the surface features, and then cutting the pieces to their final (smaller) size? Wouldn't that give you something closer to a continuously-sculpted surface without the seams? I'm bringing this up because there is an analogous technique used for processing integrated circuit designs using massive distributed processing (cutting the physical design into pieces and processing them separately, while preserving matching boundaries).

[@maxleadleybrown]

Could you trim and do the biscuit cut with the flat edges present, and then sand back the edges to be curved?

[@durandanne-john6621]

This moon is truelly magnificent !

[@VERY_MAD_ALIEN]

Impressive animations and presentation.

[@ikocheratcr]

I like it. Maybe you colud build a regular normal dodecaheadron, and then glue the CNC cut "surface pieces". What I mean, is thet on the CNC you only cut a thin piece of wood, that can hold the pattern. to deal with edges, the dodecaheadron should not eb flat, theie border need to be deeper, like cusp of some sort. The terrain pices are cut on the back first, then flip and cut terrain. glue terrains to dodecaheadron.

[@curtismakes]

Instead of referencing on a flat vertical surface on your jig, make an angled reference that you can swap in when you need to reference against a close trimmed surface

[@illygah]

Buckminster Fuller is happy, btw, about your geometry here. Very Dymaxion projection

[@slucas601]

Frank, try laying a dowel on the table between the fence and the part to get the angle 'straight' to the fence.

[@reddcube]

You could make a jig for the router that uses washers in the biscuit slots to hold the pieces down.

[@johnbarr9857]

lovely work. Increase the size of the moon on each pentagon so it has say 1 10mm overlap into the next section then cut it back to true size to remove the edges.

[@mymemeplex]

a pin in the bottom at the center of the pentagon. You can turn it around, it's always a set distance. right?

[@matthewquinn7447]

I had the same thought. I think that’s a good solution.