3D Prints in the workshop 27

[@AngieWilliamsDesigns]

Just found your channel today. Glad I found it. Just subscribed.

[@DarrensWorkshop]

Hi Angie, Thanks and have a great day.

[@FearsomeWarrior]

Perfect for handle holes too. I get so frustrated when there is a bump between the half circles and the straight sides. I always make a template after screwing up many.

[@DarrensWorkshop]

Hi Fearsome. Yes handle holes are a great example.

[@zheyabgav]

New music! I always thought it’s just me who bites into templates with routers 😊 Luckily it’s now easy to reprint another one

[@DarrensWorkshop]

Hi Evgeny. Yes a couple of people complained about the old music, at least if people don't like this, its shorter.

[@invictus8397]

Hi Darren, thanks for sharing I printed yr 3 dog fence but not sure what was the dog diameter target. Did you design for 3/4 inch or 20 mm? I ended with something like 19.4 mm with is either too large or too small! Keep enjoying the mix of 3D printing and wood!

[@DarrensWorkshop]

Hi Invictus. The dogs were designed at 19.7mm. I originally went with 19.8, but the prototype got stuck. It was too much friction for 3 dogs.

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

Wow, you get through a lot of plastic! Of course, what you are doing is use one sort of CNC machine (a 3D printer) to produce templates to make parts that could be made directly with a different CNC machine (a 3D router). Nothing wrong with that; but the latter would shape the outside also (and much else). Has a cost, of course, but you are a man not adverse to spending a bit of money in the workshop- go on, you know that you want to!

[@DarrensWorkshop]

Hi Mike, While CNC cutting machines are very accurate and loved by many, I have neither the space nor the desire for one. Don’t get me wrong, I can understand why other people like them, especially if the user needs to batch out many identical parts, but I derive my woodworking pleasure from interacting with the wood and the tools directly. In may cases I prefer to use hand tools, I can listen to the radio and the birds outside while working. After spending many years improving my hand skills and learning to read the grain of the wood, it would be a shame to let a machine take over at this point. Maybe when my fingers are too old and arthritic to hold a chisel I’ll consider it. While I did buy a lot of tools last year, they don’t add up to the cost of a CNC machine. I think this is one of those different strokes for different folks things. Some people want to get to the end result quickly, some want to enjoy the journey.

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

@@DarrensWorkshop OK, sorry, I misread the situation- thanks for the full reply. For me, using a powered router to follow a template has already reduced it to a mechanical process. Those that machine metal are largely following the math, hitting determined points - it is all a spectrum. Those that carve images with hand tools are making hand/eye judgements at every cut, marking out wood and machining it to line much less so. In the days of selecting the piece of tree and turning into (say) furniture parts by hand it was judgement all the way. Nowadays we use machined blanks of timber, or manmade material such as ply or mdf. Add power tools, and we are further distanced. As a hobbyist, we have the right to choose the route that gives greatest pleasure of course- but some parts are utilitarian, and just need making. Space- most people assume a CNC machine should be in the workshop- far from it. It does not need attending, it will work until the task is done. Being in the same room is not only unnecessary, it is distracting/annoying. It is not just for production work- I had the need to produce several slots in two slabs of oak, as a mirror image (ends of a machinist's toolbox). Yes, I could have routed them- a tedious and risky process, especially ensuring the mirror. Would I (or anyone else) get pleasure from doing it? Doubt it. The CNC cut them to precision, had to be a true mirror, and I could spend my time on the visible parts. Cost? I could pick two of your power tools that totaled more (just built one for under £600). But I am not trying to convert you- we are all masters of our own workshop.