More exciting things happening

I find myself with way more things to do now that I am not teaching and I am on a little break from the workshops.  I have been trying not to spend too much time on social media.  As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure I am going to cancel my personal facebook account and maybe only have my artist account.  Since my father passed away a number of years ago, the people who were connected to him have been activated on facebook. I am not sure if they know what social media is let alone how it could be useful instead they post hate-speach and misinformation (radical right wing nonsense).  I have tried to engage a number of times with them "Hey I know you, what are you being this way?" Well much like telling my wife to relax, its like throwing gasoline onto a fire!  So instead of wasting time with them I am now removing them from my life, along with all the other nonsense on facebook.  So if you need me I will be here, on instagram OR on twitch!  https://www.twitch.tv/arthurhash

So a couple of updates!  First we are launching another round of Rhino workshops the intro is almost sold out! https://courses.thebenchri.com/  Before that starts up I have been trying frantically to get the studio setup for some free lance modeling jobs I have coming up. So the 3D printer has been a priority. This will be the first time I am using the wash station!  

Also, last week is was my birthday and it was amazing. So much love. A good pal of mine sent me some truffles from the milk bar! (Loring you son of a bitch! I almost ate a whole box by myself!)  Liz bought me a canoe! I made myself a gorilla ring, I got some fancy to-go cocktails form ISCO spirits and there was an awesome zoom gathering!!!

Oh man.  So much love! Thank you everyone!

Work has been crazy busy!  Its like the holiday season is happening now! I am literally cranking out four to fives rings a day!! Bananas! I recently did an insert ring (two bands that receive an engagement ring) and a "copy ring" which is were someone has a ring they love but it is costume jewelry and I have to make it into a "real"  ring. 

We also made pizza and went for a couple hikes here and there. 

Liz has a big virtual event coming up at work https://metalwerx.com/marketplace 

I am going to try and post more.  I should have a store update soon along with some fundraising/auction items for the fires out west, BLM and of course the ACLU.

=

 

ANYCUBIC wash and cure station/hurry up and wait

 

A number of months ago I bought an Anycubic wash station. I think it was on sale for $130. If you read my blog you know that I purchased a Phrozen 4K to try and print some jewelry pieces. While messy it is a great printer.  It has its quirks but for the resolution and price it is hard to beat. As far as I can tell it's direct competition is the Anycubic Photon. While being a lot cheaper but it doesn't come close to the resolution I need for 3D printing parts that require stone setting or fine texture. So when I was shopping around the Phrozen was the one I landed on.  

Now that the studio is all setup I can start setting up my print area again. So far everything with the wash station seems to be working well. It seemed to be packed well. It comes with a couple accessories specific to the Anycubic photon (I will skip those). There is what I will call the "dangler" which allows you to take the platter off the Photon and put it right in the wash station....which is great but unfortunately doesn't fit the screw for the Phorzen platter. I will probably just file it to fit. There is also a dunk basket for larger parts (which will I probably use more often than the dangler until I figure out the dangler) 

From what I can tell it is just a magnetic stir station with a propeller in the bottom of the container. If you take the container out you can put in a small platter that rotates slowly to cure your part. It looks to all be anodized aluminum with parts that neatly nest into place.

So far this is what I like:

• Small foot print: I am printing jewelry so it is perfect size
• You can rinse and cure at the same time: It does one thing at a time. No chance of messing it up
• The cure station will not work if the shroud it off: you wont accidentally zap yourself with UV rays. 
• It is about the same size as the Phorzen 4K: which means the lunch trays that I bought from Amazon will fit under both just incase something leaks when I am not around.

Things I don't like:

• I can't use it yet because there is a shortage of IPA 
• It is a lot of IPA: It is 3500 ml that is almost a gallon of IPA just hanging out
• It came with a spare bearing :This makes me think that might be a problem in the future (maybe this is a pro?)

So there is no happy ending currently.  I don't have a place that I can source IPA.  If anyone has used something else to clean resin parts successfully, please let me know.  Once I start printing (which will be very soon) and find some IPA. I will circle back and post the results. Also I need to buy some gloves and paper towels to process the prints. Who would have thought that a virus would bring resin printing to its knees!

SendCutSend

So Liz and I are piloting a new laser cutting service.  As you may recall I was using another company based out of Barcelona! I loved them but the shipping takes a bit. So lately we have been using SendCutSent So far they have been great and I have been very happy with their parts. My only complaint is that the polished stainless is so polished the final product is hard to photograph as it picks up all the fingerprints.  

  As you can see below I have been making these production earrings for a while now.  I am starting to get organized in the new studio and I have the fusion welder setup (I finally organized all of earring findings) .  This will make short work of welding on the earring backs! I am about to update some inventory on the site www.arthurhash.com so check back soon.  Also a portion of all sales will go to a charity of my choosing (probably to help the world heal in one way or another! We need it right now!)

I would highly recommend SendCutSend for any laser cutting project.  I actually need some new house numbers and some panels for the soldering station so I will be placing another order soon!

I am adding new updated images of the studio at the end of the post! Also Liz bought me a canoe as an early birthday prezzy!  Stoked to take it out on the water! 

 

More progress in the studio

Things are buzzing in the studio.  We are getting geared up for our second big house project which is a large platform deck and shed.  I am secretly hoping to make a cozy outdoor hangout spot.  I think it is tough because we need to get permits and city hall has been hit and miss with permitting.  Also I hired a carpenter to help and he is BUSY.  Totally excited though.  

In the studio we hooked up the torch and realized that almost all of the o-rings on the tips were shot.  I found out the hard way and we almost didn't have a studio anymore.  Wha wha whaaa. Smelly burnt arm hair. 

When I went to replace them they basically all crumbled or snapped off.  I have to be honestly getting the o-rings has been difficult.  I went to four welding supply stores in town and none of them had them.  I am trying to shop locally as much as possible.  We have been trying to get our veggies and meats from local farms as well as shopping at the mom and pop hardware stores (recently one of said stores saved our bacon while camping, more on that later)

I have also been installing some LED shop lights and shelves. I also bought a fire cabinet which houses all of our chemicals. I have been wanting/needing one for years.  Having random cans of solvent and IPA floating around always made me nervous.  So now, all safe.  I am also going to install a fire extinguisher near the hood. 

I am getting excited to get back to using the space.  Right now I feel like I am using the space to fix the space.  Honestly We need to now start organizing things.  

Recently Liz and I went camping.....glamping..... 

We haven't been camping in over ten years. Let's just say that we need to plan a little more before we go camping again. I think we were a a lot smaller back then and we, for sure need a bigger tent.  Also we forgot our coffee pot.  That all being said we had a BLAST!

It has been amazing to spend more time with Liz.  I feel like I lost the last ten years of my life to my job so I have a lot of time to make up for!  I think we are going to schedule another camping trip for the fall!!