Zoom symposium

Last week I was invited to speak at my alma mater, Indiana University Bloomington.  I was honored to be invited and absolutely thrilled at the chance to come back to IU to visit some of my old haunts (Runcible spoon and Rockits pizza).  

The symposium itself was a blast.  Liz and I met a lot of great young artists from different schools across the midwest.  We also had a great time taking part in the workshops and enjoyed a lot of the other lectures.  I regret not taking part in the round table discussion but I couldn't help getting swept away in the nostalgia. By the end Liz was sick of me being the tour guide. "Thats where I taught 3D foundations!" "We just drove by my old apartment!" "I used to come here for pancakes." 

My conference experience was very intimate  I had a chance to talk to a lot of students and actually have real conversations with them. Liz also had an opportunity to ask a lot of them of what they thought of grad school and how things were going. Being able to tour the Kinsey Institute and visit the Lily Library to see an actual Gutenberg bible was a treat. Honestly, there was a lot to do and really not enough time to do it all.   

It was also nice to visit my old bench back in the grad studio and to visit McCalla school where I spent a lot of my time. 

I would also like to thank the IU metals students, Randy and Nicole for such a wonderful experience.  They worked so hard to make all of this happen and it showed. 

I will be participating/attending/demoing at this years ECU symposium. It will be interesting to see how the two compare.  

The exhibitions where incredible.  Shift, was a great opportunity to see so many great artist's work in person.  The layout was well planned.  Not too crowded and not too spaced out. Often having that much jewelry in one room would mean total chaos but this worked on multiple levels.  I also enjoyed seeing new work from Don Friedlich (3D printed glass!!), Iris Eichenberg and Kristen Haydon. I also appreciated that they decided to use the ipad to display video throughout the exhibition   Two in particular were Melanie Bilenker placing her bits of hair and Gabriel Craig raising awareness. The show itself was intimidating being that there was so much work, but not unapproachable.  I was also interesting to see a range of work in the show.  There were a number of sculptural pieces that were more about jewelry and its relationship to the body.  Caroline Gore's piece Mercurial Silence dominated this category, taking up the entire back wall of the gallery (detail shot above). I am often impressed with the level of craftsmanship that metalsmiths put into crafting other objects. The large "findings" on her wood pieces and the attention to the larger black "pearls" were impressive. 

I was also impressed with Crush II, an exhibition curated by two IU alum, Sara Brown and Galatea Kontos.  Filled with a number of great pieces from jewelers like Iris Bobemer, Julia Turner, Tara Locklear, Bob Ebendorf and Heejim Hwang just to name a few.  I was pleased to be able to actually purchase a piece (fingers crossed). Collect was a collection from a local collector. There were some Alma Eikerman pieces there, which were nice to see in person. 

When I first arrived on campus it was so strange to think that eight years ago I was smoking cigarettes with other grad students and working all hours into the night trying to find my way through school.  I have so many great memories of IU where I really felt I was given an opportunity to be creative and all of the support to be able to do anything I wanted.   Ahhhhh the memories.    

I also had some opportunities to create some new memories having long talks with Michael Dale Bernard, Tara Locklear, Sim Luttin, Linda Hughes and Yevegenia Kaganovich. 

Enough cheese!  Here are some photos from the trip.  Also if you are in the area go see these shows! 

keri and colin's cutting board

My first real cut on my laser was a cutting board I made for two of the best people ever! Kerianne Kwik and Conin Storer. I may start selling these on my Etsy site for the holiday. I will keep you posted.

ipad apps

I love using the ipad as a sketching tool. I often take it on trips and try to do CAD work on it. There are a few apps here and there that are useful but not great.  I have been using touchdraw  and sometimes inkpad 

 If anyone knows of a good vector editing app please let me know. 

 I also use a few sketching apps.  For everything I use the Idonit jot pro 

 Also, I just saw this video for printing out your sketches. Not too bad


 




Also I love their Sketching app.  

Color / Mix it Up from FiftyThree on Vimeo.

Laser: Part....whatever.

One of the things that sucks about the 5th gen is that there is no registration to speak of. You kind of just slap your material into the machine and cross your fingers.  You have to make sure that your material is bigger than what you are cutting.  The machine came with a honeycomb board but really that thing is almost useless.  

There is an upside.  The software has a "run job perimeter" button which will run around the outside edge of your drawing or file.  If you do this with the lid open you will be able to see where you need to place your material and the laser wont fire.  Since it came with a handy dandy laser pointer, this function can show you exactly where the laser is going to cut.  

I decided to take it one step further.  I used the laser to mark a line on the bed of the machine (this took burning through a piece of paper to actually work).  I then bought a metal square from Lowes (inches of course).  It would have been nice to find a metric ruler.  I bought an aluminum ruler so I could cut it in the studio with the jewelers saw.  The max cut area is 20 x 12 and the square I bought was 18 x 24 so I needed to trim it to even fit into the machine.  I cut the square to 20.25" x 12.25" just in case.  

Once I found a corner I adjusted the ruler to match the homing program and used the laser pointer to make sure the ruler was perpendicular.  Once the ruler was in place I scribed a line with a mechanical pencil, removed the ruler, added double sided tape (the thiner, carpet tape variety), set the ruler back in place, pressed down firmly on the ruler and viola! A square edge for registration!  It is not perfect but at least it is close enough to have a reference edge.  It also gives me something to push the honeycomb board against for cutting thinner stuff.  It is also not permanent so if I need to remove it later I can just pop it off. 

The next step is going to be a better table.  My studio is literally on the train tracks.  The table that the laser is on is from IKEA (total garbage but the perfect size).  It could be perfect.  Maybe I can still use the top for the new table.     

silver thing and laser etched maple cutting board

vise thing

So a long time ago I bought this miter vise/tube cutter.  I have this strange love hate relationship with this thing.  The biggest problem with it is that I never know if I am using it the right way.  I always use the death grip while I am filing or sawing and half the time I actually cut into my finger.  So I started using it in a vise which is super awkward.  Does anyone have a secret to these things?  Someone should make an attachment for the benchmate to hold these buggers.  ORRRR! maybe a freaking handle?

a few laser updates

So just a few laser updates.  I did confirm that there is actually no undo in the software. BOGUS.  They said that is might be added in the next update. Also since the bottom of the machine comes out, registration is a pain in the rear.  You just kind of roll the dice and get what you get.  I thought that I could fix this issue by etching the actual metal on the bottom of the machine.  No luck.  I think the steel is powder coated and I can't focus the beam far enough with the optics I have.  I didn't buy the lens that allows cutting past the bottom of the machine.  I guess I could get that.  It would have been nice to know this prior to purchase.

I think I am going to have to buy a sheet of anodized aluminum, double stick tape it to the bottom and then etch a grid on it just so I have some kind of reference. Or get two rulers and glue them to the bottom of the machine. I also noticed that the waffle board that they provided is actually smaller than the cut area.  It is probably in my best interest to figure this out soon.  I need to get cutting.

I did run across a few pleasant surprises.  When the software is firing a job it actually displays what part it is lasering on the screen.  It is hard to see in the video below but there is a little red dot that follows the cut path as the gantry is moving.  This is brilliant!  This will help with registration if you keep the lid open so the laser does not fire.   You can do an "air cut" to check location.


Here is a video of my first actual firing in the laser.  I actually caught the material on fire. I need to go buy a fire extinguisher or something.  The cardboard caught on fire while I was cutting and the wimpy air compressor they provided just wasn't extinguishing the flame fast enough.  

Full spectrum laser part two

Soooooooooooo

I got the laser to work.  

In the process I have realized that over the years I have become dependent on certain software and now I am lazy.  I have been using Rhino/Illustrator for generating vector data since grad school in 2005.  If you have taken one of my CAD classes you probably have witnessed one of my many rants about software.  Why can't they all just agree that the mouse wheel zooms, right click pans!? Why do we always have to re-invent the wheel when it comes to software interface!?  I have a great Idea!  Lets hold down RMB, spacebar, LMB, control, ALT and Enter to pan left!  Trust me when I tell you that I almost pulled all of my hair out learning Zbrush.  Actually it is getting a little thin up top these days.  Maybe I need to lay off the CAD software.  I will come back to this in a minute.  Moving on....

Following the instructions (which from my previous post, I mentioned was only one sheet of paper).  I downloaded and installed the software.  After using it for about a day it locked up and prompted me to register the software/laser.  To do that you have to hook up your computer to the internet.  Here is the rub; as far as I can tell the only way to hook up the laser to your computer successfully (USB connection support is almost non-existant) is via the provided 18" blue ethernet cord (assigned IP, see below).   So one might ask if the laser is using the ethernet port on your computer and the computer needs to be connected the ethernet to get things going...... It prompted yet another trip to the store to get a wireless modem for the studio. 

The retina engrave software is kind of pain.  As far as I can tell there is no "undo".  Which is sort of a BIG DEAL.  This means that if you accidentally nudge your drawing, move a node, paste in the wrong clipping, change a tool path color, scale your drawing, etc YOU HAVE TO START BACK AT THE BEGINNING.  WTF people!  Also, and this is where the software snob comes out, why the F**k! did they choose F*&#ing! Corel draw as the file format!? Neither Illustrator or Rhino exports to Corel file format.  So that pretty much means that I have to now install and use Corel draw as a work through.  YUCK. 




 The good news is that I did find a work around. You can print your file to microsoft XPS (virtual printer), save the file to the desktop and import it into Retina Engrave.  I have not yet tested images or rasters but the vector lines import correctly even retain the color separation.  Phew I almost had a fit.  Finding information on FSLaser's forum is like finding a needle in a haystack.  I did a search for "USB conncection", "USB" "Hooking up your laser" etc and found nothing that helped.  

So some pros and cons so far:

PROS:

• It is a pretty nice machine for the money.  I thought for some reason (probably because of the harsh reviews) that is was going to be a big piece of crap. I am VERY happy with the quality of the machine (except for the lid, which I am planning on improving)
• You can see the laser fire (bew! bew!).  The tube is exposed! It is super cool to see the beam fire. You can also see the water in the tube to ensure that the pump is running. 
• The lens focus is simple and elegant.  LOVE the thumbscrew idea (photo below)
• Was not as crappy as I thought and I kind of like the trouble shooting that I have had to do. It familiarizes me with the machine. 

CONS:

• Software is clunky
• too many things not in the box
• Forums are out of date and do not discuss the "bad" only the good
• USB?
• Short ethernet!  For the love of Pete something more than 18" I hate that my computer has to teeter totter next to the machine. 
• Missing parts. I called them.  They asked me if I took photos when I unpacked the pump.  I said, "no but I am looking at it right now.  I could just send you a photo." They said they could issue a refund for $2 for the missing hose if I could provide a photo and submit a ticket or something?  Whatever. 
• Not sure if there is a great way to remove the optics for cleaning?  hmmmmmm

Full spectrum laser 5th generation setup part one

So I finally did it.  I finally bought my own laser. (insert laser noises here) After a lot of begging, saving and research I decided to go with the 5th generation laser from Full spectrum.  I have read a lot about full spectrum lasers here and there.  Some bad reviews, some good.  I asked a few people who I trust to try and get info directly from the horses mouth.  They had a lot to say. So putting all that together and stirring it up This is what came out:

The machine is pretty simple but it is not a plug and play system.  As a matter of fact, if you order one it is going to take some work to get it going.  I was fully prepared to jump through some hoops.  It has only been 48 hours and I have already been to the hardware store three times.  

This is going to be a three part review.

  After I opened everything and took inventory I realized that there were parts missing.  The hose to the air compressor and for the life of me I thought that I ordered an exhaust unit but according to the them I didn't.  Unfortunately there is no way to track what I ordered just when I ordered it.  I am sure there is a way to correct that full spectrum.  I searched all of my emails and they all just said things like..."thank you for ordering ORDER 1826838" and "your order of 1828383 will arrive shortly"  If you are going to drop a couple grand on something it would be reassuring to know what you should expect in the box and confirm that yes you did order the full spectrum 5th generation laser with an exhaust unit.  No you will not need to buy one because yes it comes in the box.  To their credit there was an inventory checklist in the box.  Of course the list was wrong and the line where it said "check by:_____" was blank.  On the list the check box for the exhaust and the air compressor tube is clearly checked.  Off to the hardware store! 

It was delivered by FedEx.  The box is large but not too large.  If you live in an apartment complex it might be too large for delivery.  I just had the guy put it directly into my car.  It took about three weeks for the laser to arrive so I had plenty of time to map out where the laser was going to go.  I had a large-ish table ready to receive it near a window for ventilation (which of course silly me I forgot to order) and a plug. I also made an insert to receive the hose for the exhaust.  

After opening the box there was a sheet that said STOP,READ THIS NOW.  So I did.  It said to open the boxes and hook up the air compressor, water pump, exhaust etc then plug in your computer, install the software from a link provided and to read the owners manual (also from a link).  If I had done that I would have probably ruined the machine.  After reading a bit more on their website and watching the setup video there are about a dozen zip ties that need to be clipped to allow the gantry to move and of course there was no hose for the air pump.  I had to go buy a bucket and three gallons of distilled water before even thinking about turning on the machine.  There is no mention of making sure the inlet and outlet are correct on the water pump.  This is crucial to keep your tube cool so it wont burn up.  That would have been a couple hundred dollar mistake.   

Some good things:  The machine appears to be built well.  It is very streamlined. Very different from what I was expecting.  I kind of like that some of the info was left out.  I like to problem solve  and I immediately saw the zip ties and knew they had to be removed.  It is like removing the tape from the ink cartridge or removing the sales tag from a shirt. They should think about switching to red zip ties and add a line of text that reads "cut the red zip ties".  I had low expectations. Not super low but I had a good idea what I was getting into.  There were a lot of complaints online about the quality of the machine where there were bent pieces, missing parts etc.  These complaints that I read on other forums seemed kind of whiney to me.  Those problems were obviously from shipping and they must of solved that because my laser was perfect (it was still calibrated from the factory)  I did a lot of research and apart from the occasional bad circuit board, nothing seemed to far out of my skill set to repair.  Also, this is really what I could afford.  It was a middle of the road model not a $1000 Chinese laser and not a 16k "made in the USA" laser.  

I was really tired of going back and forth to school all the time to use the laser at work.  I hope that this will streamline my work and I will be able to produce more.  I imagine that I will use it for all kinds of things in my work, not just etching enamel.  Dies for the press, packaging, stencils, signage, labeling, resist for etching, etc.  

So right now I am at a stopping point until I grab my PC from work, get an exhaust fan and find more time to tinker.  I will report back soon.  Until then see the photos below. 

Lubna Chowdhary // Artist Profile from Jamie Isbell on Vimeo.

Urban Farming in Tokyo from imageMILL on Vimeo.

Herman Miller Quality from dress code on Vimeo.

The Magnetist from Filibuster on Vimeo.