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!!

 

 

Ventilation install!

I installed the ventilation today.  It went a lot smoother than I thought it would.  I guess when you have the right tools for the right job things can go quickly.  As I mentioned in a previous post I bought a restaurant grade range hood.  I thought it was 1200 CFMS but it is more like 900 which I think is still plenty.  The hood itself weighs about fifty pounds hence the chain.  It is bolted to studs so the chain is just a safety precaution. I wouldn't want that thing falling.  

In a nutshell:

• I had Liz sit and pretend to solder
• I measured where her nose was and made the bottom lip of the hood end there.
• I found the studs and bolted a mounting board the length of the hood.  
• I then used heavy eye-hooks on the king-studs at the top of the wall. 
• I hung the hood via the chains and then carefully lifted it up, adding a board at time till I had it to the height I needed.  
• I then adjusted the chain and anchored the hood to the mounting board. 
• I marked the hole on the drywall and cut it out with a trim router (setting the depth to the thickness of the drywall)
• I then drilled a hole in the middle of the hole so I could do the same on the exterior clapboard.  
• I then used insulated flex hose and strap clamps to connect the hood to a stainless soffit  vent I found on amazon. 

Shed, microscope, ventilation and more

Everyday I find myself bouncing between many hard topics each time hitting an immovable object. More often than not it is a person whose beliefs don't align with my own. Not to go into too much detail but I haven't seen this much blatant racism/violence since I was a kid living in the south. People who I had known to be "good people" have revealed themselves as horrible humans. We are polarized as a country and everyday shocks me to my core.  

This is my new normal. ME: "Hey buddy how is it going?"  ASSHOLE: "Did you see those antifa fucks tore down another statue last night!?" ME: "What the fuck is wrong with you and why the fuck do you care!? Did you live there? Are you a person of color that has to look at that shit everyday!? Stop watching Fox News!" Inevitably, I find myself hoping that it is some twisted form of a joke because I don't want to give up on them as a human. But no. It is not. Some people are hot garbage. 

I have found it difficult to make anything so this platform is allowing me to evidence the non-jewelry "work" that I will call my "craft therapy". It has now become the only thing, besides Liz that can walk me back from that edge. I feel privileged that I have this as an outlet and hope, in the future, to build a practice that supports positive change. 

Now that we have converted our garage to a studio we have to build a shed (more on that in a future post). We have downsized quite a bit from our old studio. We went from 400 square feet to a little under 200 square feet. I have been trying to find ways to save space. 

So here is what I have done so far:  First, I put my computer on an arm so it can float independently from the table it was on. Doing this has freed up that table, which is on wheels and is now a mobile workbench.  

I have also converted my microscope to a HD LCD screen/microscope/camera/light. I will probably sell my old setup because this has both saved me a boatload of money and space. I had to 3D print a quick bracket to make it fit the articulating arm. It took about an hour to design and print. The camera is wireless, battery powered and uses a micro SD to record video and take pictures. I have so much room on the bench now and I don't have to keep taking my glasses off and on to use a microscope to set stones! 

We are also working on installing ventilation. After weighing multiple options I have decided to go with kitchen style range hood. After measuring, I bought the best one that fits our space. Not too big, not too small, just the perfect size. I want it to be streamlined and clean. 

Pocket knives etc.

I am still on a quest to find/make the ultimate pocket knife/folder. I have tried to make a few in my time but I have failed miserably (see images below)

I need to take a class. If anyone knows a good one to take or wants to do an online hangout or something I am on board!!

In the mean time I lost my last pocket knife. I never break them I always loose them which sucks because they are getting expensive. So my last knife was a kershaw launch 4 which is a nice auto open knife. My only complaint was the blade shape. Not my favorite (Spear point/drop point wedge thing). That all being said I would often forget I had it on me....again not a great feature. Also the spring was so tight it would often fly out of my hand and I would often stab myself trying to recover it. 

So I recently discovered the James Brand knife company based out of Portland Oregon. Love them. I ended up buying a Folsom with a half serrated drop point (The serrated edge is a must for me). I will have to report back on the how the knife works "in the field" AKA my studio/rando house tasks. I am a big fan of the packaging and the small attention to detail with the green lanyard hole and the triangular thumb hole. The packaging was CNC'd and lasered and it came with a nice felt pouch which I probably will never use.


This is just a quick plug... probably. This product review stuff might not be a regular thing but.... I just thought I would plug a small company that is making a nice product. So if you are in the market for a nice knife.....

dust collection and things

A while back Liz and I were trying to solve our dust collection problem. Liz sands a lot with her flex-shaft and I often grind things at the bench. We both end up wearing dust-masks/respirators (often for hours). With the current shortage we have been trying to solve it with "at the bench" dust collection systems. A while back I bought an under bench system off of ebay to use with the Jooltool (more on that later).  It more or less looks like this:

It actually works like a dream when I remember to use it (the rheostat switch it a little awkward). I bought it for two reasons: one, it was cheap and two because it collects the dust in a bag and we can refine it (the bags are all paper with one little rubber part that you can rip off before you throw everything in your refining barrel). This one was $100 but they sell some with foot pedal switches (I should have bought one of those). The one serious design flaw is that the hose is way too short for it to be practical. The good news is that is it the same size as a small ShopVac hose ($33 with couplers from Lowes). The other problem is that I needed a mount for my bench to hold the hose down and add more "in-take cone-age" to direct the dust.

Off to Rhino and the Cetus MKIII extended FDM printer. I also need to make another bracket to hold down the hose on the back of the bench.  

Cetus MKIII extended

New studio setup with printer and mini split

Measurements laid out in the software. 

Version one