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Michael Makes It"I love making things. It's in my blood, and I am excited to share the processes and techniques that I have learned over the years with you. Join me as I continue my creative journey."
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I needed to use up some scrap wood and in the spirit of back-to-school made some pencil cups for the Makerspace. This is a method for making a vessel without lathe; just two hole saws, a power drill and our spindle sander. The process is quite versatile too. Sized up these could be made as flower pots, shallower they could be trinket dishes, and so on. Let me know if you give something similar a try as a way to make use of scraps.
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My Cousin Stuart refurbished a Pearson 26 sailboat for his Senior Project. When he was visiting MA from Rhode Island over the winter he wanted to spend some time in the Makerspace. Stuart is very familiar with traditional Boat Making applications of Total Boat, but this was his first time using it in a “fun” way in a resin river. We had a great time and the Bot went in the water successfully this July. I have been wanting to build a dresser for a while. My sister is expecting her first child and furnishing the nursery so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to dive into this build, and give my nephew a keepsake for years to come. The top of the dresser is a live edge walnut slab with a Total Boat Thick Set resin river and I used maple labs Brooke and I milled ourselves last summer for the drawer faces. I love hiding stories in my work and the maple tree was taken down in the same town the baby will be brought home to. I am thrilled with how this came out; I kind of want to make a matching one for my own house now hmmm... My daughter Sara is in 6th grade and for the last portion of her school year, like the rest of the world, we have been doing schooling from home. To make the best of it I've have been using this time period to incorporate “homeschool” lessons of our own to introduce her to classes she doesn’t otherwise get at school. This build was one of those lessons; We blended together a Home Economics lesson with Shop Class and I helped her make a walnut Tortilla press and fresh flour tortillas. We wanted to be sure to share this one because it was build with a nice level of difficulty; some interesting elements, but nothing that wasn’t very very achievable in the end. Enjoy! And please feel free to recreate this one at home. Building the Ultimate Nightstands! With Wireless Charging, USB ports, and Glowing Resin River5/29/2020 Today we are turning slabs into finished furniture; two resin river nightstands to be exact. However, there is more to these than meets the eye. Our concept was to create nightstands with plenty of storage, that were sleek from the outside, and highly functional without the need for a chord pileup ontop. Here is what we came up with! This build uses almost every digital tool in our Makerspace, along with plenty of "traditional" woodworking and a resin pour for good measure. For these pieces of furniture we used the CNC Router, Laser Cutter, and 3D Printer. The finished nightstands have 4 hidden USB ports each, a disable Resin Night Light Table Top (done with Total Boat Epoxy), and two wireless charging stations. Enjoy! About a week or two ago we had a new addition to the shop; the Laguna Laser EX. It is a 150 watt laser with a huge cut area. I wanted to start with a simple project to ensure the calibration was all set and that I could easily get acclimated to the machine controls, so I made what I am calling a "COVID-19 Car Box." In Massachusetts we are now required to wear face masks in all public places so I put together a simple dispenser to hold face masks and rubber gloves that easily fits in a car's center console. This will make it so I will always have what I need to be safe, and it can also be easily refilled and sanitized as necessary. Our dog, Maple, can be pretty tentative around new people so she gets to come to Makers Workshop only on very special occasions. However, with the Makerspace being closed for the duration of the COVID-19 Pandemic she can come whenever she wants. The only hiccup has been that Michael's truck is pretty high off the ground and her hips give her trouble. We decided that she needed a nice dog step to help her out, and quickly got to putting that together for her. This was a short and sweet build and we hope you enjoy. Stay happy and stay safe :) Today I am tackling the hardware locker at the Makerspace. Small parts can be challenging to keep organized in a way that stands the test of time, and finding organizers that have compartments that are exactly how you want them can be almost impossible. To create a long-term solution I decided to try something a little bit different. I found some affordable organizers with 3 sizes of removable cups and 3D Modeled all three cup sizes. To start I wanted them to be all the smallest size, but over time I can now modify the containers affordably with just the press of a button as needed. It is the perfect 3D Printed tool organizer. I am sharing all of the files for free on this one; its a pretty simple 3D Model and I think this could be a really versatile solution in any shop. The laundry area in my basement is pretty much always a mess. I have been meaning to tackle this build for a while to finally remedy the situation. I wanted something sturdy, easy to clean, and with multiple sections that I could adjust as needed. Here's what I came up with; I think it fits the bill perfectly. This is also a really easy woodworking project for a beginner to tackle. While we have a welder in the shop, the previous welding situation was not ideal. All of the tools and equipment were piled in the corner of our wood shop and whenever there was welding to be done we ended up needing to move everything around and set up outdoors to avoid sawdust and get proper ventilation. I finally got sick of it and decided to put together a fold-out table that can be permanently stationed on the shop's back porch to make setting up safely for welding nice and easy. This is a great space saving solution for a shop like ours; we aren't doing any heavy duty welding but our set up needs to be safe, and functional. |
Michael DenaultFather, Maker, and all around fun guy. Archives
September 2020
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