Second Hobby Forum?

[Sam Conder]

Geez...

In no particular order:

• Cycling
• Backpacking/Hiking
• Photography
• Scouting (Cub Scout Pack Leader)
• Parenting (It's more like a second career!)
• Web design

[Stytooner]

My thinking was just like what you mentioned, Larry. To help divide the coffee pot section somewhat. For me, I see them all as a group anyway, because I always click on New Posts. I do sometimes miss things though that way. I am typically opposed to expanding the lineup as well. One particular cnc forum has every topic under the sun divided up and it does make it difficult to both find anything and to get replies in some of the rural topic areas. It doesn't have to be hobbies, but interests work as well. I still have no real concept of just what the heck Geo caching is. I think it's the reverse of a scavenger hunt so far, but I could be way off on that.

[Bruce Platt]

I am into snow skiing, as you can probably tell from my avatar. But that doesn't mean I want to discuss it here. I like the fact that this forum is dedicatd to woodworking. If we start other areas it might just draw in others that dont even care about woodworking. Just my $0.02

[RayintheUK]

I'd recommend leaving well alone. Have a look at http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/ - it's a great forum, but they've got 24 categories and 70 sub-categories and viewing new stuff is a nightmare if you hit "New Posts" - pages and pages of stuff, most of which doesn't interest me.

I'd hate to think that we'd go even some way down that road! OK, so it's not "just about the saw," but I think the balance is right the way it's divided up now.

Ray.

[thestinker]

hobies

Well....theres camping, RVing, jet sking, competative shooting, reloading and as of late it seems as though home matenince and the addtion has been my real hobie.

RS

[whitecobra]

OK here is the deal then
I want to learn how to use a CNC unit (not the machine part that seems straight forward enough plop the bare wood in the unit put the right bit in the router leave it alone)
I want to learn how to make the software work. I spent a day or so reading the CarveWrite's own forum and it was SO difficult to follow the idea of Vector this and that so I bailed out

I want to be able to take pictures and have them "carved" onto wood planks like a 3-D photo image if you will. I want it to be easy to do and fast

I am willing to have you all down to my mega-shop here in Orlando Florida for a BBQ of a lifetime in exchange for learning how to make this work. I can build a CNC or buy a Carvewrite I don't care much you all direct me

What I want and what I have are so far apart right now I cant' even help in the decision process

My wife as I mentioned before is a pet professional and she loves to play with wood as well. She wants to be able to offer her patient's parents (you know pet owners) the ability to get a 3-D photo of their pup on a plaque type object they can mount on the wall or in some cases put next to the urn of ashes etc..

So if you want to eat some of the best in Southern BBQ and play in a 3K square foot shop with all the toys (except CNC) take me up on the offer and lets get together

The shop is 15 minutes from Disney so ship the family to Mickey and come to the shop then we can all hook up for REAL BBQ not some crock pot crapola

BTW was born in the Northeast, raised right outside Houston TX, and live in Florida so TRUST me I know the difference between BBQ

When in PA if you order "BBQ" you get chopped up pork or beef ground after cooking, dryer then sand, slopped on a bun then pickle relish is added on top to hide the flavor and add some sort of moisture. YUCK!!!!

Dr D

[MilDoc]

OK here is the deal then
I want to learn how to use a CNC unit
Dr D

Ever looked at CNCZone -

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/index.php

Lots of stuff from building your own, software, the Sears system, and more.

[Stytooner]

cnc zone is the forum I was referring to that is way cluttered, but cluttered with good stuff.
Bruce brings up a point I had not considered as well. Plus, I just remembered there is a place to list your hobbies in your profile. Perhaps in this case, change isn't good.

About CNC, the software side of things took by far the most time to learn. I still really know just enough to do what I want. I haven't used any 3-d software. I use Sheet cam which is 2.5 d stuff. Works great for flat work. I am not certain that the carve wright can do what you want, but it may.
It does help to learn the software when you have an actual machine there to see what does what. My learning curve was expanded by also needing to learn to use Cad. Then there was Mach3 which actually controls the machine and it's settings. Mach now has Lazy cam included, but I haven't tried that yet.
CNC Zone is where I learned a great deal about all this cnc stuff. I find it a blast to program the machine and let it go while I do something else.

[New Guy]

With all the talk about cnc's I just had to share some of what I do. Some might recognize this if you are into R/C cars.

[whitecobra]

I had checked out the CNC zone a while back
That was when I realized that brain surgery was easier

I saw the Sears unit as beign easier to sue then I went to their forum and they talked about using the saem exact stuff I couldnt' understand

OH well guess I will need to wait till the next generation is out.

Same goes for CAD stuff. I still do all my work on paper with rulers since I cant' figure out how to use CAD including the supposed "easy to use" Sketch UP

Dr D

[Stytooner]

For doing photo engravings and contour cutting, you won't need cad. Any graphics program should produce well enough for the 3-d cam software. It is an earnest decision that you have to make and be willing to take the time to learn what you need to do what you want. I just took it one step at a time and if I can do it, so can Thom or just about anyone that knows how to turn a computer on. Don't hold your breath waiting for the Video Professor to come out with a learning CD. Most all software that is hobby priced have good free tutorials available. Some right in the program. The ones I use are available to download and play with for nada as well. I only use about 1/10th of any of this softwares available features to do flat work. It looks over whelming, but it's really not too bad. I'll be glad to help anyway I can.



Hey New Guy.
That stuff is very cool. How small are those? They look pretty small. What type mill are you using?

[messmaker]

I am not against expanding the forum but I think "other hobbies" might be too broad a topic. I would rather see something more specific like member jigs,finishing, furniture plans or (this scares me)Dust control.

[Stytooner]

I agree. If there is going to be an expansion, it should be jigs and fixtures. I can see that the coffee pot already handles the other stuff I mentioned. I think I was aware what my answer would be before I posted. I knew you guys would come to a good logical answer as always.
Thanks.

[Ed62]

Since there are so many things than can be thought of as being a jig or fixture, we might need guidelines for the new sub-forum. I always thought of a jig as (usually) a shop-made device that will improve accuracy, speed, quality, or safety. That could take in a LOT of things.

Ed

[LarryG]

I always thought of a jig as (usually) a shop-made device that will improve accuracy, speed, quality, or safety. That could take in a LOT of things.

And the problem with that would be ... ???

I think that's exactly the intent of the proposal. Anything that fits any of those criteria, would belong.