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Private member DiscussionShop Organisation

Lessons Learned from building out a workspace

Hi all. I'm in the process of working with a landlord to customize a space for my growing repair and building business. The space is approximately 800 square feet and broken into a major space (around 400 square feet), and 2nd large space (around 300 square feet) that I'm thinking of as a machine/sawdust room, and 2 smaller areas that I'm considering as a spray booth and a wood/guitar storage closet. I'd love to hear about lessons learn…

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Private member
Here's some more tips. I recently remodeled my shop so this is all very fresh. I've been in this shop for almost 15 years and I have rented benches to other luthiers and apprentices in the shop so it…
Private member Discussion3D Printing

Free 3d printed stuff up for grabs

Santa heard I had a challenging year so he got me a 3d printer for Christmas. I’ve been printing like crazy, learning the machine. This has resulted in a bunch of tools that either don’t work for me, were attempts at mixing colors, or have very minor printing blemishes. Two lots up for grabs to anyone in the US who wants either. I’ll mail to you for free. First one to claim each gets it :) First lot has parametric nut and saddle sanders…

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Private member
Lot #1 still available. I'll likely be adding to the lot as I print and eff up but still make usable prints.
Private member DiscussionShop Organisation

MagFitt Vacuum System from Woodcraft

Like many of us, I work in a small space - a quarter basement with maybe 6 -1/2 feet of headroom. Sawdust is a problem. There’s no room for an extensive ductwork system or a blower setup. My shop tools (bandsaw, drill press, vertical belt sander, etc.) have a 1-1/2 inch connection for vacuum, but I have mostly been too lazy to use them. (note that I finally added a portable shop air cleaner with HEPA filters). When the most recent Wo…

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Tom Krebs
Thanks for this info, I have been using the Rockler expanding blue hoses and their Manifold shown here with great results.
Private member DiscussionPLEK Machine

First Plek Post

Just noticed this category was here. Since nobody has jumped in, I'll be the first. We've had our Plek machine since last summer and did just over 300 Plek jobs in the first year. It has become a tremendous asset in our business. I'm happy to be a part of any discussion here. :)

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Private member
Love my Plek Station!
Private member Discussion3D Printing

Printing metal

I used to run a cnc punch press at a machine shop. It was a Trumpf. For some reason the brand just showed up on my Instagram and I checked it out. Apparently they make printers that print metal powder. @member are you ready for the next level? Might be interesting for custom hardware. https://www.trumpf.com/en_INT/products/machines-systems/additive-production-systems/truprint-1000/

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Private member Discussion3D Printing

On Sale: Bambu A1 Mini

Bambu just dropped the price of the A1 Mini to $249! Now, I don’t have experience with this exact printer (I own a Bambu P1S) but there’s been a lot of hype about this entry level machine, and I’ve had a great experience with the brand. Figured I’d share! https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/a1-mini

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Private member
ah without the multi spool thing it's $249 got it!
Private member DiscussionCAD/CAM

Radius dish

Hi guys. I have a cnc machine but don’t know how to draw stuff. Can anyone share a file for a 15 and 30 foot radius dish please?

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Private member
What CAD CAM software are you using? I use Aspire and could provide a 15 and 28 foot radius file in that. Here they are as STL files
Private member DiscussionCNC

Headfirst into the CNC deep end today

I'm the proud new owner of a "new to me" Fireball Meteor CNC machine. It feels really odd to have a computer in the shop but I guess I need to get used to that. Fortunately for me, I am well versed in CAD, unfortunately not so much on the CAM side of things. My 3 kids are all experts and are steepening the learning curve dramatically, this would be overwhelming if they weren't helping. So far I'm using the Fusion 360 personal use versio…

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Private member
Here's the video of how it's going so far, skip to 18:48 for the CNC part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyoosBNV6xQ Pretty good I think but I still have a long ways to go. My youngest son and I did g…
Private member DiscussionCNC

CNC machine which one.

Hello, I just went to the Northwoods seminar and came away with ,maybe it's time to get a CNC machine. So I'm curious which one do you have? Why did you purchase said machine? At this time I don't want to buy an entry level machine. I would prob start with making bridges, templates, jigs and other assorted small parts. Maybe necks at a later date. I would like a machine that I dot have to upgrade in one year. Would also prefer a spind…

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7 replies
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Private member
I have a Laguna IQ Pro with a 5 position tool changer. It's very high quality machine that should last you for years and Laguna is a good company. I haven't used it yet due to a back operation that di…