What is the ‘stamp’ made of? (It looks like Ivory soap)
It’s delrin plastic which is a hard machinable plastic.
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It can also be ablated via laser (usually in raster mode).
which is what I did here
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I have wanted to try eccentric (off-axis / multi-axis) turning for some time now. I whipped up this little candlestick from mystery wood. Not done at the 'space - but it could have been done on the Sherline lathe.
It was surprisingly easy to do in miniature. I used two chucks and alternated the workpiece between the two - a centering chuck for the central axis portions and a four-jaw independent, intentionally slightly off-center for the second axis portions. Although I did have a harrowing close call with the knuckle buster 4-jaw independent chuck!
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Paint it steel colored and it would look like a crankshaft. Pretty cool.
Start making model engines.
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Tiny working model engines. You could use rubber bands for fan belts.
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If Chris made them, even the small dental rubber bands, would have to be for giant V-16 diesels mounted on flatbed trailers.
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So I could not find the correct acorn lug nuts for my wheel adapters. So I threw 6 of them on the lathe and machined off about .083”. I also used some of out newer tool holders to make the chamfers.
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Out of curiosity, what is the advantage of an acorn nut over a regular hex nut, other than aesthetics?
They help center the hub,
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Secondary benefits are they also provide more surface area between the fastener and the part. Usually the mating part is slightly dimpled up into a crown, as the fastener tightens it not only pushes down but dimple also exerts a laterally load disturbing load over a wider area.
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Makes sense: Thanks to both of you.
I’d assumed they’d be installed taper out so that the corners would not be as sharp on the outside. Use to center up the hub on the bolt as it’s tightened and increase the mating surface area makes perfect sense.
After several false starts and some unexpected challenges, I have completed a colander. The holes are actually drilled in it (first attempt was Shapeoko, second attempt was Cameron drill press).
I learned that Easel has a “drill hole” feature, and there is an add-on app to “convert circles to drill holes”. Of course, I figured this out after I tricked the Shapeoko to drill several hundred holes. I used many of the JSM tools to cut and shape the metal. Many thanks to @JBluJkt who coached me on some of the jewelry techniques!
It has a couple problems, but I am optimistic that if I put it in the back of the scene and carefully stage the angle at which I photograph it, it should be OK. It is silver, and I’m a little concerned about that. Anyone have any salient tips about Renaissance wax?
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love it.
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Turned out alsums! 
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As always, I am amazed by the level of detail that you achieve. Awesome job.
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Squeee, that’s adorable! And completely matches my old aluminum colander
Re renaissance wax
Only tip I have is it’s fussy with certain things (like it’ll remove/diminish alcohol inks).
I’d be prepared with something to clear holes once wax applied
If you need renwax, don’t buy it if you don’t have other uses. I have some I can bring next time I’m at the space. Lemme know
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I have some. Thanks.
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Here’s a few wire thingies I’ve made during various committee meetings or hanging out. I can’t remember if all were September (it’s been a chaotic summer) but they turned out interesting and I hadn’t posted them yet, so here ya go.
These first were coins a customer brought me to wrap. They’re very cool limited edition coins from a comic-con. She had me wrap one for her and one for her friend to wear. I took the pics so you can see the front and back. Pretty coins.
They’re wrapped in mix of gold-filled and sterling silver. For the design, I used prongs instead of kicking in a framing wire, since a wire running around the inner edge would have obscured some of the coin image. This is a variant of the basic bezel pendant wrap that I teach.
The next one is a chunk from a geode a customer bought somewhere and broke open. One piece was perfect for a pendant. Neat shape to follow along the edges. Swirls at the top echoing those in the crystals.
Anyone ever watch the old ‘60s show “Time Tunnel”? Reminds me of that. Interesting stone.
It was a little tricksy because of the irregular shape, but then that sort of edge looks interesting with the wire echoing it.
The last is Seraphinite and quartz crystal. Seraphinite is one of my favorites because it has chatoyancy (movement) like tiger eye, except that broken deep green going all directions. Setting the quartz point sideways is kind of a new thing I’m doing occasionally.
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