Woodshop Status

Just an update. Lots of things going on in the shop these days.

Training - We continue to teach two woodshop basics classes a week, but the demand is such that they fill up instantly as soon as they are posted. We’re discussing adding a third class, probably on a weeknight, and possibly a few daytime classes as well. Traditional woodcarving continues to be a very popular class, and Tom has also ramped up the Lathe Basics class, and we should be offering it more frequently soon, along with new Pen Turning classes as well. Tom is also working on several additional classes related to woodworking, and the Committee Chair is very focused on improving training opportunities for our members.

Tools - We’re in the process of replacing a major part in the Saw Stop cabinet saw, and it’s currently down pending completion of the work. We estimate that it should go back online Saturday morning. We also had a minor accident (dropped fob) cause an outage on the CNC Router, and it is currently down pending repairs. The smaller bandsaw is now back online and available. We’re still waiting for the Surface Planer to return from warranty service, and it is currently unavailable. Chuck zeroed in on the breakage with the large spindle sander, and we’re waiting on a part, but expect it to come back from the grave soon as well.

Please don’t forget - there will be a committee meeting on Tuesday, February 23 at 7:00. We will be formalizing rules for the committee, talking about new training, and discussing a variety of important topics.

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Requests and suggestions for classes are greatly appreciated! If you have knowledge and want to teach, let’s get it on the calendar!

Classes I would definitely attend-

Incra Router Jig - how to use it, how to adjust it the best way, doing joinery on it (dovetails, box joints, etc)

Domino - Probably a really quick class, but don’t quite have the confidence to just pick it up and wing it, especially with a $1000 tool

Finishing - I don’t know much about finishing other than mineral oil, if someone knows a lot about it might be a nice occasional class to run through all the different options/tips and tricks for different finishes, stains, etc

CNC Certification Hour - We have the class, but the actual test taking is a little disorganized. Maybe we have an hour each week that’s set aside for certification? Every time I’ve been in since the class, someone is either working on their own project the whole time I’m there or no one is around at all. Could just be bad luck on my end.

Bowl Turning - heard these were occasionally available but don’t see any on the calendar?

I can’t teach any of these, but hopefully give some of the much more experienced/qualified folks some ideas. The other thing I’d suggest is that faster classes are better. Been to a lot of classes that are scheduled for 2 hours and they really could have been done in an hour with time to spare. Maybe have the first hour be the actual content and instructor can hang out for an hour afterwards for questions and people that want to ask about a particular case/project?

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Thursday evenings from when @Kentamanos shows up until when @Kentamanos leaves… In reality there is usually someone there Thursday doing tests from around 6:30pm until the wee hours of the morning.

At DMS or in general? I think the woodshop classes have a tendency to be jam-packed.

Thanks - almost never there on Thursdays so was trying to catch someone ad-hoc. Will make it a point to get out on a Thursday!

Mostly thinking of CNC/Laser training classes- both had a tendency to run down tangents when people started asking about their particular projects or plans, or they’d start asking questions about material that was coming up and then the class would get a little disjointed. Definitely not an instructor issue - I think both classes were great overall.

Think maybe the issue would solve itself if instructors had more of an official policy about people holding questions to the end or at least end of a topic, especially when it’s ultra-specific to what they want to do. I deal with the same thing at my day job and it’s streamlined things immensely when I’ve told all the sellers to hold questions until the end - 90% of their questions get answered by the content and everyone can follow along much better rather than jumping forward to something that was going to be covered in 10 minutes anyway. I’m sure the instructors spend a lot of time thinking about what the best way to learn a process or tool is, so I just generally trust their judgement that my question will be answered and if it isn’t, then I bring it up at the end, sometimes even individually if it’s specific to me.

For what it’s worth, I am pleased with the pacing in the Multicam class. @AlexRhodes did a great job! If he had gone through the material faster I would have retained too little. If he had gone slower my mind would have wandered. The Goldilocks of pacing!

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Please post when the CNC is back up and running

that explains why last night I was having a difficult time getting the machine to obey commands and the behavior was odd.

I’m using it now, and it seems to be functioning correctly. I had to turn it off and back on to get it to home, though.

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I would love to learn more about using the band saw.

Ok

which is it

if the controller is visibly damaged and can possibly send incorrect commands to the multicam to the extent that it could pose a risk to the machine and or the user

then is the machine up or down officially ?

until it gets checked out ?

the conversation that I had with room/machine oversight was that after having some problems setting home and having it freeze up

that it was to be checked out before using

???

After the restart tonight, it seemed to run fine, so Cary went ahead and ran a job. Tomorrow we’ll examine the fob more closely and see if this was just a transitive thing, or it there is possibly a short in the cable at the fob, or perhaps something else. Or, it may be fine. It’s definitely been spooky last couple days though.

I plan to take the multicam down in the morning, reroute the dust collection, and checkout the fob issue more thoroughly. Hopefully it will be up in the afternoon.

In other news, we repaired the saw stop tonight, it’s looking good. Alex and Allen stayed late to finish putting the wings back up, so it may be in service in the morning. Thankfully, putting it back together was much easier than taking it apart.

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Please keep updating the status of the Multicam

perhaps the fob should be treated like a cell phone and have a padded surround made for it

also the cord may be enclosed with a second securing point so that it can’t be yanked out of the fob

the fob seems to be a critical input point for the machine and potential failure point

that is prone to rough handling

There is a CNC class tonight that I am signed up for. Is the machine functioning so that we can have a class?

As of now, Class is still on as scheduled.