Author: Frederico
Making pencils into slingshots
I cut up the block of pencils and made it into a nice 1-inch board, as you can see in the image above. I had no idea how machinable it would be, so I decided to take all settings very conservative: 3... Read More
Colorful wood stock
Today I had an epiphany. Just watch the pictures. Can’t wait to carve things out of this stuff! So I bought a lot of pencils. 49 cents/pack. Sweet! For optimal results they need to be hexagon... Read More
Large trivets
Every year, me and some friends join a local youthwork group (similar to scouts) on their annual 10-day summer camp to cook for about a hundred children. This year, we’ll be joining them f... Read More
First photo engraving
Today I tried my first laser engrave. Up until now I have only been doing profile cutting with my lasercutter. It took me some tries to get it to work (turns out you can’t just import a graysc... Read More
Birthday card
Tomorrow we throw a birthday party for a friend, this is the card I made on the laser cutter. The difficulty was to get all the characters connect to at least one or two other ones to make sure it i... Read More
Electronics enclosure / control interface (14) – accessory holder
The following is a small addition I did today. I think the pictures speak for themselves. The remote switches on (or off) the LED-strip inside my dust enclosure. I did the hole on my drill press.... Read More
Electronics enclosure / control interface (13) – Testing
So here it is: my electronics enclosure in all its glory! Weighing in at just over 1.5 kilograms. The aim was to keep the amount of cabling going in and out to the absolute minimum. I like to think ... Read More
Electronics enclosure / control interface (12) – Assembly
Now that everything is sorted out, time to assemble the enclosure. I really needed to be sure everything was working the way I planned, because I will be glueing this thing completely shut. So I only ... Read More
Electronics enclosure / control interface (11) – solved the last electronics issue
Before I could start final assembly, there was one more electronics problem I was struggling with. So I have some buttons pretty much exactly like this one. They are 3-pin 12V illuminated rocker s... Read More
Electronics enclosure / control interface (10) – ALMOST THERE!
Today I decided to take a definitive stab at the front panel. Everything is set up for success: I trimmed my wasteboard (for the first time ever) and the laser cutter finally cuts perfectly. Milling... Read More
Laser cutter air assist upgrade – part 4
Update: I have taken my K40 apart and converted it to a whole new & improved machine: the LAYZOR! Read all about this project here. Want to do the same thing to yours? Check the LAYZOR website. Th... Read More
Laser cutter air assist upgrade – part 3
Update: I have taken my K40 apart and converted it to a whole new & improved machine: the LAYZOR! Read all about this project here. Want to do the same thing to yours? Check the LAYZOR website. I ... Read More
Electronics enclosure / control interface (9) – front panel clusterfuck
So today I decided to go ahead and start cutting the front panel. I did it the way I described in an earlier post: first cutting the pockets, then profiling the holes and outline, and lastly lasercut... Read More
Frederico vs. kitchen
Sometimes destroying stuff is more fun than building things. Well… most of the time it is… 🙂... Read More
Dust collector (1) – vacuum hose adapter
I have been thinking about making a dust collection system. I find the traditional cyclone design too big and ugly, so I chose to go with a ‘thien’ baffle design. First of all, I designe... Read More
Electronics enclosure / control interface (8) – final version
It’s been quiet around the electronics enclosure i’m building, but I have been doing some research and testing things out. I finalised feature implementation and the button placement for t... Read More
Laser cutter air assist upgrade – part 2
Update: I have taken my K40 apart and converted it to a whole new & improved machine: the LAYZOR! Read all about this project here. Want to do the same thing to yours? Check the LAYZOR website. I ... Read More
It’s a bird! … It’s a plane! … (4)
Today i didn’t do a whole lot on the plane, but what I did makes all the difference in the world: I glued it all together! Now it kinda sorta looks already like a Corsair, minus the nose and the... Read More
It’s a bird! … It’s a plane! … (3)
I finally received the modeling plywood I ordered. I tried cutting the required shapes on the lasercutter, but once again a layer of glue must have prevented the laser from cutting all the way through... Read More
Guitar build (6) – the end is near
Now that everything is painted, there’s not much more to do besides finishing it all up. I applied a white pinstripe and did a custom headstock ‘logo’. Hell yeah! Enjoy the last pict... Read More
Guitar build (5) – spray paint
Time for making the guitar look pretty! I first applied a pore-sealant and gave it a good sanding afterwards. About the rest of the pictures, I’ll just let them speak for themselves. Last... Read More
Guitar build (4) – electronics
Next I hand-routed all the cavities where the electronics (and also the neck) would come. The pockets are not perfect but hey, its not too bad either… While doing this, I managed to apply t... Read More
Guitar build (3) – headstock
For the neck blanks, I came up with the following headstock design: After milling and drilling: ... Read More