Learning to lathe – progress report

A while back, I posted my plan for learning to use my new lathe. I’m now about four and a half hours into the practice part of learning. I’ve produced a bucket-full of swarf. At this point, I can confidently turn to a diameter and get a reasonable finish on a part. I’ve managed to […]

Details – they’re personal

An entertaining post from Marty McGuirk reminded me that I wanted to expand on Summons, which I wrote back in October. There I argued that realism lies in the textures and colours between the details, rather than in the details themselves. Consequently, some of the most realistic models you’ll find are taken out of the […]

OnShape Sheet Metal Models

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a new feature in OnShape: Sheet Metal Models. It almost sucked me into a rabbit hole, but my objective was drawing a driver, not experimenting with cool new features. So, I parked it until this evening, which I seem to be spending babysitting the Cricut as it makes […]

Grinder finds a home

I wish I was as good at Christmas gifts as my dad was. Invariably on Christmas Eve he would disappear and return triumphantly hours later with an armload of gifts for my sister to wrap. Were they panicked pluckings like the ones I make when the clock is running down? Or were they planned purchases, […]

Six holes of triumph

It’s midnight, and I’m having a little celebration over having drilled six holes in the flatcars. Ordinarily, drilling a few clearance holes through the weights wouldn’t be cause for a happy dance. However, it feels so long since I overcame the calls of work, family and community to spend a little time on my projects, […]

Not that much room under flat cars

The Vancouver Train Expo seems a long time ago now. The bolster pattern that I worked on there? Yeah, it didn’t work out. I had forgotten to leave room for the straps and bolts on the tops of the trucks. Well, one nice thing about modelling in styrene is that mistakes are quick and cheap […]

Driver drawing

As I’m planning to print patterns for the wheels, I could no longer be satisfied with blank discs representing the wheels, even in OnShape. They’re a bit of a challenging part to draw, but I think I’ve captured the look of this photo from the Parry Sound Public Library. Possibly the hub is too small – […]

So Long Ed

Last week, I heard that Ed McCamey passed away, and I confess that it rather took the wind out of my sails. Ed was one of the first Proto:87 contacts I made, way back in 1994. He sat behind me at Jim Harper’s clinic on detailing track; when the discussion turned from 1:48 scale to […]

Demonstration modelling

I️ didn’t plan very well for this weekend’s Vancouver Train Expo, and consequently, I️ didn’t have a formal scheduled slot in the Craftsman’s Corner. There were, however, two chairs and usually only one occupant. Doug Hicks had brought plenty of light, and I’d thrown the flat cars, a few tools and bits of styrene in […]

Learning to lathe

There’s a super TED talk where Josh Kaufman insists that you can learn anything in 20 hours. Sure, it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery, but 20 hours gets you over the hump. I’m hoping this talk will be as life-changing as that other TED talk about tying your shoelaces. Kaufman’s program plays out like […]