Roundhouse ready to test

It’s a sad reality that creating models with new tools like the Cricut leads to more time in front of the computer. What’s worse, my wife and kids are never even feign enthusiasm when I show them the output of a night’s drawing. I doubt you are interested either. The partially tested plan is to make the roundhouse […]

Test wall for Pembroke roundhouse

In 1908, the Pembroke roundhouse was listed in “fair” condition. It stood for another 48 years until it burned. So, I read “fair” to mean that it was not dilapidated, but also, perhaps not first class. I speculate, therefore, that perhaps it wasn’t painted. The other challenge with the Pembroke roundhouse is that it is […]

In situ quartering tool

I mentioned earlier that #10 was operating with a bit of a limp due to an out of quarter driver. As it takes about 30-45 minutes to disassemble or reassemble the locomotive, and every time I risk breaking something or knocking paint off, I thought I’d have a go at quartering the driver without disassembling […]

Cricut – mirror experiment

In my last experiments with the Cricut, I found I could control the direction that the cutter takes by mirroring the panes in my N-scale windows. Unfortunately, it seems that this knowledge does not make much of a difference in the cutter’s precision. To test the theory, I cut 56 windows (224 mullions), spread evenly […]

Cricut Installed

One of the challenges with getting computer equipment is where to put it. So many devices have curvy corners and odd shapes and a need for odd footprints. They all have wires that need to connect to something, even if it is only for power. So, it was with glee that I found that the […]

Experiments with Precision Cricutting

Because my experiments getting my Cricut to cut N scale window mullions yielded mixed results, I did some experiments this evening to see if I could improve. Because my initial panes seemed to be undersized, I started by cutting some 1″ squares in card. From Design Space, these turned out to be surprisingly accurate, and […]

Cricutting Styrene

It took a fair amount of experimentation, gradually increasing pressure and number of passes, but I finally got my Cricut Explore to cut all the way through .010″ styrene. With my regular blade, it takes 5 passes at 300 g pressure to cut through. Members of the Facebook group say that it should take fewer cuts with […]

Inkscape and Cricut

As I mentioned yesterday, I was very happy that the first attempt to get something to cut with the Cricut was successful. However, the Cricut Design Space program is pretty much useless for composing all but the simplest shapes, and so, I cast about for a free drawing program. I happened across Inkscape, which feels familiar […]

Cricut – a new tool in the workshop

Happy Christmas to one and all! I hope Santa was nice to you. Here in North Vancouver, he didn’t disappoint: I found a Cricut Explore Air under our tree! Well, actually not under the tree, per se, because it didn’t fit, but it was in the vicinity and it had my name on it. The […]