Tile Saw

This tile saw caught my eye. In the process of remodeling my kitchen I orginally purchased a tile cutter. I was a little hesitant because I know from doing stained glass that scoring and snapping is somewhat unrelaiable, the price was drastically lower than any wet saw - even the most economical ones. After a few test cuts, and the realization that some of the cuts necessary would be fairly imposibble with that tool, I purchased a wet saw. I opted for one that had a rail which the blade moved on to make the cut, with the tile clamped to the table. I like the tool - it cuts up 20' tile on the diagonal, and the cuts are smooth and easy. And then we started cutting the tiles for around the sink. Out comes the rotozip tile cutter. Tested - it was like using sandpaper to make a cut. Next please. Nearing the end of options at my local hardware store I picked up the RotoZip Zip Mate. the right angle attachment saw for the rotozip. I considered buying a diamond blade for my circular saw, but decided against it. the tool had lots of power - it cut through the tile very quickly. I made the inside curved cuts by nibbling away the material - not pretty, but effective. While I suppose that if my wet saw could be locked into position, I could have used that - all said none of the tools were correct for the job. Hence why the Gemini catches my eye. While I suspect it is out of my price range - it looks like it would have been nice to use. And perhaps a lessen to consider all of the cuts you will need to make before starting.

Decking Calculator

I was looking up some information about the specific weight of an exotic hardwood and came by Advantage Trim & Lumber.

I thought it was interesting for several reasons. First, they have a great selection of wood, and can ship ($100 min.), plus they provide information about the species. They carry FSC wood for LEED credits. They also carry several different types of planking. And what is nifty - is that they have a planking calculator that converts square footage to linear feet for either 5" or 3 1/2" planks.

Bandsaw Magic

For a bit of band saw fun check out this video by Adam Sandoval. While the cutawl used to be the closes thing to true 360 degree cutting, (and one of my favorite tools ever)the Rotozip spiral saw really carved a new direction for sawing. While it can not achieve the tight square corners that a scroll saw or a cutawl can, it can cut in any direction. While I suppose that you could achieve this with cnc routers and hand routers, the spiral bit makes it more appropriate.

Bestway Bandsaw Blades have adapted that technology to bandsaw blades, enabling spectacular cuts such as what is in the video. If you have another favorite supplier of blades that will cut 360 degrees, please chime in in let us know!

And in case your up to a little more fun with the bandsaw check out this project.

Alternative Materials

I was looking through an ad for books relating to design and architecture and thought that a couple were worth pointing out.

The first is Materiology by Daniel Kula. It discussed a wide variety of materials as well as how the materials are made. It seemed like a book that would have been perfect when I was taking "Advanced Materials" in grad school.

Another is Materials for Inspirational Design. It offers a view into a variety of materials, uses, and even rough pricing.

Browsing through Amazon offers a variety of books on the subject of materials. Happy browsing!

New Beginnings

Well the new year is hear, and I haven't shared as much as I would have liked to. Project wise, most of my time has been spent on a large museum piece that has been going on for over a year, and many of the others are much smaller than in the past thanks to economy. But here's to a new year and more exciting technical exploration.

I found a site that could be useful to anyone thinking about building green near NYC. Its Build it Green, NYC. It is a large warehouse that sells reclaimed materials. Its interesting for theatrical use in several ways. First, theatre tends to be anything but green, and frequently wastes alot of material. Second, reclaimed materials may actually fit the bill for certain designs better than new - save some of the distressing! They also take in cabinets, fixtures and other "props" that could be useful. And, some of those items could be returned after a production when they are no longer needed. It may also save a few bucks.

Cost is usually the biggest issue against going green - finding resources where you can use reclaimed materials at prices that make it worth it are valuable. Check it out & let me know if you find other resources like it.

Trace

Adobe has a PDF that describes their TRACE command that will help you convert a rastor image into vector art (in CS2). It also explains the difference between the two well (often a difficult concept for unfamilar people to grasp).

Additional information about how to use the trace command:

Adobe Design Center
Watch a tutorial video
Tutorial 9 site

What is nice about CS2 is that it really helps to relate graphic work to CAD. We can lay something out that has a printed graphic and send that to be printed, and CNC the substrate all from the same file and be assured that they will line up nicely (always depending on type of material the graphic is printed on off course).

Similar to the other converters, if you aren't using CS2 (or the new additions) already in your work, it may not be cost effective.

"Walking Mad"

Take a look at this video of Walking Mad, produced by Hubbard Street Dance. We built the set piece - and it was an interesting project. The piece had been done previously, but we needed to recreate all of the tricks based on images, videos and very basic drawings of the structure. A few tricks that the sets uses is alignment pins to help guide the walls together w/ receiving holes, DeStaco clamps to hold the walls together, and a clever cantilevered stacks of weight to counterbalance the walls.

Engineering

I found a fun (albeit off topic slightly) website today while looking for a local museum. It is the A Sightseers Guide to Engineering. There are a variety of locations listed, and each has a "fun fact" relevant to the attraction. Check it out, perhaps you will find an interesting engineering sight near you.

Rastor to Vector Image Software

Arbor Image has two products that are interesting for drafting; Draftsman Cutting Shop and Draftsman 2002. These programs take rastor images (like a photograph or scanned in drawing) and covert it to vector art. Vector art can be used for cnc cutting. With the listed prices, you would need to see how much you would use it before it would be cost effective, but it sure would beat importing and image and "tracing" over it, which I have often done in the past for scenic units such as ground rows, proscenium edges and other decorative cut pieces (both for hand cutting and cnc work).

Austin Hardware

If you're looking for an illusive piece of hardware check out Austin Hardware Supply. They have a bit of everything, including extensive toggle clamp and hinge options.