#empireofdust — Public Fediverse posts

The #bass is done. Shout out to New Perspectives Music for the plans and guidance. Since I don’t play, my daughter is the tester and says it plays well. I’ll revisit the setup in a week or two. Single active pickup is from EMG and the strings are from Ernie Ball bought at ‘N Stuff Music in #pittsburgh. Now I have to make another for my son. #maker #pghmaker #diy #luthier #bassguitar #wood #woodworking #cncrouter #empireofdust

I glued the bubinga fingerboard to the #bass neck this afternoon. The hard maple neck is reinforced with 2 (probably overkill) carbon fiber rods and a truss rod. Inlays and side markers are Total Boat #epoxy with Black Diamond Pigments for the blue/green color. Now on to the body. #maker #pghmaker #diy #wood #woodworking #clampchamp #bassguitar #luthier #empireofdust

On to the fingerboard for the #Bass project. Made from a piece of Bubinga I’ve had for many years with Total Boat epoxy inlays, I’m installing the frets here using my drill press and an eBay fret press caul. The frets are precut and radiused from Bitter Root Guitars. #maker #pghmaker #diy #luthier #bassguitar #wood #woodworking #cnc #empireofdust

After the prototype I’ve been working on the final pieces of the #bassguitar project. The curly maple neck gets a fair amount of handwork off the #cncrouter. It’s just about ready for finish. Shout out to New Perspectives Music for the plans. #maker #pghmaker #diy #wood #woodworking #luthier #bass #cnc #empireofdust

Finished testing toolpaths on the New Perspectives #Bass kit. Only broke two 0.024” carbide end mills dialing in the feeds and speeds. Next up is processing the hardwood for the final version. The body will come out of the slab behind the prototype. #maker #pghmaker #diy #luthier #cnc #cncrouter #xcarve #wood #woodworking #luthier #bassguitar #empireofdust

More testing for the New Perspectives Music #bass kit. I got the toolpaths working to cut the neck on the diagonal on my Inventables 1000mm #xcarve. Test finger board next, then do it all again in good #wood. #maker #pghmaker #diy #woodworking #luthier #cncrouter #bassguitar #gizmosity #empireofdust

Testing toolpaths and feeds & speeds on scrap construction lumber before committing to good material. This bass is based on a design made available by Tim Sway at New Perspectives Music #maker #pghmaker #diy #cnc #cncrouter #xcarve #wood #woodworking #luthier #bass #bassguitar #empireofdust

Although I don’t play, I always wanted to make a guitar. Both kids have guitars, so Bass it is. #maker #pghmaker #diy #luthier #bass #guitar #wood #woodworking #cnc #cncrouter #empireofdust

45 gallons of scraps and offcuts from the last few projects. Going to wait for a little better weather to burn this. Of course I kept too many pieces better than these that’ll go in the next batch.
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#maker #pghmaker #wood #scrap #offcuts #woodworking #woodworker #shopcleanup #empireofdust

A couple of weeks ago I moved a couple of heavy awkward items myself.
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#maker #pghmaker #safe #dynaflow #transmission #Buick #enginecrane #enginecranegang #enginecranesmovetheworld #empireofdust

Last one for 2024: Quick charcuterie board for a last minute hostess gift I made this afternoon from a piece of firewood. Spalted Maple I’d guess. .
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Do people still use the term “hostess gift?”
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#maker #pghmaker #wood #woodworking #charcuterieboard #cuttingboard #happynewyear #empireofdust

The coffee table is working just fine. .
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#maker #pghmaker #helloimakeis #wood #coffee #coffeetable #puzzle #woodworking #empireofdust

First coats of Total Boat Halcyon on the #coffeetable. I’m planning 2 coats of amber gloss followed by a coat or 2 of clear satin. Water based, easy to apply, and looks great so far.
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #wood #woodworking #varnish #finishing #coffee #furniture #empireofdust

Trimming the #coffeetable top with the @festool track saw. .
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#maker #pghmaker #walnut #wood #woodworking #furniture #saw #tracksaw #festool #empireofdust

First glue up of the coffee table top. I’m doing it in 2 stages because I was a little worried about the Titebond ll Dark starting to setup as I fumbled with such a big (44” square) glue up. Shout out to the Rockler glue roller and the Bessy and Jorgensen parallel clamps and me for building an oversized outfeed/assembly table.
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#maker #pghmaker #helloimakeis #wood #coffeetable #walnut #glue #clamp #woodworking #empireofdust

Since I was in vise restoration mode, I cleaned up this basic #woodworking vise that’s been under a different bench than the Wilton Bullet. This one needed a bath in Evaporust, a little fettling for past abuse, and an unnecessary paint job. I turned handle from some scrap & mounted it in my outfeed/assembly table. I found a catalog at vintagemachinery.org from 1904 showing this model.
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #vise #wood #workshop #rust #restoration #lathe #woodturning #empireofdust

Final beauty shots of the Wilton Bullet No. 4 I just refurbished. It is probably from 1941 since it doesn’t have a date stamp on the dynamic jaw key, and shows patent pending - the Wilton patent was granted in 1941.
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #helloimakeis #vise #wilton #rust #steel #machining #vannorman #millingmachine #lathe #southbendlathe #restoration #milling #fabrication #metal #empireofdust

This well used and abused Wilton Bullet vise has been under the bench for a few years. I was waiting until I got the Van Norman mill set up to tackle the dynamic jaw that had been fitted with a welded jaw insert. It didn’t take much to remove and clean it up. More to come...
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #helloimakeis #vise #wilton #rust #steel #machining #VanNorman #millingmachine #restoration #milling #fabrication #metal #empireofdust

This well used and abused Wilton Bullet vise has been under the bench for a few years. Time to do a basic refurb starting in my new 5 gallon bucket of Evapo-Rust. This will need some mill work, a new handle, and a shop made set of jaws. Stay tuned. .
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #helloimakeis #vise #wilton #rust #steel #machining #millingmachine #restoration #milling #fabrication #metal #empireofdust

Fired up my 11 year old MakerGear #3dprinter. Still works great. #maker #pghmaker #diy #3dprinting #gloves #nitrile #helloimakeis #empireofdust

I built these Adirondack chairs from plans in Norm Abram’s Classics from The New Yankee Workshop book about 25 years ago. They’ve been out in the #pittsburgh weather all those years and needed a tuneup. A little sanding and screw tightening and they’re good as new plus a little patina. The redwood from Brookside lumber has held up pretty well all these years.
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#maker #pghmaker #helloimakeis #wood #woodworking #normabram #newyankeeworkshop #chair #adirondack #empireofdust

When we finally cut the cord, we lost the clock on the Xfinity set top box. It’s the thing we miss from the cable service. I ordered a cheap LED clock kit. Easy assembly, but I don’t think I ordered a clock that displays time in Klingon. Third pic shows the less than successful result. Only 8 bucks and an hour or so lost. .
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #helloimakeis #electronics #soldering #kit #empireofdust

#throwbackthursday Almost 10 years ago I had a membership to the late lamented Techshop #Pittsburgh and made this #laser cut #chess set and box for the pieces. It was a challenging project, but a lot of fun. I’d doubt my kids have used it more than a couple of times. Box is 1/4” cherry plywood, board and pieces at acrylic cut on their @trotecusa laser.
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #makerverse #helloimakeis #lasercutter #acrylic #plywood #makerspace #empireofdust

I’ve been 3D printing since 2013 with a MakerGear M2 fused filament printer, and am truly amazed at what the AnyCubic mono 4k at $189 can do. These are right out of the box, no tuning. The print quality is mind boggling.
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #makerverse #helloimakeis #resin #SLA #3Dprinting #3DPPgh #empireofdust

I finally got around to making drawers for a bench I made a few years ago from a reclaimed door I got at Construction Junction (an architectural salvage & reuse nonprofit here in #Pittsburgh ) and some square steel tubing. The drawers are simple plywood and pocket hole joinery draw fronts are cherry, and the pulls were from someone running a brushing scam. I only have 18 more to use.
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #makerverse #helloimakeis #wood #woodworking #steel #welding #reuse #empireofdust

More #introduction content. Here are a few examples of some of my CNC work. The @makemagazine Makey is painted MDF as are the others. Empire Of Dust is how I refer to my shop with apologies to YouTuber AvE. The @NASA Apollo 11 plaque was made in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The Once on This Island sign was made for my kid who had a nice role in a summer camp production.
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #helloimakeis #woodworking #wood #xcarve #cnc #cncrouter #empireofdust

#ThrowbackThursday starting to post some content. I built this New Yankee Workshop router table about 25 years ago using a ShopSmith 10er that I still have and use only for the occasional turning project. The router table has seen a lot of use over the years as I’ve added to my shop. Thank Norm.
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#maker #pghmaker #diy #makersgonnamake #makerverse #helloimakeis #wood #woodworking #empireofdust #notreallyafalloutshelter