Soooooooooooo. It’s been a long time.
Things have been happening in CJ’s WWW. I bought a CNC router to do wood carvings. For those who don’t know, CNC is an acronym for Computer Numerical Control. This allows me to create models on my computer and then have the CNC cut them out. Usually exactly as I have programmed them, but sometimes not as much. As the learning curve was very steep on this endeavour, I have made a few mistakes along the way.
In January 2021, my brand new One Finity CNC arrived in 3 large boxes with a combined weight of approximately 150 lbs. I was uber excited to get straight to work and set up the CNC. One advantage of the One Finity CNC is that despite coming in 3 boxes, it was almost fully assembled from the factory. Most other brands of CNC’s take 1 to 2 days of work to assemble all the pieces. This took me just over an hour to assemble and start up. Joy.
My first cut on the shiny, brand new toy was the logo of my favourite hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. This was supposed to be just a test to see how everything worked. However, it turned out so well, that I began the 2nd phase of my new hobby, painting my new creations. This was a whole new experience for me as the only things that I have painted previously were a few walls in the house. The final product was perfect.
I designed the Leafs Logo using software called Fusion 360. This is a fully functional CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing) package which allowed to both design the logo and the tool paths necessary to carve the logo. A tool path is exactly what it sounds like… the path that the tool will travel to make the programmed cuts. I guess I should also mention that part of this new puzzle is the router that I purchased for the CNC. The router uses different tools or bits to make various cuts. There are different sizes of tools from a 1/4” bit all the way down to 1/64” bits for very fine detail work. There are straight bits, v-bits, upcut bits, down cut bits, compression bits, all of which make different types of cuts in the wood. Knowing which bit to use and when to use it, was also a learning curve (still is).
Next on the list was the logo for the Ottawa Senators, my second favourite team. For some reason, this one did not go as smoothly as hoped. I ruined 2 or 3 blanks because the bit took too big of a cut, cut too deep or destroyed the fine detail. Learning curve strikes again. In the end, I think it turned out almost as good or better than the Leafs logo. Take a look at the pictures and judge for yourself.
Then, because my wife is from Montreal, I had to make the dreaded Montreal Canadians Logo. If it were up to me I wouldn’t have made it as they are the arch rivals of the Leafs. But, who is kidding who, I would have made it anyways as it is an iconic logo. Turns out, my brother wanted one as well, so it went into production a second time. My brother drives a Harley Davidson motorcycle, so I cut out a Harley logo (no pic) for him as well.
I really got caught up with making logos. I made the Winnipeg Jets logo because I was watching them during the playoffs. I started working on other logos as well for the same reason, but they didn’t get the full treatment and rest as “unfinished” somewhere between my brain and the keyboard. The last logo completed was for my step-nephew who is a huge Sydney Crosby fan and he plays for the Pittsburg Penguins, so you guessed it, I made a Penguins logo for him. Actually, I made 2 for him because I wasn’t really impressed with the paint job on the first logo. But the 2nd paint job didn’t turn out to my liking so I repainted the first one and delivered it.
Oh, I guess I should mention that I bought the CNC not to make hockey logos, but to make guitars. Hasn’t happened yet. My first guitar design is stuck on a critical transition line on the body and I couldn’t get the flow correct. Still can’t. No matter how long I work on it, the transition doesn’t react the way I want it and I have failed to figure it out, so far. Still a work in progress.
Soon afterwards, other logos and things started to come out of my CNC. StarFleet Command was a cool image I saw on the internet, and I had to have one. The colour scheme on this one needs to be updated which will happen when it is time.
As I live in Ottawa, the Ottawa RedBlacks (CFL Team) logo was a have to have item. This one was a little different as the logo has saw teeth. Very fun to do.
And as the Toronto Blue Jays are in the pennant race (at time of writing) for the American League, I had to make one of their logos to cheer them on.
All of the above logos were cut from a single piece of wood with no attached pieces.
Also, important to note, none of these logos are for sale, just for my own personal use.
That’s it for today. I promise to update the blog very soon. However, soon can be a relative term. Stay tuned.