Saw Dust and Splinters: A Stick to Measure With

Friday, February 14, 2014

A Stick to Measure With

There are a couple of things that I need to confess with this stick. First is that this project came from a Facebook post that I said I can do better one to my wife. I am not opposed to improving on someones design, I am opposed on openly saying that "I" can do better than someone. If I constantly compared myself to some of the other top woodworkers I would be one depressed woodworker. I am content with what I am capable of doing. I know there are people that look at my stuff and are amazed. There are others that think my stuff is acceptable at best. It is not my place to say "I" can do better than "you". Anyone who accomplishes something deserves the satisfaction of completing the project. I hope that everyone feels the satisfaction on completing a project to the best of their abilities. I have access to tools and equipment that others do not.
My second confession is I cheated. This is probably why I feel so guilty about saying I can do better than the one on Facebook. They painted and stenciled the one they made. I used a CNC router. My work just purchased one for use in the department I work in. To help learn the programing there was some permission granted for personal projects. This was mine. I seriously took me about an hour to program. Three days and four test boards later I figured out the feed rates, depth of cuts and what text looked good and machined well. Not only does the ruler look good but it is accurate to the 0.2mm (0.00787 inches). However the markings are made with a 1/4" ball mill so the margin of error is +/- 1/8". It was a fun learning experience.

On the back I put the current hand and foot prints of all the kids. It is kind of hard to do all their baby prints. The board is solid maple. I finished the routs like I did in the dominoes. The project came out beautifully. Now we get to mark it up. This is one thing I hope the kids fight over when I die.