Whistle Punk Hollow Theming Job by Dan Sawatzky

Whistle Punk Hollow Adventure Golf in Squamish, BC is the newest recipient of an Imagination Corporation 3-D makeover. Precision Board Plus PBLT-30 was heavily incorporated into many aspects of the designs, including a massive train complete with Precision Board railroad tracks that turned out beautiful!

As a side note, here are a few of Dan’s favorite things:

Many more details about this project are available on Dan Sawatzky’s blog.

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Workshop gear – part one

At our last workshop one of our attendees really fell in love with our workshop door signs. He asked me for the file. Sadly it is long since gone but I offered to create another and post it here on the blog. The original sign was obviously sponsored by the movie ‘Robots’ which was a little more current at the time.
I created the danger lettering vectors in Illustrator as I am used to the way it handles lettering. This file was imported into EnRoute.

The rectangles were built using the rounded corners mode. To create the teeth of the gear I used the multiplier took checking the appropriate boxes to get the gears to wrap around the circle and align correctly.

The teeth were then merged with the circle.

I then used the chamfer vector tool to round off both the inside and outside of the  gear teeth.

Lastly I added the rivets to the inside of the rectangular frame.

Next time I’ll be building the custom tool and gear letters. Stay tuned…

-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

Design For Manufacturability in the Architectural Field

Having a vivid imagination in the design world is an asset, but being able to realistically apply it in the real world is a learned skill.

Within the Department of Architectural Technology at the New York City College of Technology (CUNY) , the Introduction to Computation and Fabrication course aims to teach students introductory CNC techniques, with added focus on Design for Manufacturability.

Using parametric software such as Grasshopper in combination with RhinoCAM, students are taught to create their own tool paths. These tool paths are then “proofed” on a CNC machine using a variety of materials, such as Precision Board, to analyze the design for imperfections or errors.

If the student has designed a complex tool path with many tight, narrow valleys, they may realize as a consequence that the machining time is far too long – with the result being a design that no customer could afford.

If the tool path proves successful, the design is then produced on materials including Precision Board Plus HDU. The goal of this is to teach students that when they design something, they should also have a pretty good idea of the output technology required to bring their design to life.

Additional information on the Introduction to Computation and Fabrication course, taught by prof. Anne Leonhardt and Zach Downey, can be seen at: http://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/compfab/.

Brian Ringley, Technology Coordinator for the National Science Foundation ATE Fuse Lab grant program which initiated the course, sent us pictures of several projects featuring Precision Board donated by Coastal Enterprises from their exhibitions.

These pictures show student-created projects made using Precision Board Plus PBLT-4, PBLT-6 and PBLT-8 for the Intersections 2013 exhibition:

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This project was created by esteemed artist and designer Francis Bitonti as part of a student-artist collaboration exhibit called “Intersections” held in 2012. The project is titled the “Schistose Mirror” and shows Precision Board Plus PBLT-10 mounted onto Trupan MDF being cut on a CNC router. After it was CNC cut it was professionally painted by an auto body shop. See more work from Francis Bitonti at: http://francisbitonti.com

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Outside trim

Last fall I routed a whole bunch of outside trim for the house but as the cooler weather of the season set in we tucked it away and concentrated instead on the inside of the house. Now, with the inside largely complete we are turning out attention once again to the outside.

The trim features layered heart insets and is painted with base coats and three colored glazes. It was designed in EnRoute of course and routed from 30 lb Precision Board on our MultiCam.

It will take the rest of the week to finish off the painting of the existing trim. Then, as we install it I will measure up, design and route the trim that goes in between.

I look forward to seeing the house will all of the final trim installed!
Stay tuned…
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

The Bank Job: Everything’s Bigger in Texas!

The state’s big, the barbecue is big, and the sign hanging at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is absolutely massive. This enormous sign was built by Museum Arts, Inc., and according to Chris Shin, Head of the Fabrication Dept. at Museum Arts, was one of their most challenging projects.

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Measuring in with a 17′ diameter, this sign required a custom structure just to get it out of the dang building! Crafting this beauty was no easy feat either. The majority of the sign was made with CNC routed sections of 4″ x 4′ x 8′ Precision Board Plus PBLT-15. In addition, to make sure this hanging giant would maintain integrity, a huge aluminum frame was welded together and attached to the back of the HDU with epoxy.

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For additional protection against the elements, a 2-part bedliner was sprayed onto the Precision Board, creating a strong, weatherproof (and heavy-duty!) surface.

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Since you can’t always find Paul Bunyan to hang your sign when you need him, engineers hired by the Bank, along with employees from Museum Arts performed the herculean feat of mounting this sign. The installation was a great example of modern engineering with a pulley system and several guys on the roof and below the sign working together to secure it to the wall.

Needless to say, this big sign gets some major accolades from Coastal Enterprises on its beautiful appearance!

A big thanks goes to Todd Kriechbaum at Port Plastics for sending us these pictures and supplying Museum Arts with Precision Board Plus.

More info about Museum Arts can be seen at: http://museumarts.net

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