Hack of the Week No.76

Todd Bailey November 2, 2015

This time of the year Santa's shop is in full swing and you better believe he has a couple of CNC's working side by side with the Elves. We're sure your shop is too and if not maybe this hack will get your imagination a flurry with ideas!

This "Santa's Shop" sign was created using models from these CNC projects:

Sign Shape - Cottage Sign No.2 - On the Lake
Holly and Berries - Home for the Holidays No.2
Ribbon - Family Coat of Arms No.2
Mold Board - Home for the Holidays No.5

The fonts we used to simulate the v-carving on this layout are called: Monotype Corsiva, Palatino Linotype, French Script MT (edited)

Note - This hack was assembled in Aspire V8 for presentation purposes. It could have been done in VCarve Pro V8 or VCarve Desktop.

December 3rdth, 2015 UPDATE

Don Harding sent in these images of his finished carving inspired by this Hack of the Week! Thanks Don... and I bet your giving Santa a little help this year... wink, wink.

Thanks Don!

Why not hack together your own layout mixing and matching models from other projects or from your own library! For some great inspiration check out our hacks page!

Be safe and let the chips fly!

The Design and Make Team

James Patton - D&M Customer Focus

Todd Bailey October 30, 2015

We are always inspired by what customers do with our CNC projects and especially when they are just new to CNC. James has only had his CNC for a short time but you wouldn't know it from his finished pieces!

"I have bought a few of the models from your site lately, I’m trying to keep the machine busy and learn all the tricks. I’ve only had my machine about a year"

Nice use of the Thanksgiving No.1 CNC project!

"This is made for the mother in-law."
"Didn’t want to paint it all, just wanted to add some color."

We love the splash of color it really kicks off the fall theme and makes for a great looking finished piece. We are pretty sure this will score some points with your Mother-In-Law! Nice Work!

"Here’s one I made for our wall. Carved in red oak then 50/50 denatured alcohol and shellac on plaque only, being careful not to get in the letters. Then applied chestnut stain and wiped off. Chestnut darkened the letters and the grain. Then used acrylic paint on the horse shoe—(Nickel) the rope cardinal red and the bull I did a grey underlayment, then painted white .Hit it with No.4/0 steel wool lightly to remove some of the white and show the grey, to have a kind of “still deteriorating” look. Then hit it with a couple coats of full strength shellac."

Can't help but feel the style of the finish fits perfect with the style of the models in the Western Saloon No.1 project. Beautiful look and feel... takes us back to the old west!

Love the old west feel of this one that James made uaing a 2" thick piece of wood. It would feel right at home in any saloon or western themed bar.

"Had to create a lot of pocket holes around the model so the bit wouldn’t plow into the 2” slab.
I used V-Carve Pro V8 and a CNC shark HD."

"Thanks for the words of encouragement. Couldn’t of done it without your great models."

Thank you James for sharing these projects with us!

Cookies, Crafts and Holiday Fun for Everyone

Todd Bailey October 29, 2015

This is the 5th installment in the Home for the Holidays themed CNC projects. This little project started off with the thoughts of a fresh batch of holiday cookies. In the end it turned out to be much, much more. Once we started messing around with the models we came up with layouts we never initially thought of.

Creating an old school wooden cookie press is a snap with these 5 models and that makes for a great holiday gift that will be used for many, many years. How about molds for clay Christmas tree ornament crafts, festive cutting boards or cheese trays and so many options for wall decorations to greet your guest over the holiday season.