Archive for Design
What Catches Your Eye?
When you first see a piece of wooden furniture, or any type of woodworking project, what is the first thing that catches your eye? Are you drawn to the grain of the wood? Or is it the style of the piece that catches your eye? Or do you immediately check out the workmanship of the piece?
Quilted Maple
I love the grain lines of a figured wood and, when finished properly, how they draw you in and almost mesmerize you. Quilted maple is one of my favorite woods to see in a piece. It forms a pattern and yet at the same time is completely random. It is but one of the ways God shows his artistic hand in nature. Its beauty can evoke a sense of awe and wonder. (more…)
Why I chose Alibre Design
Alibre Design
To fully answer why I chose Alibre Design I should probably give you some of my background with CAD/CAM systems. I started out about 20 years ago designing plastic injection molds and programming CNC machines to cut these same molds. The CAD systems that I have used over the years have always been considered very high end systems.
I currently used Unigraphics NX at my day job. A single “bare bones” installation of NX will cost somewhere around $5,000. On top of that, we add in assembly functionality, drafting functionality, and a mold design add-on. This all adds up to about $20,000 for a single installation. These systems that I have been using professionally are very high end, very powerful, and quite easy to use.
When I decided to look for a CAD system to use for Maple Grove Woodworks projects, I realized that I was quite spoiled (more…)
Template Crazy
Sometimes the best workmanship that a woodworker does is never seen on the final project. It sits in a corner of the workshop and collects dust until it is time to make another of the same project. I am, of course, talking about templates. In these cases, the final project is not much more than a copy of the template. The amount of care and time that a woodworker puts into creating a template will certainly show through in the final product, but if a template is done correctly, it will save you time and make your project look very impressive. (more…)
Designers Block
Many times when I begin to design a project, I start out with a pre-conceived image in my head of what I should end up with. Before I ever put pencil to paper to create an initial sketch, I have already locked myself in to a particular look or style. Sometimes this is not a problem because the idea in my head is easily translated to paper and is a very nice design. (more…)
