Slidey Lid Cases
Mmmm, yes, gorgeous etc. More caliper-cases made out of laser-cut rimu (my favorite stuff, almost)… these ones have a crafty design where the two sliding halves lock together a bit like a puzzle, and to open them, you have to twist each half at the same time. When I was making these the other day I found out why you need to heed the warning “only use in a well-ventilated area”… on the tung-oil container. Been sick as a dog for days. I accidentally fumigated myself. It’s horrible – like being drunk on tar. Makes the boxes look beautiful though – the grain “pops”, as they say in filmic circles… and after a day or so, they have a nice “cared for wood” smell. I think I might try to find something to give them a satin finish as well… need to ask some wood-working gurus about that. I’ve made…
Phi Calipers : Calipers With Scale
New Caliper design: For a while now (eg, about 2 years) it’s bugged me that the calipers I make can only measure down to a certain size – rather than all the way down to zero. I made hundreds of designs… nothing worked terribly well… but eventually a design turned up which caused the complexity to shrink (which is a good sign)… going from 5 parts to 2. Complexity reasserted itself in the shape of a scale and case… I generated the scales (both inches/mm) by writing a PHP script that generates SVG (zipped script here)… SVG can be imported straight into Inkscape… tweaked, then into the laser-cutter – which can also etch, using Cermark spray. Cermark Spray is fairly crazy stuff – costs about $150 a can – a type of muddy water-based paint, but when it’s lasered, it winds up being harder than burnt-on rice. It is actually…
New Cases
It’s been most ludicrous busy… I have about 4 different products ready to launch… a bunch of different caliper cases, and calipers and whatnot… but to do all that I need to take photos, and reorganise the web-site so there are categories etc. Still… done. I think. The photo above are a collection of sheath-type cases… the calipers slide in the top. Quite simple etc – I make them myself with a laser-cutter… bit of sanding, bit of glueing, bit of polishing, bit of oiling. I can put pretty much any design you can dream up on them… I’ve made up a bunch though. Playing with designs is one of my favourite things to do. What it does mean though… at last… is that there’s finally a caliper-case for the big ones – something that’s been sorely lacking for the last couple of years. Still… more tomorrow, now I’ve got…
Micro Calipers
Busy I have been. Micro-calipers… that can measure very small measurements, right down to zero… and can also be used as jewellery. They come in two sizes… 50mm (2 inches) and 75mm (3 inches) – but like everything I make, I can make them any size you like – if you want something different, let me know. I’ve made crafty cases for them – which consist of two sides that swivel in opposite directions (look a bit like wings of a beetle). These are rimu laminate held together with brass binder-screws. The wood is polished with a tung oil – from a recipe that’s been in the family for at least 100 years – the recipe is elsewhere in this blog if you’d like to make it yourself. So there you go – they’re available in the shop… which I’m going to have to reorganise soon, as I’ve got a…
More on Bitcoins
Bitcoins have been hitting the news a fair bit recently. I’ve been offering calipers for bitcoins for the last couple of years now… mainly because I think our current monetary system is socially corrosive, and credit-card companies are essentially gentrified loan-sharks. Their interest rates are outrageous… AND… … I’ve just gone to the trouble of working out how much credit-card companies charge per transaction… and when you add this together for the fee they charge for currency exchanges, it actually comes to about 7%. I’d like to encourage people to use bitcoins (rather than just hoarding them) so I’ll pass this saving on. Purchases that use bitcoins now get a 7% discount.