Make it snappy…

Some of the earliest designs I did for ShopBot in the late 1990’s…the work station and the coffee cabinet…used a snap joint that utilized the springy-ness of plywood to hold them together. They were cut as “hooks” that flexed sideways to let you assemble and dis-assemble the pieces without hardware.

A riveting story

The Quicklap canoe is built using a technique called Lapstrake construction. Each plank overlaps the one below it, making a…

What next? Some signs

I got interested in ShopBot because of the potential for building boats…

I once thought I was clever!

When I started out I just used my new ShopBot to cut boat parts and boat related things. Boats were what I…

The downside of offering too much choice

I’ve always been interested in digital fabrication’s ability…

Making big panels from smaller parts…

When Ted Hall was ready to begin manufacturing ShopBots, he offered me a deal. If I would…

Make it your own d#mn self!

There‘s a ton of information these days on the basics of CNC; how the tools work and how to “operate” them. My…

Stools for Maker Faire

A month or so before one of the early Maker Faires…maybe the first Austin Faire in 2008?..I got an email from the MAKE…

More ways to make big panels

Making connections

A lot of the decisions that go into designing everyday stuff involve some variation of “How do I stick things together?”…