Inkscape for CNC: Part 2

This is the second of two tutorials on Inkscape for cnc applications.  The first part can be found here.  As I mentioned before, quite a few excellent tutorials already exist on the Inkscape Tutorials Page.  My tutorial series is specifically geared towards creating or preparing graphics to be used with cnc devices.

The second part is below, enjoy.

The Art of Dora Colby

Clear Lake in Lake County, California

by: Dora Colby 1945

Dora Colby (Glenn’s great grandmother) painted landscapes in England as well as after arriving in California.  She would sketch scenes, sometimes out of her imagination, and paint them in her studio under her home on Ridgemoor Drive next door to where Stephen and Arthur Langton grew up.  Arthur would often go in and watch her paint.  Glenn’s great Grandfather Colby bought the molding, made, and painted the frames.  Dora never painted portraits and rarely people.  She would often copy other paintings or photographs Glenn’s Grandfather Langton took on family vacations.

Dora Colby's paintings evolved over the years.  Her later works were much brighter and the colors more vivid.  As a young woman, she also sang in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas staged in small theaters with no electronic amplification, so she knew how to project her voice.  When hymns were sung in church, you could always tell if she was in attendance.  She also painted china and a fire screen now kept with Arthur Langton.  She played the piano and was involved in several civic groups in Studio City, California.

During World War II she organized the Ridgemoor unit of British War Relief which made clothing for merchant seamen crewing merchant ships in the battle of the North Atlantic, the longest and most critical battle of World War II.  She organized the fund raising parties to buy the materials and recruited the women to cut and stitch the material, and knit sweaters and watch caps for sailors.  The British government supplied the patterns.  The resulting clothing was packed into boxes that coffins returned in and sent off to the war.  She was a very good organizer and not someone you wanted to fool around with or annoy.  At the war's end, she was awarded a medal by George VI, actually the British government, one of the few people to receive the honor in Southern California.

This painting is likely a copy of Tuner's Poppy Fields

by: Dora Colby 1940

Unkown Coastline

by: Dora Colby 1937

The Diary of Dora Colby

Below are my great grandmother's journal and comments on the Colby family's trip to Los Angeles 100 years ago last November.  The use of the name "Girlie" was my grandma Langton's nickname as a young girl and even into later life depending on who you were talking to.  "Jack" refers to my great grandpa Colby (John Colby) while "Jackie" refers to John Colby, Jr., my grandma Langton's eldest brother and my dad's uncle Jack.  Miss Perkins is the family nanny and housekeeper brought along as part of the family, although not related in any way, to assist with caring for the children.  After the children were grown and had left home, she remained in California residing in Hermosa Beach.  She always sent out fruit cakes to everyone each and every Christmas.

THE DIARY OF DORA COLBY

November 1913

Comments, incidents, and description of the journey by John and Dora Colby and family from England to Los Angeles, CA.

Left mother’s on November 11 for Southampton. Stayed the night at the Flowers Hotel and started for the boat which we boarded about 10:30. Mother and (Auntie) Lil came with us and settled us in our cabins and we said good bye to them at 12 o’clock and started off for Cherbourg. We soon found we were in for rough weather and after lunch Girlie and I retired to our bunks where Jackie soon joined us. Girlie had a nice sleep and Jackie was not sick whilst he kept quiet. Miss Perkins soon gave in and had to lie down and was very bad and about 4 o’clock Eric, who up to then was in highest spirits, came to lie down.

I was quite all right thanks to Mothersells (sp?) and Daddy was quite well on deck. The waves are very big and we pitch and toss about dreadfully and some big waves keep washing right over the porthole, but we hope for the best.

Jack has come to lie down, and seeing everyone ill has made him qualmy. Poor Jackie very bad and Girlie had to come to me she felt so seedy. We all felt qualmy until the boat reached Cherbourg Harbor when we had a blessed respite and all perked up wonderfully. Had some dinner and walked about the deck.

A lot of emigrants came on board and we were very interested in watching them. The women carried all their worldly belongings in striped bags on their backs and many had little babies with them. None wore hats, but a few had shawls over their heads. I got the children to bed comfortably and we left the harbor at 8:30. John and I soon came to bed to, to get settled before the pitching and tossing began again.

It is a beautiful moonlight night and the lights of France twinkle in the distance. It was very rough all night and we only slept in snatches. In the morning we all felt qualmy and Jackie and Miss Perkins very sick. After lunch it was less rough, and we all, except Miss Perkins, sat on deck.

We reach Queenstown [Ireland] at 5 o’clock and were all charmed by the beautiful harbor. I photographed Roach Island and the children were much amused with the hundreds of seagulls that followed the boat. We had a long talks with Mr. Fry, the first officer, and watched the old Irish women come on board to sell lace, pipes, etc. We had letters here and took in over 1200 bags of mail as the Mauritania could not get into the harbor for them the day before as it was too rough. We all had dinner at 6 o’clock, roast gosling and ice cream, which later the children all enjoyed. I got them to bed before the boat started. Miss Perkins perked up and came on deck, and we thoroughly enjoyed a stroll on deck in the moonlight, talked to Mr. Fry again, and watching the various lights flashing. We returned in good time in case of bad weather. The steward had left one porthole open until he went off duty at 9 o’clock.

Saturday Since the night before last when the steward closed our porthole, I have been very busy lying quite still to keep off seasickness. Mr. Fry’s prophecy came true. About 2 o’clock Friday morning we began to meet the full force of the Atlantic and the rolling, tossing, and pitching with the screw coming out of the water was awful. Jackie soon started filling his tin and when I move I was sick so kept quiet as when I lifted my head up it whirled and I think Jackie’s did too. Eric was as lively as a sand boy, also Girlie. Jack got up on deck twice, but mostly lay quiet, thus he wasn’t ill. Today it is rough, but not quite so bad as through the night when we seemed to sink down into the depths and then slide up and then shake all over. Jackie says he shall never come back again. He’s had enough of the sea to last a lifetime. Eric played about on one bed then on another till 4 o’clock when he suddenly said, “Oh Jackie, I do feel so ill” and the two of them took it in turns till the tin overflowed and I rang for the steward in a hurry. No more was heard from Eric and the steward had to carry him back to his cabin which he shared with Miss Perkins who hasn’t left her bunk yet. It’s so rough I must stop.

Sunday The gale was worse than ever and the engines went dead slow as the waves were as high as 60 feet; they washed over the captain’s bridge. It was baby’s birthday, and what a day. We pitched and tossed so much she couldn’t stand out of her bunk, but she was very good lying there with a picture book. Jack got up on deck for a few minutes and he said the waves were awful and everything awash. The forward screen was washed away and all the forward hatches were battened down as they were flooded with water. For an awful 10 minutes the engines stopped, the condenser had broken, and everyone wondered what was the matter. Then we started slowly again pitching, tossing, and rolling. Girlie’s birthday menu was very nice, but we were satisfied with chicken and ices. We had one or two crockery smashes in our cabin. All night the storm raged and all day Monday when the engines stopped for repairs.

Tuesday wasn’t quite so bad and I managed to get Girlie out her birthday present from Auntie Mary, a box of bricks, and they amused her for hours building on my hat box. Wednesday was much better and everyone was thankful. The captain never left the bridge Sunday or Monday. It was an anxious time. She is such an old boat and only makes one more voyage before she goes into dock for three months of repairs and then goes on a slower line. The third officer took a good photo of the waves and gave one to Daddy.

The sun shone on Wednesday and most people got on deck to enjoy it after a week of storms. We carried a record mail, nearly 6000 bags as it had been too rough for over a week for the boats to put in at Queenstown for them. Wednesday night we had a concert, and amongst other items, was a performing ape belonging to a gentleman on board. Her name was “Cantata.” She smokes, plays the piano and various other things. One girl danced twice, and there was heaps of singing. Thursday was cold and choppy, but we all got on deck and were very pleased to see Nantucket lighthouse which we passed at 8 o’clock.

Everyone was up early on Friday morning, breakfast at 6 o’clock as we steamed up the harbor, passed the Statue of Liberty, and docked about 10 o’clock. We passed the doctor and got through the customs very well though it took over 2 hours. All our luggage with us was opened, but not muddled about. We walked a little way and then took tickets for the 2 o’clock ferry, and while waiting, got something to eat, but things were horrid, fishcakes in red sauce and pickled cabbage and onion. Ugh! We crossed the ferry which took twenty minutes and got our train for Chicago, a nice drawing room, comfortable and everything most luxurious. We slept one night on this line, the Erie, and hope to reach Chicago at 7 tonight.

Boiling hot at Chicago. Got the train for Los Angeles which was packed and found there was no drawing room reserved for us. The conductor was very kind and after arranging for our sleeping as best he could and got us a private car the next day. We all enjoyed the 2 ½ days run to Los Angeles especially the latter part where the mountains were magnificent. We spent a little while at Albuquerque and inspected some Indians and their weaving. Arrived in Los Angeles at 2 o’clock Tuesday, where Godfrey Edwards and Tom and May Plumb were waiting for us at the station.

Hunting for unstable atoms...

As a perk for supporting the Safecast Kickstarter campaign, I received the Safecast Onyx Geiger counter.  A Geiger counter is a radiation survey instrument used to detect alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays emitted from decaying atoms.  Upon receiving my detector, I went in search of radioactive sources.  Below are some photos and video showing some of the items I've come across.

"Fiesta Red" glazed Fiestaware gravy boat showing a high level of radiation, found in an antique shop in Santa Paula, CA

Vase and two glasses behind other glass antiques are Uranium glass (aka Vaseline glass)

Video of some Uranium glass marbles showing their radioactivity and their fluorescence under UV light

Uranium glass teacup and saucer

Glass jar miss-labeled as "Vaseline glass", but no Uranium is detectable only low level background radiation of ~53CPM

Naturally occurring Potassium-40 detectable in a large bag of Potassium Chloride (used to replenish water softeners)

Some low level radioactive materials are available for purchase online.  In addition to the above items, I've been able to purchase a self illuminating tritium vial, radium watch hands, and thoriated welding rods all which contain a small but measurable source of radiation.

The Lady

I recently purchased my great grandmother's 1955 Ford Fairlane from my aunt.  Affectionately known as "The Lady," the car has been passed from one member of the family to another since its purchase.  The slideshow above shows the many adventures the Lady has been on and below is a short history (much credit is due to my Uncle for helping write about much of the car's early years).  I hope to continue adding photos and stories as I collect them as well as sharing the new adventures the car sees, enjoy!

The Lady was purchased new in 1955 by Dora E. L. Colby or "Mimi" as she was known.  When she died in 1960 it became her husband's (John Colby) car until he gave up driving at age 90 around 1965 or '66.  Because John could no longer drive himself, Arthur Langton or "Dub," began driving his grandpa around in the Ford.  Arthur was student teaching at the time, but looked forward to being eligible for a real job.  Grandpa John gave the car to Arthur shortly after he started teaching in the spring of '66 (Arthur first taught period 6 in Room 6 on 6/6/66).  The car only had about 29,000 miles on it at the time so it was practically new.  Though it was now Arthur's car, he continued to drive Grandpa Colby around in the Lady until Grandpa died just after the first moon landing in 1969.

Arthur enjoyed many adventures in the Lady.  He drove it to Camp Whitsett the last year he was on JLT staff and then on to Kings Canyon NP where he did a solo backpacking trip up Bubb's Creek to check out a campsite the Post might use on an up coming summer trek.  He was the Post adviser by then so the Lady took him and the crew on many adventures.
 

John and Dora Colby also had a green Ford purchased in the late 40's which was named "The Lizard."   There weren't any grand children old enough to drive then so it was probably traded in to help purchase the Lady.

 

Grandpa Colby gave cars to all his grandsons, a tradition that started with John Colby III receiving Grandpa's Model A Ford complete with rumble seat and running boards.  Like a good engineer to be, he took the motor completely apart, reassembled it, and got it to run.  Unfortunately, a girl he was sweet on objected to being taken out on dates in such an old car.  Eventually, the girl dumped him anyway and John sold the car.

Kennard was next in line and received John and Dora Colby's '36 Ford which they had used throughout World War II and until new models came out after the war.  Kennard drove the '36 Ford up to the Kern River where it overheated and cracked the block head.

Grandpa Colby, not having any spare cars at the time, gave G. Alan Hunter the money to buy a used Dodge Dart.  None of Grandpa's gift cars were new.  Alan used it to commute between Sacramento and UC Davis.  Until he graduated, he also drive his sister, Pamela Hunter (now Johnson), to and from Davis.  He likely drove the car back to Chicago where he was a graduate student at the University of Chicago in Political Science.

Stephen Langton received the Lady from his brother Arthur after Arthur bought his Uncle John's '66 Ford station wagon which he had used in his contracting business and would pull a trailer.  At the time, Stephen was driving his mother's (Irene) '57 Ford which had loads of horsepower.  Fuel efficiency was not an issue in those days.  When Irene bought her '68 Ford, Grandpa Colby gave Irene the estimated cost of the '57 Ford just to keep his record in tack, that he really had given each of his Grandsons a car.  What about his Granddaughters you ask? Grandpa Colby was extra generous with them when they got married, or so I'm told, and all were married prior to his death.

Stephen drove the Lady to commute to LA High from the San Fernando Valley for some time before buying a more efficient diesel VW Rabbit.  He then gave the Lady to Debra Flu (now Gruttadauro) one of his wife Jeralynn's younger sisters.  Debra drove the Lady in Los Angeles and San Diego while attending college and continued enjoying the car as a weekend driver after she married.  She showcased the car in a few shows and lent the Lady to her friends as a wedding getaway car.  After enjoying the car longer than any of the previous owners (30+ years), she sold the car to me in 2012!

Straight Razor Shaving Stand

An important aspect of maintaining a straight razor is ensuring your razor (and shaving brush) dry thoroughly after each use.  Keeping these items dry will prevent the high carbon steel blade from rusting and your brush from deteriorating or building up soap scum.  A shaving stand also helps prevent the razor's edge from being nicked or the brush's bristles from being crushed.  

Stands can vary from expensive store bought models to crudely bent coat hangers.  I thought a stand would make a great laser cutting project so I set out to make my own!  After some online searching, I found a shaving stand design developed for a double edged (or similar) razor at r/wickededge. I adapted the design to accommodate my straight razor and laser cut the pieces from 1/8" cherry.  After a bit of gluing and varnishing my stand turned out looking pretty sharp (shaving pun intended, har-har).  If you're interested in making your own, I've shared the shaving stand design here.

Revisiting the METAR Weather Reporter

After a decent number of requests for the source code used on my METAR weather reporter I made in 2010, I've decided to make it more readily available (see below for source).  Shown above is a photo of one individual's version in action.

If you haven't already, you'll need to download the latest versions of Arduino and Processing.  The Processing sketch also requires an appropriate font file to run correctly.  Place the font ".vlw" file in a folder called "data" in the same directory as the Processing sketch and change the font name in the Processing sketch to match the ".vlw" font file name (if you chose to use a different font than the one below).  After this, run the Processing sketch on your computer and load the Arduino sketch onto your board with lcd character display connected according to the pinout noted in the code.  The Arduino will also require a USB serial connection to communicate with the Processing program.  My code is currently set up to report KSAC weather, but it's easy to change the weather reporting location.  Simply edit the airport identifier at the two locations in the Processing sketch to the one you're interested in.  Happy coding and safe flying!

Source Code:
METAR code for Processing
Processing Font Files
METAR code for Arduino

Geogram ONE Case Revisions

Even though I just completed the first case design for my Geogram ONE, I've already designed a new case with many improvements.  The battery now has a form fitting pocket beneath the board so it doesn't shift under sudden moment, the circuit board is secured to the enclosure, the antenna is mounted internally (although the volume of the box only very slightly increased), and I included two pockets for magnets that will allow you to attach the enclosure to an object. I designed the new case in Solidworks, but re-oriented the .stl file for printing using Blender.

 Above is a screenshot of my model in Blender.  Below is the finished case with all the components installed before I seal in the electronics.  I opted to spray paint the outside of the case black and laser cut a black acrylic panel for the front to make the unit more discreet for mounting in my car.

Here is the finished unit hidden away in my Miata.  Personal Lowjack installed!

I've uploaded the build files here:
Geogram ONE revised case
Geogram ONE revised acrylic faceplate
**Note: the new case design requires 8, 3/8" #4 screws 

Geogram ONE

Awhile back I supported the Kickstarter "Open Source Tracking Device" project which later became known as Geogram ONE.  For supporting this project I was given a tracking device circuit board, an antenna, and lipo battery.  The tracking device works by connecting to the GSM cell network and relaying it's GPS coordinates to any phone or computer via text message.  You can set "geo fences" or speed/acceleration triggers to send you automatic alerts as well.  

Because it relies on the cell network, you need a SIM card for it to work properly.  Through online forums I discovered Telna Mobile, which offers 1000 free texts a month for $20/year with no monthly fees or minimum voice usage.  This offer was hard to beat, so I bought my SIM card and fired up the tracker!

The loose circuit board, antenna, and battery didn't have a nice form factor, so I set about designing an enclosure in Google Sketchup and Inkscape.  I 3D printed the ABS base with cutouts for the antenna and USB charging connection.  The face is laser cut and engraved from 1/8" clear acrylic.  If you were part of the Kickstarter campaign and have your own tracker, I've included the models below so you can build your own.

I'm currently thinking of fun projects/activities one might do with a tracking device.  Some of my ideas so far have been: Mail the tracker to someone and record the route it takes; Make a collar for a cat and see what yards it's trekking through; Some sort of cool mobile geocache?  If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Here are the files for building this basic enclosure:
Google Sketchup Model
STL format of above model
SVG of Acrylic faceplate

You'll also need 4, 3/8" #4 machine screws to hold down the face plate.  Happy building!

First 3D Printed Parts

 

I recently purchased a Solidoodle 3D printer and have been learning about and experimenting with 3D printing!  The video above shows my printer building up a lens cap layer by layer using fused deposition modeling.  ABS plastic filament is fed into the printer head, heated, and extruded into a very fine bead of plastic which slowly builds the part.  Each layer is only .3mm thick so as you might imagine it takes some time for the part to be fully created.

I've designed a few parts using the modeling software Google Sketchup, but I usually check the model sharing website, Thingiverse, to see if someone has already shared a design for an item I want to create.  Below are some of the first item's I've printed including, a lens cap and scuba mask mount for my GoPro (both from Thingiverse) and an antenna cap to protect the car cover on my 55 Ford Fairlane.

Business Beginnings

In March, I filed official paperwork with the county of Ventura to start Iconoglyph, a small business offering custom laser cut and engraved products.  Since inception, I have seen varying amounts of business largely dependent on the availability of my brother, Ryan, to market our products and services.

All of the production takes place in my rented bedroom in Santa Paula, so as you might imagine, I'm always low on space!  I've recently added a vinyl cutter to the mix and will soon be receiving a 3D printer as well, so a larger place may be in order soon.

Many customer designs I work on myself, but occasionally I contract the design work when I need fast results or am busy with other things.  I enjoy being able to decide how much time and work I put into the business.

Special thanks to Elkan Hwang for producing our logo and Nicole Corpuz for photographing so many of our products!

Quick Laser Cutter Tip and Video

I like to work with 1/8th inch plywood in my laser cutter because it's cheap, engraves nicely, and isn't too difficult to cut.  One drawback however is it's tendency to warp.  Warped plywood will cause the laser to become out of focus when the distance from the lens to the wood changes.  This can affect the engrave and cut quality, so one trick I've come up with is to place a strong magnet in each corner of the work piece to hold down any warping.  Careful not to let the magnets pinch your fingers though!

Below is a quick video of my laser cutting a 1/4" Poplar coaster.

SCYA Midwinter 2012

My dad, Brian, and I entered the 2012 SCYA Midwinter Regatta hosted by the Mission Bay Yacht Club.  We sailed my Dad's Soling and though we didn't win any awards, we still enjoyed a fun weekend on the water.  I tested out my new GoPro camera too! Photos, video and race results below.

Soling Fleet

Sailed: 6, Discards: 1, To count: 5, Entries: 5, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank	Fleet	SailNum	Yacht Club	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Nett
1st	Soling	782	MBYC	John Walton	(1)	1	1	1	1	1	6	5
2nd	Soling	694	MBYC	Ryan Castro	(3)	2	2	3	2	2	14	11
3rd	Soling	743	MBYC	William Blozan	2	3	(5)	2	4	3	19	14
4th	Soling	721	SFVYC	Stephen Langton	(5)	5	3	4	3	4	24	19
5th	Soling	59	PLHS	Bruce Hayes	4	4	4	5	(6 DNC)	6 DNC	29	23

A Drive through Grimes Canyon

View Grimes Canyon Drive in a larger map

MOAR Laser!

Some more of my lasered gifts and projects are shown below with the settings used on my 40W CO2 laser.

Stainless steel calipers engraved with Thermark

100%Power 5%Speed 1000dpi (incidentally, not centered very well, haha)

Peregrine Falcon clipboard

100%Power 50%Speed 500dpi

Laser cut thank you note

6%Power 100%Speed Vector Cut

Updates from Work

Not all of my work each day involves mechanical design.  A large portion of what I have been doing recently has been programming and automation of the gel dispensers I began designing when I first started working for Applied.  Below is a video showing the current stage in the development of my optical character recognition (OCR) and networking software.  This LabVIEW software will allow one of our customers to create an automated production line free of paper records.

Laser Engraved Settlers of Catan Board

One of my favorite lasered works to date is an interlocking Settlers of Catan board game I made for my brother.  Adapted from a design I found on Thingiverse, this set is made from 1/4" poplar and has recessed number tokens and interlocking hexes and ports.

Laser Cut Sign Language Scrabble Tiles

I made these ASL (American Sign Language) Scrabble tiles as a Christmas gift for my mother.  The full set was laser cut and engraved from 1/8th in birch plywood and have the sign and letter on the same side for those less familiar with finger spelling.  Now all she needs is a board to play on... maybe I can engrave that too?  Merry Christmas Mom!

Now Shipping Worldwide

With my brother handling marketing and sales, my business-which-has-yet-to-be-officially-started has been doing well.  We currently focus on custom laser cut designs.  Most of this year's work has been in coaster and ornament sales, with ornaments keeping us very busy in the weeks before Christmas.  During the Christmas rush, we saw our first shipments outside the US too!  We're looking forward to an official launch sometime in early 2012.

Eggbot Upgrades

I recently received the Ostrich Eggbot upgrade as a gift and have been enjoying printing on glass ball ornaments again this year.  The larger chassis allows for printing on larger spheroids and the spring loaded egg coupler has an improved grip over the older version.

I later purchased an engraving tool which replaces the pen, but have had difficulty getting good contrast on clear glass ornaments.  I'll continue trying slower speeds, increasing the number of passes, and try different materials for better results.  Results forthcoming!