David, I trust your packing is going well and the move will also go smoothly! I finally got a user's for these forums, as it seems the needle/cnc discussion is much more alive and well here (as you noted during our visit.) I followed your lead and picked up a 2.5 watt laser for my machine and temporarily swapped out the needle cutter. Wow, that thing is potent! I tried a simple circle in square gcode on card stock at full power and burned through it and can inch of pink foam of my vacuum table! I now have it tamed and have been cutting N numbers for my planes from colored packing tape. Tape on glass plate, and Model Plane Foam under the glass to stop the penetration. (Interesting that while laser won't cut MPF, it lights it up, diffusing the beam, so works as a spoiler board). I got some vinyl and transfer film from Michael's yesterday and cut some numbers and logos in it. At a 40 setting it burns a 1/32 line in vinyl, but leaves the release paper intact. Worked well!
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Good to hear, Mike, that you're getting laser capability going. I look forward to seeing more pics of your creations. Good looking plane BTW
This sorting/packing crap is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. About 3-4 generations of accumulated "stuff"... very much of it just sentimental value, lots of "one of these days I'll need this" things, and a crap ton of stuff I just thought was neat but really had/have little use for and was just too lazy to throw out and/or haul to the dump. And recognizing that "one of these days" is now here and/or gone I'm having a dickens of a time emotionally detaching from almost everything I pick up. Needless to say, I've had almost no time to play (other than a little golf with a remaining close friend)... and I just try to keep up with the forums during my rest breaks
I had thought my last move (1980) would be my last... as I settled in on my grandparents old home place. I had hoped I'd be able to keep it all intact and spend the remainder of my days here... and also leave a nice place for my kids to inherit. But TxDOT saw fit to reroute the highway right through the middle of my small 10 acre garden spot... and now my heart is not in it. And jobs and families have scattered my kids to the four winds... with virtually no hope of any of them ever wanting to settle into rural East Texas again, on a severely less desirable homestead, and with few/no jobs to be had that they've been educated/trained to do and that will enable them to grow/support their families.
So, now, I'm by myself... a widower and having lost all but one of my closest friends, there's little left for me here. Thankfully, my daughter and her family want to be a part of my "growing old" experience and want me close-by. So I'll be living next door, in my own (rented) house, that should allow me enough independence and room to continue playing with my hobbies while I've still got reasonably good health and a semi-clear mind... but will afford the closeness/care/support of family that, at some point in the not too far distant future, I'll probably need.
I'm sorry about all the personal stuff but since this is "my" thread and it'd take me longer to erase and redo... I'm going to just leave it.
It's good to hear from you, Mike. Please keep me/us posted as to what you are up to. Hopefully, in a couple of months, I'll be settled in and able to start playing again. Later.
-- David