Workshops complete for the year...

[harryball]

Well, there isn't so much show as there is tell here, but we just completed our last schedule bat house workshop for the year. We base our workshop on our DIY kit that we cut on the shopbot. The design has been fantastic (to pat myself on the back) and would be virtually impossible to to cut without using the bot. Today was a record workshop, we assembled 20 houses in about 2 hours with first graders.

What made today a little different is we didn't have time to prefit the houses. It was blind faith off the bot onto the cart and to the school. I even cut 5 extra just in case a part was messed up for some reason, we didn't need them.

This is also the first time we used large bat cutouts including a 3D face carving of a bat. I'll post pictures of those in this thread a little later when I get the camera gear unloaded.

This has been the busiest October yet. We spent Sunday at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens talking to about 2000 kids. We didn't build any houses but we did show them. The parents all loved the kits and orders have already started coming in.

I also spoke to a cabinet maker that recognized CNC work and was amazed I could afford a CNC machine to do this kind of work. I suggested he checkout Shopbot, it may be more affordable than he thinks.

I must say, after little more than a year I think we might just have to keep the bat bot around a while.

Robert

[myxpykalix]

Harry, let me ask a question...when a bat flys up to one of your houses do they land on some kind of perch like a bird then turn upside down? I've seen some of your houses but never thought of that. Just curious.

[harryball]

Jack, the landing board is at the bottom of the house. They land on that and crawl up.

As promised, here are some photos of the bat props I made. The large bat is about 6' wing tip to wing tip and illustrates the actual size of the largest bat in the world, the flying fox in Australia. The smaller bat on the upper left is the same bat shape, it has a 2' wingspan illustrating the largest bat in North America, the Western Mastiff. The kids loved these things! They are cut from UL Trupan with a simple V bit tracing the lines and were painted by one of my sisters.

The 3D bat was carved from 3/4" UL Trupan as well. I used a 1/4" bit with a 12% stepover using VCPro and the free 3D machinist. My wife painted it and I coated it with spray acrylic. It was touched by at least 500 kids Sunday. It held up well but the finished dulled where all the kids touched.

All of them are shown hanging on the wall in our bat trailer where they will be stored and hauled to workshops or talks.


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Robert

[evan]

Those look great. I can see why you are such a big hit with the school kids. Keep up the good work.

[myxpykalix]

Can you imagine seeing one of those big suckers flying at you? It must look prehistoric. That bottom picture looks almost real. She did a great paint job.