Vectricon Chroniker - Project of the Month

[mtylerfl]

Hello,

Here is the March 2012 project I created for owners of the current version of ShopBot PartWorks, VCarve Pro 6.5 and Aspire 3.5 (and future higher versions). It is a FREE download, courtesy of Vectric!

http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/projects/2012/04-mar-vectricon/vectricon-chroniker.html

The “Vectricon Chroniker” project presents an interesting way to house a simple battery operated clock insert in an “industrial-looking” genre! The pseudo-Victorian mechanical appearance is enhanced by the use of metallic paints for the finish, but you can choose whatever finish you prefer.

The overall dimensions of the finished project are about 14¾" x10½" x4¼" deep. Special thanks to ShopBot and Vectric for making this project possible!

• I created the design/layout using Vectric's VCarve Pro 6.5 software.

• I used a ShopBot PRSAlpha BT48 to run this project and the toolpath settings were specifically for that machine and bits I used. You can make changes to suit your particular machine, bits, etc.

I used the following bits...
Drill Holes: 1/4" Up-Cut EM
Pockets, Cut Profiles: 1/4" Down-Cut EM

Apply your choice of finish. Here’s what I used on my Vectricon Chroniker made from Select Pine:

• 2 coats of thinned Bullseye SealCoat, sanding between coats (2 parts sealer/3 parts Denatured alcohol)

• Painted the parts with Sculpt Nouveau finishing products before final assembly...

Base - Iron B formula. Sprayed on some Tiffany Green and Vista Rust patinas while the second coat was still wet to make the base look old and rusty.
Arm Assembly - Silver B, Brass B, Copper B
Gears - Brass B
Brackets - Copper B
Dowel Buttons - 12 buttons Copper, 20 buttons Silver

I "grunged" all the parts after applying a coat of clear Smart Coat on all. I applied thinned Smart Stain Black (3 parts Smart Coat/1 part stain) by “pouncing” it on with a disposable chip brush. After all the parts were dry, the glue-up and final assembly was completed.

[myxpykalix]

Michael,
I had commented that I thought you must have gotten inspiration from our gearmaking posts:) Do the gears turn? I like the design and i bet someone will make this and use some sculpt noveau to make it look like real metal.
Anoher cool project!:D

[terryjones]

I sure wish these new projects could be used in Aspire 2.5.

[tmerrill]

Terry,

It makes perfectly good sense, both from a use and business point of view.

Have you looked at all you get by upgrading? Just the ease of use is worth the small upgrade price, not to mention all the new features.

Those of us who keep V2.5 on our machines to help others with that version dread using it after getting used to V3.5 and it's improved workflow.

If you haven't done it, download the free trial and spend some time with it.

Tim

Added: Terry, I just visited your website and you do beautiful work. I can't believe you wouldn't be able to get the upgrade cost back with just one or two jobs.

[mtylerfl]

Michael,
I had commented that I thought you must have gotten inspiration from our gearmaking posts:) Do the gears turn? I like the design and i bet someone will make this and use some sculpt noveau to make it look like real metal.
Anoher cool project!:D

Hi,

I guess I haven't seen the gearmaking posts - now you have me curious, though - do you have a link? My inspiration comes from everywhere, and sometimes, "nowhere"!:)

The gears on the Vectricon are purely cosmetic. I toyed (briefly - very briefly) with having the gears actually turn, but figured it would make it too confusing to read the time!

I have been enjoying the Sculpt Nouveau products - experimenting a lot with them lately and just having too much fun!

[mtylerfl]

I sure wish these new projects could be used in Aspire 2.5.

Hi Terry,

I do create each project using whatever the current public version of the software is at the time. Too tedious to jump back and forth between versions...from the "old", then back to the "new", etc. There would be no end to it, trying to recall which features exist between different flavors of the software. So, the most logical thing (for me, at least) is keep in sync with the current software versions when designing.

[myxpykalix]

Michael,
Here is the gearmaking link, it goes on for 14 pages with your project talked about on page 14. What was funny was that it fit right in with what we were all talking about:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14551

[mtylerfl]

Michael,
Here is the gearmaking link, it goes on for 14 pages with your project talked about on page 14. What was funny was that it fit right in with what we were all talking about:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14551

Thank you for the link - I had no idea all that was going on. I briefly scrolled through from the beginning until page 14...as you said, my project design was dicussed.

I sure got tickled when you said my design was 'clearly influenced' by that thread - nope, not at all. Never even knew about the post until you mentioned it.

I'll have to go back and read through that thread when I have a couple spare hours. Looks kind of interesting alright.

[mtylerfl]

I was reading a bit more of the gear thread you gave the link for. Oh my goodness - I'm afraid I am getting the bug to do some sort of motorized gear sculpture! Really neat things people are doing, and very enjoyable reading/watching videos, etc. Lots of great info there, links to motor sources, etc. I need to spend more time perusing through.

The very first post refers to a Gear-making software program (GearGenerator3), which I own and did use for creating the gears for my Industria Synchroon and Vectricon Chroniker projects!

I also have Ryan's Gear Gadget for the Vectric software, but had already made my gear layouts for the projects, so I didn't use that this time.

Thanks again for pointing me to the gear thread!

[myxpykalix]

Michael,
I think your Synchroon project might be more open to making a spinning gears. I like that design alot. Was that a distributed file? I could see how the hole for the clock insert could be made a hair larger so as not to touch the insert then have a post in the back that you could attach and hold up the insert to leave the gear to spin.

Your "bars" could be cut independant of the gear and placed in front to simulate attachment and one of the motors referenced in this thread with the help of a smaller gear could spin the center gear. This is all only in my head i'd have to cut stuff and think about it more but that could turn into a neat kinetic sculpture for sure! I hope you catch the bug here!:eek:

I went back and looked at the picture closer and i had a better idea.
Where you see your 4 "arms" in front attach to the gear, I would create a round ring that attaches to all 4 arms that your clock insert fits into that. That then eliminates the need for a post in the back and frees up that space for motor and gearing.
The circle on the center of the gear would be cut a bit larger to be independant of the clock insert.