# OK CNC guys, here's a project for you. Hehehe



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

My precision tool of choice would be a chainsaw, but that's me. Who'll be first to make one? 
Routing a Four Foot Tall Tiki Sculpture | Make:

And we'll be wanting pictures of the finished work. :grin: :laugh2: >


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## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

Looks like the only one needed has already been finished. Good challenge for a CNC though. I don't know what the diameter of the finished project was but if less than 16" we could probable have done it in halves or 1/4 slices on the Multicam CNC we have at our university shop. Similar sized landscape furniture project slices have already been done on that CNC. 

4D


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

But how long would it take you to get set up with a CNC router? A design that simple you could round off with a hand power plane, mark out the design, then use a handheld router and rout it out, and I would say a lot faster then your CNC. After all, the teeth and eyes are just painted. 

Yeah, I'll admit CNC machines can be useful, but using one of them for a project like this, I would say was just a waste of time. The exception might be if he wanted practice. I made 2 or 3 or 4, don't recall now, with a chainsaw, then touched up a few place with a chisel if I recall right. Still got one in the shop, about 4' tall, still with bark on it. Very much fun. Have a couple of posts, about 10"X10", two electric chainsaws now, and as soon as I make some sawhorses, it'll be Tiki time - I'll cut the posts in half, they're 6' or 8' long.


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Well Theo,

If I ever have to make a 4' long 16" thick Tiki, I'll just have you come over with your chainsaw. But until then, I'll just keep carving my 3d plaques and signs with my CNC MACHINE!!!!! Betcha my models and lettering text are a little neater than using your chain saw.

Even us old dogs can learn a few new tricks, as long as there's not much memory work involved. Even Ollie and MT Stringer got one of them new fangled gizmos now. Bet your band saw and sander have foot pedals, too. All that exercise should do you good. lol


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## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

There is a mansion on the outskirts of town where the owner (with too much money) has populated his estate with realistic bronze statues of ordinary people in ordinary poses. If I was going to make statuary using my CNC it would be of 2/3 scale versions to populate my yard. Paint them to look pseudo realistic then set up cameras to catch what passing joggers and walkers think of them.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Theo this is a chain saw project and well done. 

We all need to remember, a CNC machine is just another tool in our shop and will never replace all the tools in the shop, there are things that are better done with other tools. This could be done with a CNC like 4D points out by slicing the model but this is a chainsaw project. Yes there could be someone do this with a CNC just for the challenge and boost their learning curve but would really not be my tool of choice. You could also use a 4th axis on a CNC with acquitted clearance and structure to carve the whole log at one time but that is still not a good use of the CNC machine. 

You could also challenge table saw owners, band saw owners, and yes the owners of Dremel tools to do the same project and with the right setups, jigs, blades and cutters they could also make a reasonable reproduction but that would not be a good use for those tools.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

honesttjohn said:


> Well Theo,
> 
> If I ever have to make a 4' long 16" thick Tiki, I'll just have you come over with your chainsaw. But until then, I'll just keep carving my 3d plaques and signs with my CNC MACHINE!!!!! Betcha my models and lettering text are a little neater than using your chain saw.
> 
> Even us old dogs can learn a few new tricks, as long as there's not much memory work involved. Even Ollie and MT Stringer got one of them new fangled gizmos now. Bet your band saw and sander have foot pedals, too. All that exercise should do you good. lol


Ah, but a CNC just can't give you the satisfaction that chainsawing a Tiki can. Hehehe Yeah, I'll admit a CNC is way ahead for plaques and signs - but seeing as I don't do either of those I don't need a CNC. Nah, you guys can have all the fun you want with those new thingies, they just have no appeal to me. With my next Tiki, I think I'll just rough it out with a chainsaw, then if my son didn't walk off with my wood chisels, I'll finish it off with them, and homemade carving mallets. No memory will be harmed in the carving of a Tiki, just some new trick learning. And I don't have this Tiki anymore. It got ran over, on two different occasions, by one of my son's friends. Turned out it was rather infested with beetles and the second time killed it. Did last about 7 years tho, and definitely no problem finding my drive. But still got one in the shop.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

MEBCWD said:


> Theo this is a chain saw project and well done.
> 
> We all need to remember, a CNC machine is just another tool in our shop and will never replace all the tools in the shop, there are things that are better done with other tools.


True, just not a tool I want. I like to poke fun at you CNC guys, but nothing against you all. If you want a CNC, then have at it, if you can afford it. It's just something that I could never be satisfied with using. I started shop classes in the 4th grade. Yep, been awhile. All hand tools. First power tools in 9th grade shop - a bench sender. Lost some fingerprints on that. LOL That and a hand cranked coal forge. First real power tools in 10i grade shop, table saw, drill press, metal lathe, milling machine, the same or identical forge. And been at about that level ever since. I worked with computers for years, and computer engineers - you cannot believe just how stupid some people with a four year college degree in computer science can be. Such as:
Hey, my computer won't work - first, you have a terminal, not a computer - second, the power is off. 
Oh, OK, when is it coming back on?
This report is wrong. I put my information in, and the computer didn't correct it. Only took me 15 minutes to get that little tidbit out of the guy. 
And the list goes on.

And that is partly why I am not going to get a CNC. Mostly because I just don't find them fun to use. Let's face it, a chainsaw is loud and makes lots of sawdust, what's not to like? Hehehe


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## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

Although you need more than a CNC for most jobs, there have been several time when the CNCs we have in our college shop mixed with an adjustable angled clamping jig have been able to do things that would be impossible/impractical to do using any other tool(s). Their second advantage is when you need multiple copies of a complicated part (that might be tediously made using other tools) cut over and over again, or quickly rescaled and cut again. 

4D


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

4DThinker said:


> Their second advantage is when you need multiple copies of a complicated part (that might be tediously made using other tools) cut over and over again, or quickly rescaled and cut again.


Depends. That is why I make masters, can clone the same piece over and over. Actually I know a fair amount about what a CNC machine can do. I've watched videos, I've seen them live. A Godsend for a lot of jobs, I enjoy watching some of them, depending on what they are doing. And I have absolutely no interest at all in having one, it would suck the joy out of woodworking for me to work with one. I am a Luddite and proud of it. LMAO >


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## Scottart (Jan 8, 2015)

JOAT said:


> Ah, but a CNC just can't give you the satisfaction that chainsawing a Tiki can. Hehehe Yeah, I'll admit a CNC is way ahead for plaques and signs - but seeing as I don't do either of those I don't need a CNC. Nah, you guys can have all the fun you want with those new thingies, they just have no appeal to me. With my next Tiki, I think I'll just rough it out with a chainsaw, then if my son didn't walk off with my wood chisels, I'll finish it off with them, and homemade carving mallets. No memory will be harmed in the carving of a Tiki, just some new trick learning. And I don't have this Tiki anymore. It got ran over, on two different occasions, by one of my son's friends. Turned out it was rather infested with beetles and the second time killed it. Did last about 7 years tho, and definitely no problem finding my drive. But still got one in the shop.


Real men use Chainsaws.... and dremels, and CNC's, and sharp sticks to create stuff.. just have fun...


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Right on Scott

That's cool!!


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Scottart said:


> Real men use Chainsaws.... and dremels, and CNC's, and sharp sticks to create stuff.. just have fun...


You nailed it, Scott. My woodworking goal is always to just have fun.


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Now that you got the model done, when does the life size piece get started??


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