WoodMarvels Blog

Technial Difficulties @ WoodMarvels.com

Jon — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:54:23 +0000

I know the site has been having issues for the past week and still currently – no worries, we are on top of it and will get it fixed in the next few days. I’ll post an update when everything is back to 100%. The reason for these issues is we are updating our e-commerce system, it isn’t fun but necessary to allow for continued growth well into the future. Thanks for your patience! Jon Founder of WoodMarvels.com

ShopBot Tools’ ShopBot Desktop Review: 6 months milestone

Jon — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:48:33 +0000

I got my amazing ShopBot Desktop from ShopBot Tools six months ago and since then, have put the machine through its paces. Here is a review of how things have gone so far. 30+ models tested and (almost) released! Over the past 6 months, I’ve cut over 30 models and almost released an equal amount here on WoodMarvels.com – considering I’ve never touched a CNC machine beforehand nor knew how to film with a camera (skill I’m still learning through [...]

WoodMarvels.com April 2012 Review

Jon — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:29:59 +0000

I thought not much happened in April but I was wrong looking back – which is why it’s important to review things monthly! I got a 3D industrial animation project so my rendering queue for WoodMarvels.com was put on hold until it was done so I now have a even larger glut of CNC projects waiting the time of day! April 2012 Happenings! WoodMarvels.com was featured on ShopoBot Tools website! Baidu (Chinese equivalent to Google) lists WoodMarvels.com #1 under laser [...]

Straddle Carrier B CNC: New CNC Router Project Launch!

Jon — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:26:49 +0000

This project is really a month “old” but I got a few cool 3D Industrial Animations so I had to put the work on hold while those rendered… hence the delay. Regardless, you can now get your very own massive Straddle Carrier CNC project right now at WoodMarvels.comunder the ShopBot Tools CNC heading. I’ve started doing a few changes to the way the assembly video works and the model in general… you’ll notice for the assembly video below that I’ve [...]

Unlimited Commercial Production for 7.95$?

Jon — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:20:55 +0000

Every once in a while, I get a complaint from a potential customer who can’t understand why they are unable to buy a digital file from WoodMarvels.com once for say 7.95$ and cut unlimited amount to sell in the back of their van or in local shops. I do sell commercial production licenses with wholesale discounts so it’s even less! To them, giving even a fraction of their income to support the designer (it’s not just me on WoodMarvels.com btw) [...]

Straddle Carrier B CNC: Coming soon!

Jon — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:24:25 +0000

Here is a render of the finished and tested of the upcoming Straddle Carrier B CNC project… depending on 3D animation rendering and live video production that accompany each of our CNC router projects, it should be launched around the end of the week – this CNC project measures roughly 30cm high, 25cm wide and 32cm long! As you can see from the render – the container can hover without string (at least virtually)!

WoodMarvels.com on Yahoo’s Spanish Answer Service?

Jon — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:33:34 +0000

Two months ago somebody asked the Spanish version of Yahoo Answers where they could find wooden dinosaur models for their classroom and the answer came-up with WoodMarvels.com! http://mx.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120211132604AAhbfDc That’s pretty neat considering the site is in English… a few days ago even Baidu send traffic my way and my site isn’t even in Chinese yet! Got some Chinese orders and maybe even a Commercial Production License on the way there as a result too. Anyways, hoping to have all three [...]

WoodMarvels.com is #1 for “laser project” on Baidu!

Jon — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:18:39 +0000

I got a string of visitors and inquiries from China over the past few days – international companies there bypass the Chinese filters by using a VPN (as I did when I lived there) and guess what… if you search on Baidu.com – China’s largest and most popular search engine – for “laser project” you end-up with WoodMarvels.com as the #1 listing! http://www.baidu.com/s?wd=laser%20project&pn=70&tn=sitehao123&usm=1&rsv_page=1 I did the same search on Google but I don’t show-up on the first page sadly… I [...]

I make ShopBotTools.com’s Homepage!

Jon — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:19:16 +0000

I visited ShopBot Tools and got a ShopBot Desktop almost 6 months ago and since then, have cut more than 30 models with it (each one 2-3x for prototyping)… it’s a great machine and now I’m on their homepage (below) and here is a direct link to the page the testimonial links to… I guess now you know what I look like minus the beard and long hair!

WoodMarvels.com going Chinese (slowly)!

Jon — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:07:13 +0000

I have many goals this year for WoodMarvels.com and among the more ambitious ones is translating all my books into Chinese as well as the website. The reasons for this include: YouTube.com doesn’t work in China so all videos will have to be “doubled” meaning you see both the YouTube.com video and Youku.com (or Toudou.com)… I knew this was coming so I’ve been uploading to both sites for some time now. Online translation systems do a POOR job translating, just [...]

Getting a bunch of clamps!

Jon — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:04:31 +0000

A current limitation that I have in the garage when I assemble my CNC projects is clamps – it seems there are never enough of them laying around! When I cut stuff with my ShopBot Desktop, I prefer to cut several models at once then the next day, put them together then the next day, do the filming of me presenting the model. Part of being in business is removing irritants or limitations, one of which was only having one [...]

Coaster and Puzzle Die CNC: New Project Launch!

Jon — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:07:51 +0000

Phil developed the original laser version of this coaster and puzzle die and I’ve adapted it to be cut now with your own CNC router! It only has six pieces but don’t let that fool you… it’s actually quite tough until you know how it goes together! The CNC die is about 13cm square and is cut from a single sheet of 500mm x 400mm plywood that’s 6mm thick. You can buy it right now at WoodMarvels.com under the heading [...]

Hogar Rafael Ayau

Jon — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:21:25 +0000

Hogar Rafael Ayau is an orphanage based out of Guatemala in Central America to help take care of disadvantaged children due to circumstances beyond their control. Alan Russell, the businessman, philanthropist, educator who his heavily involved with the Hogar Rafael Ayau orphanage though his leadership as Chairman of the Board at Liberty Fund approached me to see if there was a way WoodMarvels.com could contribute to their cause. When I was a kid, I really liked the idea of Santa [...]

WoodMarvels.com hits 2 000 000 Video Views!

Jon — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:09:20 +0000

On October 27th, 2007 – I started WoodMarvels.com and decided to blog about every new thing that happened on the site from the very start and upload videos for each and every product. On May 18th, 2011 – WoodMarvels.com hit it’s first milestone – a total of one million video views across a network of platforms. Today on lucky Friday the 13 of April, WoodMarvels.com hit a new milestone, now two million video views!!! The Hard Numbers Although these numbers [...]

Dolphin CNC: New CNC Router Project!

Jon — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:09:28 +0000

This CNC Dolphin has spinning wheels and an internal third wheel in the back for stability… I wanted to make a very simple project a few years back and this was about the simplest building method I could think of. The CNC version of this original laser model has pocked axles in the back (so you don’t see them through the body) and is also much larger. Another minor change is that everything is cut from the same wood thickness, [...]

First Chinese language book with some laser cut toys!

Jon — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:03:27 +0000

It’s not everyday that you pickup a Chinese language book and inside, you find wooden laser cut designs but my wife’s new book has just that! Back Story For close to a year and a half, I had the adventure of living in China… beforehand living in a few other countries such as Korea, Philippines, Australia (more on that later) as well as a few stop overs along the way. WoodMarvels.com interestingly enough, started in a shoebox sized apartment in [...]

Pet Peeves: Design competitions asking for paid submissions

Jon — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:01:15 +0000

I started seeing a trend a few years back and it only seems to be getting worse… that of companies asking designers to submit amazing designs but having to pay for each entry. Reasons to charge Design websites and magazines, struggling to make ends meet, have discovered an easy way to get some creative work while generating revenue at the same time… using design competitions. Sometimes, if you read the fine print… they actually OWN your design even if you [...]

David’s Bobcat CNC project is now available!

Jon — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:50:43 +0000

David’s original Bobcat design, meant for lasers, is now available for CNC routers… I had to redesign it and at the same time, did a few of the upgrades that are also present in his MK3 versions as well. The best of both worlds (for a CNC router!). The dimensions of the final Bobcat are L: 30cm, W: 12cm, H: 19cm if you are using 6mm thick plywood and both the 3D assembly animation and live cutting video are available [...]

CNC Backlog: 8 Upcoming Projects!

Jon — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 02:01:36 +0000

I spent the whole day CNC’ing today with my ShopBot Desktop and wanted to give an update… so far, there are 8 new projects tested and ready for launch – the hold-up? Well, the same as it has been for the last year… rendering bottleneck. Basically, I have one computer rendering 24/7 as it is the assembly animations and on top of that, a few Industrial 3D animations so while I wait for my computer to plow through all this [...]

Zopim on WoodMarvels.com

Jon — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:50:24 +0000

Earlier in the week I had the great pleasure to spend two days at 3D Systems and talk to a bunch of incredible people… one of which was Gil at BotMill.com. He introduced me to Zopim and now you can find it on both WoodMarvels.com and 3DMarvels.com… when I’m logged in (otherwise you don’t have a chat window on the sites available). Will be fun to be able to chat real-time a few hours a day (at random) with customers [...]