Philip Streeting

Thursday, 11 April 2019

New piece

Title: Organic

Mixed media

Spindle turned sycamore, pyro textured, stained with an oil finish.

Top section 3D printed with Ebony wood filament,

post processed with surface sanding followed by stain and oil finish.

Height excluding base: 31cm

Width excluding base: 7cm

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

In 2016 I purchased the Stepcraft 420 kit and was frustrated by the build. The machine made nasty noises on testing and I assumed that I had not got the construction quite right.

The software was complex and so instead I bought the Trend Mini to begin my learning process, much easier to get to grips with. I will still use the Mini for small work and mould making but I wanted to do larger stuff so I have gone back to the Stepcraft. A quick phone call to the supplier revealed that the construction was fine and all that was need was a fine tuning of the 'y' axis - the grotty noises disappeared. At the same time I purchased upgrades to the machine adding new spindle, spindle speed control box, a 4th axis with tailstock and an enclosure which I am still waiting to be delivered.

I had to partially deconstruct the machine to do axis tuning and to install the 4th axis control board. I had some help to alter the software installation. After a few teething problems the machine is set up and ready to go.

I can now extend my work to include smallish 3d sculptural pieces, textural panels and experiment more with bowl forms. A couple of pics and a quick vid below show parts of the new setup.

Friday, 7 September 2018

Imported wood

Just imported some beech from Europe, 1.25 cu. ft. @ £244 per cubic foot may seem somewhat expensive but some interesting work will be forthcoming, I hope.