Status Rings with Cases

Whipped up a few custom cases for the new status rings I added to the shop this spring.  They just use scrap leather for the lid and came out pretty well!

Testimonial: Greyhound Guitar Strap

Note: These each came in a couple minutes apart.


"IT IS BEAUTIFUL"



"I can't thank you enough for all your hard work and keeping me updated. The dog hairs are a perfect touch too; he just wanted to contribute!"
(Our dog Max contributed several hairs to the stitching on the guitar strap 😁)


"I'm going to get a good picture and post a review today I hope. Thank you, again. He loves it!"

Guitar Strap, Greyhound II

The client was looking for a personal gift for their partner's upcoming birthday and really liked a Greyhound guitar strap I'd made years ago.  We adapted and updated that design using the silhouette from their resident Greyhound (who has the goofiest ears).  There wasn't enough notice to have the guitar strap to them in time for the birthday but I was able to send them some WIP pictures just in time.

Guitar Strap, American Idol

I'm making some guesses here that the client in this case was a young woman who'se a big fan of Laine Hardy.  I confess I had to google who that was but he's the latest winner of the American Idol show.  The client and some of her friends were going to be meeting Mr. Hardy later in the month and they wanted a gift to give him so they asked me to make a custom guitar strap.

This was a bit tricky given my ignorance of Mr. Hardy or American Idol but at least there's a ton of photos I could use for reference.  I tried to combine elements of the guitar straps Mr. Hardy was using in those photos with the specs provided by the client and the result wasn't too bad.  I might've wished for the coloring on the flame to have turned out a bit stronger but the rest of the staining came out perfectly.

Map, Homebrew

This started as one of those "We scribbled a map on some loose leaf paper in high school and we've been using it ever since" maps.  I love those!  Fun to give the full cartography treatment and I'm sure it'll make a great gift for the DM!

Ping Pong Paddle Case

Meant to be a gift for an avid table-tennis player this case was custom fit to a specific vintage paddle of choice.  The internal structure was 3D printed, lined in deerskin, and the exterior shell is oiled and milled leather.  Took a couple tries to get the sizing of the lid right but it came out pretty nice in the end.

Map, Custom Homebrew

I don't think I ever caught the name of this world but I like the distribution of the elements.  Got all your basic fantasy necessities too!

Map, Edinburgh

Kinda nice to do a small map every now and again.

DIY Laser filter

Since I received the lasercutter at the start of the year I've been venting the exhaust out a convenient window as recommended by the safety guidelines.  I was politely, and very reasonably, informed by our local municipality recently that venting it like that was against the local bylaws.  Fortunately they were able to let me continue running the laser through the week so I could keep up production and I was able to find a work-around before it became a huge work stoppage.

There are powered air filters that can be used with this model so that the venting isn't necessary.  Unfortunately they're both not for sale and not available outside the US.  Every time I operate the laser it generates some amount of smoke or exhaust (usually pretty minimal amounts) but it wouldn't be safe to let it pile up in the air of the workshop.  As a rule I'm not burning anything toxic, but you wouldn't want to be breathing in woodsmoke every day either.  So without a filter or venting out a window I wouldn't be able to safely operate the laser.

Fortunately, the Lasercutter Lab (LCL) down in Austin, TX has publicly posted plans for a DIY air filter for lasercutters that was really useful.  Their schematic requires some tools and materials I couldn't practically get a hold of but I was able to adapt the design to use the materials I did have available.  It's basically a filing-cabinet size box with a whole bunch of off-the-shelf air filters in it to collect all the particulates in the laser exhaust.  Every quarter I'll have to replace all the filters and it doesn't stop the workshop from smelling like smoke if I do a lot of cutting, but it's proven to be a pretty workable solution so far.

Map, Bloodstone Lands

Really happy with how the tinting turned out on this one

Map, Golarion

A big ol' map of Golarion, the standard Pathfinder setting!