Visualization?

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MontuckyMadman
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Visualization?

Post by MontuckyMadman »

Visualization:

Just a ramble, but who else works similarly?
I find that I must see or visualize all my intricate actions prior to the process. Before I begin a new task that I have never done, I find I have to work through all the scenarios in my head in different degrees prior to my attempting the task. If I am not able to see these details I am slow to get started. With some things I can dive in and just cut and build but with more intricate and detailed tasks with relation to design and ski building I have many days of just thinking through all these details.

I frequently go to my ski building buddy with an end goal and a number of things I know I don't want to do because they don't work and he usually helps me choose the right path while avoiding the pitfalls I have already thought through or seen online.

This site and the interweb are huge helps in this process of developing process.
I can sometimes say, 'no, cant do it like that because I saw that done on here and the outcome was not what I want' OR 'man, I should really do it like so and so because that is wayyy easier and what I am looking for'.

So who else has this 3D interpolative structure before their start or are you so awesome you just know everything and do it right first time out da box?
sammer wrote: I'm still a tang on top guy.
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chrismp
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Re: Visualization?

Post by chrismp »

MontuckyMadman wrote:So who else has this 3D interpolative structure before their start or are you so awesome you just know everything and do it right first time out da box?
i think brazen is the only one who falls into the last category :D judging from his posts he's kinda the chuck norris of snowboard building ;)
OAC
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Post by OAC »

This was a modest post from you MM!
It's so familiar! But I thought this was part of the whole package? I've recently gone thru the same process, renovating my bathroom. I took some time...
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falls
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Post by falls »

I think part of the problem is that I don't want a pair of skis to fail - partly because of money, but more a wish to avoid disappointment and the amount of time it takes me to make one pair.
One of the major problems with building a pair of skis is that you have to pretty well make the whole thing in one go. Once you have started the epoxy mixing there is a finite amount of time to get the job done. As a result you really need to be prepared for any possibility in the process, and part of this is having every minute step mapped out beforehand.
At out small volumes throwing away a pair every few pairs is just not acceptable.
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
skidesmond
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Re: Visualization?

Post by skidesmond »

MontuckyMadman wrote:Visualization:

Just a ramble, but who else works similarly?
I find that I must see or visualize all my intricate actions prior to the process. Before I begin a new task that I have never done, I find I have to work through all the scenarios in my head in different degrees prior to my attempting the task. If I am not able to see these details I am slow to get started. With some things I can dive in and just cut and build but with more intricate and detailed tasks with relation to design and ski building I have many days of just thinking through all these details.

I frequently go to my ski building buddy with an end goal and a number of things I know I don't want to do because they don't work and he usually helps me choose the right path while avoiding the pitfalls I have already thought through or seen online.

This site and the interweb are huge helps in this process of developing process.
I can sometimes say, 'no, cant do it like that because I saw that done on here and the outcome was not what I want' OR 'man, I should really do it like so and so because that is wayyy easier and what I am looking for'.

So who else has this 3D interpolative structure before their start or are you so awesome you just know everything and do it right first time out da box?
Holy Crap! Stay out of my head! ;)

I'm pretty much the same way. I'll work through as much of the details as I can before embarking on something new. It may look like procrastination/daydreaming on the outside but on the inside the brain is churning away. For instance when I watch TV (especially baseball) I'm not really watching TV at all, I'm designing a new jig for ski building or designing something for the house... Sometimes I'll sketch it out on paper.

Recently I was making a jewelry cabinet and didn't think it all the way through first, the tiny mistakes kept adding up and eventually it sat unfurnished for about a year, then ended up in the fire pit in the back yard. I was so glad to get rid of it.

Like Falls pointed out making mistakes can be costly and time consuming.
twizzstyle
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Post by twizzstyle »

I have a tendency to do all of my projects up in CAD (Solidworks), be it ski building or not. When building the CAD model I am basically going through the same actions I'll be going through in real life (cutting, drilling, facing, turning, whatever). It's a good way of figuring out if something is going to be doable or not, at least from the machining side of things. Failing that, it's hard to beat some good rough sketches and a second set of eyes.

There are still times when I start building something with no real plan in mind, and honestly that can be the most fun (but its usually the slowest and most expensive, given the inevitable mistakes). I'm sure I'm not the only person here who has gone to the hardware store, wandered around grabbing a random collection of parts, and sat on the floor in the middle of an aisle arranging things to build some contraption, using parts in a completely different manner than their original intent. I call it "hardware store engineering".

The autofeed for my base grinder I built with no real plan in mind, and it turned out awesome. I'm currently making a pneumatically-actuated thermoplastic injection molding machine - why, I'm not entirely sure, it just seemed like the right thing to do :? Started with no plans for that, it's just evolving each day I work on it.
COsurfer
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Post by COsurfer »

I jump into tasks with virtually no plan and try to figure it out as I go. As an example I had to make 5 boards before I made a good one. It is a lack of patients on my part but I really enjoy the challenge. I would lose interest if I spent months planning something. Its also a more expensive way to build things! Funny how we all build differently.
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MontuckyMadman
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Post by MontuckyMadman »

twizzstyle wrote: I'm currently making a pneumatically-actuated thermoplastic injection molding machine - why, I'm not entirely sure, it just seemed like the right thing to do :? Started with no plans for that, it's just evolving each day I work on it.
For what?
sammer wrote: I'm still a tang on top guy.
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Brazen
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Post by Brazen »

It's so great you guys are here. I'm pretty sure that if I didn't see myself getting out of bed and tying my shoes that I'd still be in bed, so I personally feel visualization forms intent which then moves through your hands. I've spent the last 2 weeks refining a shape and flex pattern and cutting a new mold for it, with the accompanying files in solidworks, probably 20 damn drawings. If you walked into the shop, it would look like there's been exactly none progress. I wake up thinking about snowboards. I go to sleep thinking about snowboards. I bought a drag-knife that doesn't work for inlay, it's too small and no amount of "right cut hole, left cut inlay ad nauseum" seems to work with a straight bit on my cnc. I love this sport way too much I guess and there are those days that all of us have (I hope I'm not the only one) where we're inept as a retarded baby poking itself repeatedly in the eye with a spoon while it throws 100 dollar bills into the fire. It's an assload of forethought and planning, and even then sometimes I just hold my head on my hand and wonder if I will ever achieve the results/quality I demand from myself. I have to go drink more beer now :)

Chris, I chuckled all afternoon and MM whenever I need to laugh I still go to that ski banana post :D

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twizzstyle
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Post by twizzstyle »

MontuckyMadman wrote:
twizzstyle wrote: I'm currently making a pneumatically-actuated thermoplastic injection molding machine - why, I'm not entirely sure, it just seemed like the right thing to do :? Started with no plans for that, it's just evolving each day I work on it.
For what?
Cliff notes: My car has a cheesy key with separate alarm fob. I want them combined. I modeled my own integrated key in SolidWorks, then used my CNC to machine some molds. Now I'm building the injection machine to make the parts out of ABS. 90% confident it won't work at all, but that's not the point. It's just a fun project to tinker on, and a good way to learn CNC (my machine only has a realistic working area of about 3.5" x 6"... so I'm limited to small stuff, until I build a larger machine for ski stuff)
strangesnowboarding
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Post by strangesnowboarding »

brazen
i feel you 100% and i am lucky enough to be surrounded by people who believe in the the same thing. visualization starts in my sleep and everything else is just go go go. progress can only really be made through failure in my opinion, you learn real lessons, at least that has proven to be true at the factory up here. also there is no substitute for working hands on. CAD/CAM is the most revolutionary tool we can use nowadays but you become fixated on designing instead of crafting.

that being said planning and foresight get you to the point where you have to make that all important decision. good planning means that you dont make stupid mistakes and only the big learning curve ones. that is what separates "failures" from "research and development"

remember that materials just cost money but education is forever. dive in headfirst without looking but make sure that you are on the high dive in the deep end.
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falls
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Post by falls »

90% confident it won't work at all
Gold:)
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
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