As I've mentioned before, template sales seem to come in waves. I won't sell any templates for a couple of weeks and then all of a sudden, I'll be drilling 10 templates that week. So seems to be the case for new template designs. This week, I received 3 requests for new template designs: a spiral, the "29" shaped board and an intriguing request to downsize the size of the Standard Tournament model by a few inches (more on why it's intriguing in a moment). Since I don't do my templates in CAD, new template designs pose a challenge - how to make new templates using existing templates. For the "29" shaped board, I can print out a picture of a "29" shaped cribbage board, enlarge it to size I want and then spray mount the picture onto piece of wood and use it as rough guide to make the template. For the spiral board, I can draw a perfect spiral with Adobe Illustrator and then paste the picture spiral picture down and drill accordingly, using the spiral line as a guide for the center hole (for a 3 player board).
The third and most intriguing request came from someone who recently bought the tournament style template, but didn't realize till he received it, that it was longer than he expected by about 3-4 inches. The gentleman was looking for a tournament board template to match the length of his existing tournament board which had been made by a gentleman named Roy Boyles. A little bit more investigation showed Roy used to sell this size of tournament board (around 19 inches long) through ads he placed in the ACC newsletter and then all proceeds from his sales were donated directly to the Lymphona Society.
So I offered to make him a template to match Roy's board (as close as I reasonably can) and he will loan me Roy's board, so I can take measurements from it.
Apparently, at ACC sanctioned tournaments, the standard tournament board used is around 19 inches long. I have never attended an ACC tournament and thus, I didn't know this. (I really should get out more). I looked around on the Internet a little bit and could not find anyone who sells 19" tournament boards. My tourney boards are typically 22-23" long. One place sold a 29" long tourney boards and yet another place sold tourney boards that are only 15" long.
Roy has stopped selling his tournament boards, but he still gets requests for them. So...this gentleman was kind enough to offer an introduction of sorts between myself and Roy, with the intent that I could possibly fill the niche left by Roy and offer for sale these size of tournament boards.
It's an exciting proposal, so we'll see.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
A Silly Slogan on Some Enumero "Schwag"
I wandered over to CafePress last week and put together a small collection of Enumero Cribbage Board "schwag". Just a picture with the Enumero website location didn't seem like enough, so I decided to make the "schwag" functional as well fashionable. With Enumero "Schwag", not only will you look cool and hip and stylish at your next Cribbage Tournament, you can indulge your desire to find a suitable cribbage partner with the humorous slogan, "I'm Begging for Some Pegging...". The image and slogan is available on thong underwear, T-Shirts, mugs, hats and bumper stickers.
Here is the location:
http://www.cafepress.com/enumerocribbage
And for those of you who would like to point some of the other definitions of "pegging" (aside those related to Cribbage), I'm way ahead of you. Urban Dictionary.com actually gives (ironically) 19 definitions for "peg".
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=peg
Here is the location:
http://www.cafepress.com/enumerocribbage
And for those of you who would like to point some of the other definitions of "pegging" (aside those related to Cribbage), I'm way ahead of you. Urban Dictionary.com actually gives (ironically) 19 definitions for "peg".
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=peg
Some Random Thoughts about Self-Centering Bits and Crib Templates
The holes in most of templates I sell are 1/8" and are meant to be drilled straight through with a 1/8" bits. I prefer cobalt bits since they drill very clean. So I don't believe the templates I sell will work with self-centering drill bits. As we all know, 1/8" is the most common size for cribbage pegs.
I see the closest you can get to 1/8" is 7/64" in terms of self centering bits? The problem with self centering bits (and my templates) is that there is no recess for the outer shank of the self-centering bit, like you would find on a hinge. Alternatively, you could have a drill template with a hole big enough to accommodate the outer shank of the self-centering bit. For example, Rockler's shelf-hole jigs work this way.
These folks:
http://www.coastaltool.com/a/ab/snappy/self_centering.htm
sell a 7/64" self centering bit which works with a #6 screw. I include #6 screws with my templates, so it seems like its close...but I know from experience that some pegs don't always sit right in 7/64" holes vs. 1/8" holes. So even if this did work, you might have to go back and re-drill everything at 1/8".
That said...Rockler sells cribbage templates and they sell self-centering bits to with the templates. See this URL:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10120&filter=cribbage%20template
As far as hitting the drill bit hitting the edge of the hole on the template or the bit missing the hole or the drill bit wandering , I've never given that one much thought. I drill pretty fast, and if I miss the target hole and start to drill a "new" hole in the plastic template, I simply stop, put some Tightbond II Glue in the "new" hole, cover it with a very small piece of blue tape and move on. Needless to say, some of my more well used templates have a lot of "new" holes filled with glue. But it adds character to the template. It shows that it’s well loved.
Could you make templates to accept countersink drill bits?
Unfortunately, I can't really make templates to accept a self-centering bit due to the fact that I "clone" my plastic templates from metal templates which were originally made on a CAD drilling machine. In order for me to make ones that could take self centering bits, I would have to drill a regular template, and then enlarge each hole to fit the cap or insert piece of self centering bit. Given how close the holes are to each other on some of the templates, I can't guarantee that this would work so well. Holes too close together in plastic might lead to problems - making the templates too brittle? Alternatively, I could countersink, the edge of each template hole, similar to the way they do for hinge holes, but this would likely take a long time and would probably wear out my good countersink bit. :->
These folks sell a very nice countersink bit - that might work - but I can't guarantee how well it will do in plastic. Just a thought. :-> I use this bit (and their wood threading tools) to tap holes and make threaded caps for crib pegs in the crib board.
http://www.bealltool.com/products/threading/countersink.php
I see the closest you can get to 1/8" is 7/64" in terms of self centering bits? The problem with self centering bits (and my templates) is that there is no recess for the outer shank of the self-centering bit, like you would find on a hinge. Alternatively, you could have a drill template with a hole big enough to accommodate the outer shank of the self-centering bit. For example, Rockler's shelf-hole jigs work this way.
These folks:
http://www.coastaltool.com/a/ab/snappy/self_centering.htm
sell a 7/64" self centering bit which works with a #6 screw. I include #6 screws with my templates, so it seems like its close...but I know from experience that some pegs don't always sit right in 7/64" holes vs. 1/8" holes. So even if this did work, you might have to go back and re-drill everything at 1/8".
That said...Rockler sells cribbage templates and they sell self-centering bits to with the templates. See this URL:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10120&filter=cribbage%20template
As far as hitting the drill bit hitting the edge of the hole on the template or the bit missing the hole or the drill bit wandering , I've never given that one much thought. I drill pretty fast, and if I miss the target hole and start to drill a "new" hole in the plastic template, I simply stop, put some Tightbond II Glue in the "new" hole, cover it with a very small piece of blue tape and move on. Needless to say, some of my more well used templates have a lot of "new" holes filled with glue. But it adds character to the template. It shows that it’s well loved.
Could you make templates to accept countersink drill bits?
Unfortunately, I can't really make templates to accept a self-centering bit due to the fact that I "clone" my plastic templates from metal templates which were originally made on a CAD drilling machine. In order for me to make ones that could take self centering bits, I would have to drill a regular template, and then enlarge each hole to fit the cap or insert piece of self centering bit. Given how close the holes are to each other on some of the templates, I can't guarantee that this would work so well. Holes too close together in plastic might lead to problems - making the templates too brittle? Alternatively, I could countersink, the edge of each template hole, similar to the way they do for hinge holes, but this would likely take a long time and would probably wear out my good countersink bit. :->
These folks sell a very nice countersink bit - that might work - but I can't guarantee how well it will do in plastic. Just a thought. :-> I use this bit (and their wood threading tools) to tap holes and make threaded caps for crib pegs in the crib board.
http://www.bealltool.com/products/threading/countersink.php
Friday, May 22, 2009
19 States, Quarters & Caps
I keep track of a lot of metrics around the selling of my cribbage and chess boards. I keep track of which states I've sold in and I've been hovering around 32 states for a while. I figure I have a long way to go before I hit the 51st state, seeing how I have to sell boards to crib players in another 19 states, but I've already planned how commemorate when I finally hit the 51st state. The 51st state buyer will receive their board with their state's quarter inlaid into the bottom of the board. I'm counting the District of Columbia as a separate state, BTW. For the curious, here's a list of the 19 remaining states to be sold in: Arkansas - Delaware - Illinois - Louisiana - Maine - Missouri - Montana - Nebraska - Nevada - New Hampshire - New Mexico - North Dakota - Oklahoma - Rhode Island - Tennessee - Utah - Vermont - West Virginia - Wyoming. Since I turn my own threaded caps from hardwood dowels, I decide to start numerically numbering boards with their caps. This be will just another fun way of keeping track of the numeric order in which boards are sold. So for example, if you bought board #168, the bottom of the screw cap on your board would have the number "#168" etched onto it. The number will be on the bottom of the cap (below the threads so as not to be visible).
Price Fixation
Since I'm just about done drilling the 150+ boards that have been in the work queue for the last year or so, I can start to turn my attention to actually finishing and releasing the new series (there are 22 new series). I will try and finish and release a couple of series at a time. With a few exceptions, there probably won't that many boards under $15 anymore. Back in the day, I sold boards for as little as $3. There will still be a fair amount of boards under $20 though. Most of the more expensive boards (any board selling for over $29) will come with free shipping, free deck of sealed playing cards, etc. I really struggle with pricing and I will continue to - since I don't want to price my work so high I never sell anything, but not so low - that people question the quality and/or workmanship. Cribbage boards can be bought for as cheap as couple of dollars, so charging $50 or $100 for board can be a little challenging. Based on my own experience, I know what sells in that price range, albeit slower.
100th Template Sold and the lucky buyer got some "Schwag"
I zoomed right by the 100th Template sold and the lucky buyer got some "Schwag". I thought I wouldn't hit the 100th template sold until Mid-June, but I was off by a month. The 100th template sold on May 15th, via eBay. The lucky buyer of the 100th template received a complimentary "Schwag Pack" which included an EnumeroCribbageboards.com T-Shirt and a set of 8 fancy pegs. For those of you keeping score, the 100th template was a 2 Player Continuous Track Compact Model. I've also noticed that template sales seem to come in batches. For example, the last batch of templates ( a total of 8 templates ) all sold between during a 5 day period. And it looks like I will have some more "Factory Seconds" of templates to sell sometime in June. If I make a template and don't like it, then it ends up in the "Factory Seconds" pile. Once I get about 10 templates in the pile, I sell the whole lot on Ebay. The factory seconds are not counted in the template sold count. Nor do they have labels and they are not numbered, like the regular templates. Since I've cracked a 100 templates sold mark, I'm won't update the template count for a while. I'll just leave it at "100+" sold. I surprised myself how quickly I hit a 100 templates sold - it took just under a year. I started selling templates in late May of 2008.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Got both motors running - an amateur's guide to upgrading your Hitachi Resaw Bandsaw
I've noticed that the price on the current model of the Hitachi Resaw Bandsaw is now a wallet busting $3700 @ amazon.com. I've also noticed along with the higher price, is a bigger 2.8 HP motor. As per amazon's website: "The motor is a powerful 2.8 HP that you can upgrade and attach to the side mount with ease for that extra power." I guess someone in R&D @ Hitachi noticed that people tend to do the motor upgrade, swapping out the smaller 1.5 Hp motor and thought they'd join the party. Speaking as someone who as just successfully completed the upgrade on their fairly old 600A model (the predecessor to the current model), I couldn't be happier with the results. The saw just cuts and cuts and cuts. NO MORE BOGGING DOWN! So...for the curious here is a brief synopsis of what I did and how I did it. Keep in mind, I am not a professional, strictly an amateur who is not afraid to cut upgrade his tools. My total cost for the motor upgrade was about $300. I did all the work myself - took about 4-5 hours total. The best part of the upgrade was finding a NEW 5HP Baldor Motor on ebay, for a fairly decent price.
Now the title says, "Got both motors running"... The original motor on the saw, which I had thought had died, thus prompting me to finally upgrade it to a bigger motor, still works. In fact, I took all of the original power cords, etc. off the saw, plugged it in, and it fired right up. It was released back into the wild via ebay.
A couple of things to keep in mind. The rated RPM of the existing motor is about 900 rpm (according to the Hitachi Manual). Thus, depending on the RPM of the replacement motor, you should shoot for that as well. Turns out it's pretty easy to calculate using this URL:
http://www.temecularodrun.com/ref/rpm_calc.asp
There are 3 known values and one unknown, which is the NEW pulley size, assuming you don't reuse the old double pulley.
RPM Drive Motor: 1725
Drive Pulley Size: ???
Driven Pulley Size: 5"
Desired RPM: 900
The calculator then says I need a drive pulley (pulley on the motor) of 2.61 inches. I erred on the size of caution and I got one that was 2.75 inches. A 2.75 pulley gives an RPM of 949. Close enough! A 3250 RPM motor would need a pulley around 1.4".
So the next problem to solve was how to mount the thing to the saw. I was able to mount it "simply" by drilling some new holes in the motor mount plate and the saw's exterior mounting plate. I had to drill an elongated hole, so the bolt that sits at the bottom of the plate and allows you to adjust the belt tension, would simply slide through. The metal is thick, so I used a Cobalt bit and lots of cutting oil.
Once the new motor was mounted it seem to line up pretty well with the other pulley. Next, I put the motor's pulley on and wired in the new switch. I mounted the magnetic switch a small piece of plywood and used the old switch's mounting holes to mount the plywood.
The default rotation of the motor was backwards, so I had to reverse the motor direction as per the motor's wiring diagram. So...make sure you buy a reversible motor!
Now, everything is mounted and wired, it was time to put the belt cover back on. Of course it didn't fit with the new bigger motor - so I cut a hole in the belt cover where the pulley shaft of the motor was, to allow the shaft to "stick out" beyond the edge of the belt cover.
The old motor weighed about 15#. The new motor weighs about 85#.
Here is synopsis of parts/prices:
=================================
Motor: 5 HP Baldor 1725 RPM, 220V 21 AMP Motor. Frame 184T.
Source: Ebay.com
Cost: $225 (new).
Switch: 5 HP Rated 220V Magnetic Switch
Source: Taken from the Rockwell-Delta disk/belt sander combo machine
Cost: $0 (but I will have to replace the sander's switch and that will cost ~ $10)
Pulley: 2.7" OD 1-1/8" Bore 2-Groove 'B' Belt Pulley Maska
Source: ebay.com
Cost: $35
Belts: 2 48" Long New Goodyear V-belts (old belts were 45" long and just a little too short)
Source: Local auto-parts store
Cost: $41
Mounting Bolts with rubber washers inside the bolt
Source: Hardware Store
Cost: $2
Cord/Plugs: Heavy duty 220V power cord and 220V Twist n' Lock Plug
Source: The Shop
Cost: $0
Now the title says, "Got both motors running"... The original motor on the saw, which I had thought had died, thus prompting me to finally upgrade it to a bigger motor, still works. In fact, I took all of the original power cords, etc. off the saw, plugged it in, and it fired right up. It was released back into the wild via ebay.
A couple of things to keep in mind. The rated RPM of the existing motor is about 900 rpm (according to the Hitachi Manual). Thus, depending on the RPM of the replacement motor, you should shoot for that as well. Turns out it's pretty easy to calculate using this URL:
http://www.temecularodrun.com/ref/rpm_calc.asp
There are 3 known values and one unknown, which is the NEW pulley size, assuming you don't reuse the old double pulley.
RPM Drive Motor: 1725
Drive Pulley Size: ???
Driven Pulley Size: 5"
Desired RPM: 900
The calculator then says I need a drive pulley (pulley on the motor) of 2.61 inches. I erred on the size of caution and I got one that was 2.75 inches. A 2.75 pulley gives an RPM of 949. Close enough! A 3250 RPM motor would need a pulley around 1.4".
So the next problem to solve was how to mount the thing to the saw. I was able to mount it "simply" by drilling some new holes in the motor mount plate and the saw's exterior mounting plate. I had to drill an elongated hole, so the bolt that sits at the bottom of the plate and allows you to adjust the belt tension, would simply slide through. The metal is thick, so I used a Cobalt bit and lots of cutting oil.
Once the new motor was mounted it seem to line up pretty well with the other pulley. Next, I put the motor's pulley on and wired in the new switch. I mounted the magnetic switch a small piece of plywood and used the old switch's mounting holes to mount the plywood.
The default rotation of the motor was backwards, so I had to reverse the motor direction as per the motor's wiring diagram. So...make sure you buy a reversible motor!
Now, everything is mounted and wired, it was time to put the belt cover back on. Of course it didn't fit with the new bigger motor - so I cut a hole in the belt cover where the pulley shaft of the motor was, to allow the shaft to "stick out" beyond the edge of the belt cover.
The old motor weighed about 15#. The new motor weighs about 85#.
Here is synopsis of parts/prices:
=================================
Motor: 5 HP Baldor 1725 RPM, 220V 21 AMP Motor. Frame 184T.
Source: Ebay.com
Cost: $225 (new).
Switch: 5 HP Rated 220V Magnetic Switch
Source: Taken from the Rockwell-Delta disk/belt sander combo machine
Cost: $0 (but I will have to replace the sander's switch and that will cost ~ $10)
Pulley: 2.7" OD 1-1/8" Bore 2-Groove 'B' Belt Pulley Maska
Source: ebay.com
Cost: $35
Belts: 2 48" Long New Goodyear V-belts (old belts were 45" long and just a little too short)
Source: Local auto-parts store
Cost: $41
Mounting Bolts with rubber washers inside the bolt
Source: Hardware Store
Cost: $2
Cord/Plugs: Heavy duty 220V power cord and 220V Twist n' Lock Plug
Source: The Shop
Cost: $0
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