I guess you get what you ask for!

After re-reading my last post, I noticed that I said I wanted to work on something a little smaller than the giant key!
Our latest build is quite a bit smaller at 12" X 12"
It's a generic game board for a Toyota commercial. I got the inquiry Saturday, for delivery to set on Wednesday for pre-light.
So Monday was spent doing all the drawings, sending them off, changing everything, sending them off, etc, etc, etc!
The graphics were the biggest debate, but by 5:00 today they were all signed off on.

Even though the graphics were up in the air, the layout of the game was already finalized, so I could get started this morning. The main game-board was pocket milled on our small Techno cnc.

 I originally was going to use .060" black styrene, and glue it to the face of the board. But that ended early as I didn't actually have any 060 black! So I decided to pocket mill the frame for the icons into the base plate, then use 1/8" black pvc, this would look the same in the end, but the pocket milling made sure the frame got glued up in the exact right spot.

I also pocket milled the corners of the board as well. These will eventually get grass pads snapped in, and after the Fisher-Price miniatures we did, we got tons of miniature grass at the shop!

The actual disk that spins was 7" in diameter, and was pocket milled for the upright that will hold the car image, as well as the round grass pad. The arrow tip also got pocketed, for a recessed red arrow tip.

They wanted a raised frame around the image of the car on the upright portion. There are a bunch of ways to tackle this, but I opted for mirrored frames glued to each side of a 1/8" matching cutout.

The edges of glued up styrene can look a little crappy, so when I drew the file, I allowed extra material to be routed of with a 1/4" bearing flush cutter. I made a jig that was the "actual" size, and taped it to the part, then cleaned it up with the router.

A little hard to see, but cleaned up really well with the flush cutter.

I cut all the grass pad backing plates from .060" styrene. These will get the grass glued to them, so I can trim the grass easily, and just drop them in with some glue.

At this point, the graphics were all approved, so I was able to get them on the game board. They look pretty good!

 Because the image of the car on the game is a 3/4 perspective shot, it makes dealing with the tires on flat ground very difficult. They're all at different heights. So I chose a pretty deep pile grass mat in hopes to hide where the tires ended a little bit.

The spinner looks great with the grass put down. Or should I say "grown" Plus the deep pile grass solved the tire problems.

The final game looks great! They haven't decided on a final color for the car, so we printed off all 3 options, and they'll apply the final choice on the day!

This was a pretty sweet break from the last 2 jobs. It's nice to sit at a table and build for a change!
8)
JWO

I need a bigger keychain!

 Today we got the paint on all the pieces of the key job. I can't discuss the other parts of the build, so we're just documenting the key portion.

 The blade of the key got cut from 2 layers of 1/2" black pvc. 16" X 18" is a pretty big key blade for sure! All of these parts were drawn and toolpathed right in Aspire 4. It's awesome when you can keep the computer part all in one program!

We painted the shaft and transition rings separately, then assembled them when they dried. This got painted it's finish coat with Rustoleum gloss black laquer, so the dry time was pretty sweet.

after about 20 minutes, we were able to start the assembly of the blade to the shaft. The blade was attached with screws from the inside of the tube. A little tight, but I won in the end!

It was a little awkward getting the key top into position, but with the collar fitting over the tube, the fit was perfect. This will get secured with a couple of screws to pin the handle to the shaft.

By the end of the day, we had everything finished and ready for the install tomorrow. Little Jody is completely dwarfed by that colossal key! A short deadline, but a fun job. Although I really feel like working on something small for a change!
8)
JWO

The Hardware store won't be duplicating this key!

Today I got started on the transition piece that blends the key handle to the shaft. This is a series of HDU rings that will be all glued up. The smaller rings needed only to be 1" thick, so I profile cut them on the Techno cnc from a 2" piece. Then I simply set the table saw fence to 1" and split them in half. I also filed some channels into them for gluing. I could have toolpathed this right into the file, but I wasn't thinking that far ahead yet!

I've got a huge 1.25" radius round over bit, and I wanted to use it on the rings. But due to the fact that it's a bearing cutter, I used the Techno like an overhead router and spun them manually. A little freaky with the cutter spinning at 8000 rpm!

With the sections all put together, this is what the transition piece will look like. I stacked 2 rings together for the larger ones, for a total of 4". Pretty big stuff.

Jody and Anna worked on cleaning up the handle a little before paint, while I cut some pieces for another NDA job.

With the glue seams taken care of, and a little filler here and there, it was ready for paint. I really like using the 1 part epoxy garage floor paint as an HDU primer. It fills the pin holes pretty good, is waterbased, and unlike latex, you can sand it when it dries. We wont be doing this key with an automotive finish, but it's still going to be glossy.

The shaft of the key got cut to the right size, and sanded for paint as well. Although by 5 o'clock, I really wanted to use it as a golf club against that pesky Fisher-Price moon that keeps getting in the way. Stupid moon. Maybe I'll get to hang it tomorrow before I line drive it down the street!

8)
JWO