Noah B Woodworks

A woodworking page for the free time foot soldier

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about

Hello there! My name is Noah Budd and I am a woodworker from southeast Michigan. I hail from a small set of towns in the Upper Peninsula called Houghton/Hancock. I lived there for 24 of my 31 years, and graduated from Michigan Tech in 2019 in audio production.

In my free time I am a dad first and hobbyist second. I make music, read books, smoke pipes, and kayak fish. I am a broadcast engineer in my professional life, working an early morning 3:30 – 11:30 am shift. The early bird has most definitely gotten a worm or two.

Thanks for stopping by my site and feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @noahbwoodworks or via the email found on the contact page

-Noah

    • Topo Maps and CAD

      At the end of yesterdays blog post I was exploring ideas for a gift I could make for my dad for Christmas and his birthday. He is a difficult person to get gifts for; a person who needs for nothing. He loves tools though so I figured regifting my not-so-great desktop CNC might be fun for him, but then I got to thinking… It would be really cool to make a topographic map that shows the landscape of where our cabin is located in northern Minnesota. He’s been doing a lot of forestry and ecologic preservation work up there and I figured it might be useful to have a 3d map of the landscape.

      I got to looking and found a website https://touchterrain.geol.iastate.edu/main that generates .stl files. STL files (standard tessellation language) are meshes that fusion 360 and other CAD softwares can read including slicers for 3D printers. It was surprisingly easy to gather an STL of the terrain. You can adjust the Z scaling so the landscape becomes more and more mountainous, almost comically so.

      After a little tweaking I had a mesh and imported it into Fusion. I figured I would go over the top and add labels to some of the landscape that show where each cabin is. I labeled all of our closest friends and family cabins by creating a rectangle and extruding it up through the landscape. I 3D printed a test, and I’d like to do a carve out of wood on the CNC this weekend.

      The 3D printing was tricky, because I had to size it up to get it to print the letters correctly. The slicing software showed me a preview and my initial model had font that was not going to work at all with printing. Also, I found it was better to use multicolored filament because it printed a gradient that was easier to see the change in elevation. I’m thinking I’d like to eventually make a really big one out of wood with little houses/cabins instead of the text letters representing where all of the cabins are. It would be good to do every cabin instead of just the friends of the Budds. I believe there are like 25 or so cabins. It would be a huge task but a good way to positively impact our small community.

      After the holiday season ends, I’ll be looking to finish the looming speaker project for my brother and looking to get back into puzzle box making. I’m doing my best not to lose sight of that. I was thinking it would be fun to make a puzzle box for the people up at our cabin as well, with clues that relate to the geography of the landscape and reiterate some of the history of the association.

    • Holiday Gifts

      Yesterday I finished the Christmas ornaments that I made for my co workers. They’re fun quippy Christmas gnomes with lettering underneath that have been filled with epoxy. I’ve attached a picture to this blog post. While making these I learned a little bit about my CNC. I was hoping to make these ornaments inlaid with wood instead of epoxy, but I was cutting into side grain, which shears the fibers more easily than cutting into the end grain. Also, if you’re going to inlay into side grain, you want to do it on bigger carves on the order of 9 inches by 9 inches or larger. I realized that inlaying wood into these small ornaments just wasn’t going to work so I pivoted and did them in epoxy.

      This weekend I’m thinking about just making something for my mom and dad and not my siblings. My wife and I purchased gifts for everyone already, but I could probably do something special for those two. I was thinking about making my mom and stepdad an embellished or logoed magnetic bottle opener that would hang on their fridge in their new house. My dad is a little more challenging because he’s a guy that needs for nothing. His birthday was yesterday and I asked him if he’s done anything special and he responded by saying it was just another average work day. Made me think I need to go over the top for him this Christmas.

      My dad really enjoys useful items, and as I’m writing this I’m realizing I have a small bench top CNC, practically the smallest and cheapest that you can purchase. It sits in my garage completely unused because I upgraded to a maker CNC last year. It is not the easiest tool to use but it is definitely a really good starting point and would fit into his space really well. Something for my dad to toy around with and improve upon. He’s the type to enjoy a challenge like that and almost always makes the best of something imperfect. It would be interesting to see what he’s able to make with it and if it is even something he would enjoy. I still need to make him something but regifting a hardly used bench top CNC is perhaps a good starting point.

    • Regrouping

      I went through a bit of a literary phase a few weeks ago which prompted me to start writing these blog posts. It’s been just over a month and I’ve stayed disciplined to write these, which is good, but I haven’t stayed disciplined about continuing the habit of reading. It seems as though screens are dominating my life again, and unfortunately I’ve lost some fervor for the books I started reading a while ago. I made it all the way through The Hobbit, part of the way through The Stand by Stephen King and part of the way through The Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien.

      Its a habits thing. I slowly stopped reading and was unable to discipline myself to continue. I fell out of the habit and it has had an effect on my day to day. Books sharpen the mind, so I have most definitely been feeling dull lately. I’ve also started playing chess again which is a terrible distraction and terrible for my mental health. It’s so fun though. It’s winter, so I haven’t been fishing in a while too so I can feel my patience growing shorter and shorter. Patience is a skill that needs practice.

      Alright so back to the woodworking. I’ve got some projects coming up. The ornaments for Christmas are coming along well. The ones for my co workers are almost done. I need to sand the epoxy away, sand and re route the edges, and finish them. I’m thinking I’ll use Osmo for the finish, but it’s tricky because it is winter time. Varnish infused finishes don’t play well in the cold. I’d prefer not to do any finishing in the house because it smells terrible, so I may resort to linseed oil for these. I might just let them soak for a while in a linseed oil bath, and that should do the trick. Linseed oil is Christmassy right?

      Once the Christmas season is over, I will be trying to finish at least one of the boxes for my brother’s sound system. I’ve got a ton of huge miters to do that have been causing me to drag my heels for a very long time on this project. Also, I need to glue together the black walnut face plate and re make the backing plate. Once those are done it should be fairly straight forward, just some mitered, rabbeted, and dadoed joinery, solder together the crossover, mount the speakers and it’ll be ready.

    • Getting Organized

      Last weekend I ran the CNC out in the shop for a while, and while it was running I spent a bunch of time rearranging and reorganizing my shop. I was able to build a little container at the base of my chair seat carving table for all of my old text books. This has 2 advantages: it contains the textbooks nicely out of the way and weighs down the table at the base. I’ve been looking for something to weight this table down and add mass to it, so the textbooks fit there perfectly.

      I realized I need to build a bunch of drawers and I would like to update my miter station to be a little more professional. The next miter station I am looking to make will have a countertop that is level with the miter saw’s cutting surface. There will also be a good amount of cabinets and perhaps better dust collection. Overall I am just looking to update things while the season is slow and cold. There are still some objects without homes, and an entire tool chest that has random objects slung into it. I purchased a small battery operated compressor, more batteries and a small 23 gauge pin nailer over the weekend. These tools should help immensely with the building of drawers. It’s one of those moments where if it’s worth doing it’s worth overdoing.

      I’ve been 3D printing hooks for the last two days. I’ve printed eight large hooks for my cable collection to hang on. That little project finished yesterday and it freed up a ton of space in the drawers of my office desk. The desk drawers still need some help in the organization department so I started printing gridfinity grids. Gridfinity is a storage system that you can 3D print where the grid is made of 42x42mm squares. Little containers nest onto these squares and it helps makers organize their things. My plan is to go bonkers with gridfinity and make as many grids as will fit into my life. My guess is I’ll probably spend at least 10-20 hours printing gridfinity this week and only get a few drawers done. It will be well worth it though to have my stuff put away nicely.

    • Scattered

      We’re in the heat of holiday season. Christmas and new years are just under two weeks away, so I scrambled last weekend to figure out what to make for my co workers and family. I like to make the people who I am closest to in life something nice for the holidays if I can manage it. It seems like Sundays are always scattered for me. I’m either content with the way the woodworking weekend went, or feeling panicked and unsatisfied. Yesterday I felt very unsatisfied but I got a lot of good work done regardless.

      I used a ton of time on Saturday on the computer morning 3D modeling. I finished modeling the rough draft of the camera housing I am looking to 3D print, and made the Gcode for my Christmas gifts in Carveco. This year I’m making small ornaments, but I found a cool 2D black and white image of a bunch of cute Christmas gnomes, and I put quippy sayings under them. For one co worker I wrote “HR’s Favorite” and for another I wrote “Do they know it’s bad?”. Simple one liners. I was looking to use the CNC to inlay contrasting wood into the carving to really make them special. I learned a lot this weekend about inlaying with the CNC.

      If you’re going to inlay with the CNC, you need to do it on something large, and if you’re looking to do fine detailed smaller pieces, they need to be carved into the end grain. Doing small side grain pieces is near impossible, no matter how sharp the bit, because the small fibers will just shear off at the slightest bit of force. I pivoted from that idea and I’m filling the voids with epoxy. Hopefully I’ll still get a decent result. There is a lot of strange geometry as well when inlaying with the CNC. You have to consider everything from the angle of the v-bit you’re using to the depth of the offset for the mating piece. I spent a couple hours on this rabbit hole only to pivot, so that is why I was feeling so unsatisfied yesterday. I learned a lot but I feel like less got done. On to the next.

    • 3D Modeling Practice

      Yesterday I started working on a 3D model in fusion that will hopefully help my video making immensely. My old camera rig lived on a tripod, and has been a work in progress for a very long time. I have a Canon M50, a huge rechargeable USB battery (200mm x 150mm x 30mm), a small PortKeys HDMI confidence monitor and a small Rode mic. The USB battery is used so I don’t have to deal with changing the canon M50’s small rechargeable batteries. This large battery will go all day, but it is cumbersome and difficult to move around. I had it in a gallon zip loc freezer bag that hung from the hook on my cheap tripod’s central stabilizers.

      The 3D model I’m hoping to print and make is a housing for all of that equipment in one singular hard shell case. The battery will lie flat at the bottom, the camera and monitor on top. I’m hoping to have swing arms for the monitor so I can put it in a number of different viewing positions. There will be holes for internal wiring between these parts. I’m also hoping to put handles on either side of the housing so I can hold the camera with two hands. I’m looking to keep using the same tripod, so I’ll be putting a sturdy base at the bottom for the connection point between the tripod plate and camera housing.

      I printed off a set of 15 cm calipers yesterday to be used in measuring the components for this model. I just need a rough estimate, but I believe these calipers are fairly precise and somewhat rudimentary. The two pieces just click together and slide along a rail with no way to lock it. I have very accurate calipers but I figured it would be handy to have an extra pair that I can grab-and-go with.

      I’m using Fusion to model and it has been fantastic practice. I’m not sure if I’ve said this in previous blog posts but I’ve 3D modeled a bunch in Sketchup free and that modeling experience has helped immensely with learning Fusion. Fusion definitely has its quirks, like the difference between a component and a body is very important when it comes to modeling history and organization. It also is very weird that you have to create a sketch to create a line, and the line automatically disappears if you don’t use it right away. The sketch is still there, you just need to find it in the side bar and re-enable it if you want to use it in the future. Strange quirks I am slowly getting over with practice.

    • Findings on 3D Printing

      I’ve been looking at all he innovative ways that people use 3D printers and a few things have stood out to me. Fusion 360 is just one of the programs that can be used to make 3 dimensional shapes. It has its strengths but I find it tedious to use. Paid Fusion costs $80 per month. Blender is another one that allows you to be a bit more sculptural, and can be used in conjunction with Fusion to do some tricks. Blender is free. It’s probably in my best interest to learn how to model in Blender, as well as Fusion.

      Threaded inserts that you hot press into the printed model seems to be a really great way to level up any 3D print, especially if you’re making tools. People have made presses and other unique tools just for pressing these little threaded inserts into the plastic with better accuracy. I’d be interested to start messing around with these and figure out a way to do this as well.

      3D printing also unlocks the ability to make molds for silicon and concrete applications. Make the object, make an enclosure for silicon, pour the silicon, silicon dries, and then pour concrete into the silicon mold to make small repeatable objects. I make little fire starters with paraffin wax and I used a wood block to make similar molds. It would be interesting to update that little design with updated branded fire starter molds. Also, you can print a container and pour concrete into it, making it way heavier and sturdier. This is great for when you’re looking to make a heavyset base for a tool.

      I also need to get better filament, or at least figure out how to print with the filament that I purchased. I’ve had around 3 to 4 messed up prints the last few times I’ve tried to use the machine. It’s not the most easy thing to get right, as it would seem that this filament I’m using is picky. Either that or I’m using models that weren’t repaired completely. I usually take the upper threshold of the temperature settings but perhaps I need to be more in the middle of the range. Testing on that to come over the next few days.

    • Getting Re-Centered

      I’ve been struggling lately to stay disciplined. I got quite drunk last weekend and have been recovering ever since. It has also been very cold in the mid west, so the prospect of woodworking out in my very cold barn has not been as fun to think about; it’s almost left my subconscious completely. It would probably be wise to use this time to make the shop look better, and do a bunch of quality of life upgrades. I spent some time reorganizing the shop last weekend, which is a good step in the right direction. I learned last winter that wood glue doesn’t work when it is very cold, and it needs to be above 50 degrees to get a joint that you can trust as uncompromised, so there’s that too.

      I also need to think about what my goals are. They shift almost quarterly, which is not the best habit to have. I’d like to film videos of projects, at one point I wanted to make chairs, I need to make the center and surround speakers for my brother, and now I’m 3D printing puzzle box mechanisms. If I’d like to film videos of projects, I’d like to reorganize and improve the overall functionality and look of my shop. Organization is everything and my lack of cabinetry looks juvenile on camera. Everything is out and about strewn and/or thrown into corners. Tools, like the bandsaw, need attention and sharpening. During this colder section of the year it would be wise to tackle some of these more mundane and boring tasks. Bottom line is if I want to film, the shop needs to look better and be lit better.

      The center and surrounds for my brothers sound system need to wait until it is warmer, so I’m not pressed to finish that anytime soon, but I can get the parts rough cut and the crossovers soldered. I may tackle that at some point this winter. Chairmaking is a phase that I go through when I feel like my woodworking is not soulful enough. Last year I picked up some cool tools for chairmaking, so the next time I’m feeling like making a chair, I’ll be better equipped to do so. The puzzle boxes have been really fun because they’re a purely creative endeavor with meaningful storytelling attached. If I can make a puzzle box with 3D printed and CNC’d parts that’s fairly easy to make, there may be a way to share that with the community. I’d like to start there: Make a puzzle box that has 2-3 steps with 2-3 mechanisms and then grow them larger. It’s no small task as each mechanism needs it’s own design and place in the puzzle.

    • New Developments

      Over the weekend the 3D printer arrived in the mail and it is a very fun tool to use. I’ve just been getting a feel for it by printing off random objects that I’ve found on Printables. I’ve made a spool holder for the side of the machine, which is a good upgrade for it. The spool holder it comes with mounts to the back of the machine which makes it take up more desk space and made it so I had to look at the machine from the side. I printed a little toy keychain for my daughter who calls it the ice dragon because the filament I’m using is a clear translucent blue. I printed a gear heart toy and a fidget toy as well.

      As I said in my previous blog post about 3D printing and modeling, I’m looking to make more custom models for printing. Fusion is very nice to use, and I’m looking forward to diving more into building things with it. There are quite a few useful things out there on the web already for woodworking. Various jigs and levelers, but I’m hoping to get confident enough in fusion so when I need something I can make it in the model space and print it fairly quickly and easily.

      Aside from toying with the 3D printer, last weekend had to be the coldest of the year so far. It was a balmy 4 degrees out when I woke up to start woodworking on Friday morning. I layered up and reluctantly got out there. I ended up cleaning a bunch and taking care of making those shop speakers smaller. I built a shelf for them that had to be very sturdy. I ended up moving a wire rack over to the opposite side of the barn that is now holding all of my corded power tools. The wire rack was holding my book collection which is very heavy and bulky, and a few other miscellaneous items that need a new home.

    • Mortise Machine Parts

      The parts came in the mail to fix the broken mortising machine I bought a few weeks ago. I’m anticipating fixing it this weekend. We’ll see though, we’re taking the little one to see Santa and probably going to Christmas City on Saturday. It is also crazy cold out right now. It was 23 degrees when I came to work this morning.

      So I’ve been collecting tools and jigs to level up my box making game for puzzle boxes. I love the look of through mortise and tenons. Especially if they’re tusked or wedged. Its an awesome opportunity to make these joints look really visually interesting. I’ve also really upped my miter game recently as well with the table saw sled I made last weekend. I’m eager to discover how the mortising machine can improve the boxes I make, as it’s a tool better suited for cabinet and shelf making.

      Once the tool has been fixed I’ll likely try to make something with it. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to fix, then I need to get a mortising bit from Rockler or online. I’d like to get a decent quality set from Rockler but I have a feeling it will cost around $1000. I would really like to rearrange some things in the shop to make it feel less cramped in there. I’ve got a huge speaker system that I’m thinking about disassembling and building a shelf for. I’d also like to disassemble the table that it’s on and build a few shelves or a large cabinet for all of my handheld tools. I’d also like to build a better cabinet for the CNC parts, supplies and tools. This weekend might be a perfect opportunity to tackle some of those tasks.