Brave Tales of TFSA Members

[Newretailer]

Wow Adrian, you are really talented. Can you make silicone liners for wooden molds?

I understand what you say about having to learn to do it all. I have been crazy enough to leave a well-paying job in IT to pursue my hobby as a business 3 years ago. I have learned so many skills along the way, but marketing was one of the last. This year my focus is on that and it is once again a new world opening to me. If I ever do decide to find a job again I now have experience in a lot of different areas lol.

Times have been tough, especially this year, but so far I have managed to scrape through. My friends told me I was crazy as I am a single mom and have nothing else to fall back on. Somehow, that just makes the determination to succeed more.

I also understand what it means to cut back expenses to the bare minimum. One get used to that so quickly that I don't give it a thought anymore. Working for myself means I can work as hard as I want and I reap the benefits, not some big, uncaring corporation. I wouldn't change this for the world.

[Sparks]

Great stuff Adrianh, you are working in 2& 3D because you work with flat plans as well.
I understand now your question about the formats of my "drawings". Unfortunately I can not help you at the moment because I am still learning my new hobby. All my stuff is only 3D. I can also understand how the ghost lines would be a problem for you. I will ask on the 3D sites where I am registered to see if one of my programs will offer you a solution. The people there are all very helpful, as at TFSA.

[adrianh]

@Newretailer - I also gave up a career in IT. I love IT but I hate politics and being treated like a robot. IT lost its appeal when it became routine maintenace work instead of pure devlopement. I do lots & lots of silicone moulding. The train master models are made by hand (using the laser, bits of wood, plastic, cardboard, lots of putty and lots of patience) We then create flat, 2 or 3 part silicone moulds. The parts are then resin cast using the silicone moulds. I have also become heavily involved in making moulds for the ceramics industry. It is really facinating how their products are made. They make a master (i.e. a clay bowl that is lightly fired). We then take silicone moulds of the top and bottom making sure that they mate prefectly. We the take silicone moulds of the silicone moulds (esentialy to make negatives) They then make plaster moulds of the negative silicone moulds. Then they pour the clay into the plaster mould (this is known as slip casting) when the clay has set it gets fired, painted and refired.

So, all these skills tie nto one another for different products.

The problem with marketing is that most people don't know what products, at what quantities should be marketed into which markets.

What hobby did you turn into a business? (You will be surprised how many people could assist you)

[Newretailer]

I make handmade soap and natural bath & body products. I started about 11 years ago and had quite a lot of steady business by the time I gave up work. I first gave up about 6 years ago, but went back to IT a couple of times when I needed cash. Three years ago I decided to mentally close that avenue as I knew I could build my business into something sustainable if I am forced to. We now want to buy over a shop selling our products only, which is why I joined the forum. I find it very helpful to read past threads.

I know about molds for the ceramic industry. We have potters making us soap dishes and other complementary products. Do you market to potters or do they come to you? Marketing is tough, but as I said, my focus this year. We have built a fair FB presence and I like the immediacy of communication with customers and potential customers.

I don't feel that I am a natural entrepreneur, but I do love what I am doing and that is my driving force, so I just keep on going lol.

I would be interested in silicone linings for our soap molds, but I am up in JHB and they will have to fit exactly. Is this something that may be possible?

[Sparks]

Hi Adrianh, I downloaded Rhino to see what it was like. A fantastic program. I will definately be get the full version. You spoke about "ghost lines". What exactly were you referring to? Is it a shadow or is it the hidden geometry? What format are you saving/printing it in. I have not delved into it yet, but I do notice that you can export to Autodesk 3DS Max amongst others. In 3DS Max you have a bigger display choice and I think that could be the answer you are looking for. That is based on what I suspect to be the problem you are having. I will be glad to help if I can.

[adrianh]

It makes duplicate lines. So if you export a dxf of a square it should have 4 lines. It sometimes creates lines over one another so you may have multiple copies of the same line in exactly the same place. So you could have 5 or 6 or more lines.

I'm so used to using the AI export that it doesn't matter. Remember, I export to AI format and then import AI format from CorelDraw instead of using DXF.

[Sparks]

Hi Adrianh, I have tried the example you mentioned. I took a square as well as a cube and saved it in .dxf as well as a few other formats. I was able to open them in CorelDrawX5; Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk 3DSMax. Once open I zoomed in to max and at no stage saw shadows or double lines. I will also take a look with Poser; Daz Studio and Autocad Architecture.
I suspect that you might just need to update or reload Rhino. I am sure you have a decent graphics card, doing what you do that would be a given. You might just want to check for a driver update.
At the end of the day, what format do you want it to be? What format does your laser cutter use?