GRmake

Are there any other makers out there who want to flex a few projects? I’m quite lucky that I have a job that gives me access to workshop and CAD/CAM facilities. I often put together a few gaming-based projects using some offcuts left behind by students.

For example this is currently on the wall in my home office:

twitter.com/CarlStJames/status/1540969344733159424

I only ever do this for my own recreation rather than commercial.

Anyone else in the GR community making things?

Tsunade wrote:.

Have you made anything lately?

All i've been making is ducky videos, but there's already a thread for those.

That laser cut map looks great!

OrangeRKN wrote:That laser cut map looks great!

I have strawberry float all creative talent, but wanted to echo OR's comment, the map looks fantastic.

Yeah, fair play that map looks brilliant.

Do you ever consider turning that into a business? I'm not sure how it works with copyright but I imagine a lot of people would pay good money for maps like that from their favourite games.

Tomous wrote:Yeah, fair play that map looks brilliant.

Agreed, it's an awesome creation.

Vermilion wrote:

Tsunade wrote:.

Have you made anything lately?

All i've been making is ducky videos, but there's already a thread for those.

I haven't been up to making much recently, (bad mental health (it's getting better) and I've been ill the past week), but I am still cross stitching the mario kart characters for the guys who have played and still play MK with me on Mondays and Fridays. I've also got a couple of other projects planned for when they're all finally done and sent to their new homes. My recent WIP is Ludwig Von Koopa for Ploiper and at the minute he's about 50% completed.

Tomous wrote:Yeah, fair play that map looks brilliant.

Do you ever consider turning that into a business? I'm not sure how it works with copyright but I imagine a lot of people would pay good money for maps like that from their favourite games.

If I had a garage and a second hand laser cutter I’d be on it like a shot. But if I do it at work for any sort of profit I get fired so it’s for personal use or the odd present. I made a friend the FFVII map for his birthday last month.

I’ve had a few ideas on the back burner for a while. I’ve got some 3D printed Wipeout ships in my drawer. I want to cast a curved section of track in concrete at small scale but leave gaps for acrylic chevrons to be inserted and maybe illuminated from underneath with LEDs. Id then model the stands and fill them with those little white plastic people you get for architectural modelling. It would be a great diorama.

Carlos wrote:I’ve got some 3D printed Wipeout ships in my drawer. I want to cast a curved section of track in concrete at small scale but leave gaps for acrylic chevrons to be inserted and maybe illuminated from underneath with LEDs. Id then model the stands and fill them with those little white plastic people you get for architectural modelling. It would be a great diorama.

And some magnets in the track and ships (opposing polarities obvs) so they'd float.

Ironhide wrote:

Carlos wrote:I’ve got some 3D printed Wipeout ships in my drawer. I want to cast a curved section of track in concrete at small scale but leave gaps for acrylic chevrons to be inserted and maybe illuminated from underneath with LEDs. Id then model the stands and fill them with those little white plastic people you get for architectural modelling. It would be a great diorama.

And some magnets in the track and ships (opposing polarities obvs) so they'd float.

The ships would just flip upside down

Nice work Carlos.

Carlos wrote:Anyone else in the GR community making things?

Well, maybe.

I own a hybrid art/fabrication studio, in converted home/premises (which yes I rent, I'm not wealthy, so basically your typical garage/basement but not dank. Rates for commercial premises/units can get strawberry floated);- it's my main job and I started out borrowing the cutting plotter at one of my earlier jobs (art uni) to make the GRcade shop things (learnt a lot) and then bought my own (same model) on a loan. But in fairness it's been a cornerstone of my life since I drew on walls with both hands because strawberry float it or made paper castles without any glue or scissors. It wasn't until around 2014 (I graduated in 2012) that I decided to get some equipment that wasn't a paintbrush or pen or multifunction printer for doing my paperwork... or just a computer. Because computers make me sad. CNC, Laser, cutting plotter and DTG / DTF / HTV garment printing and probably some other stuff I forgot. For example, I'm working on a candle mould at the moment in the shape of the pope.

It's a long story.

Sorry these are commercial IG posts but it is mostly stuff I just made for fun, it's my job and my craft;-that's the point of an art instagram account.


CNC

Woods, plastics, soft metals, up to mild steel etc.

instagram.com/p/BjfYnRXnUye/

instagram.com/p/BW9LWbrFtGw/

I have since upgraded my Z-axis and to a set of stainless steel edge clamps. I made those clamps on the CNC. You need clamps to use a CNC so yeah that was a bit tricky... First job of any CNC owner is to make clamps for their CNC with their CNC.


Laser

I don't have any footage of this yet as it's dangerous (meant to be paying attention or I'd potentially go blind) but this is the same one:

instagram.com/p/CnWqm_pMr5C/

Cutting Plotter

(Etching masks, sign vinyl/decals, textile transfer media, card, acetate etc.

instagram.com/p/CIqd1UJKeIV/

DTG

Light cotton garments, bags, cushion covers etc.

instagram.com/p/CY-OZZaFGl4/

I don't have post of the heat press at the moment but it's a Stahl's MaxxPress 280 x 380mm made in the USA.

It would take me all day to post 10 years of work so I won't dominate the thread.

Here's an Untitled Goose sign I have since finished.

instagram.com/p/CFAdkH9jJXy/

instagram.com/p/CFAh00pjwCy/

instagram.com/p/CFAlYY6jeEd/

I made this for myself but have since shipped two.

instagram.com/p/Bv6gRA_gMlL/

instagram.com/p/Bqi_EQSDIq5/

Decals

instagram.com/p/BQkwhkMgeRL/

I have someone opening a minimalist/modern Thai mini market with games soon so I will be proposing a full size arcade cabinet and bench top version in the next couple of weeks or so. I've been meaning to ask for some pointers. Basically my landlord asked me if I knew how he could get a Pacman Arcade cabinet and I told him that would be difficult in working conditions... then I talked about the existence of retro arcade cabinet making firms and then thought about it some more and realised I could just do it myself. Actually I made this raspberry pi "MegaPi" which is a Raspberry Pi 3 with an actual Megadrive controller socket (but only a few buttons work lol).








I make a lot of things by hand and draw/paint/sculpt and sometimes combine these processes. Unfortunately, I am very bad at uploading my photography, so a lot of my best work is just completely missing from the Internet (and sometimes I forget to take pictures before I give it to the client at all). I am very busy doing commercial work and of course there are various copyright issues with game related stuff. But several members here own my work including the coveted Larger As In The Drink Larger pint glasses (which indeed take a few hours each to make).

There are various other crappy photos/videos dotted about the place. I never seem to get the time to edit them.

With various traditional art/craft and modest (read: bad) electrical or mechanical engineering I can potentially make anything but I am mostly focused on garment printing at the moment.

Edit: I forgot a few things.

I've made furniture, tables (including the enclosure for the CNC in the video and a woodworking bench) with woodworking tools, so chopsaw, circular saw, jigsaw, I recently added a bandsaw. And a lot of hand tools like chisels I use to finish work by hand.

It's this little one.



I basically use it for cutting down square stock for CNC from reclaimed hardwood and pine etc but also framing, trims and other stuff (you can free cut on it of course).

Oh and an extraction unit so I don't die of cancer.

Edit: oh and two vintage sewing machines I restored and electrified. A singer 99K and a brother. Here's one:



And an SLA 3D printer. So far I have printed these test things:



I'm going to do a bunch of Gryroids from animal crossing (my resin is going to expire, it's really messy and hazardous so I need to use it more... Maybe too many options).

Found some things. Heatpress, this is something I printed for Qikz a while back, I'm pretty sure he (or anybody) hasn't seen this.




Harry Potter coasters. These are mahogany.




A massive face on a vase because why not



I illustrated from a photo then digitised as vector to work on it some more then cut a mask on the plotter and acid etched the glass (it took a billion years to pick out and retain all the details on the mask and transfer that).

Hence art/fabrication because imo making is about complimenting the two aspects and making use of means/methods/tools to create whatever is in your head. How you do that is up to you, there are no rules.

If anyone tells you making things is a waste of time or can't possibly be an actual real job or similarly worth your time then tell them to strawberry float off.

I am not showing my bank account though.

Disinterested in sharing me with myself so hope I don't kill the thread.

Loving the workshop setup. You ever think of buying a mug press to go with your sublimation printer?

I don't have a sublimation printer, although I could easily convert my A3 Epson micro piezo inkjet (marketed as WorkForce but they are actually the same printheads) to those inks.

Instead I order sublimation with a higher colour gamut (C Cl V M Ml Y K) off a Roland VersaCAMM by the square metre from a factory in Leicestershire. Works out better economy and no maintenance.

Any unused inkjet technology just nullifies itself in under a year without near constant use. Epson's sublimation printers are only around £300-500 but they are marketed as such; they do take a small roll media which helps with economy but then you need the space behind the printer as well.

I've thought about adding a mug press, yeah, but I don't buy anything from the generic rebadged stuff (China basically). It's not typically worth it.

You need a really good press to avoid ghosting and scorching issues; the heating element is often nowhere close to consistent heat or pressure across the application area and can also fluctuate wildly, basically resulting in sub par or failed prints. Investment nullified again and irrecoverable damage to the quality standard and studio rep.

Cricut and Siser (maybe) have made some single mug presses but they are ludicrously overpriced for what is also a fairly simplistic machine. I would be better off with a set of terracotta style mug wraps that press multiple mugs in batches in an oven; much better economy but would probably come with its own issues.

I'd want something made properly like an Adkins mug press (which is around £550 ex VAT). That's a lot of mugs when you take off direct costs (a good brand of mug like Orca, sublimation sheets, ink) in terms of margins to recover the investment before you even start to make a gross profit.

You also need various swappable elements for different mug shapes, but you could do with just one or whatever comes with the press. Mugs are sold in a packs of 30+ and so you will always have at least some dead stock lying around (space is a premium and also a cost).

I also had to factor in the competition. Various print shops locally and all over the place offer the same thing, and online of course. I sell everything online / via online channels for collection or shipping but if you are going to replace a service that exists already it needs to be better.

Hence to compete I would have to deliver the utmost highest standard - which is what I already do anyway.

The transfers I used to make up use decent Neenah printable films or I also ordered solvent printed HTV, but inkjet printable heat transfer PU ("vinyl") also appeared in just the past 10 months or so. Direct to Fim is still much better, albeit most viable in small batches which means batching jobs together over a lead of around 10-20 days. It's a useful option for singles or one-offs but I avoid it because it's OK/Good but not fantastic. Thing is that came around in the last 2 years or so, having "paused" any investment in DTG and just keeping my Ricoh for lights/whites.

I can also print on socks lol

A sublimation printer would help me print full colour sublimable panels or other trinkets that I could also cut to any shape on the CNC so it's probably something I'll add later down the line; that said demand for signage is about the lowest its ever been as there are so many specialist companies.

My main advantage is lack of minimum quantities or set up fees (although I may need to start doing that to avoid people taking the piss) without any impact on quality hence doing things at a small scale to a high standard is the right spot for me and I very carefully consider all the equipment I buy.

To be honest, even for craft work or things made for fun it's something I don't regret at all. There's nothing worse than you productivity being hampered by machinery that straight up doesn't work or breaks. You can fiddle with it to an extent to make things work but it just takes all the joy out of the process unless you prefer tinkering to actually making anything, which is also fine.

The other aspect of sublimation is everything has to be polyester or polyester coated;- plastics involved and some of those things aren't necessarily all that nice.

For mugs it's fine, for other things a UV flatbed/3D printer would be better, but that's ridiculously expensive even for a tiny one.

It's always very tempting to add a piece of equipment to a set up like this but I have to actually consider the demand, space and model for that;- I'm typically better off just covering my overheads or speculatively producing other items for storefronts etc.

I was asked for about 72 mugs recently and tried to swing it that I could do them at a local makerspace (Barclays), which was true. But in the end again I know their equipment is gooseberry fool basically and I can't guarantee the outcome, so I declined. The cost per piece for a mug is so low (everyone's budget is typically low and has to be talked up, vetted out or just wait for the next one) it's something I see it really hard to make it worthwhile.

Especially when you could just buy them sublimated already and mark them up. Something I never actually do, but the quality control aspect is tempting and typically the main draw for me being able to make/fabricate something myself. Of course the important thing about a set up like this isn't necessarily the equipment you use or even what you make but how you make it and the standard you set. That's the variable. But it does to a degree fold back into what you choose to use and the materials you choose to use. I have to educate people a lot on the difference.

They will compare "T-shirts" and I'm like, mate, there's literally 1000+ blank T-shirts on the market and they aren't all the same.

I'd have the same thing with mugs.

Last Cristmas I had some photo mugs printed (by vista print) for my brother and his wife and they were so cheap that there would be literally zero profit for a small business to produce them, it's purely something best left to large multinational companies who can churn out 100,000+ units per week.

Awesome stuff Gecko.

Ironhide wrote:Last Cristmas I had some photo mugs printed (by vista print) for my brother and his wife and they were so cheap that there would be literally zero profit for a small business to produce them, it's purely something best left to large multinational companies who can churn out 100,000+ units per week.

It's only somewhat worth it if you do your own designs and thus own the IP and can charge a brand premium because people want the designs. Probably packaged nicely too.

You then have to create and stimulate that brand which is like 5,000 hours on social media.

I think about it from time to time, I have my fair share of mugs (maybe 10 good ones). But I also feel it is adding clutter to people's lives (nevermind the dead stock scenario / cash/room for a single purpose piece of machinery).

Something for the future or if you have a very successful comic or something like that and want to do it yourself anyway, then maybe you can just pay for it and sink the money.

I legit wanted to do it for GRcade at on me point of course but eventually came to various conclusions. I think etching is much better.

Don't get me started on the people that put vinyl (toxic) stickers on food/drink receptacles though I've seen an incredible amount of this and it bugs the hell out of me how weak a solution that is nevermind the fact it will fall apart.

An alternative is a lacquered waterslide decal. It may not be as durable but if you take care of it you don't need the machinery and you could in theory glaze and fire your own (well then you would need a kiln; I'm not sure at what temperature glaze sets. It might be possible with a miniature oven).

Throwing a mug (as in pottery not smashing one lol) now that would be cool.

Mug presses vary in scale to single mugs to enormous ones like this absolute monster from Schulz and as in principle they can be any size you can get an idea of the scale.



Was just looking at it again and there are some tempting cheaper ones to bash some out in a pinch but again I just dislike the idea of having a cheap piece of equipment rarely used that will probably fail and have to be recycled. If you are successful with it... My heat press has never failed once in 8 or 9 years now (it also has a lifetime warranty on the heating element which is the part that fails to the degree it is almost a consumable part, yet it never has).

Carlos wrote:GRmake

I thought the forum was getting a remake