WoodMarvels Blog

About five weeks ago, the laptop that I use to run every aspect of WoodMarvels.com from rendering to research decided to start freezing and crashing. A week later, I powered it up and all I saw was a little power light coming on (not good．）　Ａｆｔｅｒ　ｆｏｕｒ　ｗｅｅｋｓ　ｏｆ　ｗａｔｉｎｇ　ｆｏｒ　ａ　ｎｅｗ　ｍｏｔｈｅｒｂｏａｒｄ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｓｈｉｐｐｅｄ　ｆｒｏｍ　Ｃａｎａｄａ　ｔｏ　Ｃｈｉｎａ　（ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｓｔｉｌｌ　ｈａｓｎ＇ｔ　ｈａｐｐｅｎｅｄ　ｂｔｗ），　Ｉ　ｄｅｍａｎｄｅｄ　ａ　ｔｅｍｐｏｒａｒｙ　ｌａｐｔｏｐ　ｆｒｏｍ　ＨＰ　ｗｈｉｃｈ　Ｉ have just received. I’m happy to finally able to process the orders I’ve gotten over the last 4 weeks and although this celeron computer is no i7, at least I　ｃａｎ　ｓｔｉｌｌ　ｇｅｔ　ｏｔｈｅｒ　ｔｈｉｎｇｓ　ｄｏｎｅ．　Ｔｈａｎｋｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｐａｔｉｅｎｃｅ．
Ｊｏｎ
ｐｓ：HP　ｇａｖｅ　ｍｅ　ａ　Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｃｏｍｐｕｔｅｒ　ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｃａｕｓｅｓ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｗｅｉｒｄ　ｓｐａｃｉｎｇ　ｒａｎｄｏｍｌｙ．．．　ｐａｉｎ　ｂｕｔ　ｂｅｔｔｅｒ　ｔｈａｎ　ｎｏ　ｃｏｍｐｕｔｅｒ　ａｔ　ａｌｌ　Ｉ　ｇｕｅｓｓ．

Thanks to Stephane who gave two great testimonials, one about our free mobile crane build and the other update in which he  added pincers to the mobile crane, the file he used to make it (with pincers) is now available on WoodMarvels.com in DXF format. You can now cut the exact same model as him, using your own router!
I’ve also taken the liberty of re-adding the EPS file of the same model to the site which I took off because [...]

It’s been a while since I posted an update on my WoodMarvels.com Opportunity Mars Rover project so now is a good time. After several days of computer problems over the past few days, here is an updated screen shot of this upcoming model.

Why design a Wooden Mars Rover in the first place?
I began this project to both challenge myself mentally as to what was truly possible using only 2D plywood pieces and, most importantly, to learn more about engineering. I [...]

About a week ago, I got a testimonial from Stephane who completed our free Mobile Crane and now he has sent me one for the Full Armor Gear Transporter! What’s even cooler is that he created a really attractive and neat pincer for the Mobile Crane which you can see in the pictures as well (more on that later). Here’s the testimonial!
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Hi Jon,
The crane (another of the first) will be modified with a self made design of pincer (10 pieces [...]

I got a testimonial from Matthew who ordered both the WoodMarvels.com free Medieval Castle Walls and the EPS file for the Medieval Castle Walls B – using both he created a model that was made uniquely for his child. Below are the pictures and testimonial. This testimonial made me especially proud because a child had a very unique toy built by his father using designs I made… which meant a lot!
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(I blurred the kid’s faces in the pictures)
Hi Jon,
Well the [...]

Just a short note that I’ve joined the Chinese video site Youku.com which is among the most popular video sites in China. If you aren’t familiar with it, think of it as YouTube but in Chinese.
http://u.youku.com/i3ds
I’ve also begun uploading videos to Zoopy.com, at first they chucked all my videos out because they considered it advertising but after an e-mail conversation, they have re-instated my account, welcoming me on board!
http://www.zoopy.com/i3ds
Neither of these sites count towards my monthly views but after another [...]

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to show how I designed the stuff you see on WoodMarvels.com. From taking screen shots to videos of the whole design process… nothing seemed to work for me. Although designing to me is fun, I’m sure to the outside observer, it’s a rather dull and illogical process – especially when you consider I do everything straight from my head without any sketches or plan (though I use to when I first [...]

If you look a little on the WoodMarvels.com, you will find that there are a few PDF blueprints that are free – not just my first version of my Medieval Castle Walls.
I got an order about a week ago from Stephane which included one such free model, the first version of my Mobile Crane and Stephane was kind enough to send me pictures of the completed model along with a great testimonial of how it went.
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Sorry for my English… I [...]

Well, it’s been yet another month already… time sure goes fast! The month of January is the month my company, WoodMarvels.com, hit yet another milestone… 20 000 3D assembly animation video views in one month. Considering I no longer have access to view the stats on a few other video services due to my current location within China the number is actually much higher!
So, what happened this month?

I got muzzled (and left) on a woodworking forum because I has the [...]

I was reading a few blog posts when I came upon this amazing car, the outer shell is all made of wood and it looks amazing! Even better… you can actually buy one, though I’m unsure what the local sheriff in town would say regarding road worthiness.
The car is designed and manufactured by Sada-Kenbi out of Japan and they call this the “Wooden SuperCar Maniwa” which to me sounds like a very apt name for this creation.
Here are some amazing [...]