WoodMarvels Blog

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 like trying new things out of the blue and this is a project that I just began on for fun once the Baliste Siege Weapon was completed and after a few days and a week of rendering… had very cool results!
I have been exercising since I was a teenager… I love going to the gym and when I was in Canada, my own home gym. Something about eating well and lifting heavy weights just feels natural to me so [...]

While I’m waiting for my latest project to finish rendering, which will be sometime tomorrow – I began working on a very complicated model that I’m sure will be by far the most complex things I’ve designed so far.
A wooden version of the Spirit / Opportunity Rovers currently residing on Mars. As my only material is wood (by choice) and all my parts must be cut out of 2D – I think this is a great opportunity to really challenge [...]

I’m happy to announce the released of the WoodMarvels Baliste Siege Weapon, I think out of all the siege weapons I’ve designed, this is by far the most powerful as the elastic band is stretched out by a lot from the start and more can easily be added.
This Baliste also borrows very heavily from the design I made for the Mangonel but I can better appreciate the design process now that I’ve made one myself as to what people though [...]

As you may have noticed, I’ve optimized the EPS files on this site to generally fit either 18.4cm square, 38.4cm square or 38.4cmx 79cm. The main reason for this is because our laser cutting supplier, Ponoko, uses these sizes.
I do of course realize that other laser cutters have different board sizes, so if you wish to have something optimized at a different size, 50cm x 50cm for instance – the easiest thing to do is to ask me to do [...]

I’ve decided to update the design of the WoodMarvels Blog, one because the old one would cut half an inch off the videos I posted here and more importantly… change is good I think I want to get away from “wood” looking designs and more into “light” (meaning prism/laser) multi-colored ones as my stuff is focused mostly on lasers to begin with and rainbows are more colorful than oak
The main WoodMarvels.com site is due for a [...]

I just realized that I made a slight mistake in my naming conventions regarding my Onager series of siege weapons. I’ve research the topic in a little more detail and from what I can see, an Onager uses a sling approach with a hanging “sack” of stuff at the end of a long pole while the Mangonel uses a static rod that looks like a big spoon to project materials, so what I was really designing were Mangonels, not Onagers.
What [...]