Author Archives: Charles

Yeah… THAT Charles Collins…

Plastic Injection Molder – Part 5

I got a very little more done on the injection molder frame: That’s the arm and piston mounted (clamped) in place, and the center cross member bolted in. This thing is pretty solid, and pretty heavy, but I’ll still need to bolt it down eventually.

New shop storage

For those of you that don’t know, I spend my days working for a communications firm here in Milwaukee. This company has its roots in advertising, and there are still some artifacts of that history around. One of them was a bunch of flat file cabinets which were used to store proofs, works-in-progress, presentation boards,

Plastic Injection Molder – Part 4

I’ve been swamped at work with a couple of pretty big projects, but I got a bit more work done on the injection molder frame and controller. First the controller:   Yup, all wired up and working. I’ve got it heating the chamber and have had it all the way up to 400 degrees. I’ve

Made by Hand No. 2: The knife maker

This is an amazing project, and an amazing episode… take a little time to check this out. Made by Hand / No 2 The Knife Maker from Made by Hand

Frankie and the Medallion

Frankie Flood‘s done it again. Check out this video of the making of the new UWM Chancellor‘s medallion. I’m pretty sure the last shot was from the day (morning) it was finally finished. This is really an amazing production and a great story. You can also read all of Frankie’s blog posts about the process.

Plastic Injection Molder – Part 3

I am finally getting back to work on the plastic injection molder. We recently moved offices at work and there was a fair bit of stuff headed to the trash. I grabbed a busted old VGA repeater/extender and gutted it. After a bit of cutting and drilling, and a quick shot with my trusty can

The Pirate Ship Collins

My son’s birthday has, since the 1st, been celebrated with a significant amount of effort and excitement. It happens to fall right at the end of the summer, right before school starts, and very near to Molly’s birthday. As a result we usually end up with a yard/house full of people. We have also ended

Wrecked Metals

Wrecked Metals from Josh Clason.

Pewter stool cast on the beach…

I am working on a number of other posts/projects, and I will post them soon. In the mean time, check this out… Pretty slick… Hexagonal Pewter Stool from Max Lamb.

Beats, Rhymes & Life

Thanks, Jemiah. I didn’t even know this was a thing!