Son of Fruit Bowl – Ideas – Dwell

A great article in the 10 year anniversary issue of Dwell last month.  Gives a nod to the evolution of the small CNC shop like ours!

“Back in the early 2000s, I met an architect named William Massie who was teaching at the Montana State University in Bozeman. Massie was using the computer differently than most of his colleagues,  not just as a design tool but also as a manufacturing tool. He embraced computer numerical control (CNC), a methodology that evolved from automated machine tools of the 1940s, and used it to cut precisely shaped building components directly from his computer files. Massie’s vision wasn’t mass production. He wanted to manufacture homes like Boeings, producing small quantities of highly industrialized, highly customized houses in his own workshop. “That to me is the perfect model,” Massie once said.

Now, the Massie approach, once exotic, seems to be verging on ubiquitous. I’ve been touring Brooklyn’s resurgent industrial enclaves and I keep walking into wood shops and metal shops, relatively modest setups, that have CNC-driven routing machines and other fairly sophisticated computerized fabrication equipment.I’m beginning to notice that as CNC technology has dropped in cost and become more commonplace, the CAD jockeys who used to be found only in architects’ offices have migrated to the places where things are actually made. Arguably, custom-mitered complex polygons could soon become as available as two-by-fours. No, it’s not mass production as Corbu understood it, but it is a circumstance that makes the idea of the “Machine-House” more interesting, more variable, and potentially more beautiful. “

Read more: http://www.dwell.com/articles/son-of-fruit-bowl.html#ixzz14zk2Oecx

A little payoff

Do you ever just google your company’s name?  Well you should.  If for no other reason than to confirm that your blogging, chatting, Facebooking & Twerting (?) are actually getting out there.  I mean, really…it’s exhausting isn’t it?  And sometimes I wonder who cares anyway.

So yesterday I did just such a thing, and I was surprised to see how many links there are to Acme Industrial Thinking.  I guess the goal is to have other folks talking about you, but I was even surprised to see how much of my own work is reflected…page after page actually.  It’s sorta creepy…and great.

Anyway, all of is blathering is to say that I found this neato little mention of a custom nightstand that I listed on Etsy a million years ago. It’s just pretty cool to see that someone out there really likes your work, other than the client that ordered the piece…or your mom.

Apparently re-nest like us, they really like us!

“Last week we were looking at the Apartment Therapy Flickr pool for nightstand inspiration. This week we’re looking through our next favorite source, Etsy, for some stylishly green bedside tables. Take a look at some of our favorites…”   Sweet.

Halloween CNC-o-Lantern

I know I already posted this pumpkin on our Facebook page, but I think it bears reblogifying for Halloween. Check out this CNC milled jack-o-lantern made by Lumenlab…

Happy Halloween!

CNC Mills: Art Meets Technology

We’ve all been to our local craft fair and seen the tent full of metal cowboy silhouettes, right?  How about the tried & true howling coyote cut out?  Kokopeli…classic.  What many people don’t realize is that those humble pieces are cut from sheets of metal using a plasma CNC mill…a computer numerically controlled mill that cuts metal with a plasma torch.  And man, is it a pretty cut.  It’s a perfect cut.  It’s what we do with wood & plastic at Acme Industrial Thinking, but as and with artists, we’re trying to take it even further.  Think Renaissance, people.  Too much? OK, maybe.

While I’m not planning on cutting out any wooden prairie dogs to sell at a craft fair, I do appreciate the sentiment, by extension.  The connection between art and technology has grown ferociously since fractals were just a glimmer.   I mean, imagine the possibilities of trading in your chisel or paintbrush for a CNC mill.  Think Steve Jobs meets Michaelangelo…and wow.  I’m talking about refined sculpture, highly detailed, highly thought-out pieces of fine art…created by man and machine.  That’s using your head my friend.

Even at its finest, creating art can sometimes involve a tedious process or two.  I know we’re starting to get more calls from artisans who want to concentrate on other aspects of their dimensional creations, not just standing in front of a jigsaw for hours.   Art has always been about using tools.  Our tools are just bigger, faster, stronger…they’re bionic!  It’s not cheating to use technology to better our craft.  CNC milling by definition affords an artist the ability to create perfect parts, if that’s the goal.  Heck, we can even create imperfect parts…on purpose.  The end result is still the brainchild of the artist, not the tool.

As a for instance, artist Sean Pace asked us to overlay the image of a hand-grenade into this reclaimed artist easel, creating the piece entitled “Old Scratch”.  We simply super-sized his drawing capabilities.  For such a light touch, it makes a not-so-subtle statement, don’t ya think?

Asheville artist Gene Felice’s show, currently in the Flood Gallery is entitled: A Rapid Progression … a series of Rapid Prototyped sculptures. His organic sculptures were created with a CNC milling process, using prototype technology, but who’s the wiser? It’s just amazing art.  In his artist’s statement, Felice comments, “There are…CNC mills which use robotic drill cutters to cut an object out of blocks of solid material like wood, metal or plastic. The accuracy of these different processes just keeps getting better and better, allowing details to the hundredth of a millimeter…artists like myself, are using it to develop new ideas and sculptural forms.”

For fellow artist Sean Buckley, we milled a carefully calculated design into the back of an acrylic mirror as an accompaniment to another of his paintings.  The painted image reflects in the mirror and creates another design…a whole other concept.  That’s innovation.  I’m happy to say that Sean has been working with the UNCA art program to expose students to the possibilities of creating new types of art with technology, including CNC milling.

Call it a collaboration, or don’t.  Who cares?  What matters is that art is getting made in new and innovative ways.  Artists, as always, are rethinking the way they create in an age that can afford them unlimited technological assistance.  As CNC jockeys, and artists, we’re proud to be a part of the ever-shifting evolution. Hey, da Vinci would be proud.

www.acmeindustrialthinking.com

CNCs housing the homeless

With the news in the last few weeks that some friends of ours just made it to Haiti with a school bus full of tools & equipment for the continuing relief effort, I am reminded that there is still so much to do down there, and CNC operations are pitching in.

CNC technology offers a great solution for the housing shortage in these hard-hit areas. For those that aren’t familiar, CNC technology allows the user to program a project (like a shelter), then cost effectively cut it & repeat indefinitely without any variations. In other words, we can crank out some quantity but retain all of the quality. I’ve been seeing more and more relief work done with plywood on a CNC router, and with minimal tooling on site for erecting a structure. I know we’ve even discussed the merits of boxing up the mill itself and taking it on site to relief efforts worldwide to build shelters, schools, churches, clinics, you name it.

Dwell magazine ran an article called “The Big Easy” in February of 2009 touting the efforts of an MIT architecture professor who developed “Digitally Fabricated Housing for New Orleans” with friction-fit components…brilliant!!  All you need is a mallet, and you’ve got a house.

I’ve also become a big fan of a group called Shelter 2.0, who has been sending CNC milled shelters in parts to Haiti.  Their Facebook update in July read, “Back from Haiti. We couldn’t get to the shelters but we were able to see where the shelters are going and meet the father of the family getting one of the shelters. The other shelter is going to be used as a clinic in a tent city called Canaan.”

I mean, these are by no means mansions, or even long-term housing solutions, but with hurricane season upon us, it’s good to know that there are folks out there who are using these amazing CNC tools for such a noble purpose.  So I’m sure you’ll pardon the pun when I say…More power to em!

visit our website at www.acmeindustrialthinking.com

What is CNC Routing anyway?

Before I blather on about our CNC projects, you may be asking yourself, “What is CNC Routing, and frankly, why do I care?”

Here at Acme, we use the CNC technology to create unique pieces that might not be as viable if created by hand.  We’re into the details. We’ve also been known to do large production runs of say, promotional pieces, for example. CNC is great for both purposes.

While Kitty (left) is certainly a one-of-a-kind gal, AdvanTech (right) was a piece worth repeating (500 times!). Digital fabrication can open doors to allow for more cost effective solutions, or just expand the artist’s pallet.  It’s a powerful tool…driven by the mind of a mad scientist.

I think CNCRouterworks.com did a great job explaining the basics, “CNC Routing is highly accurate routing. The CNC stands for Computer Numerically Controlled. The routing is similar to hand routing using a hand router. However, CNC routers are usually much larger and more powerful. When you add CNC to the equation, you get better accuracy and precision coupled with the ability to make many accurate parts quickly.

CNC routing machines work by translating programmed instruction coordinates into precision motion along the path specified. The CNC router uses a tool to machine that path to produce the desired profile. This allows a programmer to write a part program and route many identical parts today, and then run that same program weeks or months from now and get identical parts that will fit just as well as those made today.

Today’s production CNC routers are incredibly fast and have powerful spindles capable of routing and machining very thick sections of solid wood and other materials. CNC routers are even used in manufacturing parts from non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, brass, and copper. There are many other materials that can be cut with a CNC router such as plastic, foam (e.g. Styrofoam), fiberglass, signboard, particleboard, oriented strand board, phenolics, and composites.”

Pretty cool, huh?  We think so, anyway. To put it into terms we can all understand, Bob designs a 3D part in a computer aided drafting (CAD) program, he imports it into the CNC software, tells the program what he wants it to do (in painstaking detail), then tells the machine how he wants it done…what the material is, which router bit he’s using, what speed to cut at,  how deep, etc.  It sounds easy.  It’s not. I’ve tried it.  Like I said…mad scientist stuff, but with a practical application for your home or business.  Mwaaa-ha-ha!

visit our website at www.acmeindustrialthinking.com

Welcome to Acme Industrial Thinking’s new blog!

I guess the best place to start is to tell you who Acme Industrial Thinking is and what we do, right?

I’m Jen.  That’s Bob sitting over there in front of the other computer, spinning up some crazy 3D designs. What we do is dream things up for people, then make them.  Sounds easy, right?  Notsomuch.

Acme is fabrication innovation.  Acme is CNC milling technology run by a super creative mind, then polished by a technical and creative hand.  Acme is the future and the past, joined to create the perfect piece, whether it’s architectural, furniture, signage, sculpture, or even just a design.  We’re talking custom stuff people…a mosaic garage door, an inspired gate, a sleek retail interior, a one-of-a-kind bedroom suite, a traffic-stopping sign.  We’re there, and it’s unique!

Acme is the dynamic of years of experience in the corporate world in graphic design, engineering design graphics, photography, business, customer service, sign-making, cnc milling, prototype model making, marketing, advertising, and business ownership.  We’re here now because we’ve been there…and we want to help you get where you need to be in your personal space, or in your clients’.

Well, that’s enough about us for now, but what I hope we’ll be chatting about in the future is Digital Fabrication & Design…it’s pretty amazing stuff folks.  Thanks for tuning in!

visit our website at www.acmeindustrialthinking.com

art, graphic design,engineering design graphics,photography, business, customer service, sign-making, cnc milling, prototype model making, marketing, advertising, and business ownership