We love our CNC machines as they help us do our work so much faster and with much more precision than we could possibly muster by hand. It’s my estimation that the work our wonderful machines do takes us to about half way to completion on most projects. Once the machines are done the real magic begins. That’s the part we do by hand. This afternoon I assembled the machine cut parts of the Pumpkin Creek Railroad sign onto the tree armature which we fabricated last week. Because the heavy duty bracket was also cut by a CNC machine things fit together very well. There are five layers to the railroad sign which I laminated over a welded steel interior structure which I welded to the bracket. Next week I’ll first do some final hand shaping with an airpowered die grinder before beginning the hand sculpting to add the intricate detail to the train. While I could easily have added more details with the computer model and the CNC I know it adds so much more fun and magic when done by hand. We’ll be sculpting the tree as well this week which will soon make this sign ready for paint. Stay tuned...