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Author Topic: Evolution Arms (Formerly ACGCustomSabers) Services and Build Log *Now Open*  (Read 34608 times)

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Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Closed through May 10th*
« Reply #60 on: June 08, 2014, 06:51:08 PM »
Hey everyone, I'm having internet problems and I also broke my phone over the weekend, so I may be in and out of touch until I get it resolved.  While the internet is up I wanted to let everyone know. 


Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Closed through May 10th*
« Reply #61 on: June 09, 2014, 11:56:11 AM »
Just an update, I got the internet back (it still cuts occasionally) but still am without a phone at least until friday.  I won't be able to instantly reply to quick pm's like I normally do. 


Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #62 on: July 24, 2014, 12:32:02 PM »
updated.


Offline GusManB

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #63 on: August 18, 2014, 07:21:14 PM »
Alex, I send you A PM regarding the Hilt i sent you please advise as its important!

Thanks!

Offline Vercify

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #64 on: August 18, 2014, 07:28:03 PM »
Alex, I sent you a PM a while back and never heard back from you, let me know if I should resent it ;)





Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #65 on: August 18, 2014, 07:34:05 PM »
Sorry guys, prepping for school next week (ordered a razer blade and been prepping to transfer to it).  Also been working on a secret project when I couldn't get to the shop.  Hoping to wrap up two builds this week and i'll get back to everyone soon. 

Vercify, go ahead and send it again


Offline GusManB

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #66 on: August 23, 2014, 06:13:34 AM »
Hi Alex

I tried to PM you bit your inbox is full

I got a member inquiring about a conversion price for the Hilt parks Hilt.
if you can PM me a Ballpark of the conversion cost with the reveal that would be great!

Thanks!
« Last Edit: August 23, 2014, 06:16:05 AM by GusManB »

Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #67 on: August 24, 2014, 10:14:44 AM »
Sorry everyone, I know my pm box is full, but I have limited internet until this evening and can't sort through pm's to delete on my phone.  I'll be in touch with everyone tomorrow. 


Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #68 on: August 26, 2014, 10:04:14 AM »
apologies to everyone.  I'm having real problems connecting to the university wifi, and I have 11 hour school days 3 days a week.  Spent all night at home trying multiple ways to fix the wifi, but since I can only download drivers and whatnot at home, and only test them at school, it's a tough process.  Working as hard as I can to get the issue resolved. 


Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #69 on: August 26, 2014, 06:47:02 PM »
I did end up fixing my wifi problems at the university around 4:00pm, but left shortly after, so I didn't get much done in the way of pm's.  I'm also in the process of having my home internet upgraded (6mbps is not satisfactory anymore) and building a new desktop computer(yes, in addition to the blade), so I may be in and out all week.  Assuming the internet upgrade at home doesn't happen this week, I should be getting to pms around 1:00 tomorrow (while I'm waiting for all of my software to download on the new desktop). 

The good news is since I'm knocking all of this out at once, it will be smooth sailing for the forseeable future.  Especially given what I'm putting in this desktop.  It may last 10 years. 



Offline jedirobe

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #70 on: September 19, 2014, 06:05:02 PM »
I've seen some of your work on YouTube.  Congrats, well deserved.


"Only a Sith deals in absolutes......I will do what I must"

Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #71 on: September 29, 2014, 08:59:35 AM »
Just a small update here.  I've been buried alive by school, and I've been working weekends for my Grandfather, but I expect my weekends to free up in the next 2-3 weeks, so I'll be able to get some progress on these builds again.  I should be able to knock out 2 in my first weekend back (the dl-44 and the graflex reveal). 

Also, since this concerns 3 of you, I'll just post it here.  I'm having the chamber fins for the rotj reveals I have on my build log cnc'd, and the first batch didn't come out right.  The machinist had his tool offset wrong, so the hole pattern was drilled properly, but then the half-donut cutout was .030" off to one side.  I'm not sure how he didn't see that, but he has said he is going to do it again.  He is just waiting for a new machine to get setup, and then he should be able to get moving.  The 3 of you already knew most of that, but the last part was only recently discussed. 

I'm currently at home bundled up in a blanket with a cup of chicken soup, as I have all of the symptoms of the flu (but it's not the flu, I checked).  I just wanted to post a little update for everyone. 


There's also one more thing.  Celebration is just around the corner.  I've got 10-12 builds to finish up between now and then that are just for me and Juansith.  That means I've got to finish one build (which is 2 sabers) about every 2 months between now and then in order to have all of the projects done that I want to take with me.  This doesn't really affect the structure of anyone's build right now, but if anyone is considering a celebration delivery even just a little bit, now would be the time to talk to me about it.  I have a few skinnyflex installs lined up, and from what I can guess, those will be ready sometime close to celebration whether it's before or after.  I am just guessing that I'll end up taking 3 of the 5-6 projects with me to hand-deliver to Juansith in person, which means they will end up being finished in the last few weeks (or less) prior to Celebration.  If I get a pm in February asking if I can do a project and hand-deliver at Celebration, I'm just warning you in advance it might not be possible.  Obviously, the closer we get to Celebration (and the more builds I finish) the more I'll know, but that could go either way (being able or not able to hand deliver at Celebration). 

I have a few outstanding pm's to return, which I will hopefully get to later on today or tomorrow. 



Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #72 on: November 30, 2014, 04:21:36 PM »
Sorry for the lack of updates guys, this semester has really been taking its toll on me.  I'm almost done though, and we're getting to the point where I'm going to be rapid firing some builds, so if you haven't already heard from me about your build, expect to in the next 2 weeks. 

My next 2 weeks are pretty much totally shot. I've got 6 assignments (projects and homeworks) due this week, a final this week, and 5 more finals next week (3 on monday, 1 on tuesday, and 1 that hasn't been announced yet).  After those wrap up, I'm going to take a few days to regain my sanity, and then we're going to see some builds moving forward very quickly. 

Also, for those of you that are wondering if this is going to be a continuing pattern (where builds just halt during the schoolyear), it is never easy to say ahead of time, but this semester, I was on campus for 30 hours a week, plus homework time.  Next semester, it will be less than half of that on campus per week, which took some very careful scheduling on my part (same amount of credit hours, just not as stupid of a schedule), but it should allow for me to continue building while the semester is in progress. 


Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #73 on: April 14, 2015, 12:25:34 AM »
I'll be out of the shop for Star Wars Celebration from Wednesday to Sunday and may only have internet access on my phone, so if anyone is trying to reach me, I'll be able to see your messages, but I may not immediately respond if it isn't something urgent. 

As you can see in my build log, I wrapped up quite a few builds this month.  Cleared a lot of stuff off of the bench, but the shop is an absolute mess, and final exams are right around the corner.  After that, I'm spending a week working on a CNC project with a friend of mine.  We have access to 3 cnc mills (all are big HAAS mills) and 2 cnc lathes.  No 4th axis, so I can't do much saber work on the mill, but I will be doing quite a bit of saber work on the lathe while my main project is running on the mill.  Those of you that know what the big project is, no spoilers please.   ;)  I'll reveal it as soon as I have something tangible to reveal. 



Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: ACGCustomSabers Services and Build Log *Now Open*
« Reply #74 on: August 23, 2015, 08:01:05 AM »
Hey everyone, as you may have noticed, I've been pretty quiet lately, and I wanted to talk about that.  The reason I've been so quiet is that I'm in the planning stages of some upgrades to the shop, and I didn't want to push any builds through just to suddenly have all of this new equipment at my disposal. 

Friday, I ordered an Ultimaker 2 Extended.  That's the highest resolution 3d printer available (consumer grade, not the $200,000 stratasys machines) and the build volume is not to shabby.  This will help me be able to work on multiple things at once, meaning I can be printing chassis parts while I'm machining chamber parts, I can make switch holders and speaker mounts while I'm sleeping, etc. 

The second part of the upgrade to the shop hasn't been ordered yet, but I'm going to be converting my mill to CNC complete with 4th axis capabilities.  Again, this will increase productivity, quality, and also increase the amount of detailing that I can put into builds without winding up spending 200+ hours doing it all by hand.  Again, I'll be able to work on multiple things at once.  Part 1 can be on the mill while I'm lathing part 2 to prepare it for its milling operations.  I expect to be up and running on this by the end of september.  The only holdup will be the amount of time it takes for the CNC conversion kit to arrive. 

I've always planned on getting a bigger machine, but I've had to keep putting it off because I just don't have the space (among other things).  In the mean time, I still don't have cnc capabilities, and the cycle continues.  So I'm finally taking the plunge for both myself and all of my clients.  It won't be so simple that I can program it, set the tools, and walk away, but it will be faster and just as accurate as anything I do by hand.  A 90 minute sound hole drilling operation would be reduced to maybe 10 minutes with a tool change. 

I know I still owe some people some pm's, and don't worry, I haven't missed them.  This has been a lot of planning to be sure that these upgrades fill the gaps in my shop, and they really do.  It's going to be a big step for me, and shouldn't really have any learning curve.  I built a 3d printer back in 2010, and am an expert with 3d CAD software, so the only learning curve with the printer will be the handling of the different kinds of material.  For the CNC, I can do all of the toolpaths and am no newbie to using CNC machines, so it really shouldn't take much learning at all, especially since I already know the limitations of the machine I'll be using. 

I appreciate everyone's patience, and I promise, it will be rewarded. 
« Last Edit: August 23, 2015, 08:06:58 AM by ANAKIN SKYWALKER »


 

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