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Poloris
15th July 2011, 01:10 AM
On last nights episode of New Inventors,the third invention was a magnetic caliper for luthiers.
What a great aid it would be for hollow turning.
Not too many of us would pay the probable $500- $600 price tag.
Episode 23

New Inventors: Watch or Download Video (http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/video/video.htm)

Mark

Skew ChiDAMN!!
15th July 2011, 03:24 AM
On last nights episode of New Inventors,the third invention was a magnetic caliper for luthiers.
What a great aid it would be for hollow turning.

What a good idea!

I can see a couple of small problems with using it for hollow forms, but they're just engineering problems, I think.

I'd love to have one!

hughie
15th July 2011, 09:28 AM
very interesting, 0-10mm at 0.100mm accuaracy, probably do us bowl makers at a pinch. :U

$500, a bit pricey tho'

sjm
15th July 2011, 09:32 AM
And if you don't want to download the 100MB video, their website is here:
!nstrumenTool (http://instrumentool.com/)

tea lady
15th July 2011, 10:18 AM
That is SO COOL! :oo: But yes! At $500 I shall never have one. :saddest: Not that I need one! :doh::rolleyes::D

TTIT
15th July 2011, 11:00 PM
That would be brilliant for my hollow forms :hpydans2: ...... but the toy budget is on hold for a while.
As an instrument tech', I'm wishing I had thought of it :C

dai sensei
16th July 2011, 12:15 PM
Interesting, but hard to justify the costs from a hobyists perspective :-

For bowls I use this one (http://www.carbatec.com.au/digital-thickness-gauge_c21153), just waiting for a model with longer arms now, as this is only good for relatively small bowls (<150mm deep). It's how I know my egg was 0.3mm to 1.4mm thick :U

!nstrumenTool
2nd November 2011, 01:28 PM
Yes it looks like not being particularly cheap. Roughly comparable price, though, to the existing magnetic/mechanical device on the market.

We're now in the final stages of development. I've been saying this for a while now but it finally looks like we're nearly ready for production.

Bowls and various hollow forms should benefit from this thickness gauge. It'll measure 0 to 10mm fine and more (not officially supported) range can be had with a bigger magnetic target ball and perhaps a slight drop in accuracy from the +- 0.1mm advertised. That's the sort of thing our forums will be for discussing once people start playing with the tool.


keep chipping away
Joel

TTIT
2nd November 2011, 01:51 PM
Welcome to the forum Joel. Now you're on here I hope you can keep us updated on the tools progress. Can't wait to see the final retail price :fingerscrossed:

Heilander
2nd November 2011, 08:27 PM
I used to use a similar instrument to measure paint thickness on cars along these lines
PCWI - Coating Thickness (http://www.pcwi.com.au/coating-thickness/coating-thickness.htm) :?

Sawdust Maker
3rd November 2011, 04:18 PM
You know if it's got POA on the advert then you can't afford it :doh:

Heilander
3rd November 2011, 07:50 PM
you're right again! they start at about $450 and go up :D

!nstrumenTool
24th February 2012, 01:19 PM
Well, it's been a long time coming... and it's still coming, but the !nstrumenTool magnetic caliper is scheduled to be demonstrated at this years "Australian Violin Makers Association" conference in Guildford, country Victoria at the beginning of March. I'll just do a very brief presentation showing the latest prototype, but we're hoping to have the thing ready to sell before mid this year.

I know wooden bowl turners might like the !nstrumenTool as much as luthiers so I'm sorry development has been so painstakingly slow. Better we get it right though.

Happy sawdust manufacturing
Joel

tea lady
24th February 2012, 01:27 PM
Well, it's been a long time coming... and it's still coming, but the !nstrumenTool magnetic caliper is scheduled to be demonstrated at this years "Australian Violin Makers Association" conference in Guildford, country Victoria at the beginning of March. I'll just do a very brief presentation showing the latest prototype, but we're hoping to have the thing ready to sell before mid this year.

I know wooden bowl turners might like the !nstrumenTool as much as luthiers so I'm sorry development has been so painstakingly slow. Better we get it right though.

Happy sawdust manufacturing
JoelWow! Congratulations on following through with your idea! Hope all goes well. :cool::2tsup:

Doing my bit for sawdust making today! :D

!nstrumenTool
24th February 2012, 04:22 PM
Thanks for that! Yes its fun to have lots of ideas but turning them into tangible objects can take some actual work. Rewarding though.

Glad to hear you're meeting your particulate wood quota.
Joel

tea lady
24th February 2012, 07:45 PM
Thanks for that! Yes its fun to have lots of ideas but turning them into tangible objects can take some actual work. Rewarding though.

I don't seem to have trouble making the objects. Selling them is where the gap is. They sell OK if they can get in front of buyers. :C

Paul39
25th February 2012, 11:51 AM
I don't seem to have trouble making the objects. Selling them is where the gap is. They sell OK if they can get in front of buyers. :C

Tea Lady,

Do you have a shop or gallery? I use a crafts shop. Their commission is 40% which is painful, but I do not have to spend time taking stuff to flea markets, craft fairs, or entertaining prospective buyers at home while they hem and haw and possibly not buy anything.

I make up a batch of bowls, twig pots and lately mushrooms, take them to the shop and the owner and I determine what they will sell for. They are priced, and at the end of each month I get a check for my share. We work on consignment. If after a year in the shop an item doesn't sell I bring it home. It can be priced lower and returned to the shop at a later time, or given as a gift.

I did try an auction two weeks before last Christmas. I put in a beautiful oak bowl, about 6 X 12 inches, and a lot of a small bowl, mushroom, and twig pot,

The bowl brought $10, and the lot of three brought $7.50.

Asheville, is a hotbed of crafts people. Several times a year there are studio strolls where a bunch of various studios rake out the debris, display the stuff and have snacks and punch.

See: About - River Arts District Artists (http://www.riverartsdistrict.com/about.html)

And there is this, with the admission fee of $1000 for a booth:

New Morning Gallery, Asheville, NC (http://www.newmorninggallerync.com/avacf.html)

I am not yet in that league.

And this:

https://www.southernhighlandguild.org/cart/wood.html?p=1

In a year or two I might be good enough to get in the guild.

tea lady
25th February 2012, 12:15 PM
Tea Lady,

Do you have a shop or gallery? I use a crafts shop. Their commission is 40% which is painful, but I do not have to spend time taking stuff to flea markets, craft fairs, or entertaining prospective buyers at home while they hem and haw and possibly not buy anything.

I make up a batch of bowls, twig pots and lately mushrooms, take them to the shop and the owner and I determine what they will sell for. They are priced, and at the end of each month I get a check for my share. We work on consignment. If after a year in the shop an item doesn't sell I bring it home. It can be priced lower and returned to the shop at a later time, or given as a gift.

I did try an auction two weeks before last Christmas. I put in a beautiful oak bowl, about 6 X 12 inches, and a lot of a small bowl, mushroom, and twig pot,

The bowl brought $10, and the lot of three brought $7.50.

Asheville, is a hotbed of crafts people. Several times a year there are studio strolls where a bunch of various studios rake out the debris, display the stuff and have snacks and punch.

See: About - River Arts District Artists (http://www.riverartsdistrict.com/about.html)

And there is this, with the admission fee of $1000 for a booth:

New Morning Gallery, Asheville, NC (http://www.newmorninggallerync.com/avacf.html)

I am not yet in that league.

And this:

https://www.southernhighlandguild.org/cart/wood.html?p=1

In a year or two I might be good enough to get in the guild.Don't want to hijack this thread, but I do sell through Craft Victiria which is a pretty high quality place. And now have outlet in Sydney! Gradually getting there. I do markets more to just get me out of the house and talking to people! :shrug: Was pondering a design show later in the year which is $1000 a booth. Bit steep for little ol' me. Maybe with a group of people. Anyway........