Doing a test print of a vase today to see if the CR-10S is up to the task after all the work I put into it yesterday. Looking pretty good so far!

Looks like the vase machine is back in action! New hotend, new nozzle, some new wheels, new firmware, some rewiring and soldering… but it’s working great! I may have to get a magnetic PEI build plate for it, though – once you use those, going back to an old glass bed isn’t fun…

Today’s project is tinkering with the old CR-10S to see if I can get it back into service. The K1 is amazing and the ancient Prusa has been a pleasant surprise but I would like to have another printer up and running, and the CR-10S’s 400mm build envelope will come in very handy.

So far, so good – lots of stuff to clean up, a hotend to replace, some splicing and soldering, and now I’m chasing down a firmware bug. But it’ll be worth it!

Fired up the printer, let’s see what happens!

I’ve wanted to get involved in the local craft sale/market scene for years now but I haven’t been able to work up the confidence or organize myself enough to do it. My wife has been very supportive while I fill the house with the whirring of the CNC as I mill circuit boards, or the little test prints that I carry around to figure out what settings I need to tweak before putting them down in random spots and forgetting about them.

We went to a craft sale a few weekends ago mainly to scout it out and it was quite the event – not huge by any means but very interesting and there were a lot of friendly people there. We learned a lot, were encouraged, and came home with a bunch of neat goodies we picked up. There are a few more around here this weekend and I’m hoping to get some more ideas about how people set up their tables to give good views of their products, while also showing a LOT of products at the same time. It’s a balancing act for sure and I’d like to learn how to do it.

I sent an email off to an organizer of a school even that’s coming up in June. I asked if they’re still looking for vendors and if so, I’d be happy to give it a shot (I sent a photo of my little display along). I don’t know how this stuff works yet but I’m really hoping they’ll say yes and I’ll be able to get into my first craft sale. Wish me luck!

People keep asking me to do up some vases for them. Problem is, I don’t have a particularly art-centric mind. You want a cylinder? No problem! You want some kind of rectangle? You got it! But something with spirals and flair? I’m not particularly good at that. But that doesn’t mean it’s not fun or interesting!

Some products I currently have out display or for sale, I found the models or designs for online. For any of those products, I adhere to the licensing that the designers require for me to use them legally. If that means I can’t use them, I won’t. In the case of the dinosaurs and octopuses in the display, they require attribution cards to give proper credit to the designer of the model. If you look at the photo in the previous post, you can see a small piece of wood on the same string as the price tag. Those pieces of wood are the attribution cards for those products – they have the attribution text etched into them.

Products that don’t have an attribution tag don’t require one, either because the licensing is permissive or because it’s a product I designed myself.

If you should ever happen to buy a product from me that you suspect isn’t licensed properly, please let me know right away!

I’ve been a member at the North Forge FabLab in downtown Winnipeg for the better part of a year now. One of the interesting things about the building is that there is an area on the main floor called the Makers Market where members can put out some of their products for people to see and purchase if they’d like. While I’ve been making things for people for decades now, I’ve always been nervous about turning it into a business, but what better way to try than that?

I guess every site has to start somewhere, so here we go!

Mark’s Bench is a small business located in Manitoba, Canada, that specializes in the following:
– Custom electronics design/build,
– 3D printing,
– Laser etching and cutting,
– CNC etching and milling, and
– Prototyping and small-batch production of any of the above.

We also provide IT evaluation, advice, and support targeted at the home, home office, and small business segments.

If you have an idea and could use some help making it a reality, feel free to reach out – we may be able to work together to make it happen!