Downing's Basement

Well, been a month now since my last post and life has been brutally busy. As many of you may know, I moved recently and man…four years of setting up a workshop seemed to take just as long to break down and move to a new place!

So what I’ve been up to lately is just trying to get back on my feet as far as my projects are concerned. This new house has a full sized basement which I’d say is now 90% set up and getting ready to go. My new Milling machine is finally starting to get some use and I’m in the process of building a new clamping table for it out of aluminum which is new to me. A new learning curve but it’s something I’ve wanted to be able to do for awhile now and this is a good starting point.

In the next few weeks I’ll have some pictures and video up of the new basement. I’m also getting a new computer of Wednesday as my old one didn’t survive the move too well (it used to be built into my desk but the desk didn’t make the trip). But, it was also going on 7 years old so time for an upgrade anyway.

With that said, I’ve got some pretty big plans in place, but they may very well just stay that way as I’ve got 6 weeks left until a new baby Downing makes his way into this world! This will be my first child and I’m very excited to meet him! So there will certainly be more updates coming soon enough!

So after nearly a year of production, the Cross Plane Commission I took on back at the end of October 2013 is now complete and will be shipping to my customer this week! As many of you have known, the Cross Plane was a Kickstarter project that I was working on pretty much the last part of 2012 and all of 2013, with the help of Jon Jandran (Hailrazer) and RDC. It was a project that taught me a great deal about modern electronics and video gaming hardware.

This version of the CP improved on all the key issues that were apparent with the Kickstarter prototype and were made as best it could be without some form of industrial redesign or major funding.

The video below pretty much showcases all the pics I took of the project. It also explains and demonstrates how the control paks work and the overall goal that was accomplished.  I’m very proud of how this one came out, even if it didn’t go quite according to plan. I also want to thank my buyer for being as patient as he was while I worked out the kinks to get this right!

Thanks again everyone and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Oh, and I have build log here that I kinda forgot about but it gives a bit more detail as to what went into this.
BacMan Forums Build Log

Well that was cool! Most quick progress updates I make have a short video with them. Most don’t attract much more than a few hundred views on You Tube after a couple months, which is about what is to be expected. However, this one seems to have gotten a few people interested as it’s up over 200 in less than a day.

Not amazing numbers I know, but still pretty cool to see that people still like the idea.

Anyway, check out the progress video below. It’s nice and short and shows off how much of a beauty this commission really is!

The addition of a new full time job, combined with the sub-zero and snow filled winter have put a lot of my modding and ability to do projects of any kind to a screeching halt. I’ve had a lot of new You Tube activity though, many new subscribers and a lot of requests for case commissions.

Unfortunately I’m sorry to say that I simply don’t have the time for new projects and I’m behind in the ones I’m working on as it is. This is pretty much a “Catch Up” period where I need to get things at home back on track from the rather bumpy ride it’s been for the past year and half. I can’t say I’d do anything different but it came with a cost and now it’s time to pay it forward.

So if you don’t hear much from me for the next couple of months, rest assured that I am working on a couple projects but at a snails paces. I’ll be keeping at it though, no worries there, just need to get back on my feet in the real world.