He uses the salmon silhouettes to idemonstrate the importance of adequate water depth for the salmon lifecycle which includes a return swim, upstream to spawn. By placing the wood, full-size, salmon silhouettes in the water, resting against the bottom of a creek or other watershed habitat, officials, students, and policy makers witness, first-hand, salmon water requirements. The silhouettes have become an effective way to get water flow issues addressed.
Beyond creating watershed demonstration tools, the CNC machine offers possibilities, like helping to make complicated inlay in cabinet doors and drawer faces, customizing ornamental trim, engravings, complex joinery, and cutting intricate panel art for room dividers. What is more, the CNC machine assists with projects using plastic and non-ferrous metals.
Our CNC was built "in house," from raw materials welded together in our shop. It has a robust aluminum frame and is big enough to handle up to a 4'x4'surface--double the typical in-house CNC route, meaning we can put a up to a half sheet of plywood at a time.
When we use Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software to customize projects that we build, it's just one step to the CNC machine for cuting exact of parts and duplicates that are both accurate and consistent.