WELCOME!


It is hard to believe that it was almost ten years ago I witnessed a CNC router in action for the very first time. I was fascinated with what I saw and simply had to have one! Although I had been in the creative end of the three dimensional sign business for most of my life I didn't really know what I would do with one - but I just knew it could do fantastic stuff.

Through extensive research and LOTS of hands-on practice I quickly found out that my MultiCam router was capable of just about anything imaginable.This journal will chronicle that journey to date and continue each week with two or three entries as I continue to explore just what is possible with this wonderful tool... -dan

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Assembly in Trinidad

It's been a busy week as I headed south from the EnRoute Summit in Salt Lake City rather than heading home. In Trinidad the work on Skallywag Bay Adventure Park is continuing, with the permanent placement of the features now beginning on a large scale. It is ratifying to be doing that job after almost four years since the project began in earnest. I was in Trinidad for four days this time and great progress was made.

We shipped eighteen 40' shipping containers to Trinidad more than a year ago. We then had to wait for the construction there to catch up to our reconstruction. Now, at last we can permanently place most of the features where they go and assemble all of the pieces, most often for the very first time. Our shop has limited ceiling height and because of this and the shipping constraints ship them in segments. This meant we were seeing the finished features for the very first time.

The trickiest installation was the arms of the Kraken. Tolerances were tight as each long arm was carefully slid into position.



The statue of Captain Skallywag was assembled in the centre of the courtyard.


The Pirate horse was the most fragile of the pieces and I breathed a sigh of relief when the lift was done without incident.


I mapped out the location of the features and also the bigger elements like the right of way for the railway. It will travel between the two halves of this shipwreck.


Most of the features we moved this time were for the adventure golf. The 'Gruffles', (the characters who populate this land' live in some very creative buildings made from plundered and found objects. This house was fashioned from an upside down boat named 'TURTLE'.


It sure was good to see the features assembled!



The largest and heaviest piece, the pirate's ship had been placed in the unfinished pool to locate it accurately. The 12,000 lb boat was gently lifted out one last time before they finish the concrete in the pool.



While we worked elsewhere on site the concrete crew was sweating in the pool as they poured the walls and floor. The next time I am there the plinth for the ship should be done and we can locate the ship and install the ramps leading onto it.


Once my consulting and direction was done I headed home. As work ramps up in the park I'll be returning more often. The lofty goal is to be done before the Christmas season.