taylor studios work

 

Jason Cox sent me an email on Thursday to ask if I could give him a call. Jason was one of my project managers at Taylor Studios when I worked there after graduate school. Jason was an awesome project manager and I always have had a ton of respect for him. 

I gave Jason a call and he was curious if I could advise them on a job they're working on for Smithsonian Air and Space. They are CNC machining and 3D printing components of planes that will be assembled and then painted so that people can touch the planes, specifically people who are blind. The mounts for the planes have been specified as being steel rod that is knurled and then powder coated. This would allow visitors to feel the textured surface and realize that the mounts are not part of the plane. Jason was curious about the powder coat filling in the knurl and was also curious about a source for getting knurled rod longer than 6" that uses a transverse knurl with no lines or transitions between the knurled pattern. Taylor Studios had received some samples from a local source but the client was not happy with the result. I provided Jason with some of my thoughts and possible resources, but I asked him if I could just make up some samples pieces and experiment with making some long knurling patterns on some stock in my studio. I told him it was no big deal to run down to the shop and whip some pieces up just so I could send him some pics if I could get a decent result.

I used some fine knurls first and later moved to some course knurls later. I didn't have any 3/8 mild steel so I used some O1 steel I had on hand. I played with tension on the knurling tool, using power feed, manually feeding, and the lateral load that the knurl creates in different sections of the rod when the stock is held between centers. I made up several sample pieces and sent the pics to Jason to show him that it's possible to get some longer sections of knurled rod with no transitions. Thursday night he asked me to send these samples to him so they could go ahead and powder coat and show the client. Jill sent them out yesterday for me. 

It's good to be able to help Jason out. He was always super kind to me when I worked on projects for him and I always felt like he supported all of his fabricators since he had worked his way up through the company and had started out as a fabricator. He seemed like a great father too. I was a new father at the time and I respected Jason so much. I hope this small act helps Jason with their project.