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Building A CNC - Watch a first timer stumble through a crazy build
- Thread starter John_Nicholas
- Start date
Hey Jeff,
There have been some health issues but mostly it's because of the weather... too cold in the garage. It's coming up to spring and soon it will be warm enough to continue work. The goal is to get this up and running in early spring.
Yeah, I hear you. For a while I worked on mine on the dining room table but eventually that was making too much mess and noise so was relegated back to the garage.
Looking forward to seeing some shavings!
Sorry to not have been hanging around on the forum for a while... it's been a tough year for me. Unfortunately my medical condition has rendered me far too weak to continue any of my building endeavors. I've had a great deal of fun following along with all the different builds and learned so much from the members here. For that I say a deeply appreciative thank you.
I know this is kind of a strange post, but for those who were following along, I didn't want to leave you hanging.
All the very best.
I know this is kind of a strange post, but for those who were following along, I didn't want to leave you hanging.
All the very best.
Hope your health improves John, it would be great to see this finished eventually, but...priorities.
I liked your post but what I really meant is I would like to see you regain enough health to do the things you enjoy. Keep up the fight!
Thinking of you and your family. I sincerely hope there's good news over and over for you guys.
- Apr 20, 2009
- 2,618
- 4,664
- Disclosures
- Endorsements: your name could be here, Mr. Sadowsky!
Didn't mean to sound overeager and flippant with OP's latest news, certainly take care of yourself first, hoping you'll be back showing us the way when you can...Wow. Just found this thread. Must study in detail.
I hope nobody takes it that way! I imagine I'd respond identically if I'd never before seen the technological artisanship this thread displays in spades.
No worries, I didn't take it that way at all. Thank you!
John, the main thing is to keep a positive attitude while your body is recovering. Keep thinking about this project as a goal; you need to get back to it when your strength and energy returns. Don't go negative and start convincing yourself that you'll never be able to finish it. Even if you are feeling too weak to work with tools, go out in the shop and sit at the bench for a while. Look at things, handle things, figure out little problems, make notes. It's really good therapy to be there and remember why you enjoy building a machine.
I did that when I was recovering from my heart surgery. I went out in my shop and sat at my workbenches, looking at all the projects waiting for me, and thought about all the improvements I need to make to my machines....It helped a lot. I was doing that ten days after my surgery.
As you're recovering, start going out in the shop and doing a small amount of work, for a short amount of time. Even if you get tired after 15 minutes, that's okay. Keep doing it, several times a day. Small steps, but get a pattern going. So you aren't afraid to go out there and face your project. Progress may be slow right now, but you are working on it. And you are going to finish it.
The recovery time, after a big medical condition, should be spent getting back to your life. At a slow pace. And obviously, being careful not to hurt yourself. Don't lock out your life and lie around being miserable. That's not going to help the recovery.
I did that when I was recovering from my heart surgery. I went out in my shop and sat at my workbenches, looking at all the projects waiting for me, and thought about all the improvements I need to make to my machines....It helped a lot. I was doing that ten days after my surgery.
As you're recovering, start going out in the shop and doing a small amount of work, for a short amount of time. Even if you get tired after 15 minutes, that's okay. Keep doing it, several times a day. Small steps, but get a pattern going. So you aren't afraid to go out there and face your project. Progress may be slow right now, but you are working on it. And you are going to finish it.
The recovery time, after a big medical condition, should be spent getting back to your life. At a slow pace. And obviously, being careful not to hurt yourself. Don't lock out your life and lie around being miserable. That's not going to help the recovery.
Hey Bruce,
Thank you so much for your heartfelt and in depth pep talk. I know I haven't talked much about what I'm going through in the past, but will do so now for clarification.
In June of 2020 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer. I went through six months of chemotherapy and high doses of steroids, hormones, morphine and much, much more.
During the chemo treatments and afterwards, I did exactly what you suggested. If you check the timing of my projects you will find that they were begun after my diagnosis. It was a way to keep my mind off of what my body was going through and to continue to do something fun and creative.
The truly unfortunate issue is that there is no cure for the cancer I have. It had migrated into my lymph nodes and bones. My doctors have warned me off of doing anything physical which could cause any kind of bone injury. So I've given up so many of the things I loved to do, like biking, roller skating, running and more...
Now I feel very unsafe using power tools. Add that I get tired very easily and it's a recipe for an accident.
The worst part is that my memory since chemo treatments has been sketchy and unreliable. It just adds to the concerns surrounding power tools and worse it's almost impossible for me to concentrate enough to learn new software that would be required to use a CNC.
After a great deal of soul searching and contemplation my best course of action is to sell off my stuff, to keep my wife from having to do it in the future.
The prognosis is not horrible, but my time is limited. The doctors have claimed that they have patients that make it ten years or so after chemo treatments. Now I am on a hormone treatments that basically have me going through menopause, along with some other not so fun side effects.
I have not, nor will I ever give up. I maintain a positive attitude and actually have the issue of where I look good in person. This actually ends up being a detriment because people don't believe or understand how difficult it is for me to do regular daily activities. The truth is I don't tell everyone I meet what my prognosis is and when they meet me in person they have no clue. Like I said, it can be tricky when you are dealing with a condition which limits your activity when you look healthy.
The reason I haven't been on the forums much is it's difficult to watch others doing the stuff that you truly desire to do.
Lucky for me I'm a huge fan of reading and movies, as I can easily enjoy those activities.
This past week, my wife and I dropped our 18 year old daughter off at college. We drove from New York to Florida, taking three days to make the trip. During the driving we visited old towns, like St. Augustine, the Natural Bridge, the beach and of course walked all over the Florida Institute of Technology campus. So I can do some things, I just have to walk slower than I ever have in the past and take breaks often.
Thank you so much for you response. It is deeply appreciated.
Thank you so much for your heartfelt and in depth pep talk. I know I haven't talked much about what I'm going through in the past, but will do so now for clarification.
In June of 2020 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer. I went through six months of chemotherapy and high doses of steroids, hormones, morphine and much, much more.
During the chemo treatments and afterwards, I did exactly what you suggested. If you check the timing of my projects you will find that they were begun after my diagnosis. It was a way to keep my mind off of what my body was going through and to continue to do something fun and creative.
The truly unfortunate issue is that there is no cure for the cancer I have. It had migrated into my lymph nodes and bones. My doctors have warned me off of doing anything physical which could cause any kind of bone injury. So I've given up so many of the things I loved to do, like biking, roller skating, running and more...
Now I feel very unsafe using power tools. Add that I get tired very easily and it's a recipe for an accident.
The worst part is that my memory since chemo treatments has been sketchy and unreliable. It just adds to the concerns surrounding power tools and worse it's almost impossible for me to concentrate enough to learn new software that would be required to use a CNC.
After a great deal of soul searching and contemplation my best course of action is to sell off my stuff, to keep my wife from having to do it in the future.
The prognosis is not horrible, but my time is limited. The doctors have claimed that they have patients that make it ten years or so after chemo treatments. Now I am on a hormone treatments that basically have me going through menopause, along with some other not so fun side effects.
I have not, nor will I ever give up. I maintain a positive attitude and actually have the issue of where I look good in person. This actually ends up being a detriment because people don't believe or understand how difficult it is for me to do regular daily activities. The truth is I don't tell everyone I meet what my prognosis is and when they meet me in person they have no clue. Like I said, it can be tricky when you are dealing with a condition which limits your activity when you look healthy.
The reason I haven't been on the forums much is it's difficult to watch others doing the stuff that you truly desire to do.
Lucky for me I'm a huge fan of reading and movies, as I can easily enjoy those activities.
This past week, my wife and I dropped our 18 year old daughter off at college. We drove from New York to Florida, taking three days to make the trip. During the driving we visited old towns, like St. Augustine, the Natural Bridge, the beach and of course walked all over the Florida Institute of Technology campus. So I can do some things, I just have to walk slower than I ever have in the past and take breaks often.
Thank you so much for you response. It is deeply appreciated.
Freekmagnet
Commercial User
