Saturday, April 05, 2008
Out for Some Air
Stage-directions: "We all know the nightmares associated with man-hours and timetables. Even if designs come through in time, the likelihood that everything will run smoothly from the beginning of the production process to its conclusion remains slim and we begin to wish that we would have overestimated our necessary man-hours when reporting to the artistic team. For this reason, I am always shocked when I enter a shop equipped with a brand new drill press, a band saw in which you can see your reflection and every other state-of-the-art piece of gear imaginable, but no pneumatic gear can be seen."
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4 comments:
This demonstrates one of the key reasons behind the advancements of complexities in shows. With better technology in the shops, faster build times means more money can be placed in new areas whether that's a new toy in the shop, or a reallocation of budget to another department. It surprises me that pneumatics are still considered new, because CNC machines seem to be the real next step in shop technology that can preserve even more time and money.
I never realized how much the little time you save per nail really adds up.
As for what Kevin said about CNC, I don't know if it is a fullproof timesaver in a scene shop. You have to take into consideration the extra time it takes to plan and program the piece if you are using the CNC. I feel like that only saves time when you are forced to churn out a lot of identical things for a show. I am a firm believer that sometimes the old fashioned way is the right way.
Looking at what Laura said, I would agree that it does take time to program a CNC machine, but the more limited possiblity for error means that in most cases, it's worth it. As the article says, timesavers can be found in the most surprising places- I would have thought that most shops had implemented pneumatics by now.
"You have to take into consideration the extra time it takes to plan and program the piece if you are using the CNC. I feel like that only saves time when you are forced to churn out a lot of identical things for a show. I am a firm believer that sometimes the old fashioned way is the right way."
Which isn't much, as you already should be CADing this in the first place. It saves time when precision is key. It saves time when you need annoying things done. It saves time, period.
This article is a good thing to piggyback on Dave's TigerStop video he showed in class. Dave commented on (and seemed to be amazed by) how much time we spend measuring when cutting wood for a project.
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