With-Kids on Craig Andera

Pi Day Ring

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My daughter generally designs jewelry for Pi Day. In 2026 she got done a little early, on March 6, which is eight days ahead of the 14th. Usually we're finishing up on the 13th.

This year's piece is a ring: ribbed, darkened bands with a pi symbol cut out across the front. The ribs are actually a mistake. Something to do with me setting up the rotary chuck on the laser wrong. But I liked the way it came out.

An earlier year's effort is on the Pi Day Earrings page.

Basement Storage Shelves

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today's job was to illustrate that sometimes "fast, cheap, good: pick at most two" is true. These are the cheapest shelves of this size that I could figure out how to build, a 2x4-and-plywood unit already loaded up with bins and tools.

Even so, they came to around two thirds of the price of buying something close, so I might switch to buying. That said, it was fun to have the apprentice helping.

Chinese Chop

Sat, 19 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This one was designed and manufactured together with my daughter. It is her Chinese "chop" writ large. (A chop is a stamp used the way a signature is in Western society.) She made it by cutting and painting a wooden blank, and then we CNC routed out the shape, leaving the paint.

More chops (December 2024)

She also made a few more of these for my siblings. They are about 6" square, and inspired by a Chinese "chop", . The one pictured says "Shu shu", which is "father's younger brother". My sister got the equivalent one that means "father's younger sister". For these, she hand-painted the cavities after routing.

Window Seat Bench

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In August 2024 I had a couple of hours to knock together a sort of window seat bench thing for my older daughter's new apartment. Of "fast, cheap, good" we definitely did not pick "good", but it was good enough, and I enjoyed building it with my younger daughter.

Mugging for the camera after earning some rest.

Building it

We built it in place in the apartment, starting with lumber laid out over some storage totes.

Then a 2x4 frame on the floor, which took some measuring.

Once the frame was done, a fit test in the bay window.

The slat boards got cut to length with a pull saw.

And then screwed down onto the frame.

The Woody Flower Award

Sat, 20 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The highest award a mentor in FIRST robotics can receive is the Woody Flowers award, named after one of the founders of FIRST. On our team, we decided to hand out the "Woody Flower" award, which went to two mentors who worked diligently in the background on some of the many, many not-robot tasks that are so essential to having a successful team.

My daughter made the flower out of wood shavings, and I lasered the plaque.

Making it (May 2023)

Here's the flower itself, on a board among the shavings it was made from, a couple of days before.

And the plaque with the flower attached, before I trimmed it down. I'm not thrilled with the look of the poplar, but I was out of time to do better.

Wine Bottle Chain

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This was actually my younger daughter's first welding project. I forget where we saw the idea, but it's just so cool we had to make one. I made another as a host gift for some friends as well.

It was super easy, even for an absolute beginner. We finished it by sandblasting it (which she enjoyed) and hitting it with some spray lacquer.

Making it (December 2022)

Here's one of the chains early on, with lumpy welds and the bottle hanging from a hook at the end.

Then a quick run to the makerspace so she could sandblast it.

I happened to snap this photo of her welding links together.

And a finished one, painted grey. This was the best I could do for a photo; it's too big for my lightbox.

Pi Day Earrings

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Our family celebrates Pi Day. As part of it, my younger daughter wanted to make some earrings she could wear to school. I modeled them to her specifications, we 3D-printed them, and then spray-painted them. I wanted to cast them in metal, but I was having trouble and we had a deadline, so the plastic versions were what we went with. I think they came out great. She wore them to school on March 14th.

Here's a close-up.

Trying to cast them (February and March 2022)

Here's the wax pattern cast from the 3D print, in blue. Oh hey, it worked.

Then I tried again, with what I thought was a better sprue design. This one is printed in grey resin.

That earring is slightly convex, like a contact lens. I failed many times to cast it in brass and aluminum bronze, but I learned a lot doing it. In the end I just printed it and spray-painted it.

Pi Day 2023

The next year, my younger daughter had another Pi Day earring concept in mind: a sphere made up of the digits of pi. I worked through the math for it in OpenSCAD.

This was the prototype, printed in white resin and coming together a few days before Pi Day. The design is hers.

The finished earrings were done just under the wire on March 14th. I'm not sure why she wanted black, but they are as ordered.

Here's a better picture, after she highlighted the numbers.

Another look at the prototype.

Band Saw Box

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

As part of our ongoing "Home Eng" series of projects, my younger daughter made this band saw box out of walnut and cherry. She even turned the brass knobs on the metal lathe. It was also our first experience flocking a drawer — it was super easy, and I love the way it came out. I'll definitely be using that technique again.

We tried flocking on a test piece first, on January 2, 2022. It worked so well that I'm never using felt again. The flocking process itself is pretty simply: you spread on some glue, then use a simple sprayer to blast the glue with some fuzz. Here's the test piece we made.

Another view of the finished piece from the other side.

With a pair of earrings in the drawer.

Curling Stone Pepper Mill

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

My youngest brother is big into curling, which is kind of like shuffleboard on ice. He asked me to make him a pepper mill, and my older daughter had the brilliant idea to make the top look like a curling stone — she figured out how to paint it to look like granite. My other daughter helped me turn the body, and I cast the handle in brass. It was my first ever sand casting, and my first ever brass casting. I love the way it came out, the more so because the kids were involved.

I did the casting at the last minute, right before we left to deliver the pepper mill, so I was extremely happy when I took the handle out of the sand and saw that it had turned out good enough to use. There wasn't time to make another.

And here's the CAD model I designed it in.

Here's the finished mill on a table.

Along the way (November and December 2021)

Here's the design iteration from late November: dark walnut body, a granite-looking curling stone on top, and a brass band and handle.

By the third week of December the top was made and waiting on paint.

Home-fired Candle Bowl

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The fourth project in a series my thirteen-year-old and I are doing that we call "Home Eng." This one was pretty straightforward: we got some clay, she shaped it, we dried it, we fired it in my little home furnace/kiln, she glazed it using tape to mask off the pattern, and we fired it again. We don't have a pottery wheel, hence the organic shape. She plans to fill it with wax and turn it into a candle.

Pewter Pineapple

Sun, 13 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The third project in a series my thirteen-year-old and I are doing that we call "Home Eng." We found a 3D model online, 3D printed it, used the print to produce a silicone mold, and then used the mold to cast the final pewter object. Pewter melts at a fairly low temperature, making it somewhat easier to work with than metals with a higher melting point. The puddle at the bottom is just overfill from the pouring process; we trimmed it off after this picture was taken. Why a pineapple? I have no idea — you'd have to ask her.

(A note on the name: this is actually cast from bismuth, not pewter. I was using "pewter" casually.)

Some pictures from making it. Here's the pour. The metal is bismuth, which melts at quite a low temperature and only needs the equivalent of a hot plate to melt. It was a really good first casting material, especially since the temperature is low enough that we could use a silicone mold, and not have to deal with things like sand casting or investment casting, which are a bit more involved.

Extracting the cast.

And one fresh out of the mold, with the flash still on.

Completed project, happy maker.

Mechanical Pencil

Sat, 01 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The second project in a series my thirteen-year-old and I are doing that we call "Home Eng." This was her first lathe project, and we both had fun. It was especially gratifying for her, I think, since we went from picking a piece of mahogany out to having a finished piece in about an hour and a half.

Tea Tray

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

My younger daughter and I decided to take on a series of projects in the shop. This is our first: a tea tray made from cherry using simple joinery. She did most of the sawing, and I helped out a bit with planing and chisel work. She did the handle wrapping entirely by herself, and did a much better job of it than I would have.

Vanity

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

My older daughter wanted a small table to go in her room. Building it, then painting and redecorating it, was a quarantine project. She worked with me to build this, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out — made from the poplar of a tree that grew in our yard, too.

Some photos from the build, in raw poplar. The frame coming together first, with the tapered legs and rails:

Then with the arched apron and the joinery clamped up:

The top on and a drawer fitted:

And the nearly finished table from the other side, before the painting and redecorating.

Weed Pot

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

My older daughter turned this "weed pot" on the lathe. We finished the inside with epoxy so that it would hold water. Here it is still in the chuck.

And the finished piece.

Poured Resin Art

Wed, 09 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The kids and I made a few of these together. It's poured resin art: you take a bunch of different colors of resin, pour them onto a board, and then manipulate them to get an interesting effect. It dries hard and glossy and looks pretty cool.