Business – MarvinPeardon.com

Shop Progress Rebooted

July 4, 2024/in Business/by mpeardon

Shop progress is always a welcomed site to see! There are a variety of reasons that have caused delays in shop progress over the past year but since around February things have started moving forward again. I had been trying to post this update from my phone but have had continued issues with the WordPress app and loading photos for a number of months now without resolution. I finally got around to transferring the pictures to my computer, allowing me to upload them here and FINALLY make this post.

Let’s run through some progress… back in February I was able to get concrete poured to provide a small entrance to the shop’s high-bay door as well as the entry door to the office.

In March I had gutters installed on the shop which will help with water run-off and soil erosion.

Once the rest of the shop is done (i.e. interior finished and moved in) I will likely run the downspouts into the ground and install some pop-up emitters to further reduce any erosion… and I simply think it looks better 🙂

Over the past year, I was not able to find a HVAC company who wanted to tackle the system installation mainly due to the custom build floor trusses and the fact that they had to be cut to allow for the duct work to pass through. I advised various companies that I would cut the trusses if they would simply provide the duct sizing. Long story short, I went to YouTube University and learned how to design my own HVAC system including number and sizes of the vents [registers] and all of the duct work needed. Once that was done, I got to work cutting the trusses to allow for the main HVAC trunk to pass through.

I ended up being able to work with a family member, Uncle Dustin, to get the HVAC duct work installed. If you look closely, the (4) 6″ registers are spaced along the back wall and will provide a nice climate controlled office space!

Die Cutting w/ Roland VersaCamm

December 3, 2022/0 Comments/in Business/by mpeardon

I’ve often been asked how I dial in cut force, particularly when die cutting… and the answer is testing… with each and every material… each and every time. If you’ve replaced your blade the cut settings may be different. Test again. Trust but verify.

When die cutting, the standard/built-in test cut doesn’t work well because it’s just too small to give you a good representative cut. So here I made a 1.25″ CutContour circle and imported that into VersaWorks.

Start with a low setting (no need to cause damage from the start) and slowly work your way up. After it cut through at 145, I stepped back through at 5gf increments to see if it would cut through at a lower force… 140gf worked but it took more force to punch them out of the material than I liked. So 145gf was the magic number for this job.

The idea is to really dial in the proper force because cutting with too much force will cut deeper into the cutting strip causing it to require replacement even sooner… and you also want to keep them from falling out too easily which could cause the cutter to jamb or stop cutting if one falls out over either the front or rear material sensors.

This was my first time trying to die-cut holographic so I really had no idea where I would end up on force, so I started really low on purpose. I was running a 2-pass cut (aka double cutting) which allows a lower force to be able to be used.

I will also note I am using cheap 45° blades from Amazon. I’ve used Roland, CleanCut, and these from Amazon. With the work I do, I haven’t noticed any difference other than the price.

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Die Cut Stickers

October 3, 2022/0 Comments/in Business/by mpeardon

Today, well technically yesterday since I’m writing this at almost 2 am, was a LONG day. I’m headed out of town for the day job in the morning, so I’ve worked tirelessly to get every order I possibly could done and prepared for pickup while I’m away; at least 7 orders will be shipped tomorrow, assuming both UPS and USPS perform the pickups as scheduled. But let’s get to the title of this post… die-cut stickers! One of the orders I worked on today was for a new client, Triple Seven Concepts. They’re a new startup looking to do some marketing by way of stickers. So I got these printed and cut… and they’ll be headed out tomorrow!

Triple Seven Concepts | 3-inch Die Cut Stickers

Triple Seven Concepts | 5-inch Die Cut Stickers

Triple Seven Concepts | 5-inch & 3-inch Die Cut Stickers

And now that it’s a little past 2 am I should probably wrap this up because 4:45 is going to come really soon!

Shop Progress | Low Voltage

October 1, 2022/0 Comments/in Business/by mpeardon

I continue to struggle with dedicating the time to documenting but continue pressing forward with accomplishments on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis. Last weekend I was able to wrap up this trim out of the low voltage wiring in the shop and prepare it to be covered with insulation.

I’ll also go ahead and fill in the insulation in the wall cavities to the bottom left (hopefully tomorrow) and basically finalize this back wall being ready for drywall… or potentially just sheets of plywood. I’ve been considering the plywood approach for a while and simply screwing in the sheets and leaving the fasteners exposed so that I could remove panels, to allow easy access if needed in the future. The only thing prohibiting this approach at this point is the current cost of plywood which is still substantially higher than it was pre-covid.

Aside from the shop progress, I was able to record 4 videos this week and got them edited and uploaded to my YouTube channel last night. Progress, progress, progress… one day at a time!

Shop Progress | Insulation

July 12, 2022/0 Comments/in Business/by mpeardon

It’s been almost 2 months since my last post, and I hope I can get to a point where I post more frequently and make this more of a habit. I suppose that’s something to add to the list of things to work on! But for now, I just wanted to post a really quick share relating to my shop build and related progress. This past weekend I was able to spend some time with my dad and he helped me begin installing insulation in my shop. This was the first time either of us had done it, so there was a bit of guessing and figuring it out as we went. It was blazing hot (triple-digit heat index) and a lot of hard work, but we hung in there and got a LOT accomplished! Here are a few pictures…