ShopTalk Sunday: Ongoing Changes at Ranch Shop

by

Grandpa’s Shop

Truth be told, Grandpa Ure didn’t have one. He’d had a tough life, bringing the family out from the Dakotas during the Twenties — he saw what was coming. With a well-paying job at the forerunner of Puget Power, he drove a Dodge PowerWagon over the mountains and foothills of the Cascades. Years later, Pappy would still talk about “the guy who put a power pole on that impossible summit.”

He didn’t go in for “shop work” when he retired. He was beat. Most days he’d sip coffee from a comfy chair less than a dozen feet from a black-and-white TV. Joe Garagiola had long since left the diamond and was calling color by then. Bessy would lay out a big home-cooked meal most Sundays, and the whole fan-damily would show up. Rhubarb pie with ice cream? Still hard to pass up.

Uncle Stanley, on the other hand, was a Teamster firefighter and rig driver. Unlike Grand Pappy, Stanley liked tools — and used every one of ’em like the craftsman he was. A handsaw, table saw, and a belt sander were most of what he needed. He also had an old white gas blowtorch to sweat copper when plumbing one of his houses.

In all, he built between four and six homes — all works of art. But the best one sat on just over 5 acres, about a mile east of what today would be the south end of Sea-Tac Airport. That’s where the first real boyhood shop memories formed:

  • A cut-down 55-gallon stove

  • A cutting box filled with pine and fir chunks

  • A big table saw

  • And a full-sized purebred Collie named Happy

Stanley trained the dog to bark on cue when he said “Happy! Democrat!” — the dog would growl, teeth bared and all.

When my own child came along, I tried the same trick. Didn’t take with the girls, but G2 got it — maybe from being a medic to 800 tradesmen on a massive server farm build. That leaves a mark.

Pappy’s Shop

Firefighting ran in the Ure family. Pappy and his brother Cliff both had functional shops. Cliff built a couple of Sunset Magazine quality homes — the kind that look current even 20 years later. His shop had the usuals (table saw, drill press) and a jointer. Always a few steps above journeyman level.

Pappy — my dad — had less room to work with. My ham shack annexed most of the basement, complete with a 220V box just for gear. That left him about a 16×12 corner. There sat a wood stove named “Oscar” — caboose-style.

One day, Mom overloaded Oscar with cardboard and went upstairs to answer the phone. The stove caught fire. Pappy — by then a Captain and acting Chief — got the day off to “talk to your wife about overloading stoves and walking away from ’em.” Oscar mostly sat cold after that.

Despite the space crunch, Pappy squeezed in a tilting-table Delta saw (on a Pacific Fruit box with cast iron wheels), a belt sander, and electric drills — first a Pall Mall, then a Monkey Wards PowrKraft.

Eventually, This Leads Somewhere

Ranch Shop #1

My third shop here at the ranch is forming now. The first one — like an Uncle Stanley shop — had a table saw that wore out after 12 years of steady use. A jointer made an appearance, though I never reached Uncle Cliff’s caliber. The drill press was average — my second one, too.

This shop helped rebuild the house after a fire before we even moved in from Florida. The settlement paid off the mortgage, so… lemons, lemonade. Credit to my brother-in-law, now remarried and living in his own ever-after.

The Second Shop

With the house done and guest quarters built, the pole building that held my office got closed in. That’s when the toollust phase really bloomed:

  • MIG, TIG, and gas welders

  • A giant soldering gun jobbie

  • Metal brake

  • A big lathe (thanks, Jim @ eMachineShop.com)

  • HF metal-cutting handsaw

  • Mortising machine

  • Another table saw (nostalgia: mint Craftsman, eBay score)

  • A ½” wood shaper with more bits than projects (so far)

It was a kluge, but I had room to turn. The lathe, mill, radial arm saw? Less use lately. Moving up the lineup are the 12″ HF chop saw (with wings), and that ol’ table saw. These days, battery tools are taking over:

  • Sawz-all

  • Three impact drivers

  • Jig saws

  • Sanders

  • Even a tiny cordless circ saw

Shop #3 is Now Forming

We can skip the electronics bench — that’s a whole other tool dimension — and cut to the chase:

The new shop is gold: 3D printing and CNC, voice controlled.

This vision has been lurking at the back of my mind for years. The odd purchases — 3D printers, bit-breaking CNCs, laser-snorting head units — they weren’t random. I was unconsciously waiting for AI to arrive.

Sure enough, while working with the South Florida doctors on a new medical device, I asked:

“If I give you dimensions and shapes for an object, can you output an STL file that I could port over to Cura, slice and print?”

ChatGPT said:

Absolutely — if you provide the dimensions, shapes, and any other important features (like holes, slots, or labels), I can generate an STL file for you that’s ready to import into Cura for slicing and 3D printing.
[… full response …]

Absolutely — if you provide the dimensions, shapes, and any other important features (like holes, slots, or labels), I can generate an STL file for you that’s ready to import into Cura for slicing and 3D printing.

Here’s what I’ll need from you:

1. Basic Shape

  • Cube, cylinder, sphere, complex/polyshape?

  • Describe in plain English or upload a sketch/image if easier.

2. Dimensions

  • In millimeters (mm) ideally: height, width, depth, diameter, etc.

  • Wall thickness, if it’s hollow.

  • Any tolerances needed for fit.

3. Special Features

  • Holes, grooves, screw mounts, recesses?

  • Any cutouts or embedded text?

  • Do you want it solid or hollow?

4. Print Orientation Preferences

  • Flat side down? Specific layer orientation?

Once I have that info, I’ll:

  • Build the 3D model using code,

  • Export it as an STL file, and

  • Give you a download link so you can drag it into Cura.

Shoot me the specs when you’re ready!

Mind = Blown.

Then I asked:

“Can you also output G-code ready to rock for CNC or laser work?”

ChatGPT again:

Yes and yes — here’s the scoop on each:
[… full breakdown …]

CNC Machines (Milling/Routing)

  • Yes, I can generate G-code for standard CNC milling operations (e.g., pocketing, profiling, drilling).

  • I’ll just need:

    • The tool info (bit diameter, type: flat/ball/engraving)

    • Material type (wood, plastic, aluminum, etc.)

    • Your preferred post-processor format (GRBL, Mach3, Marlin, etc.)

    • Feeds and speeds (or I can estimate based on material)

?? Output: G-code file ready to send via your control software.

? Laser Head / Engraving

  • I can generate G-code for laser cutting/engraving jobs too (SVG ? G-code or direct vector pathing).

  • That said: most people prefer to tweak or preview laser jobs in LightBurn or LaserGRBL for fine control (power/speed layering).

  • I can:

    • Output SVG or DXF vector files ready for import into LightBurn

    • Or generate basic G-code if you’re using a known laser firmware (like GRBL-Laser mode)

Fine-Tuning Reminder

You might still want to:

  • Adjust power/speed per layer/material,

  • Enable air-assist or z-axis adjustments,

  • Set start/end gcode blocks for your specific machine (e.g., homing, cooling, spindle/laser off).

TL;DR:

Machine Type Output Available Notes
CNC Mill/Router ? G-code ready Need tool/material/setup details
Laser Engraver ? G-code or SVG LightBurn gives you more control

And just like that, I realized the game had changed.

These aren’t just tools. They’re mind amplifiers — the next evolution in a shop lineage that spans generations. My grandpa didn’t need a shop. But now, in Shop #3, I have a collaborator who doesn’t sleep, and whose only limit is imagination.

Oh, and turns out can crank out a new .STL file before the manual online versions are even logged in.

Why its scarier than my first flying hill on my Yahama RD-350 cafe racer back in the day…(Ever see one? 10,000 rpm shift points when chilling… 12 something if not…)

Write when you’re collaborating, and remember the better you train AI the better it will work for you.


George@ure.net
(aka ~the Anti-Dave)

36 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Ongoing Changes at Ranch Shop”

        • Lol lol lol… it saved me !!
          I was going nuts ( well maybe I just seen what’s obvious to everyone lol lol lol )
          A professor had stopped by.. I had gotten deathly ill the doctors was suggesting hospice.. once a really busy man average workweek a hundred hours a week and then nothing severe pain mottled and body five times its regular size I couldn’t even get out of a chair..totally dependent on everyone around me..
          the prof said hey you should check out urban survival new blog post on the internet ..enough diversity to keep your mind focusing on something other than what’s going on physically..
          been here ever since.. rambling on giving my opinions and thoughts..
          I personally want a bunker shelter..but not for a nuclear holocaust.. more for severe storms..
          https://www.survivalsullivan.com/civil-defense-books/

    • Phew… what good would a bunker be?
      similar to an EMP… it depends on how far you are from the epicentre…

  2. Engraving with a Laser – gee

    Welding with new Laser Welder – sssssSEEYA MIG, later dayz TIG.

    Too much fun to be had with these new laser welders, begging to be hacked..

    *just dont point that thingy at the Ferals’

    Shine a Carbuncle on Ure welding projects Welder G, burnin down the Shop -https://youtu.be/3Z2LhwMprLQ?si=P3doWfAl_rxnN1az

    • Nostradamus Sixain XXVII
      Celestial fire from the side of the West,
      From the South, running to the Levant [East],
      Worms half dead without finding a root.
      Third Age of Mars the warlike [World War III],
      From carbuncles [Lasers] one will see brilliant fire,
      The age of the carbuncle [Laser] and in the end famine

      Nostradamus and the Age of Desolation, G. A. Stewart, 2013, Page 63
      “Fires shining from the Carbuncles” is a reference to laser weaponry. Interestingly enough, a carbuncle is anyone of the scarlet and crimson varieties of garnet where the stone is cut with a convex face. There is an ancient legend that Noah used such stones to illuminate the ark.

      The lines, The Third Age of Mars and fires shining from carbuncles, are clearly prophecies of World War III and lasers.

      https://theageofdesolation.com/nostradamus/2025/04/05/donald-j-trump-is-not-the-savior-of-humanity/

  3. UNDERGROUND BOMB SHELTER KITS

    You can build a professional engineer certified underground bomb shelter for an in the ground cost that is thousands of dollars less than a prefabricated steel bunker.

    Your shelter is your business. No need to bring in a crew with a crane to hoist it up for your neighbors to see.

    Comprehensive Installation Manual
    Every step to build this bomb shelter is outlined the manual so you can pre-plan to have your materials, equipment, and skilled labor onsite when you need them.

    https://americansaferoom.com/bomb-shelter/

    • Dig a hole:

      Dig tunnel.
      Shore with timbers.
      Line walls with shelves.

      Install a couple LED puck lights to the beams (keep a couple halogen or incandescent flashlights on the shelf, in case the EM pulse penetrates the ground and toasts your semiconductors.)

      We called them “root cellars” here for 300 years. In the Midwest, we also call them “storm cellars” or “storm shelters.” No big expense, no elaborate plans — just a hole and a tunnel. It can be made “nice” as time goes on. Some folks want to survive a nuclear exchange in luxury. They believe they can “buy survival.” They are also the ones who won’t live two weeks, after the radiation levels subside.

      Just dig a hole…

    • That manual is gold! Definitely worth downloading. It has been engineered to an overpressure spec and most of the details are in the manual itself. Obviously, you can build beyond their spec, but you can source your own materials locally and perhaps even from a scrapyard or recycling yard. Obviously – trust, but verify.

  4. My father had a light toolbox for each activity. One for plumbing, one for chainsaws, one for tractors, etc. I still have most of them in a storage shed, and occasional go rummaging through them looking for something I remember seeing way back when.
    My garage doubles as shop, although I do a lot of work off the back of the SUV. I carry less tools in the SUV than I did when I was working out of town. I keep a cheap Craftsman socket set, and a bag with all sort of Craftsman or better grade wrenches and screwdrivers in the vehicle. I have another bag with road warrior thangs, including a decent folding saw, a folding shovel, jumper cables, a tow strap and enhanced water gathering and electronics supplies, but I rarely load it. More recently, I have started keeping a separate stuff bag in the vehicle with a variety of clothes and accessories which can allow me to adapt to the current conditions. I rarely carry spare shoes, because I generally have on something walkable. Not much for fancy shoes in my old age.
    I always keep a walk-home bag in the back of the SUV. It has more clotting agents and tourniquets than most. It is set up for maybe 72 hrs max with water gathering. I keep a couple of the emergency reflective bivy sacks in the clothing stuff bag; I can transfer one over if need be. Depends on how far I am planning on hoofing it. On a daily basis, I find myself reaching for the tools in the SUV before anything else.
    In the garage, I have taken to keeping long tools in a couple of foot lockers, where I can find them. They sit adjacent to my trailer, which I store in the garage filled with most of my camping and emergency crapola. How do I fit all that crap, plus seasonal storage and still have room to get an SUV into the garage ? Answer- my garage square footage is larger than the house, and I pay minimal tax on the unheated space. I have several portable electric tools, and a vintage B&D Workmate which has been ridden hard, and put up wet, so to speak. While I have fixed benches, they are perennially junked up, so the Workmate gets first try at most small activities.
    Morals to the story- don’t skimp on unheated space when you build. Don’t over-build climate controlled space. In some locations, doing a stand-alone building can save on taxes. One of my neighbors put plumbing in a barn. That neighbor gets charged the same for taxes on the barn as a Macmansion second residence. Unheated garage space seems to get a break. As best I can tell, the taxing authority ignores the tool shed, as I usually do. Little sheds jammed with stuff you only use occasionally don’t make good shop space.

  6. re: Farmville gets a reality check
    feat: AI

    Folks,
    What’s the story? A now defunct South African entity, the Shuttleworth Foundation, helped to seed an AI-assisted, raised bed home farming startup idea in 2011. Presently open source 3D printed “Farm Bots” are rolling off an assembly line ready to get your plot on track once prepped with a little diy installation. Since it’s an American product, I’ll take a liberty that urbane editors will turn a blind eye to practical spam. Here is a link to “Farm Bot”:

    https://farm.bot/

    Speaking of liberty, the company says it will not be manufacturing a laser weed zapper due to fire dangers among other risks. However a student group at Liberty University, co-founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., offers a solution. They have developed a laser weeder add-on prototype for home brewers, and posted software and 3D printing plans at the following Farm Bot Community Forum link:

    https://forum.farmbot.org/t/laser-weeding-tool/8983

    Shut the front doors and let’s welcome DJ George broadcasting from the crystal ship! Stay grounded, strike a match and here we go!
    “Light my Fire”

    • I see bull crap as an excuse NOT to make a laser weed zapper, as the weeds in the fields around me are attacked/sprayed during growing stage, when irrigation is used,,, when it is dry they are waiting for the crop to mature for harvest. they don’t’ spray when it is time to dry out the crop.
      the laser would cost the chemical companies billions of lost revenue,,, not to mention how much it would eventually cost the health care scam industry, when they stop putting slow poisoning in the food supply

      • It’s usually the Prop. 65 California nonsense. That’s why Berkey filters can’t be sold there.

        Everything’s a carcinogen in California!

    • We had 3 of the early version, gratis from Baja Motorsports (I worked at a warranty center),as we were not allowed to weld broken frames. Fun to ride, but squirrelly in wet red clay. Also they broke quite often, so finding/blacksmithing parts was a regular activity. Never had any engine problems.

  8. The water table in our area is too high to dig an underground shelter. I often hit water while drilling 3′ post holes. Of course with enough French drains and a lower place for them to drain to, it would be possible, just not really practical.

    After the 8″ rainfall Friday night, I’ll probably be hitting water at 1′ for a while.

  10. Let me be the first to gripe about global-mind/dot etc. That is one big honking glop of jscript. It evaded my script blocker, followed me and makes my browser hangup. Um, copyright twitter about explains it.
    Fortunately,my firewall blocks it, but now I’ll have to restart at least the browser to get rid of another glitch it may have caused.

      • Not as sure now, but global-mind is still suspect since it was in nearest proximity loading a full page of js. After further research, I was indeed hacked but I had spent the day shopping via searches and company sites. The hack was/is a bit of a shape shifter trying to access push system, apple cloud and plugins. Don’t know why anyone would be trying to get little ol’ me with all that effort except maybe the credit card; or global is ruthless in tracking. I’m not that sophisticated and no match for some full time jerk trying to mess up computers with bad and malicious code but I’m willing to take time out to return the favor if I can. Thx for your attn. The garbage is blocked I hope and don’t want to spend more time on it.

      • re: “Goldilocks & the 3 Bears”
        feat: dialectical triad

        Folks,
        Did you like to play ‘Minecraft’ games of survival in a sandbox? A Minecraft Movie” has jumped out of the starting gate this weekend in fine form at ticket offices. The Microsoft subsidiary property apparently claims appeal to the creative and imaginary. Opening frames of the final trailer released on February 27th saw the main movie characters splash landing from out of blue skies above onto a previously content, happy family of three chinese panda bears.

        Spoiler Alert:

        Hopefully the good guys make it to the teleport before the end of the movie.

        • Hurry Jester!

          to the nearest MickeyD’s..there you can order up a couple of Cheeseburger Happy Meals (who wouldnt be happy with a Cheeseburger?). Inside Ure Cheeseburger Happy Meals youse will find a MineCraft Toy – exclusive baby.

          * Still have complete set of Mickey D’s beenie babies – my GrnadDaughter plays with em now..

          What are youse all waiting 4 – its Cheeseburger Happy Meal – happiness in a box, genius!

  12. Monday morning is looking to be rather ‘Fast-n-Furious’ to the down side.
    Right now the futures are showing
    Dow is down 4.45%
    S&P500 is down 4.72%
    NASDAQ is down 5.49%
    Russell 2000 is down 5.12%
    .
    Oil is down 3.61%
    Gold is down $28.90 an ounce
    Bitcoin is down $5,740

    I still have my ‘puts’ in place – doesn’t look as though I will be stopped out at the opening bell with an ‘up-surge’. If so., this will prove to be the most lucrative trade / bet I have ever made. And is really going to mess-up my taxes !

    • LOL! “I made too much money!”
      I have a neighbor who gets royalties for image processing software he invented for the gov/mil. He casually mentioned with a shrug that he paid $2 million in taxes last year.

  15. https://apnews.com/article/usaid-funding-trump-musk-misinformation-c544a5fa1fe788da10ec714f462883d1
    ‘Roberts described the Trump administration’s current approach to USAID as “shoot now, ask questions later” in which it is amplifying any funding data it can by using “incendiary accusations based on nothing.”

    “They just tend to obscure any kind of rational discussion about whether this agency is worthwhile and what its goals are and what’s the purpose of foreign aid,” he said in reference to recent social media posts about USAID funding.’

    https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/newsroom/false-claims-regarding-open-society-george-soros-and-usaid
    ‘The claims that the Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, receive funding from USAID or direct the funding of a multibillion-dollar U.S. government agency are manifestly false. These allegations are part of a broader effort to undermine international development work and delegitimize the independent funding of civil society organizations worldwide.’

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