May 4th

Puffincove Logbook — May 4

Today was a big planning and building day.

We worked through the 90-degree planter fence idea. The two planters form the corner and help brace the whole piece. The render showed the layout clearly: planter, fence, corner planter, 90-degree turn, side planter, and puffincove sign.

The sign idea was locked in:

puffincove
Always — All roads lead to puffincove2025.ca

We also looked at the start of the wishing hut idea. It has a little storybook shape, with a long roof, round window, and a place for wishes. Rough sketch first, pretty later.

For the birdhouse templates, we decided the CNC only needs the face outline. The holes, fake windows, and doors can be done later by hand. The goal is not perfect. The goal is repeatable.

The digital workflow is:

black marker outline → photo → Inkscape → SVG → Easel → Mach3 → CNC

The first CNC test will be with a marker, not a router. If it can draw the same shape every time, that is the first real win.

We also talked through wiring:

Motor wires: 18/4 stranded is best.
Limit switches: 22/2 or 20/2 stranded.
Limit switches: can run as one normally-closed safety loop to start.
Emergency stop: should be its own loop.

The clean wiring flow is:

Wall power → power supply → drivers → motors

And the safety/control flow is:

Limit switches → breakout board → Mach3 sees STOP

The big rule:

Power wires do the muscle work.
Signal wires do the talking.
Keep them tidy and separated when possible.

The biggest hands-on win today was finishing enough of the Y/Z axis carriage to see the plan coming alive. Motor mounted, belt path started, frame built, and the machine is one step closer to moving.

Tomorrow’s plan is simple:

mount motors → run wires → label both ends → hand-test movement → marker test when ready

No need to chase the whole mountain.

Today the plan came out of the notebook and started turning into a real machine.

Sketches on paper.
Parts on the bench.
Motors mounted.
First marker line coming soon.

The cove is waking up.