Measuring totem (for lack of a better name)

This was a project for my company. measuring financial goals for a program.

There are four different species used to represent the four sectors of the program. there are five thicknesses to represent amounts from $500k (1/16), $1m (1/8), $2m (1/4), $3m (3/8), and $4m (1/2). the scale goes to $100m, the target goal. as projects are won, discs get added to the stack by program/amount.

Materials:
Walnut, cherry, basswood, and padauk for the discs.
4 layers of 2c acrylic for the scale. on 1/8" sheet of copper/black, with a 1/32" sheet of copper/black on the other side (since there’s no 1/8" copper/black/copper), then a sheet of 1/32" silver/black on cop of either side for the numbers. all adhered with 3m tape.

base is 1/2" acrylic (the only piece i cut on the 75w office laser cutter, so i’d have a non-slumpy slot to properly fit the scale into) with a sheet of the silver/black 1/32" on top and a piece of felt on the bottom both 3M taped.

1 dowel rod with silver spraypaint. the dowel was my worst nightmare. engraved that slot a couple of times, kept flaming up in the char on later passes and it split at the last second after sanding the char out to fit and trying to slot it in. i temp glued it, resanded, repainted the glued area, and used it temporarily. the guy who runs our model shop is going to use a routing table and a better quality dowel rod (as well as try one in acrylic) to see if we can get a more stable piece.


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What a cool idea! The hardwoods look so nice stacked together. :slight_smile:

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Darnit, now you’ve given me an idea to try on my lathe, and I’m supposed to be framing and running electrical wires!!!

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This looks really nice. What a great idea!

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some process. the discs were the vast majority of the work. had to anticipate many permutations of what could make up the $100m (and may have to make more later in the year), so there were more than 100 total.

i started out by cutting the main circle and then a small hole big enough for a bolt to go in.

then they were mounted on the bolt, and the bolt put in a drill. then run the drill and sand the char off and round the edges.

for the thicker slabs (3/8 and 1/2), i actually use the drill and a 1" belt sander to start the outsides as well as to do a quick cleanup of the keyhole slots (so much char on walnut that thick).

then back to the GF to engrave the name / $$ on them and cut out the keyholes.

then back outside to sand the surfaces (220 and 600 on a random orbit sander).

then two coats of walnut oil to protect and bring out the grain.

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What an innovative way to interpret outcomes. Visually appealing and easy to understand.

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looking forward to seeing what this inspired in you. one of my favorite parts of creativity is riffing off each other. we should be inspired by each others’ work to make new and different things.

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Such a tremendous amount of work! The result is stunning. What’s really nice is that it can be reused each year, although you may have to make a new scale if the total amount changes. But now that you know what you want, it’ll be a breeze for you. Okay, maybe not a breeze, because it’s still a lot of work, but you know what I mean (hopefully!).

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hey, i’m all for redoing to scale up. that just means we made more money and my retirement account (full of ESOP stock) grows more and i retire sooner. :slight_smile:

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It could also be great way to encourage kids to do their chores/work towards a goal or their allowance. Visual progress is always a terrific motivator.

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Simple, effective. Turned out great.

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Way cool idea, now I am trying to figure out how to mix additive and subtractive goals. Maybe two scales?

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scale on either side, two dowels and two “half discs,” and things stack on either side?

maybe the “halves” are closer to yin/yang shape? probably depends on how tied together the measurements really are. one stack is wood, one is acrylic? or one is stained and one is painted?

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That’s really cool, I like that!

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Very cool project, and could be a great way to use scraps!

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A very cool idea!

I can see many ways that can be used for all sorts of goals! If you are trying to lose weight you could start with them as a stack and then remove (or add) as you got to your goal.

And keep the stack on top of the refrigerator or a different sort of holder as a magnet for the front :grin:

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I was having similar thoughts. Have been trying to encourage my youngest about saving money but part of her problem is it is so abstract in the bank. Maybe I could make something similar showing a specific goal for her.

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maybe when she hits specific spots, she could get “bonus” money?

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Great idea! She is such a ‘natural consequences’ kid so we struggle motivating her long term.

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I’m afraid if I did this for losing weight, it would never go lower!! :rofl:

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