Thanks Dan… 
I reverted to units i understand…
to be honest, i can’t agree with the fineprint. 
Found them!
and
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That’s great Bob, thanks!!
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You don’t do long threads so I don’t believe that for a minute!
Cliff,
Having read the thread your easy installation of the exhaust fume extractor, how long did it take to get up to speed on getting something you were satisfied with? In other words what is the learning curve like?
Also, can one do partial and full thickness cuts with the laser in one go? For example can one etch out a window and window sill at the same time.
Hi Bill,
The learning and planning took a bit, but the curve part is pretty flat and straight: you need a route for a 6" flex tube to get from the laser to a blower which is outdoors.
My challenge was getting that route through the basement wall, and I chose to do it through the window glazing. But, depending on where you’d put the lazer and blower, it’ll be different.
Yes and no. You can set the speed and power for the pattern, run it, and run it again. I’d do this for, say, 3/8 acrylic, with the 60 watt lazer. Thicker than that, the focal length of the laser beam comes in to play, and you really need the more powerful beam (80-100 watt).
Not quite sure what you mean… You can etch a material, using a lower power setting, and cut it, using a higher power setting. These are determined by colors of the linework fed to the laser software. For example, green can be set to a cutting power, and slow cutting speed; red can be low power, fast speed. All are processed in the same run.
You can chose which operation (that is, color, being interpreted as speed and power level) happens in order. For me, sometimes using plywood that is warped, I always run engraving before cutting. Because the cutting will often result in certain pieces, once freed, plopping down to the bed, while the bowed sheet remains proud of the bed. TMI?
The laser software also has the ability to engrave images. I’ve not done this, but you basically give it an image file. It interprets the B/W version of that into laser power levels, and engraves the image thereby.
Then you’re getting your money’s worth. 
Now that I’m back from Nevada (which, for this project, helps a lot), I’m aiming to start on the trestle deck this weekend. 
Cliff, I hear with all this travelling, the flight attendants now know you by your first name and dietary preference.
Southwest doesn’t have food, but yeah, they have a can of Lagunita ready for me.
Is that Cliff without his glasses?
What the…
Eeew.
…
Today I got the ties planed and cut, set in the jig and sanded a bit.
Tommorrow, hopefully joists. Or stringers. Or whatever the beams directly under the ties are called.
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Cliff;
Regarding Bill’s Titanic photoshop, it’s OK - they had just drunk lots of milk!
Best, David Meashey
I’m sure there is a good reason, but explain why some of the timbers follow the curvature while others form some odd angles.
Same. I’ve never understood curved trestle design…
The inner four sets have staggered joints, to avoid having them all land on the same bent. I’ve seen that in a prototype trestle, and maybe it’s to reduce the dependence on a single bent’s top sill, or keep them smooth, not sure…
For me, it’s to add rigity when moving the deck during assembly and installation.
The outer stringers should have had staggered joints as well, but with a curve this tight they’d look kinda dumb. So I made them follow the curve better.
I’ve decided to back those up with 8’ strips, bent, and without joints. I just laid them in loose, and yeah, they fit nicely. And now I’m wondering why I didn’t just use this method for the inner 4 stringers. Oh well.
