I've been in Taiwan for a year now. It was mostly good, but kind of boring. I wasn't nearly as social or active as I was while I was living in Korea. I mostly studied, did some CAD designs, and some jewelry/lock pick work. But I don't feel like I accomplished much.
The school I work at had a jewelry class for students and teachers once a week in the evening. I made a couple pieces, and the class was good to motivate me to set up my own bench at home.
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| A cast ring I made in the class. Sterling and hessonite garnet. |
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| A fabricated sterling pendant. |
I was accumulating tools all year, and got a work bench in November . I had my parents send a lot of my stuff from the US, I also bought a lot here. Since I have a fairly big rooftop patio, I'm able to make lock picks here, which I wasn't expecting to be able to do. It's too messy to do in an apartment. I got all the tools and equipment to be able to complete picks around February, but I only finished 3 picks before I visited the US in July.
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Two of the picks I made in Taiwan.
Ratyoke Custom Lock Picks |
I spent a lot of time working on pick handle designs in
ZBrush that I was planning to 3D print. I had two designs printed in a few different plastics, but I was disappointed in everything I got. I had them printed by
Shapeways, but everything has too rough of a texture. It's just not something I want to put my name on. I will give it another try if I find a company that can print in plastic with better detail.
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First pick handle design in ZBrush
Ratyoke Custom Lock Picks |
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First pick handle design in ZBrush
Ratyoke Custom Lock Picks |
I studied Chinese all year, but I don't feel I made much progress. Mainly cause I don't use it much. I do feel I made a lot of progress in reading ability. Reading and writing have always been my favorite things to study, while speaking and listening have always been my least favorite.
I made two trips to Japan and Korea. Japan in September and January/February, and Korea in February and April. I don't really feel like visiting any other countries. Just Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and the US.
July 9th - August 5th I was in the US. While I was there I took a road trip from Chicago to Southern California. I saw some friends on the way, and also stopped at
Rio Grande in Albuquerque, had a tour of their facilities, and looked at some equipment.
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| Rio Grande |
I also prepared a lot of wood to make picks while in the US. I use my milling machine to mill the wood flat and cut the slot for the tang of the pick, which I cannot do in Taiwan. I prepared about 55 pieces of wood while I was there, which is way more than I will be able to make in the next year. It feels good having so much wood available to use.
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| The wood I prepared in the US |
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| My bench with my microscope I brought from the US this summer. |
I will be staying at the same school another year. Right now I have no plans for how long I will be staying in Taiwan.
