Charles Latest & Greatest

The Perfect Gift

I contacted someone overseas that had the ability to take a photograph and convert it to a 3D relief model, just what I was looking for.  I made arrangements for the model to be designed, but I could not find a picture I wanted so I called my mother, Phyllis Sexton, and asked if she had an 8 X 10 picture of Dad that I could borrow for a project I wanted to try.  My Father, Charles F. Sexton had passed away 20 years ago, he was a hard man, always had me working past what I thought I could do, strict and tough, he served for 30 Years in the United States Navy and Retired a Petty Officer 1st Class from the Seabees.  I wanted to take this picture of my father in his dress uniform and cut a model of it for my mother for a present that would just blow her away. 

It took a month to get the photo to the designer and have it modeled but the wait was worth it.  I picked a piece of heavy light colored hardwood to do the model in, and added a frame to the model, it took 27 hours cutting time and turned out perfect the first time.  I shipped it in mid-November and told mom she had to leave the crate closed until I arrived at Christmas. As the video shows, the wait was well worth it, I knew she would love it, she misses my dad so much, as do I.

My Story

My name is Charles D. Sexton, I call myself “The Woodchuck”, although I have no registered company name.

I currently work with Logmet, a company that provides Manpower to the Marine Corps for work on the CH-53E Heavy Lift Helicopters, I have been doing contract work with various companies on Military aircraft for 16 years now, during this time I deployed to Iraq, specifically the Anbar Province to a base called Al Asad and spent a total of two years there during 2005 – 2006 and 2008 – 2009.  Prior to that, I worked as a commercial Electrician on the many military bases in the area, on Hangers, Maintenance complex’s, and the air traffic control tower at Marine Corps Air Station Newriver, Jacksonville NC.

Prior to working as an Electrician, I was in the Marine Corps, I retired an MSgt, and was the Maintenance Control Chief at HMM-266.  I spent just under 21 years in the Marine Corps, have been on 7 Mediterranean cruises, two Norway detachments, and a multitude of deployments to Central America, Japan, Okinawa, Puerto Rico, and most of the states in the United States.  I have visited most of the countries in Europe to include, Spain, Palma De-Mallorca, Italy, Sicily, Greece, France, Israel, Scandinavia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.

My Hobbies are, obviously, woodworking, and fishing, although this past year I did not get much fishing done due to trying to learn how to use Aspire to design as much as I could.  

I have been doing woodwork since the early ’80s, starting with a simple table you could mount a circular saw, jig saw, or router to and was able to make vanities, cabinets, and other simple items to put around the house.  After I received orders to teach at the Staff Non Commissioned Officers Academy in El Toro, California, I purchased more and better tools, I funded this by making and selling Desk Name Plaques, probably a few hundred, This increased my skill and knowledge of woodworking, I primarily used the scroll saw to do fancy and delicate work in oak, poplar, maple, cherry and other hardwoods.  although I could cut about anything out with the scroll saw, I wanted to be able to add a third dimension to the work, so, I tried hand carving, which I quickly found out I was not very good at.

On returning to North Carolina I continued my woodworking, but was told that I would need to make my products more ” primitive” if I wanted to sell things here, I told them it has taken me years to get good at what I do and if others did not appreciate the quality of my work, then I would keep what I made, or give them as gifts for Christmas and birthdays.  

I continued with occasional wood projects, but most were plain and simple using the “normal” woodworking tools the average person has in their workshop, but I still wanted to add more to what I made.  

One day I saw a video online about a CNC and decided to check them out to see if it might be possible to get one myself, as I wanted something to do in a few years after I retired.  I started looking at the smaller ones, not really sure of the brands, and what sizes they could cut out for projects. I realized the average inexpensive CNC’s were not large enough to do some of the things that I would like to do with them, like making furniture, or adding flourish to pieces I might make on other machines.  A friend of mine that I was in the Marine Corps with recommended Legacy. I checked out their site and found an affordable machine, but it was not quite what I wanted, even though the price was fairly reasonable. Legacy did offer upgrades to the smaller CNC so I checked on pricing to add them on, larger work surface, turning center, table base to mount to, water cooled spindle, and quickly found out the price was close to the Legacy Maverick 3×5, so I started looking at it.  After reviewing it, I decided it was what I wanted, and had what I needed to accomplish my dream of woodworking, so I started making plans to acquire it. A few months later and I had it on order.

I had no idea how to use a CNC, nor did I know how to use any type of cad software.  After doing a little checking I found Aspire, downloaded the trial version to see if it might be something I could learn.  I spent many hours, and weeks viewing training tutorials from both Vectric, and Legacy, as well as just about any others that described how the machines, and software worked.  My first attempt was to follow a training video done by Legacy woodworking on modeling a turkey napkin holder. I spent three days after work, about 4 hours each day, reviewing the video on the smartphone, while attempting to duplicate the results on the computer, It worked and with about two more weeks I figured out how to assemble the napkin holder with a base entirely on the Maverick.  I later found out, during the two-day training at Legacy’s factory in Utah, that the Turkey model I did, was actually considered to be advanced designing. I tried it because it appeared to be a simple cartoon turkey. I continue to watch training videos to learn something new, as I continue to want to be able to use the machine to its maximum potential.

Charles,

We thank you and your father for your service to this country. 

You inspire us with your work and with your actions.

Thank you,

Legacy Woodworking Machinery