You've made an interesting choice coming to this page..
Hey, I'm Jon
“I decided that less then 6 months of machining experience was just the right amount of time to drop $95k on a Haas vf2.”
Back in 2017 – I was stationed on JBER (Joint Base Elemendorf Richardson). A very large joint military base located right next to the city of Anchorage Alaska. Our particular shop was in support of heavy lifter. Which is basically any and all heavy cargo aircraft. JBER specifically had C-17s. It was a very cold night sometime in January. It had been snowing all day, and by the time I got into work there was already two feet of snow on the ground. During the night I was picking up heaters from off flight line(aircraft parking), when I was told over the radio that “Spots 39 – 42 needed to be cleared of equipment within the next two hours because the plow trucks need to plow.” One spot is a place for an aircraft to park. You’re essentially looking at half a mile of concrete for that many spots. So, picture this. You’re one dude, with one truck, and now you need to go pick up 16 heaters, two generators, and one nitrogen cart. Oh also, our tow trucks didn’t have 4 wheel drive. Not kidding. After I finished running around, wrangling all that equipment back, I came to the realization that I didn’t want to do this line of work for very much longer. I wanted to make the ideas in my head a reality.
No I Can't Fly
“It had been snowing all day, and by the time I got into work there was already two feet of snow on the ground.”
One of the many C-17’s hanging out in Alaska
Fixed and Delivered These Bad Boys
“After I finished running around, wrangling all that equipment back, I came to the realization that I didn’t want to do this line of work for very much longer.”
This is an example of one of those heaters I had to pick up
During my off time I was working on 4×4’s and fabricating parts. Pretty funny, because you’re really not supposed to be using an angle grinder, or welding things when you live on base, let alone at 11 p.m, which actually was a pretty regular occurrence. I enjoyed working with my hands, and enjoyed the challenge of building things that didn’t exist. I kept thinking that if I could figure out a way to combine fabrication and CAD (Computer Aided Design) then I could have a real shot at a career switch from active duty. So during a lot of my free time I started teaching myself how to model things using Autodesk’s Fusion 360, with the help of Youtube videos. I had no idea what my real plan was, but I figured it was an important skill to have.
"Fabricating"
“You’re really not supposed to be using an angle grinder, or welding things when you live on base, let alone at 11 p.m…”
This is actually mine by the way
July 2018 – Instead of just up and separating from the Air Force, I thought I would make a calculated choice and get someone to bank roll my fabrication ideas. I joined the Air National Guard, and at the same time switched jobs from Aerospace Ground Equipment to Metals Technology.
Oh No All My Money Disappeared
Did you know that this logo cost me $46 dollars on Fiverr?
Dec 2018 – Triiaxis is founded. The name Triiaxis actually had nothing to do with CNC machines when it was thought of. It has to do with the fact that 3 axis is the basis of guidance. Whether that’s an airplane in flight, a point in 3d dimensional space, or the location of a far away star. Triiaxis has two ‘i’s’ because the domain name for ‘triaxis’ was taken. That’s where the 3 arrows in the logo come from. First two blue represent the first two ‘i’s’ in Trii and you can fill in the blank for the last ‘i’. The logo is in the shape of a triangle because triangles are the strongest shapes in building, and the unified upward arrows represent flight in a common direction. Flight is one of man kind’s greatest achievements, so it is represented in the logo as a call to always push forward and innovate.
A Rare Picture Of Me Working
This is me at the base trying not to break everything in my path. Got the classic finger over the E-Stop look.
April 2019 – Metals Tech was the job for me. Welding and fabricating, practically right at home. At some point our shop got a brand new Haas Tm2P. Which is a CNC milling machine. It came to us with no instructions, and no tools. The way budgets work in the Air Guard is that they don’t. It would be months before we were allotted any money to buy tooling for the mill. I decided waiting was for other people, and bought a set of Chinese holders off Amazon for $400 dollars. I also convinced my bosses at the time, it was a fabulous idea for me to learn how to CNC machine using this brand new mill. Up until this point I had only cnc plasma cutting experience, and absolute no real machining skills. The good news is all my time spent learning Fusion 360 was about to pay off.
Okay This Time My Money Really Is Gone
It was this, or a new truck. Maybe I should of gotten a truck..
No regrats
Aug 2019 – I decided that less then 6 months of any machining experience was just the right amount of time to drop $95k on a Haas vf2. What was my plan? I actually didn’t have one, but I figured having the a tool lets you come up with ideas, as opposed to the other way around. You can probably tell at this point, risk doesn’t scare me. This is the point where Triiaxis starts forming legs.
The rest is history. I mean everything is history.. Technically..
Titanium for Keycaps
Yup its straight, and for some reason… Round.