Lee blowing dust off the pattern being made on the CNC machine.
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Lee and Max Simmons have opened Automated Artisans on North Main Street in Gallatin. The shop features carvings and signage and will eventually offer furniture and jewelry boxes.
The wood crafts will be ready for a sidewalk display during Chautauqua in September. The showroom itself will be ready by the end of October.
The first floor of the old Three B Silversmiths building now houses the Automated Artisan sales room. The second floor is the shop.
The crafts are made from scratch in the shop. Lee explained that after gluing together planks, the wood blank is taken to the planers to achieve the right thickness. Next it is run through a table saw to square it.
“Our first designs will be cabin décor,” said Lee. “We are making a lot of wildlife scenes.”
The designs, such as the catfish Lee was working on Monday, are all original designs, rather than patterns, and for this reason the process is time-consuming.
A computer makes a three dimensional model.
Lee, Peggy and Max Simmons in the second floor shop area of Automated Artisans.
“The computer uses the same principle as sculpturing by hand,” said Lee. “It starts with a round ball.”
The model takes from 10 to 18 hours of design time. The computer calculates a tool path and sends it to a CNC machine. The Compute Numerically Controlled machine converts the design into numbers. Lee’s catfish design had 103,000 lines of code.
“I think it would be fair to call us computer nerds,” he said.
Once the CNC machine has finished the carving, it is stained, then taken to the lacquer table where it gets several coats for a glossy finish.
“We usually average two or three prototypes before we get the design right,” Lee said. “Our catfish needs a better background and the lettering is too small. My father is the master designer and he is very picky. He won’t quit until it’s perfect.”
Soon, five more C&C routers and a laser machine will be added to the shop. At present the shop is able to produce two three-dimensional carvings a day and about five engravings. Each of the new machines will double that amount of production.
From 1917-1920 the Automated Artisan building housed Tate Motor Company, which was managed by Joe Tate, then by his son Hubert Tate and his grandson Steve Tate. Jule Tate, a name that was found written on a door of a second story office, was Hubert’s older brother. Tate Motor Company moved across the street to a newly built building in 1921. Lee Simmons said he would give the door to Phil Tate of Gallatin, Hubert’s son. Model Ts came to the building from the railway; were placed on an elevator; taken to the second floor; and assembled. Mr. Simmons overhauled the same elevator and it is presently being used in the Automated Artisan shop for hauling lumber and machinery to the second floor. The elevator lifted one machine weighing 1,200 pounds and another weighing 900 pounds. The elevator still has the original motor and an enclosed brick wall contains the counter weights.
Max Simmons, Lee’s father, said he removed about 200 yards of debris from the downstairs. He took out walls, concrete, and even a couple of old freezers from when the building was owned by Woodruffs.
“I found a corn cob in one of the freezers and gave it to my father-in-law for his eightieth birthday,” Max said. “I figured it was older than he was.”
After housing Tate Motor Company from 1917-1920, the building sat vacant a few years, then was the home of Woodruff’s Ice Cream from about 1925 to 1975.
Some of Max’s other finds include a work order from the Tate Motor Company and a ledger book from Woodruff Ice Cream. The ledger was given to Frank Woodruff. It contained his great-grandmother’s signature.
Max added floor joists and new beams; rebuilt structure posts; and jacked the upstairs floor about 18 inches. The upstairs was also re-decked. Eventually it will get new windows. It took about eight months to do the work.
The Simmons also purchased the Hunt building, a brick building next door on the northernmost end of the block. It is too far gone for repairs, and since it poses a liability to the shop, will be torn down next fall.
Lee will create designs; make sales; and work the floor.
“Our main market will be Kansas City,” he said. “Gallatin is a good spot to ship to K.C.”
Max will also create designs and will handle product management.
Automated Artisans will be take orders during Chautauqua, so be sure and stop by the new business located one block north of the courthouse on the east side of Highway 13.