Digital Fabrication

Digital fabrication tools have revolutionized the way designers, engineers, and artisans express their creativity. With the right resources, you can learn to use these powerful instruments in no time! Whether it’s 3D printing or laser cutting that interests you, these articles will provide useful tutorials and inspiration for makers of all levels. Discover how digital fabrication can open up new possibilities so that your craftsmanship is truly extraordinary!

Foam Carving Robot

We have covered at least one DIY CNC hot wire cutter before, and commercial versions are manufactured by several companies including Hotwire Direct, Streamline Automation, and FoamLinx. This machine, built in 2006 by students under Dr. René Straßnick at the Technical University of Berlin, has two translational axes and a third, rotational axis consisting of a turntable to which the foam substrate is attached. Parts from an old dot-matrix printer were used to make the Cartesian robot.

Continue Reading January 11th, 2012 Sean Michael Ragan2

MakerBot Replicator Announced

I was really excited to hear about the latest edition of the MakerBot 3D printer. Called the Replicator, it features all the recent improvements announced over the past year such as dual extruders and the interface controller.

Continue Reading January 9th, 2012 John Baichtal4

Building The MakerGear Mosaic 3D Printer Part VII: The Electronics

This is the seventh and final installment of my ongoing series on building the MakerGear Mosaic 3D printer. This part covers installation and wiring of the electronics that control the printer. First, the Arduino and attached RAMP shield are mounted on the printer frame. Second, connections from the build platform wiring harness, the extruder wiring harness, and other components are clipped to the PCB. Finally, the power supplies are connected, and formal assembly of the printer is complete.

Continue Reading January 7th, 2012 Sean Michael Ragan2

DIY Prusa Flightcase

Traveling with a fragile 3D printer can be tricky. MakerBot Industries recommends Pelican cases for their printers, which are pretty much rectangular. However, the RepRap Prusa’s shape is much odder, inducing Thingiverse user crankbmx to build a form-fitting case that even has room for the spool, and can print while fully within the case — […]

Continue Reading January 6th, 2012 John Baichtal4

Roland’s New CNC Hobby Mill

Roland DG is a subsidiary of the famous Japanese firm that makes sythesizers, drum machines, and other electronic musical instruments. Since 1983, the DG (“Digital Group”) brand has manufactured business-class plotters, engravers, mills, and other CNC tools. The iModela iM-01 is their first hobby-class product.

Continue Reading January 6th, 2012 Sean Michael Ragan26

CNC Milling a Spherical Ice Mold

We have covered these spherical ice molds before. I have used one, myself, and they work pretty well. A chunk of ice is sandwiched between two halves of a metal mold, and fast conduction of heat away from the ice, through the metal, causes it to melt wherever the mold makes contact. The mold halves slide on rods to maintain their alignment, and gravity does the rest. With a mold that starts at room temperature, it only takes a few minutes to make a nice shiny ice sphere.

Continue Reading January 5th, 2012 Sean Michael Ragan8

The Tesla Valve: One Way Flow With No Moving Parts

Here’s yet another delightful mechanical curiosity from among Nikola Tesla’s nearly 300 known patents. Shown above is the sole drawing page from US patent #1,329,559, “Valvular Conduit,” issued 1920. You may have to stare at the upper section, for a moment, to figure out what’s going on: Flow from left to right, as illustrated, is against the valve’s bias—the stream is broken up and diverted in circular paths that return to interfere with each other. Flow from right to left, however, is not so impeded.

Continue Reading January 5th, 2012 Sean Michael Ragan27

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