Printable Animatronic Tail
Thingiverse user Artharis created this awesome Arduino-controlled animatronic tail. You can even customize it to however many vertebrae you want. [Via Thingiverse]
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!
How-To: Center Stock in a 4-Jaw Lathe Chuck
Quick, handy video tutorial from Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin of tiny workshop, demonstrating a fast method of centering a piece of round stock in a 4-jaw chuck using a magnetic-mount dial indicator and a pair of chuck keys. If you’ve never seen this operation before, Jeremy’s video makes it clear and simple to understand. [Thanks, Jeremy!]
Make Ideas Real with SketchUp
There are a lot of makers who really like SketchUp’s approach to 3D modeling. Personally, I think it’s a great way to get kids hooked on the idea of designing physical shapes that they may or may not fabricate with the laser cutter or 3D printer. While it may take a bit to get the hang of scale and accuracy, once you have these habits, your designs are repeatable with a variety of CNC tools and many different materials.
By looking about on Thingiverse and in the MAKE Flickr pool, you can see that Sketchup is a fairly popular tool for many of us who like to bring our ideas onto this side of the computer screen. The Make Ideas Real with SketchUp project is looking for examples of things that have been designed with SketchUp and brought into the world. The folks at SketchUp are gathering stories with the Make Ideas Real project about how people are using the program to design the things they make.
Three- vs. Four-Jaw Lathe Chucks
Three-jaw chucks, of the same general type used to hold bits in most power drills, are also common equipment on metalworking lathes. Though it is not necessarily so, three-jaw chucks are so commonly of the self-centering variety, in which the jaws are not independently adjustable, that “self-centering” is generally assumed from the term “three-jaw chuck.” But…
How Laser Sintering Works
David Bourell of UT Texas describes how laser sintering works. This method of 3D printing uses a laser that fuses plastic powder, building up layer by layer somewhat same way as filament-based 3D printers do. [Via @cenmag]
FabLab: What Would You Make?
MIT’s Professor Neil Gershenfeld gave a fascinating and engaging talk at the Carnegie Institute of Washington on November 3rd. The event was a benefit for the emerging FabLabDC, which is intended to provide a high-tech fabrication laboratory within sight of the US Capitol.
Terminology of the Lathe
Quick, now: What are the two most fundamental measurements of the capacity of a metalworking lathe? If you said…