3D-printed, rubber-band-powered gearbox
Michael Curry of Kansas City, MO, designed and printed this sweet gearbox for the rubber band challenge on Thingiverse. Brilliant! [Via the Thingiverse blog]
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!
Handmade steel umbilic torus
calculus-book-cover.jpgMy buddy Trent Johnson, who works for AMD here in Austin, made this beautiful object. I was standing awkwardly in the corner at his birthday party last weekend, trying to remember how to interact with flesh-and-blood people on a face-to-face basis, when I looked down and saw it leaning against the wall next to me. And I immediately recognized it from the cover of my college calculus text, from the flyleaf of which I now quote:
$5 PVC Van De Graaff generator
Adam Wolf of Wayne and Layne built this Van De Graaff generator out of a cheap hobbyist motor, a rubber band, some Shape Lock, a pop can, a toothpick, and other el-cheapo components. I built this in one afternoon at my parent’s place in Wisconsin–in a town that lacks good hardware stores. While building it, […]
Impressive laser-cut wooden Mars rover model
Back in April I blogged about the plans and kits for this and other elaborate laser-cut wooden models available from WoodMarvels.com. At the time, I snarked a bit about how all the images on their website are actually CG renderings, implying that, with models that complicated, it’d be nice to have some reassurance that somebody, somewhere, had put together a real physical version in the real physical world before giving up the green. Well, MAKE pal and dynamite CNC contractor Angus Hines sprung for a set of plans, cut the parts on his own equipment, and took these cool photos of the assembled model on red clay to suggest the Martian surface. [Thanks, Angus!]
Printing prosthetics on the MakerBot
Over on the MakerBot forums, Youssef Tayeb just shared this full-scale model of a trans-tibial socket, which was printed in 16 pieces, and reinforced with a layer of fiberglass.
Beautiful Modeler – use an iPad to make 3D models
Beautiful Modeler – use an iPad to make 3D models… Beautiful Modeler is a software tool for gestural sculpting using a multi-touch controller such as an iPad. Each finger is used to control a single touch point in the model, with multiple layers working to build up 3D volume. As the controller is connected over […]
The DARPA Digital Manufacturing Analysis, Correlation and Estimation (DMACE) Challenge
OK, so maybe the Digital Manufacturing Analysis, Correlation and Estimation Challenge isn’t as sexy as your grand robot challenges or your race to space prizes, but hey, if you’re into digital manufacturing, and are excited by the idea of using crowdsourcing to advance knowledge of the field and to explore the capabilities of DM, then […]
