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!

Live insect bracelet-cage

Live insect bracelet-cage

Thingiverse user themauxfaux, who does seem to enjoy his word-play, just posted these plans for a laser-cut bangle that incorporates a hollow passage, complete with air-holes, so you can display your favorite live insect specimens on your wrist.

He calls it “Putrefashion,” which I think is a tactical error. I mean, I understand: I have a hard time resisting a good pun myself, but the whole point here is to keep the critter alive. And if you were to, you know, keep wearing it after it died and started to rot, well…just…ew. Even moreso “ew” than wearing bugs around on your wrist in the first place.

Now, apart from the name, there’s still plenty to criticize here, if I were inclined to do so. But I prefer to focus on the positive, and in spite of all my little quibbles with the design, I say this still counts as a win on the basis of originality alone.

Win a MakerBot Cupcake

Win a MakerBot Cupcake

The Twin Cities hackerspace the Hack Factory is raising funds to buy a MakerBot Cupcake CNC. How? By selling raffle tickets! Borrowing a move from Providence hackerspace AS220 Labs’ MakerBot raffle, the Hack Factory will sell enough raffle tickets for two Cupcakes, then keep one and award the other to the raffle winner. Rules are […]

3D-printable buckydome brackets

This project illustrates the awesomeness of Thingiverse and open hardware. User c60 created some nifty geodesic dome brackets with the idea of using them with repurposed tent poles. While a great start, c60 didn’t have the math completely figured out and asked the Thingiverse community to pitch in. EFFALO of the Fabricating Blog rose to […]

Cubely: a new 3D printer?

Cubely: a new 3D printer?

Cube.ly appears to be a 3D printer that uses 80/20 girders for the 2’x2’x2′ chassis, with all electronic components identical to those used in the Makerbot and Mendel. The project’s charter describes the project’s goals: Provide a fully capable 3D printer which can be used to directly manufacture or can be used to easily create […]

Laser-cutting old vinyl LPs

Laser-cutting old vinyl LPs

Personally, these laser-cut plastic end tables by Israel’s Studio Groovy (Fair warning: I couldn’t actually find them on their Flash-y website.) are not to my taste, but I really like the fact that that they put some old vinyl records in their laser cutter and managed to make something fairly cool out of them. Bonus: The table on the left uses the cut-out from the table on the right as decoration, so there’s very little waste. [via Recyclart]