Terminology of the Lathe
Quick, now: What are the two most fundamental measurements of the capacity of a metalworking lathe? If you said…
Workshop
The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for the industrial arts from metal and woodworking to CNC machining and 3D printing.
How-To: Mini Metal Lathe
Back in Plastics Month, we featured a simple shop-made plastics extruder built by Instructables user Random_Canadian. Now the arbitrary Canuck returns with this pint-sized metal lathe built with a 14″ piece of precision aluminum T-slot extrusion, and some characteristically resourceful salvage including an electric motor from a cordless weed trimmer, a variable speed switch from a cordless drill, and a tailstock center improvised from a countersink.
Mt. Elliott Maker Space brings Hackers to a Detroit Church
Pastor Barry Randolph and Jeff Sturges talk to us about the Mt. Elliot Makerspace, which is located in the basement of the Church of the Messiah in East Detroit. The role that the church plays in the community is explained, and the bright side of urban blight is explored.
It’s Machining Month
In a follow-up to September’s Metal Working theme, for November, we’ll be delving deeper into machining tools: lathes, cutters, drill presses, metal CNC machines/laser cutters.
Robotic Fish Uses only One Servo
At the Center for Biorobotics in Estonia, Eszter Ozsvald built a mechanical fish named A.riel that can model the movements of actual fish surprisingly well, and using only one servo inside a carefully made silicon-based mold. It took many iterations before the final product, but found that in the end she could develop the same vortex patterns as actual fish. Her site has extensive documentation on the build process and is definitely worth a look for the mold-making processes alone.
Book Review: Textiles: The Whole Story
I recently picked up a wonderful book published by Thames & Hudson, Textiles: The Whole Story by Beverly Gordon. It covers the history of textiles, both as functional pieces, as an art form and it shows the portrayal of textiles in art. Then the book moves on to show how textiles are now being used, […]
Gary Schott’s Whimsical Mechanized Objects
Metalsmith and artist Gary Schott talks about the whimsical mechanized objects he creates in this beautiful video by Walley Films. It follows Gary as he makes Eskimo Kiss, a cranked device which shows motions of love and affection mechanically. He says, “I quite enjoy that the work itself is very time consuming and yet all of it is just to make this device do this almost ridiculous, intimate action.”
