RepRap Progeny August 31

Printing The Next Generation – Here’s How It’s Done

It’s all about taking a basic 3d printer, and using it to print a more advanced one. That’s the beauty of this technology… the beauty of the whole DIY 3d printer movement, in fact.

Watch the video as Gavilan Steinman neatly explains how his Darwin printer was used to fabricate a Mendel replacement, thus propelling him into a future where higher quality outcomes will be achieved with greater speed and efficiency.

From the humblest of beginnings, a device can be constructed that sets off a steady climb towards fabbing freedom. The original extruder was a handmade wooden contraption that Gavilan then used to create a better version of itself. This higher performing and more accurate component was then installed, ready to print out the next generation of components.

Not only do we get to see the whole process in this well composed clip, the tempting reality of Ponoko’s new hardware partnership with Sparkfun means that all of the other electronic goodies you’ll need to bring your 3d printer to life can now be sourced right here.

Combine this with the wealth of knowledge that continues to grow at the reprap community and you’ll soon be printing out a next generation of your own.

Via Hack a day.

Posted in 3D Printing, Guy Blashki, Various How-To by Guy Blashki | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing

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Electronic Hardware from Ponoko August 30

Material Monday: SparkFun open source electronics available in Ponoko materials/hardware catalog.

Following the super incredible awesome news of the Ponoko and SparkFun partnership, I wanted to share the 15 new hardware categories and a selection of the electronics now available in the materials catalog.

All the (spark) fun, after the jump.

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Posted in Electronics + Robotics, Kristen Turner, Materials, Materials Catalog by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Custom make electronic products online with Ponoko August 30

Ponoko and SparkFun announce partnership

It’s official!

Ponoko has teamed up with SparkFun Electronics to help make it easy for you to build custom electronics products using your online personal factory.

This combines the digital making wizardry of the world’s easiest making system with a 1500+ strong electronics catalog from open source electronics supplier SparkFun.

This new service extends Ponoko’s materials catalog to include electronic gadgetry as well as timbers, plastics, fabrics, metals and other sheet materials.

“It’s the first time we’ve offered non-sheet materials,” says Ponoko CEO David ten Have. “Adding hardware to the mix opens up new possibilities on several fronts. Creators can order all the parts they need with one click, rather than needing to go to multiple sources. They also have a single place to describe and store their product design and its components – in this case, the custom parts and the electronics hardware.”

The electronics catalog has been slotted into the existing Ponoko making process so there’s virtually no change from the current making system. Creators upload their designs and select flat sheet materials. Then they have the option to add electronic hardware to their order at the same price as buying direct from SparkFun. They get an instant online price, check out, and all of their items are delivered to their door – custom parts from Ponoko and electronic parts from SparkFun.

“This partnership with Ponoko is more than just business. Rather, it represents another step in our goal of ‘enabling electronic enthusiasts,’” said SparkFun Chief Operating Officer Trevor Zylstra. “SparkFun and Ponoko are working together to create an easy way for our customers to make polished, complete projects. We want the SparkFun community to have the resources to create unique custom enclosures for their projects. Working together with Ponoko, we think we have accomplished that.”

The new service also makes it more practical for creators to sell their custom made electronic products.

“Anyone can sell their custom made goods on Ponoko, including electronic products,” says Mr ten Have. “They just take photos of their finished items and upload them to their free Ponoko showroom along with a description. Customers order online and we take care of the fulfillment process – delivering the custom parts and hardware direct to the customer for self assembly.”

More than 60,000 user generated goods have been made so far using the Ponoko system. Providing easy access to materials is as much a part of its popularity as easy access to making technology and the Ponoko team hopes to continue to expand its material catalog over the coming months.

Give it a go, and let us know what you think in comments below!

Posted in Electronics + Robotics, Ponoko News by Ponoko Team | Comments are off for this post

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GeekDad/Ponoko/Sparkfun Winner August 30

Who Won? What Was The Big Idea?

Who’d have thought that the GeekDad/Ponoko/Sparkfun competition winning entry would involve beer?!?

The call went out, and the votes are in – with Ross Daly (aka tinyenormous) taking out top honours with a convincing 45% of the vote. That’s him cradling his winning entry in the picture above – and his big idea is the Minifridge Beer Dispenser, soon to be produced for free using the combined might of SparkFun and Ponoko.

Thanks to Nathan Barry over at GeekDad for the following interview with the proud winner.

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Posted in Contests + Competitions, Design, Digital Fabrication, Guy Blashki, Interviews, Thoughts + Opinions, Ponoko News by Guy Blashki | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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Goes Through Like Butter August 29

Melbourne Duo Cutting Some Fine Forms

Jem Selig Freeman is responsible for this smooth incarnation of the humble articulated lamp. The neat geometry and targeted symmetry of this design results in a friendly retro-robotic feel that is brimming with personality.

We wouldn’t expect anything less from a company that specialises in things that other fabrication businesses won’t touch.

The Light MKI is an example of the offerings from Melbourne-based studio Like Butter, where Jem teams up with Laura Woodward to run a plasma cutter dubbed The Mighty Plasmatron.

Like Butter can also carve up a storm with their CNC router, the very same machine that engraved This is: a trivet for local designer Bonnie So.

Looking at the Light MKI, I wonder whether a swivel base mechanism could be introduced that follows the same structural format being used in the arm joints. Even so, it is great to see that it is still possible for designers to come up with refreshing iterations almost 80 years since George Carwardine first thought up the Anglepoise Lamp.

I’m also fond of the Light Painting technique used in some of Jem’s photography. Be sure to check out the Like Butter website to see what else these guys get up to.

Source: Broadsheet Melbourne (!print link)

Posted in CNC Routing, Design, Digital Fabrication, Furniture + Lighting, Guy Blashki by Guy Blashki | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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RazorLAB Digital Making Facility in the UK August 29

London calling

Making in the UK just got easier. The new RazorLAB site lets you upload your designs directly to the London based making hub.

RazorLAB founder Soner Ozenc explains the benefits of the new site. “‘The most obvious advantage is that UK customers will now be able to make payments in GBP. Also, they will get local support and customer service along with a dedicated UK-based blog. Our aim is to be the first gateway for anything to do with laser cutting in the UK.”

RazorLAB is powered and supported by Ponoko’s online making system. Those familiar with making through Ponoko.com will find the same user-friendly process at the partner sites.

Ponoko’s CEO Dave ten Have talks about what this means to the big picture. “Ponoko is all about bringing together creators, digital fabricators, materials suppliers and customers to change the way products are made, sold, and delivered. Each new partner in the Ponoko network not only brings us closer to that dream, but is proof that creative people all over the world want access to making real products.”

With the latest addition of RazorLAB, Ponoko’s online making system now supports five digital making hubs including Formulor in Germany, Vectorealism in Italy, and Ponoko owned hubs in the US and New Zealand.

Ready to start making in the UK?
CLICK HERE to sign up with RazorLAB!

*Note: To open an account you will need to create a different username than the one you use here at Ponoko.

Posted in Kristen Turner, Ponoko News by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Cut 1mm Plastic With a 1 Watt Laser August 28

Using a laser like a saw to cut thicker material.

Peter from the RepRap Builders blog has come up with a clever way to cut thicker material with a weaker laser. His experimental laser cutter moves the focus of the laser up and down in a saw-like motion.

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Posted in Digital Fabrication, Inventions, Laser Cutting, Open Source, Taylor Gilbert, Technology by Taylor Gilbert | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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Softlab: Chromatex.me August 28

Filling A Small Part Of The World With Colour

On display at the bridgegallery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side is this colourful laser-cut spectacle conceived and constructed by Softlab. Uniquely shaped panels form a meandering series of tunnels, and it is all held together by everyday bulldog clips.

Not only uniquely shaped; each panel is also printed with its own subtle hue, and the resulting gradation of tone through the tunnels gives this project its name: Chromatex.me

For a month we will fill a small part of the world with one of our favorite things: COLOR!

(more…)

Posted in Art, Guy Blashki, Laser Cutting by Guy Blashki | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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How to reduce burn marks on acrylic August 27

Or how to avoid “smudgy yucky“Burn marks are an inherent part of the laser cutting process – we are cutting things with a highly focused beam of fire after all. There are some tricks to minimizing this issue for different materials, and this post deals with acrylic.

Most of the acrylic sheets we use come with protective paper on both sides. It’s possible for us to leave this paper on when making your design, which we tend to do where it will not interfere with your engraving. The main downside to this is needing to peel paper off both sides of the acrylic, which can be time consuming and tricky if your design is intricate.

Generally our rule is: cut with paper on both sides if there is no raster engraving in the design, or if all raster engraving is of the heavy variety. Heavy raster engraving burns through the paper without any trouble, as does heavy and medium vector engraving. If the file has medium or light raster engraving, however, we will remove the protective paper from the top of the material unless otherwise requested.

It is possible to use medium engraving through the paper, but due to the dot matrix nature of the raster engraving not all the paper is burned away. A slightly sticky residue may be left on the plastic if you ask for this option – which may need to be cleaned off before you use it.

Below are some typical examples of what you get when laser cutting acrylic. It should be noted that it is most obvious on black hence using it as the example material. Also the images have been zoomed in to great detail and emphasizes the effects more than might be obvious to the naked eye.

Cutting – Paper Left On vs Paper Removed
On the left through the paper and on the right without paper. The right shows a clear example of the smudgy burn marks that are left on the acrylic after cutting. Clearly the shapes cut through the paper is cleaner than not.

Heavy Raster Engraving – Paper Left On vs Paper RemovedOn the left through the paper and on the right without paper. You can see that engraving through the paper produces a crisper result. The vaporized acrylic builds up around the outside of the letters when the paper is not use and produces this slightly ‘inflated’ look. This would probably polish off should you have the desire to do so.

Medium Raster Engraving – Paper Left On vs Paper Removed

On the left through the paper and on the right without paper. Again engraving through the paper is a little crisper in the letter forms, but as mentioned earlier there may be sticky residue left over from the adhesive of the paper.

So what does all this mean?

If you want us to leave the paper on, you should only use heavy raster engraving. If you use medium or light raster engraving, we will make your design with the paper removed.

If you would like to specify how you want your job cut, make a note in the Special Shipping instructions.

Other tips for engraving & cleaning acrylic:
How to improve your engraving results – Part 1
How to improve your engraving results – Part 2
Tips for cleaning acrylic

Kudos to @deleifd and @skruff for the awesome type design.

Posted in Dan Emery, Laser Cutting, Laser Cutting Tutorial, Materials, Materials Catalog, Various How-To by Dan Emery | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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24 Hours Left to Enter Designious Contest August 26

Last chance to win 5 Vector Mega-Packs from Designious

You’ve got 24 hours left to enter our contest with vector artwork studio Designious. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment at the post: Win 5 Vector Mega-Packs from Designious.

Contest closes midnight (ET) Friday, 27 August. We’ll be choosing three winners at random to each receive 5 vector mega-packs of the winner’s choice.

You can check out Designious’ entire line of Mega-Packs HERE.

Posted in Contests + Competitions, Kristen Turner by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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