Now that MakerBot has a space program, homemade bots in the stratosphere can’t be so far off.

This got me thinking about credit card sized stateliness, personal GPS triangulator balloons, and the future of private space travel. If Colbert can do it, we can do it.

The folks over at Makerbot, after their recent successes with remixing heads, decided to print their very own Stephen Colbert and send him aloft on a weather balloon. The mighty patriot reached a height of over 65,000 ft before condescending to return to us mere mortals below.

Check out a video from the historic flight here.

Via Makerbot.

Posted in 3D Printing, Digital Fabrication, Matthew Borgatti by Matthew Borgatti | Comments are off for this post

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

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Creating long-range wifi links with CNC and laser-cut reflectors

Here’s a great use of digital fabrication technology: FabFi, a project bringing internet connectivity to communities in Kenya and Afghanistan. Each node in the network is comprised of an off-the-shelf router mounted inside a parabolic reflector, for a total cost of about $60US.

The reflectors were originally designed to be quickly manufactured with either a CNC router or laser-cutter, but it didn’t take long for users to start fabricating their own from local technologies and materials. Check out the tech summary for more info.

Posted in CNC Routing, Design, Electronics + Robotics, Laser Cutting, Maker Movement, Open Source, Rich Decibels by Rich Decibels | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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“From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.” — Charles Darwin

Kristen passed this web-based modeling tool to me last week. It’s a WebGL application called EndlessForms that enables users to evolve 3D forms. Users select “parent” forms whose traits will then influence the resulting “child”. The method of doing so is very interesting, taking cues from biological reproduction:

For each voxel (a small cube) in the allowable area, information about its geometric coordinates (e.g. its X, Y, and Z coordinates) are input into an evolved genome. The genes in the genome turn on and off in response to that information, creating new geometric patterns that affect other genes, etc. Eventually the output of the network is a single value, which specifies whether material should fill a voxel or not. The genome thus specifies where material exists based on geometric information, just as in natural organisms.

To try it out, I took an existing “wine bottle” model from the gallery and evolved it into (what I think) is a trophy shape. Here’s the original: (more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Derek Quenneville, Tools + Apps by Derek Quenneville | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, App Gateway

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CNC mill a livable house.

WikiHouse is a new project trying to make house construction open source. With WikiHouse anyone could download plans to CNC mill and assemble a house. The system relies on standard 2440mm x 1220mm (8′ x 4′) 18mm plywood. Besides a CNC mill, you only need basic hardware and hand tools. The plans can be altered in Google Sketchup and new designs can be offered back to the community.
(more…)

Posted in Architecture, CNC Routing, Open Source, Taylor Gilbert by Taylor Gilbert | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: CNC Routing

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Join us LIVE every Thursday at 7pm Eastern Time!

Project:
Cardboard End Table

Materials:
6.7mm Corrugated Card Double Layer

Tools:
Glue of some sort (I prefer hot glue), Something heavy

Difficulty Level:

---

To conclude Cardboard in August, we end it with a cardboard end table. This is a great project to spark ideas for all your furniture needs. We make the cardboard stronger by layering the sheets together. We also show you how to make a dado slot to hold up the shelf. You can join me as we make a cardboard end table on Bob Vila’s Home Agai… Oh wait, FabBlab…

As always, the design files are available for free download. And if you haven’t heard, Ponoko is making cardboard FREE for the next 30 days!! So you can make this end table on the cheap!

Also check out Yana’s “material of the month” post on cardboard!

Download the Project Files here!

Posted in FabBlab, Furniture + Lighting, Laser Cutting, Maker Stories by FabBlab | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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raise the roof

It’s that time of year… Back to school, back to work — and back to making! Whether you’ve been brainstorming about your first Personal Factory creation or preparing to create a new product line for your business, now is the perfect time to start prototyping.

And to help you out, Ponoko is throwing a prototyping party!

Update: We realized it is lame to end a party on a Thursday night.
So now we’re going to midnight on Saturday, September 24!

All card and cardboard materials are FREE from now until September 24.

There’s nothing you have to do. No promo codes, no vouchers, no special instructions. Just upload a file to your Personal Factory, pick a card material, and your material costs will be zilch!

Free card and cardboard is available from both Ponoko US and Ponoko NZ.
(See the US card materials here. And the NZ card materials here.)

Aaannndd if you share your cardboard prototypes and projects in our Prototyping Party thread on the Ponoko forum, you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a sample material pack of your choice!

(We can also make a similar sample pack of materials from the NZ catalog if you use the NZ hub.)

Join the party! Go crazy with the cardboard!
Show us your stuff in the forums!

A list of helpful links and resources to get your gears turning (after the jump):
(more…)

Posted in Ponoko News by Ponoko Team | Comments are off for this post

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Kickstarter campaign to make production local again

According to Jeffrey Matthias, founder of FurnLab, precision manufacturing is something we should all have access to.

As a part of their recently launched KickStarter campaign, the FurnLab team are unveiling plans to release a unique production-ready open source CNC machine. This device will complement the existing range of DIY CNC offerings, while taking manufacturing capabilities to the next level in terms of both scale and speed.

Check out this early incarnation (version 2) of the FurnLab design:

Jeffrey tells how the journey began when they discovered the prohibitive costs involved in setting up a DIY device with a full-size cutting area.
But that’s not all…

I also want to reduce dependence on doodads that are made in one land only to be shipped way over to another land.

(more…)

Posted in CNC Routing, Electronics + Robotics, Guy Blashki, Hardware, Open Source by Guy Blashki | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: CNC Routing

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DIY printer uses felt pens and blotting paper

For the CNC drawing enthusiast who isn’t in a hurry to produce their next masterpiece, Paul Ferragut’s Time Print Machine offers a rather unique solution.

Images are created in the usual CNC manner, with dots forming a halftone pattern as the arm moves across the page. What is different about this device, is the incorporation of a special program which takes the grey value of a pixel and converts it using a time-based algorithm.

…the felt pen remains in contact with the blotting paper for relative periods of time. Consequently the ink will bleed through the paper creating a variety of different sized stains, gradually building the image.

Click through for a clip of the Time Print Machine in action.   (more…)

Posted in Art, Digital Fabrication, Electronics + Robotics, Guy Blashki, Hardware by Guy Blashki | Comments are off for this post

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

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filaments from Faberdashery

A few weeks ago, UK based start-up Faberdashery opened the virtual doors of its 3D printing materials store. And inside is a full color spectrum of plastics for use with your DIY desktop 3D printer.

Faberdashery sells PLA-plastic filaments in 18 different colors. Filaments are available in either 1.74mm or 3mm diameters, and are sold by the meter or by the coil (100m). Prices for most of them start at £0.29 (about 50 cents) per meter.

And did I mention that their color selection is fantastic?

(more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Kristen Turner, Materials by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing

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If you’ve been to the Ponoko forums in the last few months then you’ve seen some of the excellent tips and tutorials put together by our Oakland in-house digital maker, Josh Reuss.

Josh knows his stuff when it comes to digital making. Before joining the Ponoko team, Josh was using Personal Factory to make all kinds of products under the name Shopping Zen. And from the beginning, he put up most of his design files for free download.

Since joining the team, he’s made even more cool stuff. Check out his starburst clock, covered wagon, and hexagonal wall art — all made with
laser cutting using Personal Factory.

Learn more about Josh R in our monthly peeps interview after the jump.

(more…)

Posted in Ponoko News by Ponoko Team | Comments are off for this post

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