The Laser Cutter Roundup — a weekly dose of laser-cut love: #78
Hey, Sam here collecting the post from The Laser Cutter.
Above are laser cut paper invitiation lighted with LEDs from Eric Alba.
And remember join TLC’s Facebook page so you can submit you work to be featured through there!
After the jump, a star, the Chrysler Building, a beard, a lamp, a whole bunch of things, and a desk… (more…)
Win $40k for designing an open source filament extruder
The cost of filament is a thorn in the side of many DIY 3D printing setups. But thanks to Inventables, the Kauffman Foundation and Maker Faire, prices of around $50/kg are soon to be a thing of the past.
The challenge has been set: Design an open source machine capable of making plastic resin pellets fit for use in a low cost 3D printer.
The first person or team who uploads a successful solution will be declared the winner, taking out more than just glory and DIY adoration. Prizes include a very handy $40,000 thanks to the Kauffman Foundation, as well as a Desktop Fabrication Lab consisting of a 3D printer, Laser Cutter and Shapeoko CNC mill.
Nice.
If you think you’ve got what it takes, here are the criteria:
The first team/person to build an open source filament extruder for less than $250 in components can take ABS or PLA resin pellets, mix them with colorant, and extrude a 1.75mm +/- .01mm filament that can be used in a 3D printer is declared the winner.
Further details are available at Desktop Factory 2012.
via 3Ders
New meaning to the term “you sunk my battleship!”
Combine a favourite childhood boardgame with shot glasses, scale the game pieces up with a 3D printer and what do you get? 3D printed battleshots drinking game. For non-drinkers and minors 3D files for pegs are also provided so you can play a scaled up version of the traditional game. Thingiverse user xaqfu has created the full set of ships based on the classic game to download and 3D print, although as the files are .stl they are also suitable for CNC milling. (more…)
HMA printed parts on the fly
Robots are often designed with very specific tasks in mind. But what happens when you want a robot to be adaptable? Taking on the daunting task of coming up with a robot that can rise to whatever challenges it encounters, a team over at the Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboratory (ETH Zurich) have been making progress that could have serious implications in the world of digital manufacturing.
Utilizing Hot Melt Adhesive (the same HMA that we’ve all burnt our fingers with when using a handyman glue gun), their robot is able to create tools from scratch. It then makes use of these new devices to successfully complete tasks that it was otherwise unable to perform.
The following video gives an indication of where things are currently at. Although the process is similar to 3D printing, the team are quick to point out why they have chosen HMA rather than the usual thermoplastic materials. It all comes down to adaptability. A traditional 3D printed tool needs to be grasped/held/attached in some way. With HMA, the printed tool can be glued to the robot itself, and actually becomes a part of the machine. No need for graspers or fixing mechanisms. (more…)
Microscopic analysis of Ponoko’s laser cut acrylic
Jacob Martin from the Photon Factory at Auckland University sent us this update on creating microfluidic devices using Ponoko’s laser cutting service. He made a range of sample cuts and engravings and then analysed the results in microscopic detail, concluding that it could indeed be possible to do microfluidic research without access to a lab.
Aren’t they pretty?
We are super duper excited about expanding the color options of one of our most popular materials. Introducing…
Now you can make bowls, cups, mugs, plates, figurines etc etc in beautiful Periwinkle, Peach, and Teal.
Like our Glazed Ceramic in White, each of these new colored ceramics come out of a ZCorp 3D printer, are food safe and thermal resistant, and start at just $0.20/cm2 (surface area) for Ponoko free accounts.
Check ‘em out:
Glazed Ceramic in Periwinkle!
Incredible procedurally generated designs
If you’re a regular Personal Factory user, you may have seen the wonderful 3D models available for sale in Dizingof’s showroom.
Dizingof specializes in math art, which generally refers to works that have been procedurally generated with a focus on aesthetic qualities. That aesthetic quality is readily apparent in 3D models like these: (more…)
Making the not-so-ergonomic, ergonomic again…
Apple is usually revered as an shining example in the design world. There is the ocassional exception, however. They seem unwilling to design a mouse that takes into account biomechanics and ergonomic factors of the human hand since at least the early 90’s. The iPod earbud style headphones are another instance – where Apple has a priority of designing a geometric neo-minimalist form, rather than ensuring comfort and performance. Cupped headphones are also much better at isolating your ears away from the ambient noise of the world.
These issues led Paris based Chilean industrial designer JC Karich to develop a 3D printable ear enclosed headphone adapter that houses a pair of iPod earbuds. (more…)
Retail Ready with Fiestyelle
Leslie Yang is passionate about jewelry, eco-awareness and San Fancisco. Her jewelry line Feistyelle is yet another fantastic example that green design doesn’t have to be all brown rice and sandals, but can communicate a polished, modern aesthetic. A Ponoko regular for a number of years, Leslie was the first person to laser cut felt for jewelry. With that innovative approach to materials she has been evolving her ever-popular, wearable laser cut designs and regularly introducing new ideas.
Getting Started
• What made you decide to start your own business? I officially started feistyelle in the fall of 2005. At the time, I was pretty active on online crafty message boards, and some makers were starting to set up small businesses selling their work online and at shopping events. This was all pre-Etsy! It felt like the next, exciting step for me was to get my work out in front of a increasingly DIY-friendly public. I was making really different pieces during those first couple of years: brooches, hair clips, badges, out of needle felted wool and Japanese textiles.
• How did you decide on the jewelry direction? I’ve always loved jewelry, but it was actually serendipitious that I started making earrings. When I found out that Ponoko was offering to laser cut felt I about dorked out with excitement. I started by designing a dahlia brooch, and because I didn’t want to waste the felt, I threw in a smaller vector of the dahlia in remaining space. A co-worker wound up wanting to buy the brooch but when she saw the smaller pieces, she said she’d love them as earrings and asked if would I make her a pair. I said, “Sure!” and then walked to my local bead store and asked the shopkeeper sheepishly, “Um, how do you make earrings?” I poked around the bead shop and settled on the hoop design that I still use for the majority of our earring designs. When my co-worker wore the earrings to work, it started a stampede to my office of female coworkers asking for their own pair. I started to realize that I had a hit on my hands!
• What skills did you already have when you started your business and what did you have to learn? I’m a graphic designer so it was helpful to have experience in branding and packaging and of course design software. I did and still am learning about marketing, accounting, and all those very necessary business skills.
The important takeaway here is that you should know how to do everything but you should definitely not do every single thing yourself! I love the extra time I get by having a photographer shoot my product and model shots as well as a person handle online order fulfillment.
More from Leslie after the jump:
CNC wire bender creates 2D and 3D forms
The versatility of 3D printers is much lauded, and there are many reasons why we hold them in high regard. But what happens when you need to output lines in space rather than volumes? That’s where a CNC wire bender comes in handy. Usually found in factories and serious machinery setups, CNC wire benders tend to be out of reach for the DIY maker.
Not any more. The guys over at Pensa have developed a handy little unit they call the DIWire Bender. This table-top device is a prototyping machine that can bend metal wire into 2D and 3D shapes.
It’s still early days for this device, yet things are off to a promising start. The wire is fed through a series of wheels that straighten it, and then on to the bending head that articulates in 3D to create the curves of your design.
There are some interesting ideas floating about on what this can be used for. From prototypes and wireframe models, to spectacles and on-demand jewellery… it’s even possible to create custom springs and other tricky engineering components.
“A DIWire Bender could eventually become an element in an array of 3D equipment with different capabilities. One day, if you get enough rapid prototype machines in a room hooked into a data line, you may be able to fax a bicycle. Now that would be cool.”
Follow through after the break for a neat little video of the DIWire in action. (more…)
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