Founded in 1906 in South Bend, Indiana, South Bend Lathe, at one time, controlled almost half of the U.S. domestic metalworking lathe market. South Bend did a lot of things right, to earn their market share and reputation, and one of the smartest was to produce clear, well-illustrated, low-cost instructional materials describing not just how to set up and run their tools, but how to use them to perform all kinds of basic and advanced machining operations.
On an incredibly hot Michigan July day, we stopped by the grounds of Theater Bizarre to talk to it’s visionary, John Dunivant. John, an illustrator by trade, spoke to us about his inspirations for the carnival / masquerade / party / theme park he created, and gave us a tour of the grounds which formerly hosted this unique event.
Brown University Engineering and Visual Arts lecturer Ian Gonsher’s Generative Construction Toy is a set of snap together shapes that you can cut out on a laser cutter and use as building blocks to design and build compound three dimensional objects. It’s like an evolving desktop fab version of tinker toys or LEGO, but more organic. What’s most interesting about the GCT is that you are encouraged to modify and create your own shapes through an iterative process of design and play.
Personally, I find The Gadget Show’s breathless production values (and forced hipster-geek wardrobe) to be really annoying, but the results of this build are undeniably impressive.
Can you even believe that this is paper? Design for Mankind featured this insanely rad piece by Peter Combe that was created by shredding and layering thousands of architect/designer size paint chips.
Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered a remarkable simple and flexible new way to make self-assembling objects, using just inkjet ink and “pre-stressed sheets of plastic” (that is Shrinky Dinks to those of you following along at home).
Whether or not you’re a Jane Austen fan, here’s a free crochet pattern for this elegant Becoming Jane Sweater that is excerpted from the book, Austentatious Crochet: 36 Contemporary Designs from the World of Jane Austen. Alice from Future Girl also reviews the book, which she says not only contains crochet patterns, but is also […]
