3d printable pump
Madox designed this excellent 3d printed pump, which converts a cheap electric motor into a functional water pump.
Digital Fabrication
Digital fabrication tools have revolutionized the way designers, engineers, and artisans express their creativity. With the right resources, you can learn to use these powerful instruments in no time! Whether it’s 3D printing or laser cutting that interests you, these articles will provide useful tutorials and inspiration for makers of all levels. Discover how digital fabrication can open up new possibilities so that your craftsmanship is truly extraordinary!
Online dice collections
Shown above is a small sample of Justin Michell’s meticulously-documented dice collection over at Kevin Cook’s DiceCollector.com. Justin’s is one of six collections, besides Kevin’s own, hosted at the site, which makes for fascinating browsing. Most folks’ experience of dice is limited to the simple Platonic-solid dice, but of the first 20 integers, only 1-, 17- and 19-sided dice are not represented in Justin’s collection.
Disclosure: I got wind of Justin’s collection when he contacted me about putting my old design for an alphabet die up on Shapeways, which I did. His print in stainless steel is shown uppermost. I make two bucks for each one they print.
Holiday Gift Guide 2010: 3D Fabrication
MakerBot Thing-o-Matic I make CG animated movies by day and electro-mechanical contraptions by night. I split my time between the virtual and real worlds of 3D. So I’m really excited about the collision of these two worlds happening in the realm of 3D printing and fabrication. But it’s not just me, there’s a rapidly growing […]
3D-printed, rubber-band-powered gearbox
Michael Curry of Kansas City, MO, designed and printed this sweet gearbox for the rubber band challenge on Thingiverse. Brilliant! [Via the Thingiverse blog]
Handmade steel umbilic torus
calculus-book-cover.jpgMy buddy Trent Johnson, who works for AMD here in Austin, made this beautiful object. I was standing awkwardly in the corner at his birthday party last weekend, trying to remember how to interact with flesh-and-blood people on a face-to-face basis, when I looked down and saw it leaning against the wall next to me. And I immediately recognized it from the cover of my college calculus text, from the flyleaf of which I now quote:
$5 PVC Van De Graaff generator
Adam Wolf of Wayne and Layne built this Van De Graaff generator out of a cheap hobbyist motor, a rubber band, some Shape Lock, a pop can, a toothpick, and other el-cheapo components. I built this in one afternoon at my parent’s place in Wisconsin–in a town that lacks good hardware stores. While building it, […]
Impressive laser-cut wooden Mars rover model
Back in April I blogged about the plans and kits for this and other elaborate laser-cut wooden models available from WoodMarvels.com. At the time, I snarked a bit about how all the images on their website are actually CG renderings, implying that, with models that complicated, it’d be nice to have some reassurance that somebody, somewhere, had put together a real physical version in the real physical world before giving up the green. Well, MAKE pal and dynamite CNC contractor Angus Hines sprung for a set of plans, cut the parts on his own equipment, and took these cool photos of the assembled model on red clay to suggest the Martian surface. [Thanks, Angus!]