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!
Like modeling your projects using Sketchup, but wish that you could go one step further and see if they work before spending time printing them? Well, you might want to have a look at Sketchyphysics. It’s a physics simulator that you can use to put your creations to life, and presumably work out the bugs […]
Like OpenSCAD, but want to be able to use it from any device?
Interesting concept from Peter over at the RepRap: Builders blog, who has successfully made some cuts in a CD case using an experimental 1W laser cutter with a Z-axis control that allows the laser diode itself to reciprocate up and down, kinda like a saber saw. This action moves the beam’s focus, where it cuts most effectively, up and down through the material at each point along the cutting path. I have wondered about dynamically-variable-focal-length CNC lasers before, and although I’m probably in over my head, here, it seems like there should be some way to do it optically without having to physically move the whole laser head up and down. Everyone’s a critic! Nice work here, Peter. [via Hack a Day]
Awesome video from YouTuber leehound:
Cutting a face using my 15 year old Milltronics CNC Milling machine. Was a great machine that I sold recently. The programming for the face was done with Mastercam V9.
[Thanks, Dustin!]
Open-source fabrication advocate and 2010 TED Fellow Dominic Muren just sent word of his latest project: an enclosure for a MakerBot Wristwatch called Makerwatch SSG.
Get your own copy of this 3D printed bike saddle-mountable bottle opener by Shapeways user Pick: The Road Popper is a bike-mounted bottle opener that we developed for our own use and decided afterward to share. We designed it to fasten discreetly to the rails on the underside of the saddle to help keep your […]
The spray arm on Daryll Strauss’ Frigidaire dishwasher ceased to function properly one day, so rather than call in for a repair technician to come fix his ailing appliance, he decided to attempt to fix it himself. He tried ordering a replacement, but ended up receiving the wrong part. That’s when he decided to fabricate his own replacement on a MakerBot.
