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!

Haz MakerBot… now what?

Haz MakerBot… now what?

The Twin Cities’ communal workshop, the Hack Factory, bought a MakerBot CupCake 3D printer. Working for about six hours, some of my cohorts assembled the X and Y stages and partially installed the assembly in the body. With any luck we’ll be printing this time next week. We’re all excited to finally have a 3D […]

Printable mechanical CFL dimmer idea

Printable mechanical CFL dimmer idea

Interesting concept from Thingiverse user 12meyer. All kinds of potential problems here, so this is more of the “way to think outside the box” kind of shout-out than the “where can I invest in your start-up” kind. One can, of course, dim fluorescent bulbs electrically, but it turns out to be kind of a PITA. The idea here is to exploit the spiral shape of the bulb itself to make an opaque cover that screws on or off to block more or less light, respectively.