Mayor of Britannica
For 40 years, Michael Chesko has been mapping the country of his dreams.
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 itโs 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!
Make: Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Santa Claus Machines
Santa’s got the coolest tools. How else could he and his elves build all those gifts in time? Now, thanks to custom fabrication services, we can all get access to the Santa Claus Machines. From bespoke action figures, to interplanetary terrain models, from one-of-a-kind sneakers, to tailor-made machine parts, there has never been a better time to harness advanced fabrication tools to build objects of your own design!
Layer-additive “welding” 3D fabrication
Electron Beam Free-Form Fabrication (EBF3) is a rapid prototyping technology developed by Karen Taminger of NASA’s Langley Research Center. Dr. Taminger is prone to market EBF3 by analogy to Star Trek style “replicator” technology, which is nothing but shameless hype. Still, the basic idea is an interesting twist on extrusion-based 3D printing technologies (although there’s not really any “extrusion” going on), and is under development with an eye towards space-based fabrication. Working in outer space would eliminate the system’s major ground-based shortcoming, which is the requirement for maintaining a vacuum or inert atmosphere to prevent oxidation of the weld.
CupCake CNC build, part 5: Pulley & enclosure finishing
It’s been a while since my last build entry, mostly because the finish takes a few days to apply, and yet another few days to fully cure. I’m just happy it’s done! I want to start building…and printing!
CupCake CNC build, part 4: Update & burning the bootloaders
I planned on writing an entry about burning bootloaders & updating the firmware, but I just realized my kit comes all ready to go! Yea! If you are making you own boards from scratch, or purchased a non-assembled kit, check out these detailed instructions on burning bootloaders and updating firmware before going any further.
CupCake CNC build, part 3: The electronics
OK, let’s get started with the CupCake Electronics Assembly. I ordered the Deluxe kit from batch #8, so most of the electronics are already assembled. Yea!
3D printed glasses LED clip
Conrad2468 on Thingiverse printed this LED clip for his glasses. Great for reading, soldering, and face tracking (use an IR LED for that one).
