Magnetic, 3D Relief Lake Map
Cartographer Caroline Rose cut this map of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, out of wood and added Chemetal magnetic laminate to make it magnetic.
CNC & Machining
The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for the manufacture of metal, wood, plastic, ceramic and composites. We talk about machining, using a lathe to machine metals like steel, brass, and aluminium. We make chips fly!
Turning Denim On A Lathe
Peter Brown is back with another peculiar marriage of non-standard materials and a lathe. Last time we saw him make a very interesting ring out of colored pencils and this time he’s working with denim to make a bracelet. At first mention, you might be envisioning some sewing of some kind but that doesn’t appear […]
Designing And Building A Bike For Time Trials
So, your girlfriend is a competitive cyclist who needs a new time trial bike, but you’re both broke college students? Well, if you just happen to have just finished your master’s thesis and have full access to the universities machine shop, you simply make her one! Sounds easy right? Well, it isn’t, but the following […]
Beaver Dad Carves Heirloom on ShopBot
This morning, Tim Wilczynski graduated from MIT, and I have it on good authority that his dad, Vince Wilczynski, “Dean Vince” of the Yale School of Engineering, handed him a beautiful family heirloom—a wooden beaver lovingly carved by a father for his son. It’s not the same hand-carved wooden beaver Tim’s grandfather had presented to Vince […]
Dan Royer’s Robot Arms
Dan Royer makes many things, right now he’s most excited about robot arms. When he told me this at MakerCon, I had a moment of skepticism. What is so exciting about robot arms? Haven’t they been around forever? I think I had one made by Nintendo at some point. “Yes” he replied, “but so […]
Aluminalis: Our 16-legged Walking Creature
“Let’s build something creepy, Dad…”, my teenage daughters said. We had no idea this creepy crawly creature would utilize our machining skills to the fullest.
Low-cost Housing Gets a Boost
The deck is stacked against those buying low-income manufactured homes. Though these homes are cheaper in price they’re harder to finance, depreciate in value immediately, and are difficult to insure. Traditional homes offers long-term net benefit to owners; manufactured homes keep owners locked into a downward spiral. This didn’t seem right to Dennis Michaud and he set […]