Workshop

The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for the industrial arts from metal and woodworking to CNC machining and 3D printing.

GRBLShield CNC Mill Conversion

GRBLShield CNC Mill Conversion

Bay Area maker John Knoll (of ILM and PhotoShop fame) just finished converting his old manual milling machine to CNC with a GRBLshield and took the time to thoroughly document the process. If you’ve ever thought about attempting this conversion, you won’t want to miss this informative overview. In it John runs through the entire process from start to finish, beginning with converting a model using a Python script, sending G-code to the board using a Processing sketch, and ending with cutting the part.

How-To: Car Battery Welding

How-To: Car Battery Welding

Welding! Welding is a glorious, mystery-infused, thoroughly bad-ass way to stick things together. Welders move in their own cloud of mythos and danger- they are dirtier, tougher, and sexier than any other kind of maker, and the things they build are big and strong and hold our world together. This positive stereotype permeates at all levels of pop culture: if a character is introduced while welding, you immediately know that they will be some kind of blue-collar superhero, or some kind of cliched contradiction- the welder quoting Hegel after winning the bar fight, or the classic trope of seeing a welder at work, and then they flip off the helmet and OMG IT IS A GIRL! A GIRL WELDING!

Skill Builder: Fabricating Project Boxes from PCB Cladding

Skill Builder: Fabricating Project Boxes from PCB Cladding

Here’s something I didn’t know about. Radio geeks and hobby audio enthusiasts use PCB copper cladding material to fabricate handsome project chassis. The main method of assembly is soldering. In this PDF tutorial from QRP Builder, a small chassis for a radio transceiver is built. Some really good tips in this article about building such project boxes and making sure the results are handsome.