Woodbug: A Community Commons, Laser-Cut Building Set
Shaun Crampton’s Woodbug construction set may be purchased from Ponoko or you can download the files for free and mix it up yourself.
Woodworking
Crafting wood can be a complex and rewarding task, but often times beginners may find themselves frustrated with their results. But no matter where you are in your woodworking journey, there are always tips and tricks that can help you create something beautiful – without breaking the bank. We’re going to look at woodworking tips and tricks for makers of all skill levels so even if you feel like it’s too overwhelming to attempt your own project, we’ll provide some guidance so don’t give up just yet!
Hand-Cranked Machine Blows Uniform Individual Bubbles
Others have remarked about the serene beauty of a complex mechanism precisely engineered to perform a single task, that would be simple for a person, just for the purpose of delighting its operator and/or audience. Witness Air Sculpture, by Japanese automatist Kazu Harada, case in point.
iShred: iPad Embedded Snowboard
Every Third Thursday the employees of Signal Snowboards get together to get creative with board design and materials, and generally hack on gear at the factory. Recently they laboriously toiled over one of the more creative snowboard designs I’ve seen: the iShred.
Coffin-Making Class
There was no corpse in the coffin because it is one day going to be used by Bader herself, who has no plans to kick the bucket anytime soon. Ever since reading a Twin Cities newspaper account of a course titled “Bury Yourself In Your Work: Build Your Own Casket,” she wanted to go the DIY route for her casket.
Laser-Cut Enclosure Features Sweet Bends
I love this Arduino project enclosure by Oomlout, who created bendable plywood by emulating a technique they saw Snijlab employ, where small slits are lasered into the plywood making it bendable. Oomlout’s site has the DXFs or you can grab them on Thingiverse.
Generative Construction Toy
Brown University Engineering and Visual Arts lecturer Ian Gonsher’s Generative Construction Toy is a set of snap together shapes that you can cut out on a laser cutter and use as building blocks to design and build compound three dimensional objects. It’s like an evolving desktop fab version of tinker toys or LEGO, but more organic. What’s most interesting about the GCT is that you are encouraged to modify and create your own shapes through an iterative process of design and play.
Tool Review: DeWalt DW734 12-1/2″ Thickness Planer
Weighing in at eighty pounds, the DW734 is the smaller of two bench-top planers that DeWalt offers. You can pick one up from a big box store for around $360-$400. The 15A, 120V electric motor spins the three cutting blades at 10,000 RPM and the automatic feed system uses two rubber drums to grab the workpiece and steadily feed it through the blades at 96 cuts per inch. The blades are reversible and produce a nice finish, however due to the mounting hole configuration they are very difficult to re-sharpen. You can buy a pack of three replacement blades for around $45 online.
