DIWire Build Plans Available for Download
The folks at Pensa have uploaded the bill of materials, code, and models of the custom parts for 3D printing for DIWire, their open-source wire-bending machine.
cnc
How to Make a Gigantic Wooden Ball
Generating spheres at an absurd scale is sculptor Keith Holamon’s obsession. Using a custom apparatus mounted on a flatbed trailer, Holaman laboriously chips away at mammoth hunks of burl to produce massive orbs that evoke a sense of the familiar while being completely alien at the same time.
Cool CNC Lounge Chair Design
To me, Gustav Düsing’s Chair 23D seems like a notable landmark in the development of what Bruce Sterling famously referred to, back in MAKE Vol 11, as “router aesthetics.”
Fab Academy and “How To Make Something That Makes (Almost) Anything” Are a Wrap
The third year of the Fab Academy wrapped up last week, with the 70 odd students giving their final project presentations at 13 Fab Labs scattered around the world. The Fab Academy is a distributed education platform built on top of the Fab Lab network; at the core is a curriculum of weekly projects and […]
CNC Spoil Board Art
A spoil board is sacrificial material that’s used underneath the material you want to cut on a CNC machine. This ensures a better through cut and is usually MDF. I’ve noticed that when the spoil boards are all used up at ITP, some really amazing patterns are formed.
By making careful choices in his display of this found art, Ben really stumbled onto something beautiful that normally would have ended up in the dumpster. It would have been a shame to see this piece spoiled in such a way.
Hot Glue Extruder for a CNC
Chris Favreau posted an Instructable on making a hot glue extruder for a CNC, using a $3 hot glue gun.
Tool Review: NEMA 23 Stepper Motor Covers
Over the last year I have been finishing a project to convert my X2 manual mini mill into a fully enclosed 3-axis CNC milling machine. Once I had the stepper motors mounted and running, I worried that the wire connection at the base of the motors might be a potential weak point in the design. Eventually I want to use mist coolant when machining parts but I do not want to run the risk of shorting out the wiring due to spotty connections.
