Free Irising Business Card Template
Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, this business-card-sized working mechanical iris model from clide8. The plan is freely available on Thingiverse.
mechanics
Lego Pegasus Automaton
This work from Korean Kyoung-bae Na, aka edulyoung, would be impressive as a static Lego model. As a flapping-wings automaton, it is, I daresay, magnificent. Kyoung-bae Na has a BrickLink storefront as Studio Amida, but the Pegasus Automaton is not listed there as of this writing.
Herringbone Gear Can Crusher
A reduction gear train made of pine plywood sheathing scraps laminated together with screws and powered by a 3/4 h.p. electric motor. Herringbone or Chevron gears are stronger than spur gears and do not have any tendency to move along the axle even under heavy loads. There are no bearings other than the center hole […]
Classy Camera Lens Cross-Sections
Michael Zheng of PetaPixel credits these beautiful photographs to one Duncan Meeder, whose personal web presence, if it exists, escapes my Googling. This example is identified as a Leica Tri-Elmar-M 28-35-50mm.
Pat Delany’s Designs for Low-Cost DIY Machine Tools
We have covered septuagenarian Palestine, TX, resident Pat Delany’s DIY multimachine, which is mostly built from recycled auto parts, before. Following on the success of that design, Pat has branched out, researching and promulgating three more simple build-it-yourself tool designs: A treadle-powered electrical generator, a simple compound lever drill press, and—most interesting to me—a lathe made from cast concrete and aligned with wedges sawn flush after the concrete has set up. Engineering for Change has a good overview of the story and the available online resources. [Thanks, Jake!]
Stirling Engine Generates 1 Watt
Doug Conner‘s Stirling engine may be viewed at the upcoming Bay Are Maker Faire. Check it! This Stirling engine delivers 1W to a stepper motor used as generator to power a high-power LED. This engine uses electrical heating for simplicity and to simplify efficiency measurements. At 1.7% efficiency, it’s not a good way to power […]
Cycloidal Speed Reducer
From Thingiverse user mattmoses. I cannot resist a good .GIF mechanism animation
