Spill

We did it! Our MakerBot Cupcake CNC printer lives!

About a month ago I posted that we were making a MakerBot CNC Printer. Well, we’ve done it. After many evenings with a few of the more passionate robot-lovers here at Tanagram we completed the build and have begun running test prints. Building from a kit is a challenge if the instructions are vague and for the most part they weren’t but we always found 3 ways to interpret everything, as a group we worked well to decipher it. During our journey I roasted our first print head because I used an unconventional PID setting. That set us back a few weeks. We are now on our second print head and are working through calibrating the unit. It’s great to be printing things other than calibration blocks. You’ll see some photos below of some of our results.

Kim working on the chassis assembly.

Andrily working the small parts.

Plastic injection motor assembly made from laser cut and stacked plexi.

The handmade print head. A special wire is wrapped around a brass tube. When electricity passes it it heats up, it heats up FAST.

Another angle of the print head.

The body is made up of lasercut wood elements bolted together. You can see one of the Z-axis tractors bolts in the back corner.

Three motor controllers and a motherboard.

Kim inserting the X/Y axis and platform.

Build platform base.

I had to assemble and dissassemble print head frame 3 times because of a poorly glued idler wheel.

Testing the print head before mounting it. IT WORKS!!!

It spits out fishing line!!

Assembled and in its new home.

The first test print.

An awesome bear with an error (we call it poop) on his face.

Whistles that work! (the rear one was before we refined calibration)

Soon we’ll post lessons learned on this project. For now we are going to rest in our bliss as our little CupCake’s motors whirrrr away. We are dreaming of the things we will design to print. 

[UPDATE - More Photos!]

Joe (me) building the first print head.

Jackie working on the y-axis platform.

Kim is so proud!

Andriy looking busy!

Posted by Joseph Juhnke on July 15, 2010

The next generation of business cards? Twelve INSANE business card designs

I’m thinking I need a little fluff today, how about you? 

Recently, I’ve seen quite a slew of examples of business cards that address questions I’ve always had about the value of the card as an object versus a ceremony. The results are gorgeous, but in a “different” way. Concepts and functionality make sure these cards *definitely* won’t end up in the trash can. What do you think?

Ramiro Pareja Veredas of Spain wanted a business card that would make an impression. His creation can be converted into a USB drive by punching out two of the corners. It can store data, works as an oscilloscope, datalogger and PIC trainer, and packs the CPU power of a Spectrum ZX. Click the image for more.

A laser-cut, punch-out "spirograph" art-machine. See more here.

Not the most exciting of the group, but fun at parties! Ok…no…

Designed and fabricated in a single night, their card contains all the parts needed to build a brushless DC motor. The only downside to the design is that you need a separate controller to actually make it run, however I'm sure that could be fit into a second card.

A project board to make simple microcontrollers.

Augmented Business Card from jonas on Vimeo.

Combination business card and drawing template for organic chemistry

This makes sense for a mechanical engineer, but it looks like fun for kids and adults alike: make a business card (or scrap cardboard) into a small paper stock rubber band catapult!

Another great idea for a business card, Adrian's laser-cut card transforms into a handy little caliper.

A famous hacker needs a famous card, right?

Here is a link to another 24 creative business card ideas. 

See you tomorrow!

Posted by Joseph Juhnke on July 1, 2010