High Resolution 3D Printer

This is an amazing project and video I saw recently on Hoss’s 3D Printer thread over on CNCZone:

3D printing an alien skull in high resolution…
There’s not a lot of information available about how this printer works, but there is a blog with some interesting pictures:

Whistle done in typical RepRap melted filament style…

A whistle done in 50 micron resolution with this high resolution 3D printer…

A ball 3D printed in high resolution…
As you can see, the resolution with this technique is much much higher than the typical hobby-class melted filament 3D printers like RepRap.… Read the rest

.50 Cal Guided Missile

Imagine a modified .50 caliber round.  Instead of being a solid slug, it’s actually a guided missile 4 inches long.  Inside the projectile is an optical sensor, a guidance system, and a mechanism capable of adjusting the fins that guide the round 30 times a second.  The projectile has a range of well over a mile, and it is capable of accurately hitting the laser spot it homes in on to within an 8″ radius.  This is the device that Sandia Labs recently unveiled:

Sandia Labs .50 Cal Guided Missile with Stabilizing Fins…
Talk about smart weapons.  … Read the rest

Wiley Davis’s Photogenic Kickstarter Project

I got a nice note from G-Wizard Customer Wiley Davis, who has a Kickstarter project underway to create a product for the photography market. Wiley tells me he used G-Wizard extensively to calculate feeds and speeds while developing his project.
We ran an earlier article about a product called “Modigrip” that was another Kickstarter project. If you’ve never looked into Kickstarter, it’s a very cool concept. Essentially, you pitch your business idea, and the Kickstarter audience can decide to jump in and fund it. When I first looked at Wiley’s Kickstarter page this morning, nobody had decided to fund.… Read the rest

Wooden Clock Plans from Clayton Boyer

I’ve always loved these open framework wooden clocks. They seem like ideal CNC projects, especially if you are set up with a CNC router. Friends are constantly asking me what I make with all the machines in my shop and when I answer that I mostly make more tools, they’re always disappointed or at least puzzled. One of these would be an ideal thing for a non-CNC person to relate to.
Check out some of Clayton Boyer’s designs:

This one is called “Space Time Continuum“…

“Celestial Mechanics” can track many astronomical events…

“Simplicity” is the easiest design Boyer offers…
I haven’t actually seen the drawings you can order, but the clocks sure look like great projects.… Read the rest

Machine Art from BMW Design: High Tech Mouse and PC Case

Industrial Design always fascinates me. My Apple laptop is machined out of a chunk of aluminum and the work is beautiful. There is an indicator on the front that is a bar-shaped LED that peeks through the aluminum via holes that are so small the openings are invisible unless the LED is lit. My guess is they’re created by a laser as it is hard to imagine doing the volume Apple needs with twist drills. I was pleased to come across this pair of cool PC-related projects created by a partnership of Thermaltake, Level 10, and BMW Design.… Read the rest

A Smoker in the Shape of the Great State of Texas

Have you ever seen a smoker in the shape of the state of Texas? Me neither, even though I grew up there. This is more of a big fabrication project than a machining project, but it’s metal, and I just have to have one. In fact, I’ve wanted one since seeing it over at my brother-in-law’s in Grapevine, Texas and tasting the fine ribs and salmon he was pulling out of it. Here’s what the crazy thing looks like:

I gotta get me one a these!
There is something strangely poetic about the idea that the state of Texas is the perfect shape for a smoker and at the same time Texas is a mecca for BBQ.… Read the rest

Creating a Blood Spatter Effect When Anodizing

In this video, John Grimsmo creates a blood spatter on black anodizing effect. In the process, he goes through a lot of useful information about how to do anodizing in a home shop setting. It’s very cool stuff, and the result of his work is a stunning set of knife scales to be given as a gift.

Anodizing for a blood spatter effect…
The blood spatter techniques could be used to create a variety of effects that would look good on knife scales or pistol grips. In a lot of ways these irregular patterns are not unlike some of the markings one sees on reptiles.… Read the rest

Manufacturing Knife Handles

I liked this John Grimsmo video too as it shows the potential of small manufacturing runs for hobbyists who want to run a small business. There’s room for suggestions by a professional machinist on improvements, but John gets the job done. He’s even using a probe to zero his fixture at this stage:

Time lapse of making knife handles (scales)…
It always bothers me to see John putting cutters in that drill chuck, but if you watched his “Knifemaking Tuesdays” videos, you’ll have seen he is in the process of moving to ER collet chucks.… Read the rest

Anodizing Titanium in the Home Shop

Okay, last John Grimsmo video for know. He sure had a bumper crop of interesting ones since last time I checked!
In this one, he walks through anodizing titanium. Ti is an interesting material. I looked at making a largish part with it once and was shocked by how much it costs–you want to be sure you want Titanium! In any event, some things I learned from the video is that titanium is easy to anodize, it happens fast, and the color can be varied by changing the voltage.

Titanium anodizing for Nukotools…… Read the rest

The Amazing Astronomical Clocks of Pieter Merckx

I love astronomical clocks and have been working on a design for my own clock. Someday I hope to perfect enough skills to build it. Netherlands machinist Pieter Merckx has already built a number of similar clocks that are shown on his wonderful site, Astroclocks.nl.
Check out some of his art (much more on his site):

Pieter’s first clock was a doozy!

His second…

A CAD drawing for that second clock…

The third astronomical clock…

The third clock being assembled…

The builder in his shop. The machines are small but the inspiration is great!… Read the rest

Holiday Trivets: A CNC Gift Idea

I was recently over at a friend’s shop and saw he was making these really cool trivets to give as holiday gifts:

The trivets are made using a 1/8″ endmill and aluminum plate that is a bit thicker than the overall trivet will be. Once the maze-like interior has been milled via a full depth roughing pass followed by a finishing pass (the channel is a little bigger than the endmill diameter), it’s time to face mill away the back of the plate to leave the trivet. Doing so is an interesting fixturing problem.… Read the rest

Modogrip: Indie Film Maker Tools from MM Pictures and Precision Machinery and Tooling

We love showing what our G-Wizard customers are doing, and we have a very interesting one from MM Pictures and G-Wizard Customer Precision Machinery and Tooling. Modogrip is a very cool product for Indie Film Makers. One of the many really difficult things to when making a film is to get those shots that make you feel like you’re actually living the scene. Commercial film makers use all sorts of fancy and expensive mechanisms to help the process. What Modogrip has done is to invent an accessory kit for a monopod that enables some pretty cool capabilities.… Read the rest

Another Nautilus Art Door With Iris

I got to searching and found another door with similar aesthetic over on Makezine:

Brass Iris Porthole and Locking Mechanism…

These doors are made by Chris Schaie who sells the mechanisms.… Read the rest

Nautilus Art Car Irising Door

I have a soft spot for machine projects that involve art, if you hand’t noticed. Check out this amazing Irising door for the Nautilus art car:

The Nautilus Aperture Door from Almost Scientific on Vimeo.… Read the rest

Magnetic Sheet Metal Bending Brakes

It’s really handy to be able to do some simple sheet metal work around the shop to make brackets, covers, and similar sorts of things. I have wanted to build a finger brake for quite a while, perhaps something like this one:

A “finger” or box and pan brake…
Plans for it are available from the Village Press book, “Metalworking, Book Two, The Best of Projects in Metal.” 
I’ve also considered making a press brake attachment for my 45 ton hydraulic press. They’re easier to make than the finger brake and can be set up to take commercial press brake tooling which is pretty common on eBay.… Read the rest