Category: Maker

David the Intern: Shapeoko CNC GRBL Upgrade

6/23/2020

By David the Intern

This is another episode making some upgrades to our Shapeoko 2 CNC. For more episodes, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Making COVID Masks with Glowforge

6/23/2020

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By Mike Wynn, Engineer

As the COVID-19 epidemic broke out and people were looking for masks, my wife wanted to help. She began making masks using a pattern she found online which she then printed on cardstock to use to cut the fabric.

As she continued making more masks, I reminded her we had a Glowforge at work and I could make her some acrylic templates. We’d spoken previously about doing this for quilting templates, a commodity that’s pretty readily available in the quilting community, though they do tend to come at significant cost. I also pointed out that I could etch the pattern information on the templates to minimize confusion and wasted materials caused by using the wrong template and cutting out fabric in the wrong size.

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LabVIEW in Meatspace

6/22/2020

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This is a presentation we did at the CLA Summit a few years ago. Using a 3-D printer, we made physical LabVIEW icons.

We then did the most groan-inducing pun-based routine we could conceive of, then gave away the icons in an blatant attempt to bribe people into voting for our presentation.

This might be the most fun I ever had at the CLA Summit.

You can see more details and download the STLs to print your own here.

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Circuit Art

6/11/2020

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This is not an S5 project, we are just admirers of the effort and the results of the maker's skill.

Sometimes there is a fine line between art and technology. One example is the art of boardless circuits.

The technique goes by different names: freeform, Manhattan, dead bug, air-wired. Whatever you call it, it involves building your circuit by bending wires to form traces without using a circuit board.

Similar techniques pre-date PCBs. If you ever took apart an old TV or radio, you have probably seen this type of construction. This modern version is elegant and beautiful (for a given geeky definition of beautiful). It is especially impressive that it even sometimes includes surface-mount components.

Here is a great example project of a see-through Arduino pictured above. Check out the full write-up on Instructables.

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David the Intern: Shapeoko CNC GRBL Upgrade

Making COVID Masks with Glowforge

LabVIEW in Meatspace

Circuit Art

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