maker

Damping the swinging cutting wire in my vertical hot wire cutter

14 Apr, 2018 maker

My 3D printer has a detachable x-y stage, which makes it very easy to create a hot wire cutter. In fact, that was the first thing I did when I got the x-y stage working. The cutter is very simple: I hang a rope from the roof, with the cutting wire (a steel guitar string) tied to it, and a 12V supply to heat up the …

Building a Speedometer for my Dog

6 Oct, 2017 maker

I built a Persistence of Vision speed indicator for my dog, using an Arduino, a few LEDs and resistors, and less than 40 lines of code. This is the story of the process and results. The beginning I’ve had an arduino for ages, but didn’t really have a project that I wanted to build. Then, at the end of 2012, …

Polycaprolactone: Wonderful stuff

23 Aug, 2012 materials

I recently got my hands on some polycaprolactone, and I’m really enjoying playing with it. It is one of the most useful materials I’ve seen in a long time. This is a summary of a talk I gave at #HackSTB on 21 August. So, what is it? Basically, it’s plastic that you can heat up to just over 60 degrees …

Resources

1 Jan, 0001

Last updated: 2020/11/22 I’m just making notes of some resources I’ve researched or found useful. I’m based in Stellenbosch, South Africa, so these have a slant towards the shops and groups close by. I include my opinions and impressions, including things I heard from others. In general, the listing …