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Re: 240 mW laser pointer for $189 - what do you think about it? - 17 years ago

@Viktor: Even though our eyes don't saturate as quickly in the green wavelength as they do in the red (why green laser pointers appear brighter), I was under the impression that both are equally damaging to the retina, despite one seeming brighter than the other. That's one reason why red laser pointers seem more dangerous to me -- they are just as damaging, but because they don't seem as bright

by HanClinto - Laser Cutter Working Group

Re: easiest/ cheapest build - 17 years ago

@Wade: So far I've taken apart maybe half-a-dozen printers (including an old electric typewriter and a laser printer). Most of the older printers have large end brackets that brace in the horizontal rods, providing a lot of encumbrance that would get in the way of salvaging the assembly as a usable axis. Most of the newer printers have smaller assemblies that are quite usable as a standalone axi

by HanClinto - General

Re: easiest/ cheapest build - 17 years ago

I'm in a similar boat. For the past several weeks I've been collecting old printers from friends, businesses, and Freecycle, taking them apart for their motors, opto's, and straight metal rods. I plan to try and build as many of the plastic parts as possible from scrap 2x4 and a hand drill / dremel -- I know this won't work well for many of them (such as the pulleys), but for some of the lower-

by HanClinto - General

Re: 240 mW laser pointer for $189 - what do you think about it? - 17 years ago

Color me skeptical about how much we'd want to see a proliferation of laser-cutting Darwins out there. It seems that much of the value of these machines is so that they can be used by average people in a fairly simple environment. The hazards of laser cutters just seem too great, and seeing all of these kids buying high-powered laser pointers to play with at night clubs just worries me. Even a

by HanClinto - Laser Cutter Working Group

Re: control software question- exporting gcode - 17 years ago

If you want to have access to more of the intermediate steps, you may find more control using Skeinforge: Skeinforge differs from the standard Host Software in that it isn't monolithic -- it's a collection of Python scripts to do all of the little different tasks -- slicing an STL, infilling, sending the gcode to a device, etc. So in answer to your question, yes -- AFAIK, there are scripts in

by HanClinto - RepRap Host

Re: Arduino, Sanguino, and newbies, oh my! - 17 years ago

Thanks for the advice, Leav. I may very well go for the Arduino as well as a Sanguino -- they're so incredibly cheap, and seem like handy little processors to have around. You're right -- I think I'm the sort of guy who would like to contribute to the project, and if the expandability of Arduino is tapped out, then I'm interested in helping write code for the Sanguino. If the only thing that do

by HanClinto - Controllers

Re: Arduino, Sanguino, and newbies, oh my! - 17 years ago

Excellent, thanks for the updated state of the project -- that helps clarify things for a newbie like me. Much appreciated!

by HanClinto - Controllers

Sears CompuCarve - 17 years ago

I was reading about the Ponoko reprap today -- that sounds like a really neat option. However, the high cost of cutting is somewhat discouraging. However, I found an interesting Sears product today that is piquing my interest. Has anyone else ever heard of the Sears CompuCarve, or thought about using it to make Darwin repstraps? It looks like it has similar manufacturing capabilities as the P

by HanClinto - General

Re: Max size stepper motors - 17 years ago

Sorry to resurrect an old topic -- Ian, did you ever release this board? I looked on the BfB website and searched through your other posts this past year, and didn't see any references to it.

by HanClinto - Controllers

Arduino, Sanguino, and newbies, oh my! - 17 years ago

Hey all! Well I've got some spending money burning a hole in my pocket, and I've been itching to get a Darwin up and running at home for a while. This weekend I cleaned up my workspace at home and got a desktop computer up and running with desk space that I think would be nicely used to have a Darwin running over there. But now that I'm trying to buy something, I'm running into the age-old prob

by HanClinto - Controllers

Re: Wax-Powder Sintering for Lost Wax Casting - 17 years ago

Viktor: Gotcha' -- that makes sense, thanks! I also hadn't thought about the congealing of the powder particles increasing the thickness of that layer -- that's very very interesting. Phew. I'm constantly learning how 3D printing is a delicate issue any way you slice it. Thanks for the help! --clint

by HanClinto - Plastic Extruder Working Group

Re: Wax-Powder Sintering for Lost Wax Casting - 17 years ago

Viktor: Well, I was thinking that we could have all of the benefits of positive-space modeling if we "grew" the wax rather than machined it, since the possibility space of valid objects is so much larger for positively-built objects (especially if they have a support structure, as in a powder-bed).

by HanClinto - Plastic Extruder Working Group

Re: Wax-Powder Sintering for Lost Wax Casting - 17 years ago

proto: Fantastic, thanks for the information! That's extremely helpful information. I totally forgot about the possibility of warping in my brainstorming -- it didn't occur to me that wax would have that problem, but what you're saying makes total sense. So the build chamber would essentially have to be an oven that was kept slightly below the transition temperature. In that sense, it's soundin

by HanClinto - Plastic Extruder Working Group

Wax-Powder Sintering for Lost Wax Casting - 17 years ago

Well the title basically sums it up. I searched around on the forums and wiki to see if this idea had been suggested before, but the closest I found was plastic-sintering and hot-wax extruders. If this has already been researched, I'd appreciate someone pointing me in the right direction. I'm intrigued by the possibility of powder-bed printing, largely because it maintains its own support struct

by HanClinto - Plastic Extruder Working Group

Re: Tool Head Wish List - 18 years ago

Tagging along with Andy Kirby, I'm really excited by the capabilities of inkjets being hijacked to dispense polymers (whether UV or temperature cured). The level of detail and the pre-made abilities to dispense multiple liquids (as in a color print head) seems like a natural choice. I'm thinking something along the lines of the PolyJet technology: --clint

by HanClinto - Mechanics