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Build Your Robot Online
An anonymous reader writes "Ever needed a custom part for a robot, case mod or hardware hack but
lacked the tools or a machineshop to make one for you? Ever needed a custom circuit board? Well, PC Magazine's Bill Machrone writes about a few websites, Emachineshop and Pad2Pad, where you use their free software to design, price, and order anything you can design with the software. This is more useful to
slashdotters than 3D 'printing' technologies like rapid prototyping since you get real working parts. It looks like they support a number of machines and fabrication techniques beyond traditional machining, like plastic injection molding and waterjet. As Machrone says, this is empowering stuff. This is something that should ignite a creative spark to all you hardware tinkerers out there in Slashdot land."
Man, there have been a number of times that I've been trying to build something, and ended up with the hacked HomeDepot route.
It involves going to said Mega Store, browse through their crappy selection (3 items, but 200 of each) and then beating the snot out of it back at your house to try and make it do what you want.
I really hope that this technology stays in the hands of people who love to build and tinker, and doesn't just end up the "Next big thing" for some retail chain. I have a feeling it would wipe out the variabilty like it has in everything else they touch.
There must be tens of thousands of people out there trying to build some home-brew device needing custom designed parts. Most of them can design them (or get them designed) but few have the resources to get them made. Something like this will give them the chance to make their ideas and dreams come true. I wonder how many inventors have failed simply because they could neither buy or build the one thing they needed to get their idea to work. Only time will tell, of course, but I'd bet this will be a great help to people who's imagination goes further than their skills can follow.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Well it's still a bit pricy (eMachineShop) -- figure $50 to $100 for a simple one off part. But it certainly is an interesting idea.
They claim that their software and service is accessible for neophyte 3D designers. I certainly fit into that category. As soon as I get some spare time [flips through calandar...], well someday, I'll download the software and play around with it. It costs nothing to experiment and get a price quote.
Same with the circuit board design site. I've got a couple of designs that I've wanted to put together some boards for. If nothing else the thought of free schematic design software is appealing.
I can't help but think that this is the future of jump starting small businesses...
Wanted: witty unique signature. Must be willing to relocate.
Can someone more familiar with machining comment on their samples prices? It seems a little expensive for the pieces they list. I can imagine something much more intricate would cost a small fortune. Granted, the prices go down with quantity but most hobbiests aren't going to order 100+ pieces of a part.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
Depending on their closed source Windows only app for designing things is a deal breaker. To make it "easy to use" it has to be crap for a skilled computer user. The sort of people they would be aiming at. Plus the Windows only requirement eliminates me instantly.
/. but PC World.
But notice how both sites are obviously the same company. I think we just saw a sponsored story, not on
Democrat delenda est
EMachineshop still has substantial setup costs, but the production costs aren't too bad. Price quantity 1 and quantity 10, and see what you get.
Another useful resource is Front Panel Express, which makes flat panels with holes and lettering.
I've been reading about how to build a Gingery Charcoal/Gas Foundary and homemade metal-cutting lathe. Today I finally ordered the books from Amazon.
.001" or greater without needed precision parts, and learn a ton in the process.
"All you need is an old metal, 5-gallon pail, about $6 worth of fireclay, some sand, a junk auto heater fan with a coffee can shroud (or a vacuum cleaner), and this book to build a high temperature furnace."
You can use it to melt aluminum, zinc, and bronze which you can then pour/cast into sand molds. The nice thing is that you can assemble the lathe accurate to
Once you've done that, you can cast any other parts you want and machine them to your specifications for far cheaper than using this service. If you didn't make the part quite right, no worries, melt it down and recast it.
I'm planning to build this to machine parts of hobby sterling and steam engines and the ability to construct precision prototypes whenever I have an idea about something. No more tin cans, balsa wood, and RTV sealant! Yay.
Lots of other people have websites chronicling their projects based on these books.
I've used ExpressPCB (at the advice of my brother) and not been disappointed. They're pretty cheap, and the product is pretty nice. I used them to build a simple two-layer board (without solder mask), and it was IIRC only $80 for two. Pretty cheap, especially considering the time and annoyance it would have taken me to hack something together with perfboard or wet copper-clad etching instead. And it looks professional too.
For simple projects, for $51 you can get 3 two-layer boards (as long as they're a specific size). That's a hard price to beat.
I've seen their ads in electroncis mags for a few years now, and it always seemed kind of shady to me for some reason. But I was pleasantly surprised.
make world, not war
they take forever to make. making the castings is not as hard as making the patterns and scraping the parts, in addition, 1800 degree aluminum radiates alot of heat T^4 and burns most anything organic. If you want to try this, find someone who already has,and see if you can borrow some of the patterns.
i am so very tired....
I tried making my own a few years back, but I didn't have a printer back then. I used a special pen instead and although the circuit worked, it looked like a work of Picasso. I've stuck with using veroboard since then.
How did you transfer the image to the board? Most of the methods I've seen involve printing the circuit on a transparent sheet and overlaying that on the board - then exposing the whole thing to UV light before putting it in the etching fluid.
The transparent sheets are rather expensive, not to mention the UV lamp. So if there's an easier and cheaper way I might give it a try again!