Comment Re:It's making following instructions more difficu (Score 2) 224
How perfect --- the quote of the day:
Order and simplification are the first steps toward mastery of a subject -- the actual enemy is the unknown. -- Thomas Mann
How perfect --- the quote of the day:
Order and simplification are the first steps toward mastery of a subject -- the actual enemy is the unknown. -- Thomas Mann
I wrote up the instructions for assembling the Shapeoko (an open source / hardware CNC machine) and a recurring theme on the forums is people suggesting that such-and-such a hint / suggestion should be added to the text instructions --- and said text was already there:
http://docs.shapeoko.com/zaxis...
I did make the diagrams interactive, which at least cut eliminated the complaints that ``there are supposed to be 2 of part X in assembly Y, but only 1 is shown'':
The problem w/ DSL is that it has a limited reach --- I tried to get it, but it wouldn't work (and Verizon doesn't have a good mechanism for handling that and rolling one over to FIOS) 'cause, while I was w/in reach physically, electronically the connection wasn't good enough --- so one has a limited potential market.
Because of course, no iPhone, MacBook or iPad ever connects to a website which has its database running on a mainframe.
Do baluns cost that much at Radio Shack? Ouch.
God no. Why make even more noise pollution?
Instead:
1) Drivers should walk around a vehicle before getting in and verify the condition of the vehicle and that it will be safe to move it
2) Drivers should back up slowly and carefully using their mirrors and should not drive vehicles which they're not competent to handle.
You could just buy the new Goldie Blox which are marketed to that demographic:
When they get older, buy them Technics Lego brick sets
Try OpenSCAD --- it's 3D modelling for programmers and there've already been a fair number of car parts designed in it.
I've tried to list all the 3D opensource / free design options here: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/i...
(Had to exile SketchUp to the Commercial page when Trimble changed the license)
I'm looking forward to trying ``Laywoo-D3'':
https://www.inventables.com/te...
essentially it's PLA w/ sawdust, but the possibility of controlling the colour using temperature looks to afford some interesting possibilities.
Really?
http://www.snaphow.com/4611/is...
There were others which preceded this, but they were all pre-web and have been fixed.
If you want parametric, an elegant solution is OpenSCAD (or the even cooler ImplicitCAD).
You can mill a circuit board now w/ a hobby-level router --- the ShapeOko 2, full kit is $649 ($685 for the 220 version).
One doesn't even need a 3D printer w/ support for directly printing metal --- just print in PLA at a size which takes into account shrinkage from casting and use the traditional ``cire perdue'' (lost-wax casting) to cast in whatever material you're able to melt (I've known people who do aluminum and cast iron in their backyards).
Wound up w/ a second ShapeOko (a 2, which I got so that I could write the instructions at http://docs.shapeoko.com/ ), so have been planning to turn it into a 3D printer.
The initial (naïve) plan was to just mount an extruder I'd bought, source a hot-end, connect it to a spare stepper driver on my AtomCNC board, reflash w/ Teacup or Marlin and print --- anyone who knows anything about 3D printers can quit laughing now.
The current plan is:
- mount an extruder (a Wade's reloaded)
- wire up a hot-end (a J-Head Mk V or so w/ 0.35mm orifice for 1.75mm filament)
- source a new Arduino (an Uno w/ just a 328p won't cut it)
- source a stepper shield which has 4 stepper drivers (one for each axis, one more for the extruder, plus electronics support for powering the hot-end and monitoring its temperature)
Still haven't decided if I'm going to buy a heated bed or no --- hoping to manage w/o one ---you 3D guys may quietly laugh again now.
Unfortunately, there wasn't as much in the way of documentation on the RepRap wiki as I'd hoped for: http://reprap.org/wiki/Categor...
So I'm documenting things here: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/i...
"Engineering without management is art." -- Jeff Johnson