Personal Fabrication Update

I've been spending the last few evenings manufacturing Contraptor elements. Tonight I've half-finished some sliders (I need to find a source for UHMW PE channel to complete them). I'm getting faster and more accurate. Tony G. says that he cuts aluminum with his carbide-tipped blades in his saw, so I gave it a try tonight. I used the cheapie Mastercraft mitre saw instead of the Makita with the expensive blade. It's noisy but it works. The 8.25" Mastercraft blade is only 24 TPI instead of ~ 60 on the Makita, so the edge is a little rough. But it's square, and takes about 1/10 the time of cutting with the hacksaw. Especially the 6063 square tube.

I'm using the template method on the sliders, but gluing the paper on with spray adhesive. I mounted the template last night, and then did all my drilling and countersinking tonight after it had a chance to dry (I went a little crazy with the glue, but that made it easy to adjust the positioning). I don't have a 6-32 tap, so I didn't tap the holes. I may try using steel 6-32 screws as a poor man's tap. Tomorrow night.

One Word

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.

Ben: Yes sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Ben: Yes I am.

Mr. McGuire: 'Plastics.'

Ben: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

Ben: Yes I will.

Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That's a deal.

OK, how about two words: Personal Fabrication.

3-D printing is getting ready to hit Main Street. Commercial machines, costing thousands of dollars, have been used as prototyping tools in industry. Now a new breed of DIY machines (RepRap, RapMan, Fab@Home, MakerBot) are available to the hobbyist. Granted, these machine are not as fully functional as a $10,000 machine, but they are a disruptive technology (cf. sustaining).

People have said to me “what would I use one for?” I don’t know — yet — but they will become ubiquitous. I think personal fabrication is at the same stage now as the personal computer was in 1975 (when the Altair 8800 was introduced), or the web in 1993 (when NCSA Mosaic was released).

I am building a RepRap. However, RepRaps are self-replicating — many of the parts are printed on RepRaps — there is a bootstrapping problem. Correction, I am building a RepStrap using Contraptor components, with which I will build a RepRap. Right now I am manufacturing Contraptor perforated angle.