Machine Shop to Molded Part

Machine Shop to Molded Part

(I had started this blog about a week ago, and then saw this post at Hackaday titled “repoduce 3D printed models by making your own molds“, so I figured I needed to get off my lazy butt and get this posted!) Ok, there was a time, way before 3D printers, that this process was considered “rapid prototyping”. Making silicone molds of parts...

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Portable LabCam

Portable LabCam

Ok, sure, I could’ve bought something like this, but I had some extra parts from a project that involved shooting a camera out of a 40mm grenade launcher. Yes, that’s what I said. Why do you people keep making me repeat myself? Anyway, I had a bunch of parts around, so this was my quick and dirty weekend project. The goal: a wireless camera that I...

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Machining and Prototyping

Machining and Prototyping

Have been doing quite a bit of machine shop work building enclosure prototypes for a start-up I’m involved with. The device is designed to mount to a standard rail, for those of you whom that means anything. The enclosures are tubular, about the size of a small flashlight. Current design has a stack of board elements — battery connection, main...

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Machine Shop Fail

Machine Shop Fail

I was machining a custom short para-flare carrier for a 40mm grenade launcher. Yes, that’s what I said. The standard carrier is about 6″ long, so this workpiece is short, and as always on such things it was too short to use a live center and still have room to work. There is a radius on the carrier that I cut by hand, since my lathe is an old...

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