The world is always evolving fast and new technologies emerging, like metal 3D printing, but sometimes it just feels good to do things the “old” way. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology but still is great to learn old techniques specially when they tend to disappear when less and less people actually care to learn them and the craft becomes closer to extinction. Not that this is the case, although a few foundries have been closing over the last years. Be that an excuse or not, Gonçalo and me decided to build a simple DIY furnace, not only for the reasons above but we’re crazy about forging and metal working, and we would love to create some amazing metal pieces. Besides this is a dangerous project, what more do I need to say?!!
Category Archives: Projects
Jacob’s Ladder
This is a quick and simple project that is a bit old but still always a delight to see. Who doesn’t love staring at those high voltage sparks moving upwards again and again on the background of a mad scientist’s laboratory? Since we have a few high voltage transformers around here, I thought I could make a Jacob’s Ladder as a last minute project to add to the ones that would be presented on the Open Day.
Playing with nixies: Yet another Nixie Clock
Nixie tubes are electronic devices for displaying numerals or other information, such symbols or letters. They work under the principle called Glow Discharge. Basically, they are tubes filled with a low-pressure mix of gasses and two (or more) metal electrodes. When a voltage is applied to two of this electrodes, and such voltage exceeds a certain value called the striking voltage, the gas in the tube ionizes, becoming a plasma, and begins conducting electricity, causing it to glow with a colored light (depending on the gas filling the tube, for tubes with neon this color is red-orange).
Continue reading Playing with nixies: Yet another Nixie Clock
Logic Pirate 3D Printed Case
We recently got our hands on the Dangerous Prototypes Logic Pirate, which is an inexpensive open source logic analyzer. While it’s cool to see the PCB and the entire circuitry, this is the kind of thing that you’re gonna end up carrying it with you a lot, since it’s a useful tool, therefore our first thought was that it needed a proper enclosure to protect it from the rough environment that is the tool kit! And, since we have a LulzBot 3D printer, why not design a cool looking case that we can use.
3D Printed Lisbon Tram
One of the smallest and simpler projects we made for Lisbon Maker Faire 2015 was a small 3D printed replica of a Lisbon Tram, one of the most charismatic icons of the city! All parts are available on Thingiverse.
Spot Welder
A few years we saw an interesting video by Grant Thomson using an old microwave transformer to melt some things. We liked the idea, and since we have a lot of old microwaves lying around here we thought it would be cool to make a spot welder.
Ion Thruster
An ion thruster is a type of electrical propulsion system used for spacecraft propulsion capable of creating thrust by accelerating ions. Back in June 2015, I remember seeing this demonstration for the first time on Makezine, by Alexander Reifsnyder. I thought it was amazing for its scientific value and at the same time quite easy to build, so me and Hugo thought we could make our own version of it, using 3D printed parts.
Geodesic Dome
A few weeks before Lisbon Maker Faire we were discussing about the projects we would present this year. We wanted to take there something big, something different, and then it came to us, what about a geodesic dome? As we were working on the SatNOGS project, which we will post soon, we came across the domes for protecting the antennas, basically a radome. It started out as a crazy idea, but eventually we thought it was simple enough for us to do it in a short amount of time, using 3D printed connectors and PVC pipes and clamps. Sponsored by Grupo Rolear!
3D Printed DNA Lamp
This is a project I have made for the Instructables 3D Printing Contest. I was browsing online for some 3D designs when I found a DNA strand, and I noticed that when I rotated it, it created a weird hypnotising upwards and downwards effect, so I thought it would be cool to take advantage of that effect and use it on something, then came the idea of making a lamp. This will be a small summary, since the full article can be found on Instructables. And STLs can be found on My Mini Factory.
Self Balancing Robot
The digital gyroscope is a very interesting component due its usage in modern systems such as smartphones or aircraft industries.
To participate on Lisbon Maker Faire 2014 we developed the Self Balancing Robot [SBR], which uses this amazing component, and helps to understand the principles behind the Segway vehicles.