Since this (very cool!) video is doing the rounds, y'all might enjoy this stop-motion I made a while ago:
Metal cutting inside a scanning electron microscope
TBF this works because of the contact point. With sufficient patience you could balance that without magnets too. It's not much different than balanced rock cairns.
Neat print though!
Designing hardware for space is, unsurprisingly, hard!
Join me for 35 minutes of discussion about all the considerations that go into designing and manufacturing a tiny little hinge.
Ok so this post is getting some heat, but I feel like it's a good teaching moment. How would a machine shop make this part, and why might it be expensive?
I'm assuming it's like 1-2" diameter and <5pc, and no crazy tolerances (+/- 0.005", 3um Ra or similar)
- 2 axis lathe:
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Any interest in a short video about how I design/machine for 5-axis CNC parts?
Never sure how much people are interested in the manufacturing side, especially since 5ax is pretty unrelatable to hobbyists.
Working on parts like these right now.
Related, if you haven't seen a monotype casting machine you're missing out. These things were like the ASML EUV of their day. Just outrageously cool machines.
Entirely mechanical, but programmed and running from punch tape!
The annual urge to build a modern letterpress has sidled into my brain yet again. 🙃
Hand-fed platen press, ballscrew/linear rails/servos to actuate press and inking rollers. Resin print the plate. Load cells to automatically tune the printing pressure, etc etc.
Was pulling tools from my CNC today and made me pause.
Machine holds 40 tools. This is, optimistically, about $12k of holders and tools. And probably only 1/3 of the tools/holders that I have 😨
The capital outlay for machining is just nuts when I think about it.
AI is mostly a B2B technology. No consumer wants a lathe or a drill press either. Companies make them because other companies use them. AI is a machine tool for the mind -- a productivity device rather than a consumer toy.
ngl this place has really turned to shit lately 😕
sliding for a while obviously, but my timeline is just trash now
DOGE people calling govt workers traitors. AI AGI overhype. Self-congratulatory "deep tech" mfg without substance. Whining about china. Glee at NASA budget cuts.
Been working on some prototype nanoscale vacuum transistors lately! Still sorting out issues, but getting closer!
It's basically a vacuum tube but with a nanoscale gap. If the gap is small enough, it's below the mean free path at atmospheric pressure. Why is that interesting?
