Collaborate Disseminate
Generally, when we’re looking to build something that moves we reach for motors, servos, or steppers — which ultimately are all just variations on the same concept. But there are …read more Continue reading Generating Motion Via Nitinol Wires
3D printing is known for producing parts with a fairly average finish at best. Even the smoothest resin prints are still fairly plasticky and dull in appearance. However, it’s possible …read more Continue reading Electroplating Makes 3D-Printed Star Wars Prop Shine
Resin 3D printers have a significant advantage over filament printers in that they are able to print smaller parts with more fine detail. The main downside is that the resin parts aren’t typically as strong or durable as their filament …read more
Continue reading Electroplating 3D Printed Parts for Great Strength
To be honest, we originally considered throwing [Zachary Tong]’s experiments with ultralight metallic microlattices into the “Fail of the Week” bucket. But after watching the video below for a second time, it’s just not fair to call this a fail, so maybe we’ll come up with a new category — …read more
Continue reading Printing, Plating, and Baking Makes DIY Microlattices Possible
When you go by a handle like [Simplifier], you’ve made a mission statement about your projects: that you’ll take complex processes and boil them down to their essence. So tackling the rebuilding of the humble speaker, a device he himself admits is “both simplified and optimized already,” would seem a …read more
Continue reading Brass and Nickel Work Together in this Magnetostrictive Earphone
Join us on Wednesday, March 11 at noon Pacific for the PCB Finishes Hack Chat with Mark Hughes and Elijah Gracia!
There’s no way to overestimate the degree to which the invention of the printed circuit board revolutionized electronics. What was once the work of craftspeople weaving circuits together with …read more
If an object is conductive or has been given a conductive coating, it can be given a metal skin via electroplating. Electroplating is a simple process that is perfectly accessible to anyone in possession of vinegar, salt, a power supply, and some metal such as copper or nickel.
The process …read more
Continue reading Make An Electroplating Marker, Because Plating Complex Objects Is Hard
In somewhat of a departure from their normal fare of heavy metal mods, [Make It Extreme] is working on a battery pack for an e-bike that has some interesting design features.
The guts of the pack are pretty much what you’d expect – recovered 18650 lithium-ion cells. They don’t go into details, but we assume the 52 cells were tested and any duds rejected. The arrangement is 13S4P, and the cells are held in place with laser-cut acrylic frames. Rather than spot weld the terminals, [Make It Extreme] used a series of strategically positioned slots to make contacts from folded …read more
Continue reading An E-Bike Battery Pack Without Spot Welding