Projects – Page 3

Making a UV Exposure Box

I’ve been wanting one of these for a while for some other projects I have planned. Previously I’ve (ab)used an old EEPROM eraser box, but (a) I wanted something a bit larger and (b) it isn’t mine and is a bit of a faff to get to right now. I did some Googling and foundContinue reading “Making a UV Exposure Box”

Making Skeletonised Leaves

I decided I wanted to try making some skeletonised leaves. So I did some Googling and decided to try this approach. We went out in the evening and gathered some leaves from the local Shrubbery. Totally not suspicious 🙂 I bought some Sodium Hydroxide and a cheap steel pot from ebay. Note: it must notContinue reading “Making Skeletonised Leaves”

Knitting Machine: Needle Router Working!

Check this out! I’ve actually had the main design on the whiteboard for a few weeks, but I wanted to play with other things for a bit: This is v2.1 of the needle router. I don’t think showing the intermediate v2.0 is very interesting: the changes were important, but minor. Anyway, let’s compare the designsContinue reading “Knitting Machine: Needle Router Working!”

Making a Copper Leaf and Perspex Lampshade

This is a slightly older project, but since I’m waiting for the new knitting machine design to print, I thought I’d write it up. One of our standard lamps needed a new shade, so I decided to make one! Ingredients 2mm + 3mm transparent Perspex (from Edinburgh Hacklab) Copper Leaf (from Ebay) “Size” (gilding adhesive)Continue reading “Making a Copper Leaf and Perspex Lampshade”

Epoxy Resin Casting Attempt #2

I tried the resin again, this time using the vacuum chamber. I mixed it up (using a different glow in the dark colour this time), and cycled it in the vacuum chamber a couple of times. The resin mixture also did the boiling in a vacuum thing! Yay! Once I removed it, the liquid lookedContinue reading “Epoxy Resin Casting Attempt #2”

Epoxy Resin Casting Attempt #1

I wanted to try something different so I thought I’d give Epoxy Resin casting a go. I have this cute Greek holiday trinket I inherited from my dad which I felt would make a good test piece: So, to cast it I first need to make a mould, then I need to fill the mouldContinue reading “Epoxy Resin Casting Attempt #1”

Knitting Machine: Needle Movement Controller First Test Print

I decided it was time to try out the prototype design! I printed half of the needle movement model to save on time and materials. As a result you need to move the carriage in both directions to see the full needle movement. I also adjusted the design slightly, adding in some fillets to roundContinue reading “Knitting Machine: Needle Movement Controller First Test Print”

Knitting Machine: Needle Movement Model

I spent some time this evening turning the sketch into a proper Fusion360 3D model, as above. Key features: I’ve inserted holes for all the M3 bolts I need to use to hold the moving parts together. I’ve also added some more chunks of plastic to try to prevent needles getting stuck. I’ve already gotContinue reading “Knitting Machine: Needle Movement Model”

Knitting Machine: Needle Movement Controller Design

I’ve been busy in Fusion 360 this morning. Previously I had mocked up a design for the needle movement controller on my whiteboard: This morning, I’ve been translating this into a “Sketch” in Fusion 360: I designed the left hand side and then simply mirrored the design to create the right hand side (remember, itContinue reading “Knitting Machine: Needle Movement Controller Design”

Nikon DSLR to Lomo Biolam Microscope Adapter

The actual project I wanted to do was attach my Nikon D90 SLR to my Lomo Biolam microscope. However, I had to detour into fixing the microscope first, as described here. Once I had that working, the actual adapter was pretty simple. I started off using a toilet roll tube and some masking tape asContinue reading “Nikon DSLR to Lomo Biolam Microscope Adapter”