Author Archives: robertwilkie

$200 and you get a laser engraver

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

Only if I had $200, nice project build of a laser engraver for $200 that can fit on your existing hobby CNC/3D printer.  Good idea, seems a little pricey for the parts, but its all put together for you. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/l-cheapo-laser-cutter-attachment … Continue reading →

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Cheap effective portable fan

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

Ha, this is a good idea.  Basically take one of those PC fans you have kicking around.  Attach a battery pack to it, and bam, portable fan.  Looking the the cells the author is using (pulled from old laptops).  I can … Continue reading →

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Poor man’s 3D scanner

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

I had to laugh at this one, the author converted a bike wheel to spin the image around while the camera takes pictures.  Good idea, and simple (thought I would put a motor on the wheel and tie the camera … Continue reading →

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Make an LED light clock

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

This more caught my eye as a good arduino project.  The author made a clock that shows time based on lighting LED’s, the pic is not a good example, but the video on the site is. http://www.instructables.com/id/Charliexplexed-LED-Clock-Arduino/

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CPU Cooler hack

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

OK why am I posting this?  Well it caught my eye since the author is having the fans blow out the sides instead of blowing out the top.  Well one fan blows in and the other out.  Anyways it gave … Continue reading →

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Simple $3 Laser tripwire

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

OK maybe $4.  The author shows how to use a dollar store laser and a photo resistor and some resistors/caps with a speaker to make an alarm that goes off when the laser is interrupted.  Cool idea and easy to … Continue reading →

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Build a plotter from printer/scanner parts

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

Seen this a few times in the past, but not this clean looking.  The author basically used CNC to make a plotter.  I like the use of the pencil for drawing.  This would be a good kid project. http://www.instructables.com/id/cheap-nice-and-weird-A4-graph-plotter-25-some-scra/

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Bike Portable Speaker

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

Nice idea, basically putting a speaker on a PVC pipe that can fit on a bike waterbottle holder.  Lots of room in it for batteries and bluetooth module. http://www.instructables.com/id/Bike-Bluetooth-Speaker/

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My CNC rebuild, Part 4

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

Learned another important lesson.  Always make a copy of the documentation of your motor controller (noted below).  Apparently in my move some of the jumpers for micro-stepping must have fallen out.  So what I thought I was using wasn’t right. … Continue reading →

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Xerox Sells off 2 branches of its Services

Posted on June 3, 2014 by robertwilkie

I haven’t figured this one out.  Xerox sold off 2 branches, one that does advertising, and another that does print/scan services.  I thought Xerox was going into services? http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2014/05/29/pegasus-transtech-buys-two-companies-from-xerox.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_national+%28Bizjournals+National+Feed%29  

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