Engineer In Wonderland

This cnc conversion is taking for ever. But it is progressing. A few stolen hours this weekend meant that an x-axis stepper motor mount could be designed and printed (right). This is actually the second attempt at this – I used the wrong belt length in the first one, and made little attempt to get internal forces in the correct ...

I have been asked to demonstrate some electrical things to a GCSE student. One of the things on the syllabus is potential difference, and another is EMF – electromotive force. I had always assumed that they were two sides of the same coin, possibly using language created from two different directions during the Dark Ages of Electricity. Also, I may ...

grbl is stepper motor controller firmware for three-axis cnc machines, intended to run on Arduinos with a motor driver add-on board. Engineer in Wonderland cnc-related blogs are indexed here It is the result of an amazing open-source project, and once more I am thankful to those who have put there time and expertise into such endeavours. Update: The Cronos grbl ...

Another few late nights in the workshop have created a dimensional model for a 3d-printed y-axis stepper motor mount for the manual Clarke CM10 (Sieg X1 mini) milling machine (right – and here is the z-axis 3d print) The good thing is that it all seems to fit, and it keeps the highest point of mount or motor below the ...

Does anyone out there know of a source of proper (not too expensive) F8-16M (8 – 16 x 5mm) ball thrust bearings? By ‘proper’, I mean that both end ‘washers’ have ball grooves in, and the washers are not identical: one washer’s central hole fits the shaft snugly, while its outer diameter is slack in the bore, while the other ...

Does anyone know where I can buy proper ball-type F8-16M thrust bearings? (not too expensively) That is, thrust bearings where both end ‘washers’ are groved to form a ball-race, and: one washer is sized to clear the 8mm shaft and fit the 16mm bore, while the other is sized to fit the 8mm shaft and clear the 16mm bore. This ...

Two weekends ‘ruined’ by bad weather meant extra time in the workshop – yippee. And meant a deep dive into a problem that I have not seen solved by 3D printing so far (and I can’t claim to have solved it yet, but things are looking promising 🙂 Update: prototype y-axis mount Update: thrust bearing help please Update: Arduino-based g-code ...

As an enthusiastic cyclist, driver and pedestrian, I feel the need once again to bang a drum that I need to pick up all to frequently: Bicycle lights should not dazzle anyone, while putting plenty of light where it is needed. Update: see important note on rear light below Lidl has proves this is possible, once again: this time with ...

With more than one computer on my desk, I bought a ‘multi-device’ keyboard and a multi-device mouse. They are the Logitech K780 keyboard and M720 (aka Triathlon) mouse, both of which can connect to three computers (‘devices’) through any mix of Bluetooth or the company’s proprietary ‘Unifying Receiver’ USB dongle – both keyboard and mouse arrive with one of the ...

In need of a small high-temperature chemical reaction vessel with a lot of detailed features, BASF turned to Bosch Advanced Ceramics and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Between the three organisations, they developed a way to 3d print what was needed. The result is 107mm long and 16mm in diameter, with 500μm channels in which the chemical reactions occur, ...