YouTube hacker MN Maker was working on a circuit when he noticed a component getting extremely hot. He wanted to know the temperature, but as he didn’t have an IR thermometer he decided to create one himself!
3D Printing
GreatScott! Finds Out if You Can 3D Print a Mains Transformer
Transformers are one of the basic, common, and important electrical components in use today. Transformers are tailored to a variety of applications, but all of them transmit electricity without a physical metallic connection between two coils that share a ferrous core. When the first coil is energized with alternating current, it creates a varying magnetic flux that energizes the second coil. By giving the second coil a different number of windings than the first, you can change the voltage. YouTuber GreatScott! wanted to find out if it’s possible to 3D print the core of a mains transformer, and made a video with his findings.
This Amazing New 3D Printer Is Capable of Producing Working Electronic Components
3D printing is incredibly useful for creating functional prototypes, and is even sometimes viable for manufacturing production parts. But the vast majority of 3D printing is done with thermoplastics, and material like metal is very expensive to print. Complex parts that are made from multiple kinds of material, such as electronic components, have been impossible to print. Fortunately, that may be changing soon thanks to the new EFORGE 3D printer.
An Affordable Arduino-Powered Bionic Hand
Modern robotics is full of some amazing things, like Boston Dynamics backflipping robots, but the hardware associated with these robots comes at a fairly steep cost. An industrial robotic arm can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $400,000 and that price tag can stop a hobbyist or tinkerer from experimenting with robotics. Youbionic is intending to change this with its new affordable bionic arm.
3D Printing your own thermal insert press.
Thermal inserts are a big thing when it comes to engineering with plastic. They make it easy to use threaded fasteners with plastic parts, and they work great with 3D printing too. There’s a bit of a knack to installing them without damaging your workpiece, however, and [John Culbertson] wanted to make using them as easy as possible. Thus, he created a thermal insert press of his very own!
If you’re not using heat-set inserts with your 3D printed parts you’re missing out. Hackaday’s own [Joshua Vasquez] wrote a great guide on thermal inserts which you heat up to securely melt the plastic as they are pushed into a slightly under-sized hole. While it’s possible to install these inserts by hand, using a press means much more consistent results.
Linear advance guide – Free and easy print quality improvement
Linear advance is a firmware feature that controls the timing of the extruder separate to the other axes, with a focus on managing pressure inside the nozzle. The result should be more consistent extrusion, especially around corners and other changes of direction. You should also be able to print faster without the quality dropping off so much.
Turn a 3D PRINT into EPOXY MODEL – Makeup Brushes Pot
How to make an amazing epoxy model from 3D printed mold
3D Printing – The Perfect First Layer
The most import thing for a great print is a great first layer. When I read forums I see many posts about different issues that people are having with their prints. I would bet 90% of those issues could be traced back to an incorrect first layer. For 3D printing it is vital that your first layer is perfect…or close to it. If you don’t get that part right, you print is destined for failure.
LEGO vs 3D Printing Community
Well, this is frustrating. Be sure to download all LEGO files and re-upload them elsewhere if LEGO continues to take down designs.
Remember – the interlocking block design is not trademarked, so the design can be uploaded, or even sold, without LEGO having any legal authority. The figurine designs should be considered fan art – but regardless – this is a terrible business decision by LEGO.
How to 3D Print Better Miniatures: Pt. 3 Resin-quality on a FDM printer!
Learn how to print resin-like quality miniatures on a FDM printer! By adding a .2mm nozzle and using our custom Cura profile, you can achieve hyper-detailed miniatures that look like they came off a resin printer. All miniatures in this video were printed on a $200 Creality Ender 3. Cura 4.0 is recommended (not 4.2!) and using good quality PLA is essential (we recommend eSun PLA Pro.)