Hackaday Links May 9th 2012

Homecut – CNC Cutting Directory

homecut

So you have a CNC machine that you use as a hobby, but would like to do some actual work on the side? Or maybe you have an idea you’d like made. Homecut is a map directory where you can maybe hook up with the right person.

The Curta Mechanical Calculator

curta calculator

As [leehart] mentioned in our comments section, the Curta mechanical calculator is a truly ingenious piece of engineering. A quick Google search should find all kinds of information on it, but this article could be a good place to start for some mechanical hacking inspiration!

Luxman Amplifier DAC Upgrade

nand-dac

[R. Barrios] wasn’t happy with using the sound card for his HTPC setup, so decided to add a DAC module onto his reciever. The resulting audio quality was very good, and the build came out quite clean.  Check it out if you’re thinking of a hack-upgrade to your stereo equipment.

3D Printable Tilt-Shift Adapter

tilt-shift-lens

A tilt-shift lens a neat piece of equipment that is used to make a large scene look like they were miniatures. It’s a cool effect, but professional lenses to do this can cost thousands of dollars. This Instructable tells you how to go about printing your own. For more info on the technique itself, check out this Wikipedia article.

New 3D Printer on the Block

3d-printer

If you would like to take the plunge into 3D printing, but are looking for somewhere to get a parts kit, the [ORD Bot Hadron 3D Printer] may be worth a look.  The build quality looks great, and the price for the mechanical components is quite reasonable at $399. You’ll need to provide the electronics and extruder. Thanks [comptechgeek]!

18 thoughts on “Hackaday Links May 9th 2012

  1. Yeah, and where do you get the ORD Bot? The website store.makerslide has stopped making them and sold the rest off on ebay last week. I wonder why he sold them on ebay instead of through his store, and why he is no longer offering them…

    1. Hi, Bart here from buildlog.net.

      Buildlog.net stopped selling ORD Bots because I am a one man part time operation and could not keep up with the workload.

      I took about 120 orders and ordered a few extra sets. The extras and a few orders that were never paid for were sold on eBay.

      The next batch is being done by Inventables.com with my full cooperation and support. They are not clones or counterfeit units.

      Several improvement are being are being made to this batch and outlined in this blog post.

      http://www.buildlog.net/blog/2012/05/ord-bots-on-sale-at-inventables-com/

  2. I absolutely love the Curta calculator and I’m dying to have one. I searched the web for 3d models of the Curta so I could print my own working model and I rather quickly stumbled upon the Yet Another Curta Simulator (http://members.chello.nl/o.veenstra3/vrml/curta_info/curta_demo.html) which has (I think) a precise model of the internals of the Curta. But all the 3d files is in a VRML format and even though I try, I can’t convert the files to another format which is suitable for printing. I even tried following the guide on the website but my computer freezes every time I try to open the model.
    Could anybody help get the files converted?

  3. Nice roundup! I worked with a guy who was a real calculator nut and he got a Curta calculator as a gift and showed it to me. I’ve wanted one ever since!
    One the ORDBOT front, I plopped down my $399 and hope they built this batch. Things to note is that it only includes mechanical and the steppers for 3 axis control. You still need a hot bed, extruder and electronics.

    1. Hi.

      Sorry if you are having problems to register your machine.
      The map uses google maps to show the dots, if you enter a city / address that does not match a search (for example umlauts åäö) not correct, it will not show up on the map.
      Please mail me jago@jago.se and I will look in to this and hope to solve it soon.

  4. PLEASE – stop naming prices for partial kits
    OR ELSE I will start selling a single bearing and a bolt as a “3d printer kit”

    Your coverage is generally great, but in this case it only serves to confuse and misinform people. In reality it is a $399 kit that will need an additional $150-$300 in electronics and motors. That also makes it no cheaper than most other diy prusa kits.

      1. I wasn’t mislead, because I knew what I was looking at. However, I do agree that it should probably be promoted as a “3D printer platform” because that is entirely more accurate. I’m buying one (if there are enough orders) because I feel like it has real mechanical advantages and a clean look.
        I will blog about my experience outfitting this with the rest of the parts. For now, I’m collecting info here: http://interlockroc.org/wiki/index.php/ORDBOT

  5. I picked up an ORD bot…
    400 for the mech
    200 for electronics (preassembled, cheaper if I put it together)
    200 for extruder/hot end (I didn’t feel like messing around with it)
    100 (yet to be spent) on heated bed…

    All in all, 900 still cheaper than an ultimaker or makerbot…time will tell if that quality stands up to the test.

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