[Kenneth Maxon] is a wizard who only does things one way, beautifully. While out of the average hacker’s production capabilities, his injection molding machine is amazing to behold. The machine has all features a commercial model would. It heats and cools the mold, produces over a ton of pressure to inject plastic with, and ejects parts automatically to name a few.
Holy crap, check out this guy’s workshop:
http://www.users.uswest.net/~kmaxon/page/side/mill100_137.htm
holy crap, check out this guy’s website
I haven’t seen frames on a website in years….
Nice hardware though
Started:08/Oct/2001 and not updated since
the guys good with hardware not good at websites
holy crap, he is the NASA by himself
omg i’m wet. i waaant!!!!
yeah impressiv engeneering, nice idea how he got around an extruder.
like to see some mold pressure measuring!
Ok, I analyzed his parasolid file of the molding machine and I estimate it at a 5 ton clamping force machine with a 1000 psi injection force. Sweet home built machine. But I have a 500 ton molding machine in my shop. Still I take my opti-visor off to this dedicated machinist.
jaw dropping workshop, just wow
oh my. at a glance he looks like hes got some impressive stuff going on but this man is ridiculous. and im incredibly jealous of his workshop. im impressed.
I wouldn’t know what to do with a quarter of that equipment.
i just crapped myself…………alot
OMFG look at his workshop…not unlike my workshop which includes one workbench with everything scattered on top, and everything else that didn’t fit crammed in a closet… :(
Urp? Some comments not showing. whats up with that?
I really, really wish this was within reach of myself. I have some things I would like to get injected molded, but getting a mold made is like $5000 and I don’t have that kind of money to put out up front.
Sure, eventually I’d make my money back from selling the stuff I make with the mold, but that wouldn’t be for a long time.
Injection molding is awesome but for low volume runs making a simple rtv mold and using 2 part urethane pourable plastic is a lot more economical. Check http://www.smooth-on.com I use their stuff every day at my job and its extremely versatile.
OW my eyes! That site was too confusing to navigate. Nice that he has all those pictures but damn it’s time to upgrade the site design from 1998 to 2009.
holy shit, the electronics section is amazing, each project has a good page of text, many have source code, detailed photos, etc.
and that workshop is incredible. My mind is blown.
@drew: click on Intro and you can see he’s been regularly updating the site.
btw if anyone was wondering, he mentions he worked with aircraft electronics for 12 years. A lot of the projects are also marked “g-job”, presumably government job.
I pride myself in being a very technically savvy reader of h-a-d, but this is just too damn complicated. This is far from a home hack, it’s a prototype professional injection molder.
truely insparational!
Love that website/workshop juxatposition.
Why are you criticising this man, he is truely a “god”!
Really nice workshop set up, though I prefer my arrangement of everything shoved into the cupboard between bathroom and kitchen and randomly re-arranged by my wife whenever she gets tired of routers and table saws being left in the kitchen or tiny back yard!
I don’t blame him for not updating the website when he can spend all that time playing with those toys.
@andysuth. If you want a great worklab that is “wife friendly and you dont have the space or are an apartment dweller take a look at http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2009/08/craft-pod-that-hides-sewing-machine.html
I helped a friend design one like this for electronics. I looks like their furniture in the dining area in their 650sq foot apartment. He opens it and flips down a work surface and can easily close it all up to hide everything.
we mounted the soldering station, de-soldering station and SMD rework equipment to shelves.
Really easy to do and works great for hiding your secret lab in plain view.
I… I just felt very funny in my pants looking at this guys website.
Not only is his shop and skills absolutely over-the-top-amazing, but he also keeps it so orderly.
I am envious now.
However his webdesign really sucks!
Why are posts being removed or edited?
@stunmonkey:
To hide the rampant stupidity in this section of the site.
I am completely envious of this guy, what the hell does he do for a living to afford all that, and a none to shabby house to boot?????
@nnx:
I would agree if the comments that disappeared weren’t positive ones.
What I can’t figure out is how the guy can do so many projects in there and still keep the shop looking so clean.
Thats another real accomplishment right there!
Whow sweet projects. But that is too clean.
Maybe he is like Jamie from Mythbusters. Where a creature has taken control of him?
Atleast that is what Adam says about Jamie.
This guy’s dreams will be soon crushed. First I see no way to back the nozzle off the mold to facilitate mold open and close, besides the fact that the nozzle must be held to the mold under pressure during injection. Second, air pressure won’t cut it as far as filling the cavity unless it’s really small and simple. As soon as that plastic hits the mold it cools beyond being liquid FAST! I mean like split second, that’s why your injection time is so tightly controlled on the real thing. No, heating the mold with water won’t work either, although it will help but not much. I give the guy credit for the effort, but this isn’t going to go off as planned. Injection molding machines aren’t all that expensive nowadays anyways. Certainly, he could have bought a used, small, working machine from the 70’s or 80’s for somewhere near what all that aluminum and machine time alone. That time making that could have been spent making molds for the real thing.