Day: December 21, 2022

Big Chemistry: Liquefied Natural Gas

December 21, 2022 by 44 Comments

The topic of energy has been top-of-mind for us since the first of our ancestors came down out of the trees looking for something to eat that wouldn’t eat them. But in a world where the neverending struggle for energy has been abstracted away to the flick of a finger on a light switch or thermostat, thanks to geopolitical forces many of us are now facing the wrath of winter with a completely different outlook on what it takes to stay warm.

The problem isn’t necessarily that we don’t have enough energy, it’s more that what we have is neither evenly distributed nor easily obtained. Moving energy from where it’s produced to where it’s needed is rarely a simple matter, and often poses significant and interesting engineering challenges. This is especially true for sources of energy that don’t pack a lot of punch into a small space, like natural gas. Getting it across a continent is challenging enough; getting it across an ocean is another thing altogether, and that’s where liquefied natural gas, or LNG, comes into the picture.

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Arc Overhangs Make “Impossible” 3D Prints

December 21, 2022 by 11 Comments

An accidental discovery by [3DQue] allows overhangs on FDM printers that seem impossible at first glance. The key is to build the overhang area with concentric arcs. It also helps to print at a cool temperature with plenty of fan and a slow print speed. In addition to the video from [3DQue], there’s also a video from [CNC Kitchen] below that covers the technique.

If you want a quick overview, you might want to start with the [CNC Kitchen] video first. The basic idea is that you build surfaces “in the air” by making small arcs that overlap and get further and further away from the main body of the part. Because the arcs overlap, they support the next arc. The results are spectacular. There’s a third video below that shows some recent updates to the tool.

We’ve seen a similar technique handcrafted with fullcontrol.xyz, but this is a Python script that semi-automatically generates the necessary arcs that overlap. We admit the surface looks a little odd but depending on why you need to print overhangs, this might be just the ticket. There can also be a bit of warping if features are on top of the overhang.

You don’t need any special hardware other than good cooling. Like [CNC Kitchen], we hope this gets picked up by mainstream slicers. It probably will never be a default setting, but it would be a nice option for parts that can benefit from the technique. Since the code is on GitHub, maybe people familiar with the mainstream slicers will jump in and help make the algorithm more widely available and automatic.

What will you build with this tool? If you don’t like arcs, check out conical slicing or non-planar slicing instead.

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Morphing Keyboard Gets You Dialed In Just Right

December 21, 2022 by 5 Comments

So you’re tired of rectangular, brick wall-staggered keyboards and want to go split and/or ergo. But how? Which style? What do? Here’s what you do: you build one of these here LHM Morph boards and customize the crap out of it, because that’s what it’s for.

So what is this thing, anyway? Is it a even a keyboard? Well, as long as you can press switches and send key commands to a computer, it certainly smells like a keyboard to us. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what’s going on here is that [LifeHackerMax] has built a highly-customizable version of the LHM, their 26-key split. The LHM Morph can be fine-tuned to nearly any degree imaginable, including the tenting angle. The keys are grouped in modules that can slide back and forth to suit your varying finger lengths. As they are half-round, these modules can also be tilted and rotated until they’re just right.

But the super cool thing about the LHM Morph is the way it goes together — like LEGO. It’s completely modular, and you don’t even have to go split if you’re not ready for that. But all the pieces connect via rods made of copper wire. If you’d like to make one for yourself, the 3D files are up on Thingiverse, and the firmware is on GitHub. Be sure to check out the video after the break.

Does this keyboard remind you of anything? [Peter Lyons]’ Squeezebox, perhaps?

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