A Cyclonic Vacuum Cleaner On A Hacker’s Budget

May 17, 2019 by Tom Nardi 19 Comments

Have you ever seen a product in the store and been shocked at what the manufacturer was trying to charge for it? Since you’re reading Hackaday, we can safely assume the answer to that question; building a homebrew version of some commercial product for a fraction of its retail price is practically a rite of passage around these parts. So it’s fitting that for his entry into the 2019 Hackaday Prize, [Madaeon] submitted the “DIYson”, an open source version of a popular high-end vacuum made by a British company who’s name you can surely guess.

As [Madaeon] explains on the project’s Hackaday.io page, the idea behind “cyclonic” vacuums is not particularly complex. Essentially, with a powerful enough blower and carefully designed chamber, the incoming air will spin around so fast that dust is pulled out by centrifugal force. The trick is getting it working on a small enough scale to be a handheld device. Especially given the energy requirements for the blower motor.

Luckily for the modern hacker, we’re living in the “Golden Age” of DIY. With a 3D printer you can produce plastic components with complex geometry, and thanks to a resurgence in remote controlled aircraft, powerful motors and high capacity lithium-ion batteries are easily obtainable. Powered by what’s essentially the hardware that would go into an electric ducted fan plane, the total cost of all the electronics for the DIYson comes in right around $60 USD. Even with a roll of printer filament added to the mix, you’re still comfortably at half the cost of the “name brand” alternative.

With some refinements, [Madaeon] hopes that this open source dust-buster will be a staple of labs and hackerspaces all over the world. Judging by the performance his early prototype shows in the video after the break, we know we wouldn’t mind having one.

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Air Compressor From Fridge Parts Gets An Upgrade

May 15, 2019 by Lewin Day 21 Comments

Air compressors are often loud, raucous machines – but they don’t have to be. [Eric Strebel] built a remarkably quiet compressor using parts salvaged from an old fridge. After several years of use, it was due for an upgrade (Youtube link, embedded below}.

While performance of the original setup was good, [Eric] desired a compressor with more capacity for his resin casting activities. A 15 gallon air tank was sourced from a damaged Craftsman brand compressor, and pressed into service. The build involved plenty of sheet metal work to mount the various components, as well as an upgrade to the pressure regulator.

During the refit, [Eric] takes the time to answer questions from the audience about his original build. He notes that the fridge compressor has worked well without using any noticeable amount of oil, and that there was a problem with water build up in the original tank which has been solved in the new rig.

It’s a great example of building your own tools, which can provide years of service if done right. Check out our write up on [Eric]’s first build, or his work on photogrammetry. Video after the break.

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Microscope-Inspired Toolchanger Spins Multicolor 3D Prints

May 15, 2019 by Sonya Vasquez 15 Comments

The 3D printing community is simply stirring with excitement over toolchanging printers, but these machines are still the exception rather than the norm. Here’s an exceptional exception: [Paul Paukstelis] built a five-color printer with a novel head-changing solution.

[Paul’s] 3D printer is a hat-tip to anyone who’s spent time in the wetlab. For starters, the printer is born from the remains of a former liquid handling system, a mighty surplus score. When it comes to headchanging, [Paul] combined some honest inspiration from E3D’s toolchanging videos with some design features borrowed from the microscope in his lab. The result is that the printer’s five-tool head-changer mechanically behaves very similarly to the nose piece in a compound light microscope.

Because the printer evolved from old lab equipment, [Paul] dubs his printer into a lineage that he calls the “Reclaimed Rapid-Prototyper,” or the RecRap. Best of all, he’s kindly posted up the CAD files on the Thingiverse such that you too can take a deep look into this head-changing solution.

We love seeing these tools get a second life, and we think there’s plenty of potential for new offspring in this lineage of discarded lab equipment.

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Prototyping PCBs With Electrical Discharge Machining

May 13, 2019 by Dan Maloney 32 Comments

Here at Hackaday, we thought we’d seen every method of making PCBs: CNC machining, masking and etching with a variety of chemicals, laser engraving, or even the crude but effective method of scratching away the copper with a utility knife. Whatever works is fine with us, really, but there still does seem to be room for improvement in the DIY PCB field. To whit, we present rapid PCB prototyping with electrical discharge machining.

Using an electric arc to selectively ablate the copper cladding on a PCB seems like a great idea. At least that’s how it seemed to [Jake Wachlin] when he realized that the old trick of cutting a sheet of aluminum foil using a nine-volt battery and a pencil lead is really just a form of EDM, and that the layer of copper on a PCB is not a million miles different from foil. A few experiments with a bench power supply and a mechanical pencil lead showed that it’s relatively easy to blast the copper from a blank board, so [Jake] took the next logical step and rigged up an old 3D-printer to move the tool. The video below shows the setup and some early tests; it’s not perfect by a long shot, but it has a lot of promise. If he can control the arc better, this homebrew EDM looks like it could very rapidly produce prototype boards.

[Jake] posted this project in its current state in the hopes of stimulating a discussion and further experimentation. That’s commendable, and we’d really love to see this one move along rapidly. You might start your brainstorming by looking at this somewhat sketchy mains-powered EDM, or look into the whole field in a little more detail.

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Modular CNC Build Gets You Both A Mill And A Laser Cutter

May 12, 2019 by Lewin Day 24 Comments

CNC builds come in all shapes and sizes. There’s delta manipulators, experimental polar rigs, and all manner of cartesian builds, large and small. After completing their first CNC build, [jtaggard] took what they learned and applied it in the development of a new machine.

It’s a desk-sized cartesian design, with a frame built from V-slot extrusion cut to size by circular saw. This is a great way to get quality extrusion for a custom build, and is readily available and easy to work with. The gantry rides on wheels, with the X and Y axes being belt driven, plus a screw drive for Z. A couple of NEMA 17s and a NEMA 23 provide motive power, and an Arduino Uno with stepper drivers is the brains of the operation. 1/4″ thick PLA plates are used to assemble everything, and while [jtaggard] intended to replace these with aluminium down the track, so far the plastic has proved plenty rigid enough for early tests of both machining and engraving wood.

It’s a great entry-level CNC build, which has proved usable with both a 500W spindle and a 2.5W laser for engraving. Being modular in nature, it would be easy to add other tools, such as a pen plotter or vinyl cutting blade for further versatility.

DIY CNC builds are always popular, as you end up with a useful tool as a reward for your hard work. Video after the break.

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Repairing And Upgrading A HP 16533A Scope Card

May 10, 2019 by Lewin Day 17 Comments

In the world of oscilloscopes, as in the rest of the test equipment world, there’s always some trickery afoot. Companies will often offer different models to the market at different price points, in an effort to gain the widest possible customer base while also making the most profit. Cheaper, less capable models are often largely identical to more expensive hardware, save for some software or a couple jumpers that disable functionality. [Alexandre] found just this when working to repair his HP 16533A scope card.

Work began when [Alexandre] received his HP 16533A in the mail after a long wait, only to find the trigger functionality was inoperable. This is crucial on a digital scope, so this simply wouldn’t do. After some research online, a post was found discussing which signals to probe to troubleshoot the issue. It noted that corrosion is a common problem on these units, and that occasionally, a certain resistor goes open circuit and causes problems. Initial measurement showed there was still resistance there, but reading closer, [Alexandre] noted this fateful line:

You might not be able to measure it accurately in circuit.

Removing the 100K resistor from the board, the part was indeed open circuit. After replacement with a new component, the trigger circuit was again fully operational. With the scope still open, it was then a simple job to execute a further resistor swap which gives the 16533A the functionality and range of the higher-spec 16534A model.

It’s very common for oscilloscopes and other test hardware to be configured this way from the factory. Rigol scopes are particularly popular with hackers for this very reason.

[Thanks to jafinch78 for the tip!]

Big, Slow Rotary Machine Has Multiple Uses

May 10, 2019 by Lewin Day 14 Comments

A good majority of power tools in the average workshop are all about speed. Drills, grinders, and sanders all whizz along at thousands of revolutions per minute. Sometimes though, you need to do things slowly. For that, [bongodrummer]’s big rotary machine build might be just up your alley.

The core of the build is an old washing machine, which supplies both the machine frame and its powerful universal motor. While this can be hooked directly to a power source and allowed to spin away, it’s far more useful with some speed control in place. For this, an Arduino is hooked up to a triac circuit with feedback, allowing the speed to be set just so for whatever operation you have in mind. A set of speed-reducing pulleys helps further for getting down into the double-digit RPM while maintaining smooth rotation. There’s even a timer for extended operation, with parts salvaged from an old microwave.

The machine is built with a large rotating platter on top. By placing a clean white screen on top, the platter is great for taking 360 degree photos of objects automatically. This could be of great use in a photogrammetry setup. Alternatively, by fitting a bowl and plough assembly, the machine can be used to mull green sand for casting purposes.

It’s a versatile build that could be used for anything that needs rotation in the vicinity of 50 rpm. You could even play vinyl records on it if you were so inclined. Of course, if you’ve built a record player out of an old washing machine, we’d certainly like to know about it.