MakerCrate Projects

I purchased a discount Workbench CNC machine. I've been a 3D printing person for a while and was suprised how hard it has been to get gcode for a CNC machine. I assumed that I could just upload something like an STL file but there are not a lot of …

I am a big fan of OpenSCAD, it is my goto tool for making 3D designs. My kids have been getting into block coding like scratch and I thought, "wouldn't it be cool if there was a block code program that used OpenSCAD?" A quick google search showed me exactly …

Our house has a 2-zone heating and air conditioning system. Today is the third time in the same number of years that one of the automated damper has broken. The problem seems to be the CAM that triggers the limit switches inside the motor is made of a flimsy plastic …

We don't have a landline but over the years I have collected a bunch of phone wiring, sockets, etc. My spouse asked their social network and we got three landline phones and the kids and I put together a really simple intercom project with a 9 volt battery.

All we …

My eldest is a big Harry Potter Fan and made a few drawings of a Magical Staff they wanted to construct. I was really excited by the drawing. We purchased the crystal and staff online and sat down in front of OpenSCAD and came up with a fairly close design …

A few years ago I purchased a kit from JJRobots. The kit provides all non-plastic parts and then allows you to build a variety of robots. Up until now I only made the eggbot which tends to come out around Easter time, the kids love it.

Last week my niblets …

My new Tronxy X1 has been a lot of fun to put together. The tricky part was finding the right setting for the slicer. Turns out it is not that difficult at all. I was able to download my favorite OpenSource slicer, CURA and needed to type in the specifications …

My "baby" brother is a new professor and designing an additive manufacturing course for his students. He found a fairly affordable (price of a typical textbook) 3D printer kit called a Tronxy X1 for his students to put together and take home.

To get ready, he and I purchased our …

Lithophans are one of my favorite things to 3D print. I have written software in MATLAB and python that can convert images to lithophans. Most years I design a lithophan and 3D printable frame to give away to family for Christmas and each year I like to try to do …