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Kevin did a great job updating Robert Indiana’s iconic sculpture “LOVE” into a piece he titled “FEAR”, and it inspired me to create something to give us hope in these dark times…
Rather than use a cold, harsh material like aluminum, I opted for something a little more comforting… plastic. Also, mine comes in a handy desktop version!
(See Also: The Making of MAKE.)
Due to repeated collisions with the ground, walls and every other structure in the area, my miniature Quadcopter required some plastic surgery. I contemplated using the large vacuum former at the space to make replacement bodies, but my quad is only 4 in. 101.6mm in length, so I decided to make a mini vacuum former.
My first step was to aquire a heating source, so I picked up a toaster oven for $6.00 US, at a local thrift shop.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90705910@N06/8236346286/in/photostream
I used CamBam to design the frame to fit in the toaster oven.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90705910@N06/8235277147/in/photostream
I used the CNC Router to cut the pieces.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90705910@N06/8236347072/in/photostream
I assembled the base and inserted a piece of Non Glare Picture Glazing in the frame. The first time I tried it I set the oven at 400 f /5 minutes. The plastic was too pliable and turned out very brittle. The next attempt was using 300 f /3 minutes (using some thicker plastic I found in the scrap heap. That didn’t seem to be enough heat or time. The final attempt I used more of the Non Glare Picture Glazing at 350 f / 4 minutes, and that turned out to be perfect.
So there’s this game called Artemis, which is a multi-player video game where six people play the roles of helm, communications, science, weapons, and engineering stations and follow the orders of a captain aboard a starship. It sounds like the sort of thing Star Trek nerds might love. (And yes, I’m a Star Trek nerd!)
There will be a game of Artemis at BarCampMilwaukee7, and I thought that people who play the game might like to make things a bit more realistic, so I made some comm badges I found on Thingiverse. I made them on my RepRap, but let’s just pretend I made them on the Replicator we have at the space, as that would be so much more awesome… (Did I mention I’m a Star Trek nerd?)
![Apple][+](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6091/6220901634_7e2a179999_z.jpg)
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been spending a lot of time with the MakerBot at the space lately. (And yes, it’s now much quieter and doesn’t force you to yell in the lab when it’s running.)
Last night Dustin stopped by to work on calibrating it a bit more. (He maintains one of the MakerBot Thing-O-Matics at Discovery World.)
We made a bit of progress by tweaking things in Skeinforge, and after much calibration test printing I thought we should print one “fun” thing before the night ended.
We chose the 1:9 scale model Apple II+ from Thingiverse. It seemed a fitting tribute to Steve Jobs.