Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

Where is the Othercutter? [Draft 06/08/2015]

[This is a post I’ve revisited so often that I really have no idea when I began writing it – and couldn’t figure it out without digging deep into the WordPress database. Suffice it to say, I’ve wanted a cardboard cutting CNC for a long time. Originally a collaboration between DARPA and OtherLabs, most of the interesting parts of this project have been removed from Otherlabs’ website and many other resources the victim of linkrot. As a project funded by a federal agency, there’s a slight possibility some semblance of documentation for this machine might still kinda exist somewhere accessible via FOIA requests… The operation isn’t exactly arcane, a reciprocating blade, that can be rotated through 360 degrees, on a rail, and a bed that moves a sheet of cardboard back and forth – like a suped up craft cutter.]

I can’t help it – I love cardboard and I love CNC tools. 1 Cardboard is free or cheap, lightweight, strong, but can look unfinished and is very susceptible to moisture. This makes it ideal for prototypes and temporary projects. However, when a cardboard structure is covered, it can be incredibly strong and durable.

The promise of the Othercutter was a simple CNC machine kit using an off the shelf x-acto blade to cut cardboard or foamcore.

The shortest possible version is that the Othercutter was the brainchild of Otherlabs (now Bantam Tools). What started out as a project to cut cardboard morphed into the Othermill, a small capable desktop CNC mill initially released on Kickstarter. I could never do justice to the Otherlabs and Bantam Tools story – it’s a wild ride and worth a read.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130209054433/http://blog.mentor.otherlab.com:80/
https://blog.bantamtools.com/loving-our-own-dog-food
https://otherlab.com/blog/post/the-othercutter-low-cost-cnc-machine
https://web.archive.org/web/20130122094442/http://blog.mentor.otherlab.com/the-othercutter-low-cost-cnc-machine/
https://web.archive.org/web/20130109063100/http://blog.mentor.otherlab.com:80/the-beginning-otherlab-and-the-mentor-project/
https://web.archive.org/web/20130131051839/http://blog.mentor.otherlab.com:80/architecture-and-the-othercutter/
https://web.archive.org/web/20130131175353/http://blog.mentor.otherlab.com:80/othercutter-update-speed-and-quality-control-testing/
https://web.archive.org/web/20130210080545/http://blog.mentor.otherlab.com:80/cardboard-in-the-wild-marty-morales
http://kimlyis.me/otherlab-otherfab/
https://sites.google.com/site/3dprinterlist/cnc-cutters/othercutter
https://ingriddragotta.com/Info
https://www.youtube.com/user/Otherlab/videos
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/05/a-day-at-the-bay-area-maker-faire-the-greatest-show-and-tell-on-earth/
https://www.mssm.org/uploaded/STEM_Collaborative/2013_Educators’_Camp_Course_Selections_.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20101231104932/https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=0248c338123e8b6f51d4dcf743196464&tab=core&_cview=1

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

OtherLabs OtherCutter

Gotta collect them all. [↩]

RepRap Parts for Sale [Draft 04/07/2010]

[Yep. This was the whole blog post. I don’t know what happened to that set of parts, if I sold them, gave them away, or what. I hope I gave them away.]

I’ve made all of one Mendel part.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

RepRap and MakerBot alternatives [Draft 04/05/2010]

[Holy cow. Can you imagine a time when a person could singlehandedly have made a comprehensive list of all open source 3D printers in an afternoon?]

Here’s a list of all of the RepRap, RepStrap, and MakerBot open source 3d plastic FDM 3d printers I can find. When possible I’ve tried to link to the official site, helpful derivative sites, instructions, and parts. I’ve also included some notes.

RepRap – The ultimate in DIY personal fabrication technology. Source everything yourself and put it together!
1. Mendel –
  1. parts on ebay
  2. bearings – http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/kit9060
Darwin –
1. Ponoko Darwin Acrylic lasercut parts – http://www.ponoko.com/showroom/reprap/free-acrylic-reprap-v1-1–2083
Mini-Mendel
Isaac Mendel http://isaac-mendel.blogspot.com/
Fab@Home
MakerBot –
McWire – http://reprap.org/wiki/McWire_Cartesian_Bot_1_2#This_project_is_no_longer_actively_developed.___For_newer_mcwire_info.2C_please_see_http:.2F.2Fobjects.reprap.org.2Fwiki.2FDevelopment:McWire
ShaperCube –
1. http://wiki.shapercube.com/wagn/Shapercube_Assembly
Profound Devices –
1. http://www.profounddevices.com/
RepMan –
1. http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=168&category_id=5&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=100005
Tommilese –

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

Idea for Skeinforge settings… [Draft 03/27/2010]

Dialing in Skeinforge settings and calibrating a MakerBot can be a frustrating and time consuming process. I’m always tempted to just start tweaking settings and start printing. Part of the reason I’m impatient is that making a change to Skeinforge, printing a test, noting observations, and LRR1 is SOOOOoooo incredibly boring next to the magic of watching things materialize inside a MakerBot.

Now, I don’t want to it sound like I’m down on Skeinforge. It’s an incredible piece of software that does some amazing things. However, the dozens of identically sounding settings put me in the mind set of deer and headlights.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

Lather, rinse, repeat [↩]

First commissioned piece! [Draft 02/22/2010]

[That’s it. Just the title. I have no idea what this piece may have been, how much I was paid, or how long it took! I was just excited that my little 3D printer was making a little bit of money and started to share it with the world… before sitting in my drafts folder for … more than 15 years]

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

more things i learned [Draft 02/20/2010]

put screws through the opto endstops first – to make sure they’ll go through
put the hex key through the body in order to line up the spacers
not all spacers are the same size
the heads that bite into the ribbon cable are difficult to clamp on
Adjust the y tension pulley as best as you can before installation of the caps
clipping the heads off of ethernet cables is very satisfying

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

MY robot [Draft 02/18/2010]

There really is something special about having built this robot for myself. I know it pretty well how it works and why certain design and engineering decisions were made.

I’ve also modified and customized this robot as I’ve used it. I’ve moved the extruder board, rotated the motherboard to give me better access to the SD card, drilled a few holes in the sides, yanked out the opto-endstops, extended the wires running to the extruder motor, thermistor, and nichrome. I’ve even designed a few minor printable upgrades.

When my extruder stopped working (twice) I just took it apart. I know I’m not going to break it as I do so. And, hell, if I do break it I’ll just fix it.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

Rebuilding my extruder [Draft 02/16/2010]

[I put down the title and then did nothing. :) I suspect the other adjacent draft about printing with PLA was related to the need to re-re-re-build my extruder. The way extruders were built back then didn’t involve careful machining of custom nozzles and shaped channels for the plastic to flow. Instead, the PTFE tube went into the extruder and you kinda hoped for the best. If you had heat creep, didn’t cool down properly, etc, you had to disassemble everything and rebuild it all. But, such was the course of the hobbyist 3D printer enthusiast in the winter of 2010!]

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

How are you printing with PLA? [Draft 02/16/2010]

[There were two drafts with this title, one empty, and one with the single sentence below unfinished. Up until about January of 2010 I was printing in ABS which smelled bad and warped like crazy. But, it did print. When I started printing with PLA I found it difficult to work with, temperamental, wouldn’t melt or it would and then clog the extruder. I think at some point I suggested that PLA was only suitable for printing tears. Obviously, printers, PLA, and my maturity have come a long way since.]

I’d like to know, I really would.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts

Magic [Draft 02/03/2010]

[Reflecting back on this post is a little bittersweet. 2010 was an incredible time to be someone with a 3D printer at home. I remember Forrest Higgs’ detailed website about how he built his mostly wooden 3D printer. By my recollection, it was slow but accurate enough to make useable parts. Back then it was possible to read literally every single word published on the topic of 3D printers in about 30 minutes once a week – and I did. I read, and re-read, so many of Forrest’s posts leading up to and well after the purchase of my Cupcake. While Forrest’s site is no more, it lives on at Archive.org.]

Since I know basically nothing about how the actual electrical components of my MakerBot work, the entire thing is essentially magic to me. (OOooooh! Shiny lights!)

One of the things that kept me from buying a MakerBot in the beginning was the thought of trying to solder surface mount components. Admittedly, I wasn’t exactly a pro at soldering through hole components either, but the idea of soldering super tiny parts using a hot plate was certainly off-putting. I know the MakerBot guys said it is pretty easy, but I certainly had my doubts.

One of my favorite projects to monitor is Forrest Higgs progress on his Tommelise. His goal, as I understand from his blog, is to design/build a machine that could be built cheaply by a reasonably clever and motivated 12 year old. While the suggested cost of building a RepRap Darwin/Mendel is somewhere in the $500-$750 range, Forrest suggests a Tommelise could be built for as little as $150.

The trade off is that the Tommelise uses a lot of wood in its construction (cheap, but not RepRappable “vitamin” part), uses linear stepper motors, uses through-hole components so it doesn’t benefit from the nifty wizbang bits you can get in surface mount components, and prints slower than a RepRap. But, I keep thinking back to the breadboard prototypes Forrest puts up on site.

Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts