A lot of Commodores!

Last night I drove from my home town of Dexter to Grand Rapids Michigan to pick up a bunch of new/old Commodore PET computer I purchased off eBay. Round trip was about 250 miles which is a very long drive in my pick-up truck. I wanted to take the 944, it has cruise control, but there was no way I was going to fit 4 PET computers and two 8050 dual drive units in the car. The individual I purchase the computer from, John, was a very friendly fellow. We chatted about the good old days of computing while loading up the truck. I think his wife was happy to see them go. The weather was starting to turn so I had to cut the visit short. With my precious new find secured in the bed of the truck I headed home. I skirted several thunderstorms but my cargo made it home safe and dry.

Why the BlackBerry is better than iPhone

Error message courtesyof my friend Andrew Smith

Makerbot Part Comparison

Here is a part comparison between the Makerbot and Dimension Elite fabricated at 0.3mm and 0.178 mm layer resolutions respectively. Building Salty on the Dimension Elite is a snap as it takes care of overhangs automatically with support structure. It is a bit more difficult on the Makerbot. First I had to widen the base to keep Salty firmly attached to the Automated Build Platform. Next I braced Salties chin by molding a small 0.75mm x 4mm brace which you can see in the previous post. After the brace was removed a bit of scaring remained but overall the Makerbot is quite an impressive $1,300 kit! 

Part Fabrication on the Makerbot

This is a bust of a sailor affectionately known as Salty created for the UM3D Labs VR CAVE by Andrew Smith. I am using a custom profile with a layer resolution of 0.3mm and a low density fill. I will share the settings shortly.

Gear lube for the Porsche 944 S2

On cold mornings the transaxel has been a little crunchy. I took it to the local oil change shop where they did it for free! I have no idea if the transmition fluid had ever been changed but it shifts like new again :)

Mileage to date: 108,000

Say Hello to MakerBot

Here is the UM3D Lab's new MakerBot; a $1,300 kit you put together yourself.  It took about 60 hours to assemble requiring some cutting, soldering and a lot of patience. Initially, the kit came with the MK-5 extruder which used a DC motor to drive the filament. This setup lasted about 2 hours before the controller gave up.  The MK-6 upgrade kit resolved the issue a new controller and stepper motor and includes the experimental 1.75 mm filament feed. IMHO, this is a huge improvement as the tension adjuster is eliminated. 

Part Fabrication Using a Dimension Elite

A very nice gift, my loving wife got me this RC helicopter on her trip to Japan. Being my first remote controlled aircraft, I naturally crashed and burned several times before finally breaking a stabilizer connecting rod. I was able to model the part in Solid Works and fabricate it in ABS plastic using our Dimension Elite FDM. The part is very small. Only 2mm wide, 14 mm long, and .7 mm thick (about 4 layers); any smaller and it wouldn't have worked.

"We can rebuild him — We have the technology" - Richard Anderson, The Six Million Dollar Man