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Laser Cutter and S&P Prototype

Last Saturday, I took an intro class to laser cutting at TechShop. Unfortunately Kaho wasn't able to make it.

The first half of the class consisted of a discussion of the many scenarios in which the laser cutter could catch fire and burn the entire building down. Apparently this happened to one of HP's buildings at some point.

Undaunted, we bravely cut and etched a piece of scrap wood. The process is quite simple, but it was obvious that with each new material and design, there's a process of trial and error to find the right parameters on the machine -- the right balance of speed and power. I'm excited to start my own projects on the cutter the first of which will be something really simple.

While at TechShop, I also picked up my first salt and pepper prototype. Very exciting, as it's also my first output from the 3D prototyping machine. The S&P turned out pretty much as I'd pictured them. There are a few things that need refinement, but ultimately, I'm very happy with this first result. And it's incredible to see how your design was created, almost as though a tiny tube of toothpaste was methodically squeezed to form the structure in 3D.

The tray (or plugplate) came with support material stuck to the bottom of it, which I easily peeled off.

Bird

A bird that looks like a hummingbird is on the tree outside my window, though I can't get a photo that's not a little blurry.

LA Woman

I visited Kat in LA this weekend. I was 13 on my last trip to LA, and remember riding a bus with local teenage girls and admiring their paint spattered shirts, fluorescent fingerless gloves and industrial neck chains. Being that fingerless gloves have already come and gone again, it's been a long time.

Huntington Beach was resplendent with implants and fake tans. While Kat surfed, I claimed the title of whitest person on the beach. After, we found a great antique shop where I bought a canary yellow mod '60s dress -- the kind that's cut in half in the middle and connected by plastic links. I'd been wanting
one for a long time.

LA car culture manifested itself in a tricked out hearse.

That night we hit some kind of eco party benefit, and met the Eco-Hawk.

Other highlights include a fantastic meal at Wabi Sabi; a drink at The Other Room (apparently related to New York's Rooms); meeting Kat's friend Milena; brunch with Danielle, a grad school friend; wandering around Santa Monica; seeing Kat's gorgeous little neighborhood of bungalows; checking out H.D. Buttercup, a huge furniture showroom housed in a wonderful old art deco bakery; and Kwik-E-Mart madness.

Almost there...

We are rewarded for our patience.

 

CNC Milling Machine

Today, Kaho and I took another class taught by Hung – an introduction to the CNC milling machine. The machine can apparently cut on three axes. We got to mill a little gear pattern into squares of aluminum with a round bit.

After learning about the milling machine, I moved on to my other project, the salt and pepper shakers made on the 3D printer. I made a slight modification to the lid to my salt shaker, and asked Hung to print one of all three parts. Apparently, they're now printed and waiting for me at TechShop.

First Days at TechShop

A couple weeks ago, I met Kaho, while giving away plastic hangers on Freecycle; she's a fashion designer, and wanted them for her fabrics. Having both recently moved from New York to San Francisco, and being interested in design and technology, we have a lot in common. We've started driving to classes at TechShop in Menlo Park together.

We took the first class a couple weeks ago – an intro to 3D printing taught by Hung Nguyen. We were inspired.

A couple days ago, we took another class with Hung, who taught us CAD basics in Autodesk. I drew up a salt and pepper set, shaped like a plug plate and sockets. Imagine a plug plate sitting horizontally on the table, and the two sockets extruded upward from the plate, to form the salt and pepper. The holes for the electrical prongs become the perforations for the salt and pepper to come out. I managed to get a whole draft done in the class. Hung was very generous, and gave us several hours, rather than just one. His son came in to help too, so the instructor to student ratio was very good.

After Hung checks over the drawing, I plan to create a version of the S&P on the 3D printer, to see how it looks. This will be my first rapid prototyped object, and I’m really excited about it.