Just came home from NYC Maker Faire at the NY Hall of Science. Some highlights…
MakerBots were in full force – they were everywhere, not just at the MakerBot Industries booth (seen here) but at the booths of many designers.
Bamboo bikes by Bamboo Bike Studio. Only metal parts are forks, rear drops, bottom bracket, seat, and head tubes. All else is bamboo, epoxy, and carbon fiber tape.
Ultimaker (web pic – mine from Faire were too blurry!)
Though Makerbot (MB) obviously had the most presence at the Faire, I was impressed by the Ultimaker, made by a Dutch team. Elegant design (no electronics hanging off the sides) and a nice large bed over 64 sq in. Unfortunately it costs more than the MB (€1200 ) and they have to ship from the Netherlands. Curious to see where this thing goes.
Since purchasing the Bridgeport mill this year, I’ve been trying to learn as much as possible about more refined techniques of metalworking and machining. As we all know, YouTube videos are a wonderful resource for learning anything, and metalwork is no exception (I’ve been recently been watching videos by tubelcain (mrpete222)). The author of MachinistBlog has recently put together a new site called MachinistVideos.com which aims to be a pool for all the best in machining videos. I’m planning to spend a good amount of time over there.