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Who loves wooden gears? We do! We do! Wooden hand high five all around for a tool that helps you create the gears and the templates to crank those creations. The Gear template generator from woodgears.ca is a magical web-based tool (probably) using little wooden mathematical gears on the back end to output a 2D downloadable file, that you can also print, slap on a piece of cardboard, plywood, acrylic or other material and cut out.
A quick note to all you digital dreamers. Until September 22nd, anything ordered from Ponoko out of cardboard or card will only cost your laser time + shipping, making it a little cheaper to try out the geometry of that backscratcher/fruit bowl you’ve been cooking up in Solidworks before you commit to plywood. Both the New Zealand and USA facilities are offering this and you don’t even need a promo code.
Ponoko, the New Zealand based purveyor of laser cutting services has been rolling out additional services this year under the name Personal Factory. In the past, they’ve added services such as 3D printing and have provided access to a huge catalog of electronics components. Now, they’re announced one more way to butcher that beautiful, flat-packed wood. Now, they are bringing us CNC routing with the new launch of Personal Factory 5. But that’s not all. They’re also launching maker apps – through the Ponoko App Gateway. What does this mean for you? It opens up larger-scale production to everyone and provides tools to make designing products easier than ever. Designers are going to have to rely on their abilities to make things prettier and more materials efficient than the average Joe. Or, if you’re like me, just learn to use those tools well and be lazier with your designs.
You may have guessed it would happen. You may have seen a small group of children exiting a school yard in a zombie-like state chanting, “FEED US, FEED US EASY TO USE 3D SOFTWARE.” No doubt to create and manufacture some killer Barbie/Truck mods. Same for the maker crowd. Is there any 3D software created specifically around the idea of DIY? Easy enough for anyone to use, create and send off to make? I, as would many others, say, NO… not until now.
Autodesk is launching a new modeling program into the maker-sphere. A free program, an easy program focused directly on getting that idea out of the digital space and into the living space. It’s Autodesk 123D and it’s the first time we’ve seen a 3D software company officially team up with DIY fab friends, Ponoko and Techshop. Here’s what to look forward to.
If you ever go ridding a horse bareback through plate glass windows, you may often wonder how to reduce the amount of scarring by attaching a thin acrylic shield around yourself and the horse. I propose Ponoko as the single best resource for creating such a shield. However, you don’t want children attempting to try such dangerous equestrian activities quite yet.
In that case, I still propose Ponoko as a violence-free resource for instructing children about the wonders and possibilities in design using laser cut material. Ponoko is onto the idea. They’ve put together Ponoko project guides to get you, and anyone interested, started in the process of creating your design ideas, start to finish. Saddle up.
I know, you may be 5 layers of neon-green acrylic away from overdosing on your custom design addiction. Too bad, it’s about to get 1,000x worse. Ponoko and CloudFab have teamed up to combine the goodness of 2D laser-cut design and the multi-dimensionality of 3D printing to bring you… Personal Factory 4.
This is probably one of the best ideas to happen in the diy-fab scene yet. Ponoko has always been the source for custom laser-cut design. Now, they bring material suppliers, fabbers, creators and DIYers together to release the 4-headed hydra of product design delight.
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Ready. Aim. Rapid-prototype your freagin’ cool idea before someone else does. That’s exactly what Stu Fingerhut did with his gun rack organizer, fully-loaded to help you clean-up that mess gathering on your entryway table.
The Process? Modeled in SolidWorks, rendered in PhotoWorks, and manufactured via Ponoko. It’s the steps that a lot of designers and engineers with great ideas are using to introduce new products and get their name out there.
Stu Fingerhut is a designer currently attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, studying Environmental Design. [Personal site][ponoko profile]
Take a look, after the break, at the process he went through from model and rendering to concept and final product. I think you’ll agree – What good is a AK-47 if it’s laying in your drawer? No good at all. Model it up in SolidWorks, make some renderings, revamp for manufacturing and add some use to it by creating a functional piece of art. Rockin’ Cool Stu.
I’ve covered a little of what Ponoko does with their laser-cut, create your design approach to manufacturing. Coupled with the ability to sell your own design, it’s simply the most unique and creative DIY site out there.
Their blog is no less and has been one of my favorite to read some time. A group of their latest latest articles not only give you insight into manufacturing, but really show the talent and breadth of the Ponoko blogging crew and what they write about.
Interested in making something via the Ponoko rapid prototyping design site, but not quite sure about how to go about it?
You’re in luck, they’ve just release a new service called Ponoko ID that allows you to request a design. You list a price, its sent to some designer and after one has picked it, you’ll be getting your fresh idea in the mail in no time… flat, so to speak.
How does it work? It’s very simple, and if you’ve used sites like odesk, the process is very similar. Check it out.
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