Mon 16 May 2011
Posted by Marcin
The Open Source CNC Torch Table has achieved first fire and is now cutting parts for the open source tractor:
Open Source CNC Torch Table: First Fire from Open Source Ecology on Vimeo. Sound track is Epic 1 by Joe Post, True Fan.
This is a sample cut through 1/2″ steel. It’s remarkably smooth, prior to cleaning the slag off the edges:
Wed 11 May 2011
Posted by Marcin
The open source CNC Torch Table is now working (download Torch Table CAD file here). We aim to start cutting tractor parts with it today. We tested it first with a marker on a dry-erase board for replicability. This shows that a toolpath can be re-produced reliably. (Read the tutorial for converting CAD files to manufacturing (CAM) files here)
Open Source CNC Torch Table Shakedown from Open Source Ecology on Vimeo.
We’re getting approximately 1/32 inch repeatability for 4 passes over the same region – see photo of line detail. The first 2 passes are black, the last 2 passes are red:
The gradations on the tape measure are 1/16″.
Wed 10 Feb 2010
Posted by Marcin
We’re now in production of the open source, Compressed Earth Block (CEB) press. Here we document the fabrication ergonomics for the first steps in the build. This is for those of you considering replication.
It took 11.5 hours to cut the steel for The Liberator Beta v2.0 CEB press according to this cut list. This involved punching some of the holes, shearing, and bending – care of the local fab shop.
It took me 2 hours to build the press foot:
It took 2 hours to build the grate. Here is the grate with spacers between rebar prior to welding:
So far, the total is 15.5 hours of fabrication. If we had a hole puncher, we could probably save ourselves 2 hours of outsourced labor. So here’s our design of the hole puncher, to be built – as part of an ironworker machine:
The dxf files are here, so you can download them and continue the design if you want to get involved. This is an invitation to collaboration, starting with the wiki. First part of the ironworker is a hole puncher, and second step is metal shears for up to 12 inch wide metal, 1″ thick. The shears could save us a few more hours of outsourced labor.
There are holes on the u-channel that don’t lend themselves to hole punching, so these will be drilled using the FeF Multimachine in-the-making.
Hey, look, I found two, scrap six cylinder, in-line, 300 cubic inch Ford engine blocks in the back of the pickup.
That will be the start of the next version of the Multimachine.
Cutting out the hopper took about an hour.
If we had RepTab, the open source torch table up and running already – we could cut the 1/8″ sheet in about 5 minutes at the rated cutting speed of our 60 amp plasma cutter. So here’s a case for spending 2 dedicated weeks to get RepTab shaken down into full running condition.
In the meantime, William has been learning MIG welding in preparation for his arrival in May. Here’s a video:
He is also learning QCad, so we’ll hit the ground running on design and build of a new civilization.
Tue 26 Jan 2010
Posted by Marcin
RepTab, our open source torch table – was featured in the January edition of MAKE Zine. Read the full article online at MAKE. You can follow the history of this development in former blog posts. Read more about RepLab – the Open Source Fab Lab – of which RepTab is a part.
Sun 25 Oct 2009
Posted by Lawrence
As of 10/24/09, I am no longer on site at FeF. I would like to thank:
Ok, onto the goods. This is the list of things I was supposed to complete. It turned out that most of these were unrealistic to complete in a month and others fell into the category of “learning while doing” which also falls outside of the scope of this project.
What was accomplished was …
Plus lots of documentation, and … sparks!
Here is the final photo that recaps the whole project.
The Goggles, the Goggles!
Plus a Video! Wow!
Plasma Cutter in Action from Lawrence Kincheloe on Vimeo.
And, because I promised three articles about the nature of open source hardware and business models… it kind of became one… so without further ado, “The Goods”:
Musings Upon the Nature of Open Source Hardware as a Business
(more…)
Sun 4 Oct 2009
Posted by Lawrence
The second month of my Dedicated Project Visit started last week. This month will focus on three main tasks that each build on the work completed successfully last month.
Some of the things I’m most excited about the above points are:
Open Source Torch Table Part 6 from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.
Chip in:
Mon 28 Sep 2009
Posted by Lawrence
I’ve been working fast and furious on another one month project proposal and finishing up the Torch Table. Saturday I hit a milestone which I thought I would share. We have possibly the largest, open source, computer controlled drawing table!
See the progress:
Torch Table Build Part 4 from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.
And:
Torch Table Part 5 from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.
Chip In: we still have a way to go:
Mon 21 Sep 2009
Posted by Marcin
Exactly one month has passed since Lawrence arrived. Here is an update, continuing from the last post on the project, up to the progress of one week ago:
Torch Table Build Part 3 – Rails from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.
For those interested, here is a discussion of some of the electronics issues, here is another video:
Torch Table Build Part 2 – Electronics from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.
Lawrence will continue with an update up to the present point. Here is the funding basket for the project, so chip in:
Fri 11 Sep 2009
Posted by Lawrence
The Table Project was detailed here, and you can see my commitments for the project here. Here is a choppy update of the Torch Tables progress:
Torch Table Build Part 1 from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.
I wanted to say a little something about what this one month project experience has been like. Its hard to describe to people just how different living here can be. I understood that coming in, but what I didn’t understand completely was how much the project itself would be the complete focus of my time here. I had grand visions of finishing in a week or two, and here I am with almost all the parts on the ground struggling to get the accuracy on the rails that I wanted.
Forgive the length of the post, I usually strive for brevity.
“It takes about three weeks to get use to living here.â€
The first day you’rr filled with a grand passion to finish your project right then and there. The preceding weeks were a back and forth refinement of the project visit proposal, till you are so sure you could blow through the whole thing in a week, two weeks at the most. After the second week, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll realize how even the best laid plans will take longer than expected. At some point when things stop looking so rosy you begin to condense into your pure objective, The Project. It becomes the singular measurement of success, and thus the swells and troughs of expected success continue, so does your mood. In short, it takes an objective outlook to see past the details and understand how to salvage the core of the project from unrealistic expectation.
“If life isn’t interesting enough to make up your own quotes then you’re doing something wrong.â€
By the second week you’ve come to grips with the living conditions or you’ve already packed up for home. This place is built upon the dreams of the men and women who come here. Each of them leave a little part of themselves here in what they contributed. By the second week you’ve also realized what this place is and what it means. Its a dream made manifest, kept alive by the people who volunteer their time and a measure of their vitae. Like all dreams, the meaning of this place twists and turns until the daylight hours blow away the mist and leave in their place the fixed stark reality of once lofty dreams. In short, you either get it or you don’t.
“All this has happened before, and all this will happen again.”
By the third week you’re terribly shaken. Events out of your control degrade the living conditions, distort the project you’re so focused on, and inevitably it is the nature of humanity to rub each other raw somehow. If your lucky you will learn, re-learn, or learn anew the meaning of perseverance in the face of adversity. It is this forging of the spirit with the hope of self betterment that makes enduring hardship – and in truth life itself – worth it. Our peers and mentors can help or hurt us, but it resides in each of us the capacity to overcome any obstacle if we are willing to submit our body and selves to the tasks before us. In short, it took three weeks to master the composting toilet, and let me tell you what a relief that was!
“I will say though that there is such a thing as too interesting a life.â€
By the fourth week, you’re thinking about what you want to do next – and if another project visit or going home are on the agenda. Either way you go, you wake up feeling liberated. The major trials are behind you and all that’s left is to buckle down and finish what you can of your one month project and look forward to the time left. This place, this catch of dreams, draws forth the most interesting of people. In the beginning you come here for the chance to work on an amazing project, but you remember most of all the people you meet and the experiences you take back. In short, the aspirations of the people at FeF dictate the flavor of the place.
~~~~~
It is still an open question as to the contents of the rest of my stay here. Keep us all here honest with your feedback, as the value in this sort of work lays within its utility to those who come after. In exchange I will continue to keep everyone updated, and look forward to the day my contributions find use.
Lawrence Reed Kincheloe III, On-site Torch Table Expert
P.S. My benevolent Overlord wants me to pump the Torch Table funding basket shamelessly. Funding the Torch Table project and projects like it help ensure that the selfless, unpaid, volunteer work done here can continue. *nudge nudge*
Wed 2 Sep 2009
Posted by Marcin
Lawrence has finalized the open source torch table design, after 11 days at Factor e Farm. 
Today, we are preparing the workshop space and he’s putting together the frame. Our goal is to complete the prototype in the stated 30 day period.
The design has come a long way since our initial work from 2008 and redesign of 2009. The open source torch table has now reached the technical design stage, according to our open source product development method. 
The project is part of our flexible fabrication workshop infrastructure,
which we discussed initially in an earlier post.
We now have the completed and documented design for an open source, GPL license or compatible, CNC torch table. You can download the Blender design file, which is dimensionally correct and contains the entire design. This design is now up for review, so please comment if you have experience with building CNC machines, or if you can direct other qualified individuals to this work.
We challenge, once again, anybody to propose any further simplification that does not reduce performance. The design uses stock steel throughout, with consistency of parts in the x, y, and z directions. The only fabrication requirement is bolting, after all the steel is cut. This lends itself well to selling CNC torch table kits at competitive cost, especially because the torch table is designed to be self-replicating. With a plasma torch head, one can cut out all the metal parts required to build another torch table!
In this sense, RepRap is our brother, and in fact, we will join the happy family of Arduino controller and RepRap motor drivers to reduce the electronics costs of future torch tables by about 75% below the present $460. The dream of open source fabrication infrastructure is coming alive – at Factor e Farm.
We have a complete bill of materials (BOM). Complete sourcing information is provided in the BOM. The summary BOM is shown here for reference, including parts we bought and outstanding parts:
The torch table features designed into the Prototype 1 build include:
These are the technical merits. We must add on the organizational milestones. Lawrence is presently succeeding in doubling Factor e Farm’s technical development capacity under his Dedicated Project Visit (DPV) – by demonstrating capacity to succeed in his stated goals. This has encouraging implications for scaling the project in general – as Lawrence is well on his way to demonstrating the power of well-thought out DPVs in terms of their ability to move design and build efforts forward. Personally, I am inspired – because we’re seeing that aligned effort can accomplish a great deal.
The above should be compelling reason for supporting our first torch table prototype build – as a part of a greater process towards optimized, open source product release. We’re equipped with a robust design, initial review is complete, we invite any further comments, and we are ready to move. Our outstanding costs are $800 for the Everlast plasma cutter , and under $600 for remaining gantry parts – for a total outstanding cost of $1358 including shipping. See BOM above. And then, ChipIn:
Hear Lawrence’s comment on the topic: (more…)
