Jim Wink's Make Blog

As mentioned in my last post I had ordered two new spools and a pen holder from MarginallyClever . Since then I've received these items and added them to my setup. I also went out and got the most recent code from the Makelangelo repository on Github . Finally I stopped at a local craft supply store and bought some nicer Faber Castell art pens. All this together has produced some rather nice results. To the left is a photo of my 7-year old son after a fresh haircut. The photo, incidentally, was one of the first I'd ever taken with our new Canon 4ti. It's "first light" as it were. This drawing was done with one of the sharper dry-erase markers I'd purchased earlier. Despite wider tip, it still worked out pretty well. One thing to note here: some lines have been removed from the image the software originally created. I found out that once the software finished loading a JPEG (or other) image and converting it, it stores the gcode in a file called "Wi...

I recently spent some more time working on my Drawbot, which is now called a Makelangelo . I don't mind the name change since that makes it easier to find in web searches. I'm not sure of the source of my renewed interest. Possibly because the awesome folks at MarginallyClever.com are frequently making updates to both software and hardware. Possibly also because, like many makers, every so often I get the urge to make something. Or in this case, improve on what I've already made. One of the first changes I made was to how the stepper motors were attached. I still like the idea of not attaching the motors to the board directly. I instead attached them to these corner units I created that hang off the board proper. The reason I do this is because I keep thinking I'll make a bigger board eventually. Building these units once and then shifting them to a new board should, in theory, be easy. Anyway, during a trip to a local hardware store I found some Nylon or plastic...