New Slider Rig!
You may have noticed that we have an intro video when this website is viewed from a computer. Well we're making a better one and redoing the website! We needed some moving shots so we decided to draw up & build this: The $15 Camera Slider!
The $15 Slider finished!
The CAD design rendered.
This thing is pretty versatile in that its surface & tripod mountable and it can operate right side up or upside down:
You might recognize the shot this BTS picture is from.
All in all, it works great and we're stoked on the increased production quality it provides. Not bad for $15!
Revolution in Design & Manufacturing
Talking about why now is an exciting time to be involved in product design & manufacturing is one of my favorite topics. The software & hardware development throughout our industry in recent times is too cool!
Autodesk & Us
I had a great time speaking at an Autodesk event in Orange County last night. I have a great relationship with these guys and we couldn't ask for a better company to work with; awesome support at all hours of the day.
It was a pleasure meeting people from various facets of design and manufacturing; especially so with a Project Lead The Way high school engineering teacher as this was the way I got started in CAD/CAM years ago.
American Manufacturing
It's rare that I post other peoples content but if you have 23 minutes, this is worth the watch. The push for American manufacturing really resonates with us and we're working hard to make it happen.
These Kids Are Smart!
A normal day for me is anything but 'normal' as any entrepreneur / business owner can relate to. Spending two days teaching a group of 24 middle schoolers about engineering, design, and CAD at the Ventura BioCenter was something new to me though and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I have done! I was blown away by how fast these kids picked things up and it's so cool to know that some of them are stoked to continue building their skills!
Had to snag a selfie with the kids before my intro presentation.
Can you believe they came up with these designs after only a few hours of CAD training?
Some of the Most Advanced 3D Printers on the Market
It was cool to attend the Statasys event at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator yesterday. Their newest generation of machines have some serious capabilities at even more serious prices. I was happy to see that price is certainly not proportional to performance; our specialized and customized in-house 3D printers aren't too far off in terms of print quality in many areas.
The Objet 1000 & J750 in action.
Some widgets created on the new Stratasys J750.
Scale F1 car print. This was a 65 hour print using about $1k in material alone.
Large prints created on the Objet 1000.
Disrupter in Green Tech Event
These Tech in Motion events immerse us in the vibrance and innovation of the Los Angeles startup scene. It's awesome to be in such company of like-minded startups looking towards a sustainable & environmentally friendly future.
First floor of the awesome blAckwelder venue. The calm before the storm.
Our sustainability oriented booth.
Talked with so many entrepreneurs in green tech.
Had the pleasure of talking manufacturing with the president of the company who makes this automated parking structure. Pretty cool stuff!
Designing with Autodesk
I wrote a little post over on the Autodesk site about the software we use and my thoughts on present & future of design and manufacturing. Love working with these guys!
Visit to Haas Automation
Enjoyed touring Haas Automation today. We're local to each other and it was awesome to see American manufacturing at its finest.
Yard of castings. One of the few outsources components.
Pretty typical assembly factory layout.
I used to do robot end of arm tool design so it was cool to see automated manufacturing implemented.
Tool changer on the biggest mill I've ever seen.
The 5 axis that cut the Formula 1 car plugs.
Tool changer assemblies.
Making chips. This is the machine I came to look at. *hint hint*