https://buildlist.org

A directory of on-demand manufacturers.

#3dprinting #laser #cnc #sticker #packaging #printing #PCB #metalCasting

Edit: source - https://n-o-d-e.net/buildlist.html (or their YT update announcement video).

#SciArtSeptember Day 10: Algae

(This was going to be cast in brass, until some guy dropped it on the ground and utterly destroyed it. An incomplete process photo is the only thing left)

I arranged found Araucaria leaves so they evoked the motion of algae in water.

#sculpture #process #leaves #araucaria #metalCasting #abstract #nature #wax #SciArt #ContemporaryArt

I don't know if this qualifies for #SciArtSeptember Day 1: Fluid. @kristinHenry : You started this, right? what do you think?

It's brass in its liquid form, being used in my old metal casting class, to make the little brass sculpture on my profile pic. Also, as that sculpture is a cast of wood tunneled by xylophagous insects, I consider it #SciArt , but a photo of liquid metal isn't 🤔

#metalCasting #process #PhonePhotography

Nothing makes a day brighter than glowing molten metals.

#Metalcasting #Bronze #Sandcasting

I've been wracking my brain trying to use FOSS tools (both #OpenSCAD and #FreeCAD) to try to generate proper pattern draft (that is, a taper in the Z-axis direction) for generated text.
This is for actual #metalcasting, using sand molds, and so the draft on the pattern is not merely aesthetic - it's a requirement for pattern removal.
So far, even on my rather beefy workstation with 64GB of RAM, the tools really cannot handle the work. It may very easily be that - at least in the case of OpenSCAD - I am insufficiently experienced, and there may be a much more computationally-tractable technique.

But today - or maybe last night? - it occurred to me that I may be able to go about this entirely differently, and generate the pattern draft by treating the whole thing as, effectively, no different from a #lithophane

1) Generate an image of the text that I'm trying to cast, black text on white BG.
2) Use image tools (Probably #GIMP as it's the thing I have and best know how to use - even if the name should be changed) to turn that strict B/W image into a greyscale height map.

In this scenario, the grey value of a pixel represents the height above the datum plane. The all-black text being at maximum height, and the all-white BG being zero height. A "blurred gradient shadow" type effect applied to the text then gives some arbitrary pattern draft, and the work I do to select and/or generate this blur will determine the parameters of the draft...

This guy is metal-casting and melting glass... with his microwave, ridiculously low energy consumption 🤯

Having solar panels, I could go back to metal casting thanks to him.

Here's his channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ShakeTheFuture/videos

#maker #MetalCasting #YouTube