Category: Project

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Printing printer parts

TOG’s laserjet printer was mostly working, but the two buttons on top were stuck and unusable. Each button was supposed to have a little right-angled lever connecting it to its microswitch. The problem was that one lever had come out of its mounting, and the other one was missing altogether.

Button mechanism removed, showing where the missing lever should be.
The large button has its lever; the small one doesn’t.

Missing. Gone. Not rattling around inside the printer, or sitting in a corner of the classroom. Just gone. But we have one lever left. If only there was some way we could make a copy of it…

The part is composed of a few straightforward shapes which were modelled in OpenSCAD.

Part, sketched diagram and calipers.
Measuring the part for modelling.
OpenSCAD screenshot
Building the model in OpenSCAD.

Then the design was printed on the 3D printer.

3D printer head and half-finished print.
Printing in progress.

The first print didn’t work because there was too much of an overhang. The second, improved design didn’t stick properly to the bed (small fiddly prints benefit from a brim). The third one came out nicely.

L-R: original part, two failed prints, successful print
The learning curve.

After cutting away the brim and overhang support material, the new part fits under the button…

Same button mechanism, now with two levers.
Good as new.

… and the printer buttons are working again.

Grubby, but working, printer buttons.
Printer buttons working again.

(And if your HP2200dn has also lost its button levers, the STL file is up on Thingiverse.)

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Lemon Soap in Dublin

soapOn June 16 1904 in the novel Ulysses, Leopold Bloom got a bar lemon soap from Swenys chemist in Lincoln Place, Dublin. You can still do that to this day. He never paid for his! On Oct 13th 2013, we made lemon soap at TOG…..or lemon and oatmeal to be precise. It’s our first go at soap making, so we’ll have to see how it turns out. Like a fine wine, it needs time to mature now, so we’ll update the blog in a few weeks time. We might want some testers. If it all goes well, we might even do some more. Contact us, if you’re interested in soap making.

More pics here…….

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100047873@N08/sets/72157636518667775/

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The Open-Social and the Egg-Bot

This coming Saturday 17th August, is TOG’s regular open social. It’s a great opportunity to drop in, hang out and meet some of the members and visitors. The space will be open from afternoon until late. Bring beer, food, gadgets!

eggbot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also have a egg-bot kit. An egg-bot draws on eggs and other similarly shaped objects, such as light bulbs and ping pong balls. We’ll be assembling the kit during the evening and trying to get it running. You can read all about the egg-bot here….. http://egg-bot.com/   Come in and give us a hand!

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Craft Night quilt at MakerFaire2013

Dublin Mini Maker Faire logo Dublin Mini Maker Faire 2013 has come and gone. We’ve been recapping a few of the projects displayed at the event, like the Bubble Bird House, and the Twitter Knitter. The Craft Nighters* got in on the action as well, and contributed squares towards a patchwork quilt. The type of squares is varied, including crochet, hand knit, machine knit, embroidery, blackwork, patchwork (meta), and decorative uses of beads, buttons, and googly eyes. Rather than losing some of the detail by making them conform to a strict patchwork quilt, we instead chose a looser arrangement to better showcase the talent and variety of our dedicated crafters.

Crafters quilt at Maker Faire, with Twitter Knitter

* Craft Night happens every second Tuesday from 7pm. It’s free, and open to all crafts. Simply, people show up and work on their projects. It’s great having others around who can help you out if you get stuck/confused, or just to chat with (and find out the best crafting suppliers). Get in touch and come along!

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