Wheelhouse #11

Print Transfer, Press Forming, and Typing

Wheelhouse is a newsletter for makers that covers new materials, techniques, and tools.

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Transfer Print onto Wood

Getting markings onto wood can be useful for decoration as well as a precise guide for further processing. Fix This Build That offers five ways to get prints to transfer from normal paper and onto wood, and TheCrafsMan also has a neat trick for using the backing paper from adhesive labels. (via Adam)

Shaping Sheet Metal

Proto G shows us that 3D-printed PLA dies are strong enough to bend small metal parts with a giant press brake. Alas, most of us are not lucky enough to have an industrial metal shop handy, but Stuff Made Here managed to 3D-print a system for making a more complicated part in a smaller press. A slightly larger press and a bunch of rubber sheets is used by this experimental aircraft builder. And even a vise will do, if the parts are small enough. (When using a vise in this manner, either clamp in the center or use a dummy load on the opposite side per page 5 of the manual.)

Directly from Caliper to CAD

When I’m designing a part in CAD, much of the early project is spent measuring things with calipers and typing them into the CAD tool. However, many inexpensive calipers have a digital output that can be connected to a computer as a virtual keyboard, either via a cable or wirelessly. And if you want to shell out the big money, Mitutoyo will happily sell you a cable.

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