8-Bit Hack http://www.8bithack.com Aberrations in Electronics and 8-Bit Hackery Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:36:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 The Hammer http://www.8bithack.com/2011/04/the-hammer/ http://www.8bithack.com/2011/04/the-hammer/#comments Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:36:24 +0000 cholloway http://www.8bithack.com/?p=253 One of the first projects I decided on when I bought my lathe was a brass hammer.  There were several reasons for this choice.  First, a hammer has a fairly simple profile and seemed apt for a first project.  Second, I gave me the opportunity to learn/improve several different skills in one project.  Third, I wanted [...]]]> http://www.8bithack.com/2011/04/the-hammer/feed/ 0 Learning a workflow http://www.8bithack.com/2011/04/learning-a-workflow/ http://www.8bithack.com/2011/04/learning-a-workflow/#comments Sat, 09 Apr 2011 05:48:24 +0000 cholloway http://www.8bithack.com/?p=245 I’ve been learning all kinds of new things over the last two weeks since getting my laser table up and running under computer control.  Working out a good workflow for going from drawing to tool paths to gcode to finished project running on the table is not the easiest thing in the world.  I am currently [...]]]> http://www.8bithack.com/2011/04/learning-a-workflow/feed/ 0 Quick and simple tach project http://www.8bithack.com/2011/03/quick-and-simple-tach-project/ http://www.8bithack.com/2011/03/quick-and-simple-tach-project/#comments Sat, 26 Mar 2011 09:22:58 +0000 cholloway http://www.8bithack.com/?p=228 When I bought my mini lathe, one of the first things I noticed is that there is a port on the control panel for a tachometer.  Unfortunately, the official tach costs about $127 and looks like this.  I decided that since the port was already there and the tach just plugged right in, the signal must [...]]]> http://www.8bithack.com/2011/03/quick-and-simple-tach-project/feed/ 0 Working with metal http://www.8bithack.com/2011/03/working-with-metal/ http://www.8bithack.com/2011/03/working-with-metal/#comments Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:48:07 +0000 cholloway http://www.8bithack.com/?p=214 I recently decided to upgrade my home shop a bit with some metal working tools.  I bought a 6″ bench grinder, a metal-cutting band saw and a 7×16 mini lathe.  I’ve also been looking around at all the various options for mini lathes and I’ve mostly decided on one particular brand.  Unfortunately, it isn’t in stock [...]]]> http://www.8bithack.com/2011/03/working-with-metal/feed/ 0 Lets get mechanical http://www.8bithack.com/2010/11/lets-get-mechanical/ http://www.8bithack.com/2010/11/lets-get-mechanical/#comments Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:40:13 +0000 cholloway http://www.8bithack.com/?p=206 Mechanical!

Finished up the mechanical part of the cutter.  The X/Y/Z table is done and everything is moving great.  It went together really well other than a few small issues.  Once I got the gantry on the y-axis rails, I noticed it started binding up about halfway up the rails.  It took a lot of tweaking, loosening, [...]]]> http://www.8bithack.com/2010/11/lets-get-mechanical/feed/ 0