MakerBeam as a tool

You can find this story and a short video on our blog.

on 12-02-2012 Msquare wrote:

Attached a few snapshots of, not so much a project, as a short-and-quick tool: I needed to wind a handfull of electromagnetic coils. One motor to turn the coil, and something to move the winding wire to-and-fro so the wire is densly packed. I have plenty of spare motors and other stuff .. if only I could get something to hold them in place that was simple yet effective...? ! Yes- The new Makerbeam stuff!

The first picture shows the first evening (an hour or so) mounting the first stepper motor. Pure Makebeam stuff.
Then the second motor was mounted and for that I cut a little aluminium strip and drilled a few holes. The plate was attached to a makerbeam using the usual screw/nuts.

Although I prefer to keep my Makebeams "unharmed" so they are resuable, "the exception proves the rule": So I drilled a 6mm hole in one makerbeam, which made an aluminium tube/axel fit very snugly. (no additional screws required. It wont budge)

It only took a handfuld of hours (this weekend) - and it is the best piece of mechanical infra structure I have made for any of my projects. That makes me a very happy Makebeam owner.

The last picture shows a truism of most (of my) projects. They are a mixture of Mechanics, Electronics, and Programming. So the Makerbeam bit, although as essential as the rest, is just one part. (Extreemly short video of the machine in Demo mode available on request :-) ) It is not quiet finished yet. It needs to proove itself. The software needs a tweak or two and something to hold the other end of the coilcore.

Kind Regards,
Msquare