If you find yourself burning numerous copies of disks to share photos, movies or music with your friends and family, this device would be a big time saver. Called the Automatic 25 DVD Duplicator, it rips up to 25 CDs or DVDs at a time and without a computer – letting you conveniently make numerous copies wherever you can find a wall outlet. … Read More

Originally posted 2009-10-03 05:30:54.

For those that are interested in making custom parts for your next DIY project, this mill is a very cost effective way to make your next project the GEEKER way.  This was the cheapest CNC setup I found that had the quality and precision I was looking for.  Imagine, cutting metal or plastic parts using your computer designed drawing.  Sweet!!!  Just one step closer to building a robot to take over the world…. Hee Hee Hee

I purchased the Proxxon MF70 with the CNC conversion from JakobsTools for about $1,400.  A great online store that is a licensed distributor of Proxxon tools (ask for TJ).  This Mill is made by a German company that specializes in small high quality tools for hobbyists and  jewelers.  I beleive its primarily used by jewelers to carve wax for casting.  But having said that, this will be perfect for cutting out the parts I need to make my small robotic projects.  I actually own a Sherline Mill and Lathe, but without the CNC conversion. And to get it converted would cost me more than purchasing this mill.  So, now I have two mills.

The MF 70 is very well made. It has a cast iron base, extruded T-Slot table for mounting things and adjustments for the backlash.  For it’s price and size,  this is a perfect little tool if you want to dabble in CNC and make small parts (I mean really small parts. Travel of  5.26 x  1.8 x 2.7 inches).   The mill came fully assembled and only requires me to fine tune the backlash and hook it up to the computer (Ready to go… well sort of).

Because this is a German made mill, there is very little documentation for this product and the info I did find were in German of course.  So needless to say, it was a little difficult setting the specs up in the software to get the measurements just right. But after figuring out the threads per inch (TPI) and the pin settings, it was smooth sailing from there. Ready to start making my parts.

So, this concludes the first part of my review of the Proxxon MF70 CNC converted mill.  I’ll start on the next part soon as I start my project and provide more info on the software I am using and the specs I used.

Originally posted 2009-07-22 16:18:01.

If it extrudes, it prints.

The recently released Imagine 3D printer from Essential Dynamics can 3D print in just about any material that can be extruded at room temperature. In fact, it can print two different materials at the same time. This is made possible by the unusual use of syringes to dispense material. … Read More

Lasers have been one of the most useful and most popular tools in the last 10 years or so. Technology in a whole has been advancing more rapidly then ever before. This allows us to buy more advanced tools from the past at a much lower price today. Case in point is the Johnson Model: 40-0918 manual-leveling rotary laser level that Johnson sent over for review. Just a few years ago it would have been impossible for a DIYer to go out and buy a rotary laser level, but today the 40-0918 can be purchased for between $60 and $70. … Read More

Originally posted 2011-03-22 08:40:31.