{"id":40174,"date":"2022-08-11T15:16:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T22:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=40174"},"modified":"2022-08-11T15:16:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T22:16:34","slug":"a-master-class-in-prototype-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/a-master-class-in-prototype-making\/","title":{"rendered":"A Master Class in Prototype Making"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
* Talk to\u00a0me<\/a>. Tell me a story. Share me a tip. A tool.
* Support my work by buying my tips books (Vol. 1<\/a>,\u00a0Vol. 2<\/a>).
* Take out an\u00a0Unclassified<\/a>\u00a0in this newsletter to reach fellow makers.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
A Master Class in Prototype Making<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In response to\u00a0<\/em>John Baglio\u2019s\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>search<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for a series of prototyping videos he\u2019d run across,<\/em>\u00a0Talon Chandler\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>immediately responded with:<\/em>

\u201cHe\u2019s probably talking about\u00a0<\/strong>Dan Gelbart<\/strong><\/a>. Dan is a local legend among engineers in Vancouver, BC. He founded Creo, a printing technology company that sold to Kodak circa 2005, and several other companies including Kardium, a growing healthcare company. I\u2019ve had the pleasure of meeting Dan once (I interned at Kardium close to 10 years ago), although I haven\u2019t had the pleasure of visiting his extraordinary shop.\u201d

Others also messaged me and told stories about the impact of Dan\u2019s videos on them. They are amazing. I haven\u2019t found a treasure trove like this since discovering\u00a0<\/em>TubalCain\/MrPete222<\/em><\/a>\u00a0some 15 years ago. Anyone interested in precision machining, prototyping, water jet cutting, and a wealth of general machine shop wisdom should check out this channel.<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Expanding the Usefulness of 1-2-3 Blocks with a Hardware Kit<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I\u2019ve long been a fan of 1-2-3 blocks and always have them handy when doing a host of different projects. They\u2019re great for quick measuring, aligning, holding parts together for gluing\/ fastening, as shop weights, and countless other applications. One of the features that few people outside of machining use are the holes drilled into the blocks. These are not just there to keep the overall weight down. They are threaded and non-threaded holes designed for attaching the blocks in various configurations (such as for making right-angle or T-shaped jigs).

In this\u00a0Stumpy Nubs video<\/a>,\u00a0James<\/strong>\u00a0introduces a clever little hardware kit for easily attaching blocks \u2013 and attaching them with nothing proud of the surfaces. As he points out, you can source these screws and through-hole fasteners yourself, but why not support the guy who came up with the idea for this kit? That guy,\u00a0Mike Taylor<\/strong>, sells\u00a0a kit<\/a>\u00a0of 6 hex-head screws, sized for 1″, 2″, and 3″ attachment, 4 threaded through-hole dowels, a hex key, and a slotted driver head \u2013 all housed in a handy little plastic box. I immediately bought a kit (only $10) and I love it. Mike also makes really\u00a0high-quality blocks<\/a>\u00a0at an affordable price ($20\/pair). I snagged a pair of those, too. It always feels good to support a maker small business.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Using Finger Pressure to Match Hex Head to Wrench<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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On the Twitter account<\/a> of software engineer Roach<\/strong>, he posted this clever way of matching a hex head to a hex wrench. Pressing your finger into the head will leave a dimple that you can use to size the appropriate wrench.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
A Prompt Book for Better AI Art Generation<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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If you\u2019ve spent any time on social media lately, you\u2019ve likely seen some of your acquaintances go down the rabbit hole of artificial intelligence image generators like Midjourney, DALL-E, and Google\u2019s Imagen. These programs take descriptions that you feed them and return AI- generated art interpretations of that input. It\u2019s very addictive and fun and has huge disruptive potential. My wife Angela and I were joking a few weeks ago that in the future, art will be nothing more than the ability to input the most fulsome description of what you want. And then, just a few days later, Recomendo<\/a> shared a link to The Prompt Book<\/a>, a free PDF of instructions, examples, and tips for refining your input commands. It\u2019s directed at the DALL-E program, but its ideas can be applied to any of these art generators. In the future, art will be incantation.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Making a Shop Paper Roll Dispenser<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Poking around on the \u2018Tubes, I came across a series of DIY videos, called Try<\/em>, that Kevin Kelly<\/strong> did on Cool Tools<\/em> in 2020-21. How did I miss these? Here\u2019s one<\/a> on building a kraft paper roll cutter for your shop and a really charming one<\/a> about the sign that he made for the Kelly compound in Pacifica, CA. <\/a>I hope he gets inspired to do more of these.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Maker Slang<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Jargon, slang, and tech terms from the many realms of making.<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
FEP<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 (Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene) A tough, no-stick plastic material commonly found in the bottoms of resin vat 3D printers. Its translucence allows the light source beneath it to shine through the vat, curing the resin onto the build plate.

Holidays<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 A term used by professional painters and gilders\/gold leafers to refer to gaps in coverage. It derives from the joke that a painter must have taken some time off, a little holiday, by not covering an area they should have. [Hat tip to gilder\u00a0Michael Kramer<\/strong>]

Minimal viable product<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 A phrase used by Italian maker and product developer,\u00a0Giaco Whatever<\/strong>. In creating a product, you want to pare your idea down to its minimum possible components. See also: KISS (keep it simple, stupid)

Real job<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 A project that\u2019s a series of tasks and challenges that imply significant time and effort \u2013 as opposed to a task which can be quickly accomplished. \u201cThat\u2019s a real job. I need to set aside an afternoon for that.\u201d

Resilient idiot<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 A self-deprecating admission that sometimes knowledge and skills seemingly won\u2019t stick, not matter how hard you try and learn them. Coined by\u00a0Donald Bell<\/strong>. Not to be confused with\u00a0Andy Birkey\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0similar: actual moron.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Shop Talk<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In response to my piece on\u00a0<\/em>inflatable pry bars<\/em><\/a>, reader\u00a0<\/em>Adam\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>replied:<\/em>

\u201cThis is a very\u00a0common tool for locksmiths when dealing with vehicle lockouts. The\u00a0inflatable pry bar<\/a>\u00a0can generally create enough space for the locksmith to drop\u00a0a loop down to grab the lock pin from the interior of the door frame and gain entry without having to damage or possibly ruin the actual lockset on the car door.\u00a0But don\u2019t underestimate their power. I used one on an old car when I locked my keys in and it bent the door to the point that it never fully aligned to the door frame gasket again.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales – Issue #128<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2371],"tags":[2372],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40174"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40175,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40174\/revisions\/40175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}