My Sabacc Credit Chip Evolution

This is one in a series of blog posts about Sabacc: When Christine and I first learned to play Sabacc, it was on the Galactic Starcruiser. Betting was done with little plastic chips, about the size of a dime. After departing, we played in our hotel room — using torn up scraps of paper as … Continue reading My Sabacc Credit Chip Evolution

ATEM Mini Pro Covers

In my previous post about prototyping laser designs in cardboard, I mentioned that I’m staying in the guest bedroom that doubles as my office. I work in video, and part of my fancy video setup is an ATEM Mini Pro — basically a little video switcher. It’s a great device, but has two problems. The … Continue reading ATEM Mini Pro Covers

Cardboard Prototyping a Laser-Cut Camera Cover

Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at eyeballing laser-cutter designs. I’ll always prototype in cardboard. Increasingly often, the prototype and the final versions are one and the same. A number of things start off with a boxes.py parametric box followed by tweaks. I work from home, from the tiny house in the backyard. Recently, … Continue reading Cardboard Prototyping a Laser-Cut Camera Cover

Botanical Plaques, Mark 2 & 3

In my last post, I talked about designing a botanical plaque to label trees in the yard. The design had some flaws. It was two pieces epoxied together and most of them broke apart after 6–12 months. I suspect water got in the gap, froze, and helped separate the pieces from the dried epoxy. This … Continue reading Botanical Plaques, Mark 2 & 3

Botanical Plaques, Mark 1

I have a bunch of cool-looking and weird trees at the house. In a notebook somewhere, and elsewhere in a text file, I have a list of their names. And if I’m honest, that’s fine for the one time every couple of years where I want to look up what’s what. If you’ve been to … Continue reading Botanical Plaques, Mark 1

Locky: The Laser-Cut Tile Construction Set

About a year ago, I learned that I could load a 3D model into Fusion 360, and it can calculate all the slices necessary to turn it into a laser-cut cardboard (or wood or acrylic or whatever) project. They’re quick to cut out of scrap cardboard, and they’re fun to fidget with and throw around. … Continue reading Locky: The Laser-Cut Tile Construction Set

A Decoder-Ring Keychain

The last couple of years, I’ve made little Christmas gifts for my fellow Portland Puzzled Pint organizers. Last year, it was themed coasters. This year, I thought I’d make “code sheet” keychains. Or zipper pulls. Or lanyards. Or whatever the hip kids are calling them these days. It took a couple of design revisions to … Continue reading A Decoder-Ring Keychain

Remaking the Disneyland Toy Story Jail

Along Disneyland’s Main Street (yes, yet another reference to the recent Disney trip with @ChristineRose) are little window displays. Each references some film, whether recent or past. (Marketing!) All have at least some basic mechanical animation, with a few being much more elaborate. One recent display was a Toy Story bank heist. There wasn’t much … Continue reading Remaking the Disneyland Toy Story Jail

Complicating Simple Projects With Lasers

One big thing that happened in my Maker life, back in November, was that I became the proud new owner of a Glowforge laser cutter. I’ve been so engrossed in little projects for it, that I completely neglected to write anything about any of them. A few weeks ago, I was preparing to move some … Continue reading Complicating Simple Projects With Lasers

A laser-cut light-up nameplate

I am a little surprised that I did not write about this months ago because I finished the project back in March.  After building the InfoNinja, I thought about projects that would help me to hone my laser-cutting skills.  Although my bolted mortise and tenson joints were adequate, and tention held everything together nicely, those joints … Continue reading A laser-cut light-up nameplate