This low cost CNC solution caught my eye today as I have been checking out CNC prices but could not find a solution for small money.

Bar Smith's (the founder) Maslow CNC is a well thought out concept / prototype that cuts up to 1.5" 8x4' board and doesn't break the bank.

The unit is to be supplied in kit form for $350 plus delivery and the extras required (2No 8x4 ply, 2 x 10' 2"x1" lengths and a router/ accessories) are to be supplied by the purchaser, which should run to further $150 or so.

The Maslow CNC is a Kickstarter campaign which has already passed its $50K target and is currently running at over $110K with a further 27 days to go .... so I imagine the final campaign figure will be quite high.

Once I read that it is proposed to '......make an optional z-axis add on which will raise or lower your router bit automatically', I was sold on the idea and backed the campaign.

Further details may be located here, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1830738289/maslow-cnc-a-500-open-source-4-by-8-foot-cnc-machi?ref=email

Mike

Always admired the DS. You have done it justice

@pbacot said:

Maybe some rendering help, the picture doesn't help it.

So I thought my MBP came with a pretty good graphics card. I should consider this for what applications?

Does it cool too?

it'll dock the HDMI and all that?

They say it has 'passive cooling design'! I note that the graphics card housing has a large fan which I imagine exhausts hot air. The air would be drawn in from the top which in turn would cool the underside of the MBP ...... I imagine!

@pixero said:

I think they need some design help. That was one ugly beast.

Yep, I agree but I'd live with the design as I feel the functionality and price more than compensates

It looks like it might now have been proven the 'its all in the mind'!

Belief about nicotine in cigarettes found to influence cravings and brain activity
http://newatlas.com/smokers-belief-nicotine-brain/45403/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers%26amp;utm_campaign=71fe68bec8-UA-2235360-4%26amp;utm_medium=email%26amp;utm_term=0_65b67362bd-71fe68bec8-76676071

They say buses come along in threes! This would appear to be the case with Macbook Pro graphics booster devices.

A few week ago I mentioned 'The Wolfe: Supercharge Your Laptop!' here, http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=72%26amp;t=65694 and now I see a new kid on the block!

iBow docking station: Boost your Mac with Extra Graphics!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1081921239/ibow-docking-station-boost-your-mac-with-extra-gra?ref=user_menu#

This unit meets my current needs as it offers both a housing for a graphics card of your choice and a docking station with all the extra ports one could ask for.

While it looks a slight bit clunky, probably because of the bulk of the graphics card housing, it also does the job of a Henge Docks Horizontal Docking Station for Macbook Pro Retina ($449USD)
https://www.hengedocks.com/products/horizontal-macbook-pro-retina

The base unit is $350CAN / $265USA / €237. A GTX 970 would add a further €230 bringing the total package to around €467 plus delivery! The funny thing is that I was thinking of ordering a Henge Docks Horizontal Docking Station for Macbook Pro Retina at €489 EUR (including VAT) to tidy up the mess of wires I have currently attached to the MBPR.

Mike

Here is a app thats helping me keep things organised, http://www.sanedeskapp.com

Nice one Dave

On Saturday last we were nearly hit by an 50-100 feet astroid, named '2016 QA2'. Astronomers only discovered this asteroid a few hours before it almost hit us!

It seems the astroid's path is a huge ellipse and not expected to come near us but it did pass at a distance similar to our outer satellites. Also its under the size being searched for by astronomers which is around the 400 feet size.

The Chelyabinsk asteroid, which exploded over Russia in 2013, damaged multiple buildings and injured over 1500 people and that asteroid was only about 55 feet wide. So, if the unseen until the last minute, astroid had hit us the damage would have been considerable.

More details on '2016 QA2' may be found here, http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a22619/earth-narrowly-missed-by-asteroid/?mag=pop%26amp;list=nl_pnl_news%26amp;src=nl%26amp;date=083116

NASA has been charged with mapping astroids that could possibly hit us but the resources being made available to do this job are not enough by a long shot.

Surely the UN should take charge of this astroid search and bring in all member countries so that we could get the job done quicker.

I also imagine if a small fraction of the sums being spent by NATO, Russia, China etc on nuclear weapons was put to searching for astroids the job would be done in double quick time.

It would be a simple matter of having the weapons manufactures retool and get into telescope manufacture! Why the weapons manufactures? Answer, they would not be willing to loose their huge ongoing profits.

Any thoughts?

Mike

Pixero,

If your in the market for one there's a reconditioned unit on Amazon for $1,800

I'll be sticking with the GTX 970

Interesting option juju but I'd imagine by the time the graphics card was purchased plus other bits a pieces the price would be comparable to the Wolfe option.

From what I read about the Beast Laptop External Independent Video Card Dock for Macs, its required to start and operate via Windows. Fine for Windows users but would not meet the requirements of most Mac users.

Yeah Dave, it will be like attaching a small rocket.

This site gives comparisons,

http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GeForce-GT-650M-vs-Nvidia-GTX-970/m7754vs2577

The Wolfe: Supercharge Your Laptop!

I've backed The Wolfe campaign on Kickstarter as I'd like to beef up the graphics on my MacBook Pro Retina and get a further year or so out of the machine.

I imagine the Wolfe will also help with running the two Packed Pixels I have hanging out of it. The current graphics chips are struggling a bit I feel at high resolution.

The Wolfe come with a GTX 950 ($449) and the Wolfe Pro comes with a GTX 970 ($599). I looked up pricing on the Net for these bare bones graphics cards and they appear to be on average, $180 for the GTX 950 and $320 for the GTX 970. So the deal looks good value to me.

They appear to work with any laptop that has thunderbolt connection. Anyone thats interested in beefing up their laptop might be interested in checking out the campaign here, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thewolfe/the-wolfe-supercharge-your-laptop

Also here is a good article on the Wolfe,

Kickstarter campaign pitching external GPU for MacBook Pro, promising up to 10x performance increase
https://9to5mac.com/2016/08/24/macbook-pro-external-gpu-kickstarter-wolfe/

I backed a similar campaign last year on Kickstarter, External graphics card for MacBook (Canceled) by bull.box
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bullbox/external-graphics-card-for-macbook?ref=profile_created_last but it did not reach the required funding figure. The Wolfe reached its funding target on day one and now have a multiple of 5 times their target figure with a further 26 days to run. I imagine they will hit at least the $1.5M level.

Mike

The forthcoming ASUS GX800 will be packing an almighty punch with,

1 TB of SSD storage and more
A pair of GTX 1080 GPUs in an SLI setup
Four 512 GB PCIe SSDs, and there's an Intel Core i7 6820HK processor on board.
64 GB DDR4 RAM
18.4-inch 4K 3,840 x 2,160 display
Price US$6,999(Ouch, but you get what you pay for!).

Review here,
'Asus' GX800 laptop pushes portable PC gaming to absurd extremes'
http://newatlas.com/asus-gx800-sli-gaming-laptop/44926/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers%26amp;utm_campaign=2cb522e14e-UA-2235360-4%26amp;utm_medium=email%26amp;utm_term=0_65b67362bd-2cb522e14e-76676071

I imagine we will be seeing what past masters would have produced with various models / things that were totally unknown to them.

I have to say it! ...... "Its hard to believe it not real bricks and mortar!" Well done

@box said:

Just work in metres with the Display units format unticked.
That way you can use simple numbers and scale down when complete.

I'll try that, thanks

Hi Guys,

I'm working on a project that involves very small dimensions, .01mm and less! Its a change from my normal arch work which SU is fine for.

To make life easier for the small work I mentally multiply everything by 10 so .01mm becomes .1mm. Sometimes I use a factor of 100. When the drawing / model is complete I reduce the model size by the multiplying factor I used.

I'm wondering if it would make some sense to have a 'fooled' SU template for working with very small dimensions as this would allow me to input the correct dimension from scratch and when the drawing / model is finished and saved it reverts to normal SU.

Maybe the 'setup' / template could be called 'Micro Mode'

I hope I am making myself clear. Any thoughts appreciated.

Mike

Hi Guys,

I remember there was quite a lively topic going here on the forums some time back on the best ways to either keep warm or cool in your house.

The idea was how to lessen the amount of fuel we use to heat / cool our homes and there were loads of suggestions.

In my neck of the woods our challenge is to keep warm even in some Summer months! I've just come across what I think is a brilliant idea which addresses the requirement to stay warm or cool all controlled with your smartphone!

Wendu: Control your Climate, Wear the Future
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/241246358/wendu-control-your-climate-wear-the-future

"Hot or cold, you remain at ease at all times!
With the help of thermal conduction technology, Wendu became a reality. With a working range of 20 degrees Celsius/ 36 Farenheit, Wendu can switch temperatures from 15 to 35 degrees Celsius in just a couple of minutes – that means you can be completely comfortable in just a few minutes! You may not be able to control the weather around you but with Wendu, you can maintain optimal temperature at your comfort and ease."

The developers will be retailing at €150 but early birds can jump onboard for €89. I'm just wondering what the payback period would be for the Wendu T-shirt. I doubt it would be too long and there is also the eco friendly element CO2 emissions to be taken into account.

An interesting and informative construction video but the music was inclined to put me to sleep!