Posts tagged with construction

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May 16, 2012

Cages of a different sort

The last post was about cage-style optomechanics. This post is about Faraday cages.

8020.net

In the post about alternative optomechanics, I mentioned 8020.net. They will custom build cages, sending you the cut extruded aluminium pieces, hardware, and fasteners.

Paletti USA

Paletti is another source to try. They have a range of extruded aluminum profiles and hardware. They also have CAD files for their products, so you can mock it up yourself. Many of their aluminium extrusion profiles can be cut fairly quickly with just a hacksaw, so you can buy lengths and cut to fit your application.

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May 14, 2012

Cage systems

Cage systems, like optical rails, are platforms for constructing custom optical systems.

Thorlabs’ 16 mm, 30 mm, and 60 mm cage systems are well known (shown above). The numbers refer to the on-center square spacing of the four 6 mm rods that form the backbone of the cages (4 mm rods in the case of the 16 mm cage system). There are some lesser-known cage systems as well.

Edmund Optics

Edmund Optics recently launched a line of cage system optomechanics. Many of the pieces may fit (or fit with minimal modification) items in the Thorlabs system since they also use 6 mm rods. More broadly, Edmund Optics actually has an excellent line of optomechanics that includes a lot of products that go beyond what Thorlabs offers. For example, these z-axis brackets.

Newport

Here is Newport’s impenetrable cage system. Personally, I think it was a brave choice to hire M.C. Escher as an optomechanical engineer.

Qioptiq

Formerly known as the infinitely more pronounceable Linos, their Microbench and Nanobench lines are excellent. On paper, they should be compatible with Thorlabs 30 mm and 16 mm cage systems, respectively, but in practice I find that there often needs to be just a little bit of modification– e.g., widening holes slightly. Maybe this is due to English-to-metric round-off errors, or different tolerances.

Others

CVI Melles Griot and Siskiyou both have excellent lines of optomechanics, but no cage systems as far as I can tell.

Elsewhere on Labrigger:
Alternative Optomechanics

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March 29, 2012

Numberfactory: extremely useful reference

Numberfactory is a very useful, clean reference site. Unit conversions, formulas, bolts, nuts, screws, and more.

More…
Bolt sizes

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February 5, 2012

3D Sketch-up models for Newport parts

Thorlabs and Newport have offered 3D models of their products for a long time. However, they’re typically in formats for expensive programs like SolidWorks and AutoCAD. In the past year or two, Newport has been slowly adding to their library of Google SketchUp models.

I still prefer SolidWorks, but I’m optimistic that I’ll eventually switch to SketchUp. Regardless, it’s nice to see a company supporting free tools.

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November 1, 2011

Thorlabs’ SM2 fits Nikon lenses

Fun fact for the day: ThorLabs’ SM2 lens tube standard screws right onto the front end of Nikon’s SLR lenses. Other manufacturers probably use the same threading, I just haven’t tried them.

I don’t know if this is by design or not, but it makes coupling 35mm SLR lenses into optical setups fairly straightforward. I’m using it for a tandem lens macroscope. In the picture above I used ThorLabs part SM3A2. BTW, they also sell some F-mount adapters for connecting to the other side of the lens.

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October 1, 2011

Sense of scale

The vast majority of the time, I buy what I intend to. Like the old maxim from construction: “Measure twice, cut once”, I always take care to ensure I’m ordering the right thing. At least when things are expensive. When they’re cheap, I’m less careful. Check out the photo above. I thought, “Sure, that’s the bench vice I’m looking for.” It was so inexpensive, that I went ahead and ordered it without much thought.

I don’t know how big that vice looks to you, but I was surprised when it arrived. Click through to get the sense of scale…
Read the rest of this entry »

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September 27, 2011

DIY Picospritzer

I was in Tokyo recently and stopped by my friend Taro Ishikawa’s lab (of TaroTools fame). He and Misa are doing very well. They have exciting work underway and are expanding their lab. Taro’s a resourceful, clever guy and while I was there I saw some more of his handiwork. Instead of buying a Picospritzer (which costs $1500-$3000, the NPI PDES system is less expensive, but still in the 4 digits), Taro hooked a regulator (above) directly to an electric valve (below) and called it a day. The valve is actuated by a TTL pulse, and the regulator sets the pressure. Simple, elegant, saves space, and saves money.

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September 1, 2011

Project enclosures

Here are some ideas for project enclosures. The stock enclosures from Mouser, Digikey, and others are generally serviceable, but are rarely the perfect size. In addition, making the required cutouts can be inconvenient. Here are a couple of alternatives.

Laser cut an enclosure out of plastic

I’ve done this for several projects. It’s cheap, the cutouts are perfect, and there are many different materials that can be used. The downside is that you get 2D panels that you must fasten together. I often use superglue to put the parts together. I’ve also used magnetic strips for panels that need to be removed often. When the material was thick enough, I used screws. Another option is mounting screws and nuts in slots, pictured blow and briefly detailed here.

Here’s an online tutorial example from Rich Decibels (via).

This method offers a way to use screws even when the material is thin. I’m not a big fan of it though, because there are a lot of screws that can easily get loose. Superglue or properly tapped screws are more heavy duty.

Protocase for small run, custom cases

Protocase will make completely custom, sheet metal enclosures with cutouts, painting, and silkscreening. It’s a lot more expensive than laser cutting plastic pieces, but there’s less assembly to be done and they’re more durable. They can make all sorts of shapes, including very nice rackmount chassis.

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August 12, 2011

Viewing CAD files online

When I’m in a tight spot and don’t have CAD software handy, there are a couple of sites I use to view CAD files online.

ShareCAD lets you upload CAD files in a lot of different formats and displays the 3D model. It offers very minimal interaction, but you can pan and zoom. You also get a link that you can share via email with collaborators so that they can view and download the file. Handy.

ProfiCAD’s AutoCAD Viewer is more limited, but sometimes works where ShareCAD doesn’t. For example, here is an AutoCAD drawing that ShareCAD couldn’t handle.

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July 20, 2011

Rapid prototyping is rapidly maturing

In the past year, since Labrigger’s first post on 3D printing (aka rapid prototyping), the industry has matured dramatically. Most importantly, companies including Shapeways and Ponoko, have opened what used to be a specialist market, up to more mainstream customers, including hobbyists and small operations.

Sculpteo is a new addition. It is tightly linked with 3Dvia, which offers free software for 3D design and an online design sharing system.

With affordable rates, lots of material options (including metal, pictured above), and decent turnaround times, there’s a lot going for this technology. That said, I wouldn’t recommend getting your own machine. You’re not going to save a ton of time in turn around, all the maintenance and troubleshooting has to be done in house, and you’ll never have as many material options and process options as you can get from a 3D print shop.

3D printing offers very little in terms of economy of scale. This encourages customization, but sometimes you might want 1000 identical parts and not have to pay $20 for each little plastic part. Especially when those parts are disposable or consumable. In that case, limited run injection molding might be the ticket (after you settle on a final design, using 3D printed prototypes). Protomold does production runs from 10-10,000 and prices start around $1500. Turnaround is about 3 weeks.

3D printing @ Labrigger

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