Our friend Christian Wilms tipped us to Austin Blanco’s blog, which has some posts you all might be interested in:
Characterizing unknown optical components
A few notes on Arduinos, their timers, and using them…
When fabricating custom parts, starting from raw materials gives you flexibility. However, it is time consuming and design changes can mean starting from scratch. It’s faster if you can find some part off the shelf…
They motorized a Kopf manipulator and used CNC software to control it. I like the simple mechanics. Here’s one of the parts used to couple the stepper motors to the manipulator:
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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…
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.
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If you need a chunk of metal for a custom piece for your rig, what are the options? The best way to go is to buy a part that is close to what you…
I use SolidWorks to design custom parts for my rigs. Many times, these parts mate with existing Thorlabs parts. Fortunately, Thorlabs offers SolidWorks files that can be directly…
Micro Waterjet has an abrasive-based technique that enables laser-like precision for machinging small parts. The benefits are: no heat damage/distortion, and materials that are toxic when burned can be machined to laser…
Most institutions have their own workshops that will machine parts for researchers, but these workshops are of varying quality and capacity. Often researches will become frustrated by their local workshop estimating delivery times on…
