<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 1 May 2017, at 1:03 AM, Bluey <<a href="mailto:bluey@smallfootprint.info" class="">bluey@smallfootprint.info</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">On 1 May 2017, at 12:19 AM, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <<a href="mailto:lkcl@lkcl.net" class="">lkcl@lkcl.net</a>> wrote:<br class=""><br class="">---<br class="">crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: <a href="https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68" class="">https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68</a><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">On Sun, Apr 30, 2017 at 3:04 PM, Bluey <<a href="mailto:bluey@smallfootprint.info" class="">bluey@smallfootprint.info</a>> wrote:<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">Not sure if you are looking for one but this reasonably-priced CNC kit<br class="">machine seems to get good reviews on Amazon:<br class=""><a href="https://www.bobscnc.com/collections/cnc-routers-engravers/products/e3-cnc-engraving-kit" class="">https://www.bobscnc.com/collections/cnc-routers-engravers/products/e3-cnc-engraving-kit</a><br class=""></blockquote><br class="">that's more than twice the cost of ones here in china :)<br class=""><br class="">my friend found one that's not half bad - absolutely no endstops and<br class="">using threaded bar not even lead screws of course - but it works<br class="">surprisingly well and would do the job.<br class=""><br class="">my only concern is: it's gonna take forever to machine 2000 parts,<br class="">which would need to be turned twice through 90 degrees *in different<br class="">axes*. that's a 5-axis CNC which starts to get a bit hairy.<br class=""><br class="">l.<br class=""><br class=""></blockquote><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">Oh, yeah, I saw plenty of ones that were cheaper but the reviews suggested that it would be prudent to give them a wide berth!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important;" class="">I was more thinking of the CNC for cutting any flat-ish timber components; although a 5-axis machine with sufficient precision (e.g., via a specialist milling service) could potentially be used to make moulds for plastic injection manufacture. How many component variations are there to make?</span><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div></blockquote><br class=""></div><div><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular;" class="">Just came across this on hackaday: <a href="https://hackaday.com/2016/02/09/learn-resin-casting-techniques-duplicating-plastic-parts/" class="">https://hackaday.com/2016/02/09/learn-resin-casting-techniques-duplicating-plastic-parts/</a></div><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular;" class="">Perhaps it could be a quick, effective, and affordable option once you’ve got a few sets of high-quality components printed?</div><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular;" class="">Cheers, B.</div><div style="font-family: Optima-Regular;" class=""><br class=""></div></div></body></html>