Ideate, Create, Iterate

Iterative Design n. The process of testing and redesigning an idea until it works like it was supposed to in the first place.

  1. Have an idea for a thing. 💡
  2. Make the thing. 😄
  3. Realize the thing isn’t right. 🤨
  4. Redesign the thing. 🤔
  5. Repeat 2 through 4 until a desirable outcome is reached, you give up, or you lose your damned mind. 😫

Ideate→Create→Iterate.

By bringing modern ‘rapid prototyping’ capabilities to the desktop, consumer 3D printing has enabled a level of iterative design straight out of Star Trek.

I hope to use this category to write case studies, following the journey from need/idea, through prototyping and the inevitable redesigns, to finished part.

[Preview!] Fresh Baked Patches

So I’m finally writing about the process behind the patches I’ve been making and selling on my Etsy shop…stay tuned!

Fresh Baked Patches

A fresh batch of patches, with their iron-on backings applied, hot off the heat press!

Week 42, 2013 – PCB Process Revisited

So, as some of you know, I’ve had no end to trouble producing printed circuit boards (PCBs); there’s always some damn thing that isn’t quite right…  Toner transfer is always a crapshoot, quality-wise.  And photo-resist is iffy because my laser printer can print good high-density positives, but not negatives, and my CraftRobo can’t cut rubylith fine enough for the kind of PCBs I’m making…

I’m left with two options;  Screen-printing resist to the board. (Since burning screens is a positive image process)  Or! Using lithographic film in an emulsion-to-emulsion contact exposure with my laser printer transparencies to yield perfect high-contrast negative films to expose the dry film laminated photo-resist on the PCBs with.  (I can also use lithographic ‘duplicating film’ to turn so-so positive transparencies into film positives with perfect contrast.)

Right now I’m just waiting on money for supplies.  Like a hundred bucks in chemicals, film, and darkroom stuff.

In the meantime, here’s some YouTube links!

Screen Printing!

No, this doesn’t involve the PrtScn key on your keyboard, I’m talking about Screen Printing— traditionally/colloquially referred to as silkscreening —squeegeeing ink through a stenciled textile mesh to print an image!

I’ve been wanting to develop the capability for a while, because it has uses in almost anything you can imagine.  But for one reason or another it’d never materialize.  Well, I finally fixed that…and I can’t even remember how that happened… I just have the stuff now, haha!

Anyway, I figured the first thing I’d do, is print something on the canvas cover we made for my 7×10 lathe.

Lathe cover, yay! ヽ(゚∀゚)ノ

I’ll detail the process, after the jump!

Read more…

Go back to top