Finding other people to do your grunt work for you just got a heck of a lot easier. Online manufacturing network platform Xometry, known for being one of the best on-demand manufacturing platforms, has announced a new RFQ (request for quotation) service which allows users to scout for quotes on die casting, stamping, and extrusion jobs from the company’s ever-growing list of manufacturing partners. To take advantage of the new quote request offering, all you have to do is upload your part file to the Xometry webpage (it’s on the left-hand side of the main page), specify the requirements, and the RFQ algorithm searches Xometry’s network of connections to get…
To say the technological world is changing rapidly is an understatement. It would be more accurate to say the industry is on a train going non-stop towards the future and should it ever remain stagnant; the whole world could go mad from lack of innovation. Thankfully, companies like Lenovo are working with other like-minded organizations to bring future tech as soon as possible to the masses. After announcing that workstations from the ThinkStation P330 Tower to the ThinkStation P920 will support the new NVIDIA Quadro RTX graphics card, Lenovo has told of four companies they are working with to bring the technology of the future today. In the A.I. industry,…
Computer graphics nuts will be happy to know NVIDIA has once again announced a new graphics card to their ever-expanding repertoire. Dubbed the Quadro RTX 4000 to continue NVIDIA’s streak of confusing names, this new graphics card is a midrange GPU powered by NVIDIA’s Turing and RTX technology, bringing ray tracing tech to a broader market of developers and designers. So what’s inside this hunk of metal and circuits? The Quadro RTX 4000 features a single-slot design that fits most workstations. It has 36 ray tracing cores for better graphical fidelity, focusing on shadows, reflections, and lighting effects. 8GB of GDDR6 memory (40% more than the previous Quadro P4000) allows…
Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week on SolidSmack Radio we’ll get the groove going with “Marchin’ On” from The Smashing Pumpkins before diving into an off-kilter mix of killer new tracks from The Dandy Warhols, Phish, Little Dragon, and others before wrapping up with “Camera”…
When it comes to mechanical pencils, not all are created equal. And with rOtring, this couldn’t be truer. Ideal for sketching, writing, and drawing, the iconic rOtring 800 Mechanical Pencil features an ergonomically enhanced full metal body, with centered weight balance and a comfortable non-slip knurled grip for long work periods without discomfort or fatigue. Featuring a “Twist and Click” retractable mechanism of the entire sleeve and lead, the rOtring 800 Mechanical Pencil can easily go from pocket to sketch without worrying about damage or lead breakage. Quite frankly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better mechanical pencil for this price. The rOtring 800 Retractable Mechanical Pencil — $32.00 Features:…
At an abstract level, every new project is composed of three elements: The known knowns (the things that you know you know), the known unknowns (the things you know that you don’t know), and the unknown unknowns (the things you don’t know that you don’t know)*. Stay far far away from the known gnomes. Given any opportunity, they will steal a single sock from your hamper. The Known Knowns After initial brainstorming I begin 3D modeling, starting with the pre-selected commercial off the shelf (COTS) components. These are the agreed upon components that will be bought, not designed. Connectors, motors, switches–all that McMaster-Carry goodness. You can, with a few potential…