Presented by Two weeks ago we did the unthinkable. We taped back our eyelids, slapped on some CAD spandex (that exists right?) and launched a series of articles on Fusion 360. It’s finally time we took a deeper dive into the toolset and explore: Part Modeling, Assembly Modeling, Simulation, CAM, and Collaboration. This week, we’re going to start smack dab in the comfy confines of our home field – Part Modeling. While Autodesk touts Fusion 360 is in a class of design tools that that go beyond 1990’s CAD in the cloud, it needs to have those futuristic features as a foundation to prove it. Let’s have a look, shall…
After raising nearly $1 million from their Kickstarter campaign last October, graphic designers Jesse Reed and Hamish Smyth successfully brought the original 1975 NASA Graphics Standards Manual to thousands of space and design geeks – a piece of exploration history that was previously thought to have been lost. Designed in 1974 by Richard Danne and Bruce Blackburn – of the New York firm Danne & Blackburn – the graphics standard manual includes the famous NASA “Worm” logo and every other graphic used for spacecraft, spacesuits, internal documents and the like. To reproduce the original manual – which was obtained from Danne after seeking permission to reissue it – Reed and Smyth meticulously…
Like our favorite woodworking YouTuber Frank Howarth (AKA Frank Makes), blacksmith Niels Provos has an uncanny ability to balance the craft of videography with working in the shop. The results – which are almost always narrated step-by-step – offer a peek over the shoulder of a master at work. Unlike Howarth – who focuses solely on wood-related projects – Provos makes videos documenting his exploration of forging swords and knives – particularly those of the Anglo-Saxon and Viking-age types. More recently, Provos turned his attention to upcycling an antique wagon wheel into an heirloom blade. Says Provos: “This video shows the whole process from preparing the wrought iron to the finished knife. First,…
Time for another round of apps that cover the spectrum of your beloved mobile device, be it iPhone, Android or Windows! The Weekly App Smack is the best of new or updated design and productivity apps (and maybe a couple of fun ones, too) for the busy design or engineering professional and this week we have a list sure to make you more efficient. Do you have an app suggestion that has made your life easier or changed up your workflow? Let us know in the comments below or send it into tips@www.solidsmack.com. Hit it! This by Tinrocket “Tell the whole story by adding pointers, labels, descriptions and commentary to…
Jack Lennie is a recent Edinburgh-based product design graduate with a first class honors degree, a SolidWorks certification and a national award under his arm. He also just released a downloadable build kit for manufacturing a motorcycle in nearly any modern workshop. Not bad. Designed to breathe a “new lease of life into damaged or non-road worthy motorcycles by reframing the existing or purchased engine and running gear,” Tinker can be assembled using non-specialist tools while allowing for maximum customization for experienced riders. Inspiration for the bike came from a combination of classic British motorcycles and aesthetics driven by modern digital fabrication methods. Due to the wide availability of computer…
Although you may not have heard it by name, there’s a strong chance that you’ve heard it in song. Analog Moog Synthesizers have been used by nearly every well-known pop musician over the past 50 years from Damon Albarn to Frank Zappa. Now, you can build your own Moog with a little DIY ingenuity and elbow grease thanks to the Werkstatt Workshop. Billed as Moog Music’s interactive creative learning portal for everything from mod tutorials and lesson plans to 3D printable files and project ideas, the Workshop is more or less Moog’s musical take on today’s development boards such as the Raspberry Pi or Arduino. To get started, users need…