In the FABLAB Puebla we have an old and big former, and it makes you waste material o wait until somebody else wants to form something. Thats why I decided to create a desktop former, so that you can form anything in anytime and with less material than the big one.

Also it allows you to set the material you are going to form and it heats to the temperature and when it reaches the temperature it makes sounds and also blinks a LED.

 

The ideas I try to apply on this project were:

  • Small
  • Portable
  • Open source
  • Affordable
  • Cheap
  • Easy to use
  • Easy to reprogram

The steps that I follow to create this project are:

 

Define the dimension of the former

Design the machine

    Manufacture the machine

    Program the FAB Former

Materials and components

 

Structure: MDF sheet, inox tubes, magnets.

 

Control System: Atmega board, LCD shield

 

Product: Form

 

Process and techniques

 

Structure: Laser cutting

 

Control System: PCB Engraving, input devices, output devices.

 

Softwares

 

Inkscape

  • Tabbed Box Maker

 

Rhinoceros

 

Autocad

I look that the first design wont support all the structure and the movements, I decided to do a redesign and add supports so that not only the tubes carry the weight of the top and the movement.

Once I cut some pieces in MDF in the laser cut, I tried to assembly and they fit perfectly, and also I tried the tubes and the movement and I saw that there was a problem and probably it will affect the functionality of the former.

Here you can find all the archives

When the structure was working fine, I have to cover the MDF cause I use heat resistances and it could burn. So I used a thermal protector made of fiberglass and I have to cut it perfectly and with care.

After I pasted the thermal protector I installed the resistances and I can heat them to try if they work.

I made some probes of how the resistants were heating and which temperatures reaches and in what time it reaches.

Here is the code for the shield and the LCD, I set 3 different materials and their temperature of forming

FINAL PROJECT

Elias Prado Morales

Fab Lab Puebla, México

aeliaspm@gmail.com

Fab Academy  |  2016