Demo kit MakerBeam

We just shipped our first demo kit for educational use. We want to thank hogeschool Zeeland (university of applied sciences) for ordering one. They want to see whether MakerBeam suits their course ‘Engineering, Design and Innovation‘. To see if the beams will be just the right addition to their newly started course they want to tinker with our aluminum T-slotted beams . We hope MakerBeam is just their thing!

Team MakerBeam.eu

Beams, bearings, bolts and more

MakerBeam is wonderful construction material and accessories will only expand the possibilities. Movement suddenly becomes an option when you add bearings and that is why we were looking for ones to fit MakerBeam.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSdKXuFbD1s

The search for the right size bearings moved up a bit on our list of priorities after meeting the guys behind Ultimaker. Building a 3d printer with Mini T-profiles now is feasible. Or maybe someone wants to build their own CNC-machine, just to name another popular possibility.  There must be all sorts of projects that can benefit from these little wheels.

When you use bearings you will need longer bolts. Also we think self locking bolts will make your construction more rigid. Ideal for the machine of your choice in working mode. We made a small pack with 10 bearings, 15 M3 12mm bolts 15 M3 nuts and 15 M3 self locking nuts for €15,-.  We hope you will have fun with our latest addition to our webshop!

Team MakerBeam.eu

 

Makerbeam meets Ultimaker

We are proud to tell you that one of our starter kits found its way to the guys behind Ultimaker, Martijn and Erik. It was a nice surprise discovering Erik had ordered a kit. Ultimaker works together with Protospace FabLab Utrecht. When they learned we would give a lunch lecture there it was real easy for them to attend. It gave us the opportunity to personally hand them a starter kit and to shake hands.

20110901 Ultimaker MakerBeam 120110901 Ultimaker MakerBeam 2

The relationship Ultimaker has with MakerBeam goes back a few years. A 3d print of a makerbeam was made some years ago. Back then it was just an open source hardware project paying the other budding open source hardware project a compliment. Today it was time for a more serious introduction.

20110901Ultimaker MakerBeam 120110901Ultimaker MakerBeam 320110901Ultimaker MakerBeam 420110901Ultimaker MakerBeam 7

The Ultimaker of course is in full production. The process of improving the production process is ongoing as well. Especially the production of the wooden framework takes up a lot of time. There is definitely room for improvement there. Could the aluminum Mini-T profiles of Makerbeam fit in? We talked about it and the guys of Ultimaker took their starter kit home. So who knows what beautiful combination the future will bring!

20110901Ultimaker MakerBeam 520110901Ultimaker MakerBeam 10

Team MakerBeam.eu

Lunch lecture ProtoSpace FabLab

 

Thursday September 1st we were at Protospace FabLab Utrecht to give a lunch lecture and introduce MakerBeam there. There is a lunch lecture every month at ProtoSpace. The topics vary widely. The lunch lecture is a very informal meeting. For us it was a good opportunity to introduce MakerBeam to a small but interested audience. We left one kit behind. FabLab’s well filled toolbox now has a new addition.

 

20110901 protospace 1
Pictures were taken for the website of protospace.

A FabLab offers the ideal environment for prototyping. Johan hoped to work on the Wandy lux after the lunch lecture. That did not work out that day. Instead he worked on sheaves to fit our aluminum Mini-T profiles. It gave us information about what size and shape we want.  Now we are looking for sheaves we can buy of the shelf.

We feel that MakerBeam needs more accessories to truly make it irresistible material and are looking for accessories to complement the MakerBeam starter kit. We will keep you posted on this topic.

20110901 protospace 2
MakerBeam wants to roll

Johan his prototyping plan also did not work out because of a very interesting meeting we had with the guys from Ultimaker. In our next post we will tell you more about this spontaneous meeting of maker minds. It is this meeting what prompted the sheaves prototyping excercise.

Team MakerBeam.eu