MakerBeam version 2.0

We are proud of MakerBeam version 2.0. To increase corrosion resistance and increase surface hardness the beams are now anodised. As a bonus it also allows dyeing. We went with black. It looks good, but more importantly could work well in fields that use photography. Next to the black anodised beams we also sell clear anodised beams. This clear anodised version resembles the classic starter kit the most.

It was difficult to improve the profile and still completely stay in line with its distinct MakerBeam T-slot profile and width and height of 10mmx10mm. We think we succeeded. The new design has a thicker core. We hope this will strengthen the beams. The thicker core definitely has other bonuses. It gives you the possibility to thread wire on top to fit a M3 bolt. This will make MakerBeam even more versatile.
Changing the core also made the slides a bit wider. This increases the chances that standard, of the shelf, M3 6mm button head screws will fit. Whereas they just did not fit before.

There is a bit more info about the screws in our blog post from June 14th 2012. Here is a link.

Team MakerBeam.eu

MakerBeam used to build quadcopter

From Norway we got the following message and some great pictures.

Just thought I’d send you some photos of a quadcopter I and a friend built recently, using MakerBeam aluminum profiles. We used 4×30 cm long beams to make the arms, and mounted a plexiglas plate and a plastic box on top, to hold the RC receiver and the controller card. Beneath the plate we made a battery mount, and fastened all the wires using zip ties. We also modified the motor mounts so that they could be screwed directly onto the beams.

I all, I find that MakerBeam is very easy to use, and it is also very easy to be creative and modify different designs. Great! However, I have some suggestions for additional features:

– The starter kit could come with a set of longer M3 screws, to make it easier to mount “external elements” (not MakerBeams)

– It would be nice to introduce some kind of “joint”, so that one beam could rotate relative to the other. A combination with some kind of spring would be nice. For example, in our quadcopter this could be used to introduce spring damping on the legs.

Hope you like the pictures, and good luck with further development,

Martin

 

We think it looks great! Thank you Martin.

If you have pictures, videos or suggestion for MakerBeam please let us know!!

Team MakerBeam.eu

PCB mounting kit

Electronics and makerbeams work good together. It is possible to slide the PCB into the beams. Unfortunately this not always works well. The boards are filled to the edge with electronics and the beams are conductive. Mounting a printed circuit board on PCB standoffs (or spacers) could be an easy solution.

We are working to get these in our shop right now. Selling them as a small kit including the four standoffs, four bolts, four nuts, four washers.

Here are some pictures.

Team MakerBeam.eu

3D printer nearly finished

From Bodenmann Electronics we received the good news that the 3D printer Joel is been working on is nearly finished. Pictures of this were already available on our site under News&Projects. Video footage of some test runs are available online.  Here is the video from test #1. In the video the Y-axis is tested.

httpv://youtu.be/k7T9jM97geY

Bodenmann Electronics by the way is a distributor of MakerBeam.

Team MakerBeam.eu

project Hexapod robot

From Dejan Kocbek from SMAKsoft we received pictures of his project hexapod with only 4 legs and 8 servomotors (economic version).  Though it is missing some legs to really be a true hexapod it is a great project! It is a good example of how to use makerbeam for robotics. Thank you Dejan!

SMAKsoft by the way is a distributor of MakerBeam.

Team MakerBeam.eu

MakerBeam knee joint by Sean Reynolds

The MakerBeam knee joint video shown here is the first in a series of cSprings videos Sean Reynolds put online. A project page is to come but in the mean time you can find a couple of videos  under his YouTube channel.

httpv://youtu.be/EPOEfrlR3uI

You should definitely see the other videos as well. They are great and very interesting. We of course love them because of the use of MakerBeam! I chose this video because at first glance it shows a simple setup.

It is a good example of MakerBeam as rapid prototyping tool. The added equipment, like the spring and hinges, make it clear you can add lots of things yourself. In the video an Arduino processor is driving the best servo on the market with a 5-20 lbs spring for flexability on the MakerBeam skeleton. MakerBeam provides the basics and you can build from there.

Team MakerBeam.eu

Hex nut drivers regular and small

We think hex nut drivers are crucial in working with makerbeam. To get started you need a hex nut driver. To make one available at a better price we added a small hex nut driver to our shop. We also added this small hex nut driver to our new Smaller Beam Starter Kit. It is cheaper, but still offers everything you want to get started.

The small hex nut driver works well with our standard M3 6mm screws that are part of a starter kit. Unfortunately it does not work well with our new longer 12mm bolts.

On the left you can see that our standard 6mm MakerBeam bolts fit right into the small hex nut driver. On the right you can see the 12mm bolt is just to big. It sticks out and therefore it is not possible to completely tighten the bolt.

Something to remember when you are interested in our bearings. The bearings come with 12mm screws. If you want to work with our bearing than you need another hex nut driver. We then ofcourse recommend our regular hex nut driver!

Team MakerBeam.eu

Buttons to suit MakerBeam 2

We already had a blog post about the difficulties with our quest for good fitting 12mm, M3 bolts. We thought that finding other lengths – other than the fitted 6mm M3 MakerBeam screws we offer – would be easy. Unfortunately this has proven to be more difficult. Not all screws fitted in that nicely. We now have resorted to actually grinding the screws to fit, one by one.

We had a limited number of screws that actually fitted.  Or fitted at least three parts of the makerbeams. They are now all gone. Understandably the grinding of the screws to fit, one by one, is not a durable solution. For this reason we will reduce the number of screws we pack with our bearings from 12 to 10 pieces.

We are making good progress with an affordable custom made solution (thank you Andy!!). We hope to be able to offer you these new screws in the new year. We then also hope to pack more screws again. Remember we went from 15 to 10. Ofcourse we will keep you posted.

Team MakerBeam .eu

MakerBeam & The Latest in Hobby Robotics

On 18 November Frits Lyneborg of Let’s Make Robots fame posted a video featuring MakerBeam (after 2:43).  Now it has almost been a month since his video ‘3D Carver of Invisible Stuff’ came online on the Make Magazine blog. And what a month it has been for a small webshop that is trying to build a name! We were overwhelmed by the demand that followed this video. The MakerBeam Starter Kits were flying of the shelfs that week in mid November.  It was awesome!

httpv://youtu.be/qczLVOGbdtw

Ofcourse we were pleasantly surprised. We had our worries too. We were contemplating to order a new batch just before. That week we knew we had to order.  We tried to speed things up but there was a moment we were looking at almost empty boxes.

Luckily we had ordered longer beams before. We knew there was a demand for the 900mm beams. There were some people that even had requested this length. We were really happy these arrived. Meanwhile we also had to order bearings, eye plate kits, cap nuts and more.

Shortly after, the batch of beams we ordered arrived. With this arrival we were almost fully stocked again. Only the production of shorter beams (<150) was  delayed and so we created a Longer Beam Starter Kit.  It has proven to be a good substitute for some people or even more to their liking.

And the regular starter kits? We just have to wait a little longer. We still do not have a set date yet for the arrival of the shorter beams. The manufacturer expects them to have them ready before the holidays. Then they need to be shipped to us. We hope to be able to ship the starter kits early in the new year.

Team MakerBeam.eu