10lbs of Junk in a 5lb Box?
I’ve been slowly working to model the components that go into the CNC milling machine electronics package, and fitting them into an off-the-shelf rack mount enclosure. I…
Encoder Coupler Idea
I have been trying to come up with a good way to attach a rotary encoder to the spindle of my CNC milling machine, so I can…
Experiments in Drag Soldering
Here’s a quick video I did of my first experiments with drag soldering using a new Metcal hoof tip that I picked up on eBay. This video…
Epic Hardware Hacking Weekend
It turned out to be quite an epic weekend of building boards and getting things up and running. It’s good to be back in the groove with…
Custom PCI Express Riser
One of the other boards I had in the latest order is an oddball PCI Express 1X riser card, which I could not find commercially. In trying…
Machine Breakout
I populated the machine breakout PCB this morning. This board will actually be installed inside of the CNC milling machine, and the various homing and index sensors…
Population: Tire
I got my final batch of boards from Laen in the mail today. I had three designs in this batch, so I was pretty anxiously awaiting delivery….
Rigol DS1102E Unboxing & Mini Review
It’s been a week of new toys for the electronics lab here at the world headquarters of Tangent Audio. Yesterday brought the affordable hot air reflow tool,…
eBay Hot Air Rework Tool Review
Based on Dan’s review and Dave Jones’ review, I picked up a Kendal 899D hot air/soldering iron rework station off of eBay for about $80. These tools…
More Boards!
[singlepic id=332 w=480] Another purple envelope was waiting for me in my mailbox when I arrived home this evening. I noticed that Laen had mentioned he shipped…
The Hammer
I thought I’d try to get one more design into the January 23 Laen PCB order. For the new CNC electronics setup, I’m going to be using…
Final PCB for the CNC Done (for now…)
Finished my fourth board in as many weeks, finishing off the bare minimum of boards I need to get the CNC mill back up and running. This…
First pcb.laen.org PCBs Received!
[singlepic id=324 w=480 h= float=left] A sparkly purple metallic bubble wrap package was waiting for me in the mailbox this evening when I arrived home. I knew…
CNC Breakout Board Done
My latest board is designed, laid out, and hopefully safely in the hands of Laen over at Dorkbot PDX. This is the main “breakout” board for the…