I’ve been working on some minor laser projects, and I’ve neglected the blog long enough. Here’s a quick and easy laser treat for you.

A set of laser cut buttons! Mostly anthropomorphic, there not as engineered as a lot of my projects, but I think they are fun.

These buttons are 1/2in (12mm), but you can easily resize them to your needs.

I also have a little description of each of the buttons over at: 4volt.com/Blog/archive/2011/11/26/laser-cut-buttons.aspx

There’s nothing like housing your modern technology in the façade of old technology. This is a small laser cut box that can hold up to 8 full-sized SD flash cards. There is a small living spring that will hold the lid shut when it’s bouncing around in your bag. You can open the box from either side.

With Christmas coming up, this would make great easy to make gift. I know I’ll be making a set of them.

This holder is the second generation of a SD card box, the original version was not nearly as much fun.

This is a derivative of the Folding Wood Booklet, a great implementation of living hinges in wood.

I redrew the design and made it into a box, suitable for trinkets, cards, photos, small papers.

The hinge is quite durable, but not ineducable. I don't feel like I would wear it out with frequent use. It's also surprisingly flexible for being made of wood.

I plan on using more living hinges in wood from now on.

With the recent release of Portal 2 and a birthday of a friend of mine, I wanted to do a portal themed laser something to give him.

What I came up with is this, a small flag you can put in your cupcakes or other baked goods. Yes, I know cake does not make a appearance in Portal 2, but it is still my favorite Portal reference and is well known.

I made mine with white acrylic, which is easy to clean and is durable enough to reuse several times.

So, cut your self some flags and declare your cake a lie.*

This item is also in my Ponoko Showroom (http://www.ponoko.com/showroom/4volt), so you can buy a set today!

*The above statement may or may not be a lie.

I am a big fan of making Christmas gifts wherever possible, last year these Space Invaders inspired Christmas tree ornaments were one of the most popular things I made. If was a fun project, easy to execute.

So I’m releasing the files out into the wild, I hope that you all make bit more and maybe buy a little less.

You’ll notice there done in the retro pixel 8-bit style, everyone seems to like them.

Visit my blog post:
4volt.com/Blog/archive/2010/12/09/space-invader-christmas-ornaments.aspx

If you do not have a laser cutter you can also donate and get a set in a nice gift envelope:
4volt.com/Buy/SpaceInvader.aspx

Here are plans for a simple caliper, handy to have around the shop for measuring thickness and diameters. Anytime I can build something that helps me build something else I am always pleased.

The plans should be as accurate as your cutter or printer is, I actually used this project as a collaboration for my laser.

For updates on my other projects and things check out: 4volt.com/blog/

This box is perfect for carrying stuff with it’s built in handle, which is surprisingly strong. It also makes a good gift box.

This copy of the container is cut from a 8x8in of paper area, and when folded is 2x2x4, big enough for small trinkets. The design can easily be scaled up to hold bigger items, all you would have to do is printing out the design larger. There is also a square version included with the files.

If you are interested in the original source files, I designed this one in flash, which is what I can design in the fastest.

You can find more of my projects over at 4volt.com.

An openly designed Creative Commons Licensed robot.

Note: New Version (Beta 2.1) posted 06/05/2009

New features: 12 legs instead of 8, "drop-in" center platform, 1:1.8 ratio gears, many small changes.

I only update this listing for major revisions of the walker, it's possible there's a minor revision posted at my site that is not here: 4volt.com/projects/jansen/

What you see here is the Jansen walker, a laser-cut robot, based on the Jansen Mechanism. It has 12 legs and scuttles similar to a crab walking sideways. The brain is a Arduino, and the legs are powered by 2 micro-servos modified for continuous rotation.

This project is heavily influenced by Theo Jansen's natural gearing mechanism, it’s a very efficient mechanical leg design for converting rotary motion into leg movements, and is very elegant in my opinion. The basis is the relative distance of the 12 joins, Jansen calls them "The 12 Holy Numbers". The numbers were developed with a genetic algorithm. In a couple of interviews that he wrote the evolver on a Atari STe computer and it took literally months of 1990’s processing power to find the solution.

For more info on Theo Jansen as well as some video and pictures see strandbeest.com.

I've marked this as non-commercial creative commons licensed, but it would be very easy for anyone get me to license a commercial version to almost anyone. For the most part I would just like to make sure I agree with the usage, and make sure I am aware of it.

See vimeo.com/4221721 for a video of the motion.
The home for this project is 4volt.com/Projects/Jansen/

Also, if you don't have a laser cutter, but would like a set of laser cut parts for this project see: 4volt.com/donate.aspx#jansen

This business card is a tri-folded laser cut card meant to look like a old school cassette tape.

The advantage this card has over other is that there's a zipper seal (like on UPS envelopes) on the back of the card that lets you open it like a tri-fold brochure so you can fit a mini-portfolio or a bunch of text on your usually too small business card.

This design gives you about 3.5 x 4in of space that you can't see when the card is folded and sealed.

It's possible to print the card on standard thickness paper, or card stock, though printing and folding normal paper turns out to be the the most similar to a standard business card in thickness.

If you like this thing, i've got more stuff over at 4volt.com/

It seems that many of my things I'll be giving as Christmas presents this year are small, less then a few inches in dimensions. That brings up the question, How do I pack it? One could put the thing in a envelope or a small plastic bag, but all of those like a distinct "giftiness", they don't really look like a gift.

Enter the Folded Box, it's small enough to print and/or cut from a piece of standard size card stock. You can also easily customize it with a logo or name to make it that much cooler.

The box is cut from a single sheet of material. Thick paper, card stock and poster board work well. This pattern will not work well with corrugated cardboard since the thickness of it will make the folds difficult to make.

There are two sizes:

The 7x8 pattern produces a final box that is about: 2.5 x 2.5 x 1 inches inside.
The 8x8 pattern produces a final box that is about: 3.5 x 2.5 x 1 inches inside.

If you are interested in more of my stuff check out: 4volt.com

I created this design while learning how to use my laser, it's a good simple project that creates 35, 1.2in hex pieces that can be pushed together to make abstract sculptures. They make a great desk toy or gift because you can engrave a custom logo or name on each piece to make them truly unique. I'll be giving several sets out this Christmas.

This pattern creates about 35 pieces, and the only material you'll need is a 8x8in piece of plexiglas, which I've been able to regularly find at my local home improvement store for $1.50.

35 pieces is enough to build a 6 inch sphere, or a large abstract object. When I was giving these out as promotional items, I gave them out 7 at a time which is enough to be interesting, but only costs $0.30 in material.

This toy is not intended for young children, the edges are mildly sharp and could possibly be a choked on.

I've also included the flash file which I drew this design in. I have a lot of experience in flash so I'm sticking to what I know for now.