Hey! This thing is still a Work in Progress.
Files, instructions, and other stuff might change!
Bitbeam
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Published on September 20, 2011
Description
Bitbeam is an experiment to combine my two favorite prototyping tools: balsa/basswood and Lego. The idea is to miniaturize Grid Beam and make it Lego Technic compatible.
Bitbeam height and width is 5/16 inches, and each hole is 4.8 mm wide and 8mm apart from each other -- just like Lego Technic.
The advantage of building your own Bitbeam parts over Lego is that 1) the materials are cheaper, 2) you can make parts in sizes that Lego doesn't make, and 3) playing with lasers is fun!
Bitbeam height and width is 5/16 inches, and each hole is 4.8 mm wide and 8mm apart from each other -- just like Lego Technic.
The advantage of building your own Bitbeam parts over Lego is that 1) the materials are cheaper, 2) you can make parts in sizes that Lego doesn't make, and 3) playing with lasers is fun!
Instructions
The current bitbeam design is meant to be created with a laser cutter. Future versions will be able to be made with a CNC mill or 3D printer.
I'm blogging how to create and use bitbeam over at bitbeam.org. I've posted YouTube videos of the the bitbeams being cut by the laser. More, better, awesomer instructions will come soon, I promise!
I'm blogging how to create and use bitbeam over at bitbeam.org. I've posted YouTube videos of the the bitbeams being cut by the laser. More, better, awesomer instructions will come soon, I promise!
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More from hugs
It took a fair bit of trial and error to get a reliable cut without flare ups, here's what I ended up doing (on an Epilog 50W):
- Make sure the lens is clean!
- Manually focus the bed of the laser about 5 clicks past the top surface ("into" the wood)
- Cut the outline of the blocks first, using speed: 20, power: 95, frequency: 500. After doing 2 passes of that check if any blocks are still stuck and do a third pass on ed
ges that aren't seperated yet.
- Once all the blocks are free, cut just the holes using 1 pass on each of the 4 sides (again using speed: 20, power: 95, frequency: 500). You can use the scrap as a jig to hold the pieces exactly where you need them.
After that you might need to poke out some stuck
bits but it should work! I'd be interested to hear what procedure @hugs uses - doing a cut for each of the 4 sides does take a while.