(image of mechanism #77 from Henry T. Brown’s Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements, via 507movements.com) The leading systematic uncertainty in our group’s test of the equivalence principle is variations in the local gravity gradient. The gravity gradient is the spatial derivative of the gravitational field—the amount of change in the strength and … Continue … Continue reading Wirelessly powered non-magnetic rotary actuator
A friend’s picture of his family’s fire pit with their surname cut out of the fire ring prompted this project. I found an SVG of the inscription of the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings series, based on Tolkien’s depiction in The Fellowship of the Ring (
I shared an office with a postdoc, Krishna, whose work centered around building an instrument to measure seismic tilt for LIGO, the gravity-wave observatory that made the first detection of gravitational waves. The instrument consisted of a long bar with weights on each end that hung from a pair of thin flexures EDM-cut from beryllium … Continue reading A motorized turntable in under 15 (times pi) minutes
When we first got the laser I promised my three-year-old that I’d cut him out a bed with it. It took about a year for me to finally get it designed in Solidworks and cut out. It all fit on a single 5’x5′ sheet of 1/2″ Baltic birch, even after cutting down … Continue Reading … Continue reading Laser-cut toddler bed
A laser-engraved jack-o-lantern for Halloween 2013. I used the rotary stage to do the sides, and then sliced off the stem and did the top. Aligning the top with the sides was a bit tricky, but it came out okay. I left off Antartica. Slideshow (album):
Some friends were having a housewarming party so I modified a design I found and cut it out of a 12″x12″ sheet of 1/4″ bamboo plywood. I used some steel wire to align the layers for gluing, tied each joint with waxed floss while the glue dried, and finished it with a beeswax and … … Continue reading Laser-cut fruit bowl
We have some family friends who have an annual Pi Day pie party. I was planning to make a pumpkin pie to laser this year, but the week ended up being too busy. Instead, my office mate Charlie and I tromped down to the supermarket and picked out the flattest pies they had, … Continue … Continue reading Laser pi(e)
After becoming aware of unique fabrication needs within our group and other groups on campus, I initiated, wrote, and managed a successful grant proposal for a $200k high-power laser cutter system and have since been responsible for installing and managing the system. The system is a Kern HSE 100 with 400W laser and … Continue … Continue reading Laser cutters
