Kwartzlab Society Inc.

The CNC router machine has been busy cutting more CNC art experiments. The larger face above is 3-1/2 inches wide and the smaller faces are 1-1/2 inches wide.
I wanted to see how small I could make the faces and still be recognizable.

The faces were all done with a staight .045 inch cutting bit.

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Now that the CNC Router is complete, I have been experimenting with CNC art. The really cool thing about using a computer and a CNC router to create art is that the end results can be unpredictable and surprising. My first experiment was to take a picture of a tree, convert it to black and white, invert the image and then render it for cutting. I liked the idea of taking a living tree, converting it to ones and zeros, and then cutting the image into a processed wood product (MDF). The cutting path is one continuous spiral starting from the top outer edge.

The computer generated cutting path for a circular tree.

Another experiment was to render a picture of Audrey Hepburn using an x-axis raster technique. The Audrey on the left of the MDF panel was done at a lower line resolution. The panel was spray painted black and then white was added.

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I'm happy to announce that the CNC router table is now complete. We're one step closer to having rapid prototyping capability. The router table can be used to cut a variety of materials under computer numerical control (CNC). Objects are designed using CAD (computer aided design) software and then exported to a CAM (computer aided manufacturing) file format. CAD may be used to design curves and figures in two-dimensional (2D) space as well as curves, surfaces, and solids in three-dimensional (3D) objects. I'm in the process of sorting out the software and have had success using MACH3 to run the machine. Mach3 has a lot of flexibility for tuning the stepper motors of each axis and also includes a 3 dimensional rendering of the G-code to verify that the tool path is correct. Click through for more info...

Last week Kwartzlab presented the spectacular electronic art of Bernie Rohde. The opening night on May 18, 2010 was a great success! The exhibit is still going on so come out on Tuesday night between 7-10pm to meet the artist and take a tour of Kwartzlab. Bring a friend to see how this amazing artwork lights up the room. Kwartzlab is located at 283 Duke St West, Unit 106 in Kitchener (the old Boehmer Box building).

Bernie talks about his creation.

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The current artist displaying work at Kwartzlab, Roland Hofer (aka Caliban Strange) and Robert Gissing (aka Gus)were interviewed on Monday April 26, 2010 by Mary-Lou Schagenaed on her arts show at CKWR. Mary-Lou has been very supportive of the Kwartzlab artist initiative launched by Gus Gissing. Since 1996, Mary-Lou has produced and hosted the show, along with the distinctive personalities of community contributors. Together, they bring music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film, books, authors and festivals to the airwaves.

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Local artist Bernie Rohde dropped by and demonstrated one of his unique timepieces.

Here is an excerpt from Bernies web page, now archived on the wayback machine:
"Self-styled electronics designer Bernie Rohde transforms the art of clock making with his award-winning concept in computer sculpture. Think of time in a circle, LED colors in a sunflower spiral, light diffused in polished clear acrylic. You’ve never seen anything like this...
Each clock is individually hand-made from original circuit design and programming. A microprocessor controls the LED display (light emitting diodes) with quartz crystal accuracy, without moving parts. LED 'hands', not numbers, clearly indicate the time. One button sets the time."

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Local artist and friend of Kwartzab, Roland Hofer, is now displaying his paintings on the Art Wall!
His art deals with alternative realities where time, matter and existence are depicted in vibrant colors full of interesting creatures and situations.
Roland will be giving a talk to introduce his work at the next Tuesday open night on April 13, 2010.
Bring all of your friends to meet the artist and check out the space!

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If you're ever at the lab alone and the doorbell rings you can check to see who it is without opening the door. We now have a front door security camera.
The monitor is located on the shelf beside the soldering station to make it convenient to see from the work tables.

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The stepper motor controller boards for my CNC router project are based on the L297 controller and L298 H-bridge driver combination. The circuit board design is the same as the schematic shown in the L297 datasheet. To keep the size of the boards small, I decided to make them double sided. I also needed to build a parallel port breakout board so I did that at the same time. The schematic and boards were laid out using EagleCad.

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Tonight I decided to try cutting a small intricate gear with the Taig CNC milling machine as a proof of concept experiment for another project that I'm working on. The gear is 1-7/8 inches in diameter. I plan on making much smaller gears but the smallest end mill that I have right now is 1/8 of an inch.

It makes a cool necklace. Now I'm ready to rock.

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