So now - after tearing apart all those printers and the several motors that I did buy... What should I do with all these stepper motors that were too small for the CNC machine?

I'm trying to think of some creative uses for them :)

you could build a mini power plant ,
or you could do what i did and use them as a weight to presearve the ever so slight bow in my shelf

you can build a printer with all those parts :p I wouldn't mind building a tiny CNC machine once with small stepper motors, attach a pen to it instead of a router or something

yeah - I've got a ton of little printer parts LOL

a mini desktop CNC - that's not a bad idea - I could cut the pieces with Machine #1 :)

How about a rapid prototyping machine? No cutting forces on the head are involved and the head itself is light. See these guys for info (http://128.253.249.235/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page).

fab@home might be fun, but it's also a bit pricey, IIRC. I think a small desktop machine would be fun.

Make a small automatic tattooing machine- there's a thread on here somewhere about that, it straps to your arm and tattoos you!

Make a small automatic tattooing machine- there's a thread on here somewhere about that, it straps to your arm and tattoos you!
Now thats just wrong...........:(

Make a small engraver for engraving pens and round things. I think you could get away with it being only 3 axes. You wouldn't really need a Y axis under power. May need to have it adjustable.

Not sure what the heck you would call it. ;)

Now thats just wrong...........:(

Especially if you want to tattoo a boob. :rolleyes:

Especially if you want to tattoo a boob

lol you wouldn't wantto mistakenly program a peck cycle!


Oh! you could make a small Engine Turning or Jeweling machine to give small parts a nice finish... here's some examples

http://www.workingpsychology.com/diversions/jeweling.html

Automatic tattoo machine - now that's a good idea ;)

or how about an automatic blinds opener? or opener / closer for a projector screen?

how about building unusual or funny clocks?

Like the 24h clock used by the military (remember the movie "The Enemy Below"?) , or a clock that runs counter-clockwise. Or, better yet, a large
version of a "scrambled" watch I have seen somewhere selling for an
enormous amount of money: all the number 1-12 are on the dial, but in
a scrambled order...

I have been considering these projects for some time; they demand a small
microcontroller like an AVR, but this would be no problem (for me); what I
couldn´t figure yet is a simple, effective way of having two steppers moving
coaxial axes, for the hours and minutes - any ideas?

Nelson

what I
couldn´t figure yet is a simple, effective way of having two steppers moving
coaxial axes, for the hours and minutes - any ideas?


just do what clock makers have done for ages...mount one spindle through the other like a shaft within a pipe. drive each with a small timing gear of different diameters. seems simple like most hard things do??? :)

Bob

I've seen the scrambled clock :) what would be cool would be to program the stepper to actually somehow tell the right time! ;) good idea!

how about an egg-bot?

how about an egg-bot?

I did one, it was way cool. Motors were free from a floppy drive, stepper controller cost me $5 to build. Controller software was GBASIC. I want to eventually incorporate PenUp/PenDn functionality. Then it would rock. :banana:

Ref.: www.taomc.com/bits2bots

how about a banner that scrolls over your computer..... MY HEADERS MUST SAY WHAT THE THREAD IS ABOUT.......MY HEADERS MUST SAY WHAT THE THREAD IS ABOUT.......MY HEADERS MUST SAY WHAT THE THREAD IS ABOUT.......MY HEADERS MUST SAY WHAT THE THREAD IS ABOUT.......

:D