MSRaynsford

EMF Camp 2018 just released details about the badge for this years camp and it looks incredible as always ( Hackaday has a great summary ). It's a full blown smart phone which can be used on site using the local network or on a standard gsm network after the event. Like a lot of camp badges though, despite amazing innovations it's still just a bare circuit board dangling round your neck ready to short out against objects (like the metal of the laser cutter) so there is a bit of a need for a case to protect it. I'm one step ahead of the curve this year and hopefully I've produced the first badge hack of 2018. I initially cut a nice wooden case to show off the fine details that a laser cutter can produce and then I cut one in florescent plastic to glow under the UV lights of Null Sector. Finally I realised I could patch into the 3.3V that is one the board itself to produce a fancy edge lit case (hard to take a good photo of it though). If anyone is interested...

But firstly a divergence into glue. I have a few kits available in my shop and some of them require glue for assembly. It's always been a bit of a sticky subject for me. I recommend Evo-Stik weatherproof wood adhesive  because it grabs quickly and dries solid/clear but I've seen people try to assemble kits with school PVA, superglue or even hot glue (which never works). With this in mind I try to design kits that don't require glue at all, the useless machine  went from a glue heavy box  to a completely glue free box  (and it only took 4 years apparently). This new kit has one awkward part that must be glued and because it connects the drive shaft to the motor it needs to be glued properly. It's four layers of material and is the kind of part that should be manufactured a different way but time is not on my side. Instead of building each one individually I realised I could build several at once to speed things up. By leaving a row of them held together on ...