GreyMamba

Thinking Allowed … (under construction)

Thinking Allowed … (under construction)

Engineering

Not a lot to see here (yet). Move along now - come on - move along! There will no-doubt be bits and pieces on engineering I've picked up over the years - I was, after all, a Civil Engineer once and finished my full-time career as a research engineer for Rolls-Royce (Power Systems as it is/was and not the cars). I don't intend it to be all hi-falutin' maths but also hacks and DIY tips.
Engineering stuff

3D Printing

Filed in: 3D Printing
I've decided to take the icy plunge into 3D printing. Been interested in the technology since I first encountered it whilst working in the Strategic Research Centre for Rolls-Royce (Power systems not cars - so no, I didn't have a great company car!). We were looking at metal sintering technologies to produce complex metallic jet engine components my 'additive' manufacture - rather than machining them out of blocks of metal.

There have been 'consumer' printers around for some time but only recently have the cost/performance figures began to look sensible - might be wrong of course but time will tell. This post is a very basic intro to the technology and a chat about my final choice of printer - hope it works OK!
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Tags: Prusa,Kossel,Delta

Reynold's Number

Filed in: Maths

A quick look at Reynold's number - a dimensionless 'number' used in fluid flows that can tell you something about the form of flow - laminar and turbulent. Used extensively in aerodynamics, pipe flow and so on.

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Tags: Reynolds Number

FreeCAD

Filed in: CAD |3D Printing

FreeCAD is an excellent parametric 3D CAD program for creating 3D printed components. Open Source and actively supported, this is and ideal tool for learnig about parametric 3D design.

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Tags: FreeCAD

Fusion 360

Filed in: CAD |3D Printing

Autodesk Fusion 360 is a commercial parametric modelling application. Very comprehensive and pretty expensive. BUT, at the moment they have a very generous attitude to both students/accademic users AND hobbyists. Essentially if you're not going to use the program commercially you can use it for free just by extending the 'free trial' period. I love Open Source stuff like FreeCAD but there are times when a fully developed piece of software is just a bit more integreted. So, it seemed churlish not to try out Fusion 360 as a hobbyist (I suppose as an Open University Associate Lecturer I could also use the accademic license).

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Tags: Fusion 360

LineCatcher - a useful 3D printed thing

Filed in: 3D Printing |3D designs
Now I've got a 3D printer (Prusa i3 MK3) and learned a bit about 3D CAD using Fusion 360, it seems a good time to do something useful. One of the niggly issues you have to contend with when fly fishing (well any form of rod and line fishing really), is what to do with the small lengths of scrap line you generate as you tie on something. It really is a bad idea to just chuck this stuff away as it can be areal danger to the wild-life who might eat it or, in longer lengths, get tangled up in it.

Mostly you try and stuff this waste into spare pockets but it can be surprisingly difficult as it tends to be quite springy and has a malignant mind of its own. There are commercial devices available (for example the Monomaster) so I thought I'd have a go at something similar. Here are the details!
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Tags: Fusion 360,Prusa,Fly Fishing

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The Severn bridge from about 1500ft en-route from Compton Abbas to Liverpool via the Welsh hills in an RV7 (G-DVMI)

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