EP#7: The Art of Retention Force

News:May the Fab Be With YouMay 4th, 20236:00 PM - 9:00 PM CDT10305 Round Up Ln Suite 400Houston, TXTopics:Bud Industries - Board-ganizer Enclosure KitCombine breadboards and evaluation boards into an enclosureFluke 87V multimeter Vs Centech 61593 (also got a rigol DS2072 oscilloscope)$520 vs $39.996000 count vs 2000 countFluke can do “High Res” mode and go to 20,000 countAutorange vs range selectBenefits of bothManual range might be better for keeping your ducks in a row.Main difference - the fluke is basically 4x or better on nearly all measurement accuracyThe all important beep testParker uses a ‘Velleman’ DVM850BLDebugging things that don’t workWagoneer was not happy recentlyEvents that lead up to the problemProblem solving techniquesResolutions?Power Distribution Module What is up with this project?Building an adjacent community for long term discussion of the podcast and projectsThe MacroFab Podcast Contest IS BACKDetails at a later podcast episode

30 Mars 20231h

Riley HallRiley is the Director of Product Marketing for Fictiv. He has over ten years of experience working in highly technical manufacturing engineering environments at companies including Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, Hilti North America, and Markforged. Riley holds a B.A. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan as well as an MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder and lives with his wife Hannah in Denver, enjoying hiking, skiing, and the occasional Colorado brewery.TopicsFictivWhat is Fictiv?Mike Geyer from Fictiv was on the podcast back on episode 187We talked about Fictiv’s State of Hardware Report for 2019State of Manufacturing ReportEnclosures for ElectronicsTypes of enclosuresManufacturing Processes3D printingInjection MoldingCNC MachiningMaterial SelectionDRC verse DFM

24 Mars 202345min

Denes SzaboDenes was born and raised in Colorado. His parents owned a machine shop where Denes worked from a young age till 50. Denes now runs the tooling department at the US Mint Denver.TopicsWhat is the process of getting US currency made?Making changes and updates?How does this differ from other currencies?What goes into creating the tooling?MaterialsFiles for creating the toolsHow are they approvedQuality controls on currency manufacturingProducing at scaleInventory and Logistics

15 Mars 202359min

NewsMay the Fab be with YouShow off the new factory!Star Wars theme of courseContest for best Star Wars CostumeFood and DrinkPossible Cantina Band?The State of Electrical Engineering JobsDenver IndustriesMedicalAviationSpaceCommunicationsManufacturingCommonalitiesDesign - HardwareDesign - FirmwareBoard stuffCad/Cam and mechanicalRegulationsMost stuffSecret clearanceRepairManufacturing practicesKnowledgeHigh speed electronicsRFCommunication protocols - Some board level stuff but lots of ethernetFollow up from last weekWhat happened last week?New Computer? Ordered a caseSliger CX4200i Building a new rack for this

10 Mars 202353min

NewsMay 4th, Bringing back the MacroFab meetup.Stephen Kraig looking for a job. Email stephen.l.kraig@gmail.comAnother thought on ground planesFinally tried an honest to god ground plane on an amp and the results are what you would expect.RealizationsComponent placement matters as much if not more than trace routingPool analogyUnderstanding current is keyTrade offsMakes ground easier while making signaling harderIt is possible to have too much groundVenting of Sealed (washable) Relays (that have vents provided)TE Connectivity application note about sealed relays Unless specifically advised otherwise by TE Engineering, all sealed relays (that have a venting means provided by the manufacturer) must be vented after PCB assembly and cleaning, but before use electrically, in order for published ratings to remain applicable.Dumb Aviation plugStephen bought GX16 aviation plugsNeed Gx20What does the number mean? The mounting hole size….

2 Mars 202357min

NewsMay 4th, Bringing back the MacroFab meetup.Question From slack: Eric SmithHow do you find new machines for the factory lines?GoogleYoutubeVendorsResellersDo you guys get mailed catalogs?Auctions yes. New machines noDo you go to conferences?I have been but never to purchase a machine  if you find something which could be potentially good, how do you evaluate it?  Is there something like a trial period with the manufacturer?Research is key. Evaluation is difficult to do.  Do you have an examples of machines you purchased but regret? Or examples of machines that helped a lot?Mimaki PrinterStencil printerDatron CNCDirect questionI'd also be curious if you prefer to keep homogenous lines or do you prefer to optimize some lines to a particular task, i.e. Less precise but more throughput.    I can come up with good arguments either way.   It sounds like you all keep things pretty dynamic and reconfigure fairly often.

22 Feb 202357min

MacroFab NewsMay 4th, Bringing back the MacroFab meetup.MacroFab moved into the new headquarters and we already produced our first products!Checker Battery BoxMaterials arrived Monday, will need to weld itDesigning for laser cutting / weldingNew Project Car - 2021 Chevy Express 4500RV / Camper / Tow Rig buildThe CNC is coming together!Finally got all of the extrusionsBeen taking my time and savoring it.Have to rearrange basement to get everything to fit4 rounds of buying hardwareWhat remainsGet the drive electronicsGet the ball screwsSFU2010 - 2000mm and 1950mm for the X and Y axis C7 gradeDual x drive - slave axisBuild the electronics cabinetNVEM ethernet stepper controller.Run all of the wire management8020 3d printed cable managementFirst attempt is good but needs some adjustmentProbably too tightAdd tabs that will allow you to turn it by hand when in the slotAdd some features that slowly allow it to engage with the slot instead of all at once

17 Feb 20231h 7min

MacroFab NewsMay 4th, Bringing back the MacroFab meetup.MacroFab is moving headquarters!New Website! The podcast and all that content looks sexy now.Chat GPT NPCInstead of the standard tree format of communication - just use aiAI dungeon master?How easy would it be to break?Segway announcement on Good Morning AmericaChecker Battery BoxRelocation of the batteryTool Storage⅛” 304 Stainless SteelCat Feeder UnreminderSchematic completedBeen “bench testing” for the past couple weeksEnclosure design roughed in

11 Feb 202359min