DIY – Backerjack

Form-Mate vacuum former gives your vacuum cleaner something else to do

Model makers, DIY enthusiast, and those dabbling in 3D printing have a need to create plastic copies quickly. For this, most use the simple process of vacuum forming, or the heating and stretching of a thermoforming sheet over a previously created mould. What isn’t simple at all or the current vacuum forming machines available, which can be large, complex, and expensive.

The Form-Mate is a vacuum forming machine on a diet, even if it’s 24 kg weight doesn’t seem so slim. A bunch of features make it worth using, though., These include compatibility with household vacuum cleaners, customizable and savable settings, and ability to be folded. The Form-Mate is priced at $544, and is expected to be delivered by August 2015. Its $5,444 campaign goal is looking to be funded by July 22, 2015.

Compared to other vacuum forming machines, the Form-Mate offers improvement in many different areas; it can replicate a large variety of items due to its size. Even with this considered, this is a very niche product that will have trouble reaching its small target audience.

mDrawBot is the Transformer that took up an art career

Makeblocks give intrepid DIYers a versatile assortment of parts to make whatever kind of robots they can dream up, all in conjunction with components like Raspberry Pi or an Arduino board.

Now, the same team behind Makeblocks has come up with mDrawBot. mDrawBot is a kit of specific Makeblocks used in conjunction with a proprietary Arduino board. Together, they can be used to create a 4-in-1 drawing robot capable of fulfilling whatever artistic impulses one can think up. The product’s hands-on nature may scare off some, but it’s all worth it when one considers that the mDrawBot can be configured into four different forms. The first is the mSpider, which can draw and paint on any vertical surface, and whose string lengths are adjustable to increase its range.

Its second form is the mScara, used to draw on paper with an installed pen, or engrave on material like wood if a laser diode is installed. Its third form is mEggBot, used solely with eggs and other oval-shaped objects similar to eggs. Lastly, its final form is the mCar, used to draw on the floor. The kit’s versatility promises to be extremely useful in a number of varied, albeit specific, situations. Even if the DIY nature of mDrawBot is challenging to some, the product holds a lot of appeal for others.

A standard mDrawBot kit costs $179, and is compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux. A May 2015 ship date is dependent of the success of its $50,000 campaign goal which ends on May 28.