heinzdrei

This has been done -- see for example maslowcnc.com . There are issues however, mainly regarding precision.

Wow, it looks impressive! But it certainly can't compete with your wonderful kids :)

I used these adjustable step-down converters and started with 5v for the geared motor and 12v for the fan. Especially for the fan, whether you want to keep this at 12V or adjust this to less depends on the model you use -- I used a very strong 12V-fan, so I gradually adjusted the voltage down until I had the sort of bubbles I wanted. For the geared motor it doesn't matter that much -- just try and see how you like it best!

This is a fantastic instructable, well explained and very inspiring: While I take a lot of pride into repairing things rather than throwing them away, up to now this often involved designing and 3d-printing some replacement part -- which may be better than throwing away an electric hair cutter, but still produces even more plastic waste. I will definitely take this as an inspiration in the future to decide responsibly on how I fix things! Thanks a lot! Voted :)BTW in the past I sometimes used wire from paper clips for reinforcement, made it really hot with a blow torch, then inserted it into the broken plastic piece on both sides, melting away just a hole large enough to insert the cooled down paper clip -- then I glued the parts together. This can sometimes be a good solution for very ...

This is a fantastic instructable, well explained and very inspiring: While I take a lot of pride into repairing things rather than throwing them away, up to now this often involved designing and 3d-printing some replacement part -- which may be better than throwing away an electric hair cutter, but still produces even more plastic waste. I will definitely take this as an inspiration in the future to decide responsibly on how I fix things! Thanks a lot! Voted :)BTW in the past I sometimes used wire from paper clips for reinforcement, made it really hot with a blow torch, then inserted it into the broken plastic piece on both sides, melting away just a hole large enough to insert the cooled down paper clip -- then I glued the parts together. This can sometimes be a good solution for very small, intricate parts where you maybe don't want to weld.

Glad to hear you like it, I'd really love to hear about the resuts! Thinking back, by all means go for a ready-made UV LED strip instead of daisy-chaining LEDs and you'll have much more fun than me :)

Aah, it always makes me happy when people do appreciate such a long forgotten gem :) Thank you! I would really love to see what you make of it, and would especially love to hear wether the motion detector idea has that scary effect I hoped for!

Thank you very much :) I hope this helps!

This is an incredibly well done instructable which would have saved me a lot of time if I had had it before. Thank you very very much, this is sure to be an often-used bookmark in the future :)

Glad you like it, thank you :)

Thank you for these thorough and convincing answers :) I will definitely build this as a part of my current printer project. Thank you for your time!

Fantastic design and video instructions, voted!Two questions:1. I was always told to be careful moving steppers by hand because the generated voltage might damage the electronics, so I'd hesitate feeding 300mm by hand cranking. Is this no issue in your opinion? I suppose your electronics are still alive after months of testing, but better safe than sorry :)2. Would it be easy to give this a smaller advantage than 1:4 by just using a bigger pulley on the motor (I'm not as much concerned about force than retraction speed), or do I overlook something? If yes this would make your design even more versatile :)Great work!

I've been thinking a lot in the last months about how to make more professional photos for my instructables and thought along similar lines -- this will probably save me a lot of work and trouble :) This is a good and useful instructable, thank you for it!

This is a really cool idea and fantastic instructabke, you got my vot :) Now, to build this I'd first really have to clean up my todoist. It would be glowing red 24h as of now :((

This is a really cool idea and an excellent instructable! Do you think, the small 8g servos often used in small RC projects would do the job -- I think you used a bigger one, but they're so cheap I'd really prefer them when seeing after a lot of plants :)

This is a fantastic effect and so easy. Two Harry Potter themed birthdays coming up in the family, this is sire to be made :)

This is a very cool and detailled instructable - I really like how you explain everything from the basics on. Thank you!

Thank you -- and thanks very much for posting again after I somehow lost the first one, the feedback on instructables is really something that makes my life more beautiful :)

Thank you! I'm glad someone does -- most of my friends and colleagues thought it was just silly ... which it is, of course :)

It always depends on the melting point, but I guess it will work. A typical reaches around 200 to 220 °C -- and you don't need to reach exactly the temperature you would need in the nozzle for printing, but just enough so the plastic will ooze a little into the fabric.