Making Your Own CNC Machine

Making Your Own CNC Machine Making Your Own CNC Machine Having your own CNC (computer numeric control) machine is only a dream for many engineers when you consider the cost. Ryan Zellars, a maker with a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from San Diego State University, felt the same way, until he decided to get printing.I welches using what I had learned from 3D printers, ramps, and open source firmware to try and 3D print a CNC machine, he says. I started with a corner block and sat it on a dining room table and a month later I had a full machine working. I dont know, I just had to have it and I just thought I could make it happen, says Zellars.According to Zellars, the biggest challenge welches the linear rails. Theyre very costly and heavy, he says. These things are hundreds of dollars for some polished steel rods. Instead, I grabbed a piece of conduit and it was about three bucks, something I was hoping would carve foam. I started with a corner block to set the 90-degree angle and printed one off, printed one corner piece off, and thought it would work and printed all four. Then I printed the basic shape on the table. I also found ways to put the bearings on there.The geometry is an XY cross gantry, he says, instead of a sliding gantry, as is typical of CNC machines. I use stepper motors and the motors that drive it all make it move, he says. It adds precision control and the ramps are the brain. It uses a very minimal power supply because it doesnt have anything to heat up. Its pretty DIY and industrial, but for the most part it looks pretty simple.An aluminum milling test. Image Ryan ZellarsUp for a ChallengeHe felt challenged to show what it could do and even surprised himself. Some people thought it couldnt do anything but foam and my first video was milling aluminum with the machine, he says. That was a great feeling to watch that happen. Recently I made a metal mount for the CNC because I thought it might be a better way to go. I even have a goal to make some skateboards with this.But why did does he call it a mostly printed machine?Everything is printed except for when youre talking conduit, the nuts and bolts and the electronics, he says. I used that phrase mostly printed when I was naming the machine. Its there until I come up with something betterZellars has recently been able to quit working for others as a mechanical engineer and do this full time. The response has been fun so far and I like to see other people have a chance to own a machine like this, he says.He still marvels at how this thought even came to fruition. You start off making something and the first time you see it move it feels like a miracle, he says. It makes you glad you saw it through.Eric Butterman is an independent writer.Learn more about the latest technologies in 3D printing at ASMEs AM3D Conference Expo For Further Discussion You start off making something and the first time you see it move it feels like a miracle. It makes you glad you sa w it through.Ryan Zellars, Maker

Benefits of Using a Resume Writing Service to Write Your Resume

Benefits of Using a Resume Writing Service to Write Your Resume Benefits of Using a Resume Writing Service to Write Your Resume Have you been searching for a new opportunity for a while without any luck? It could be due to the quality of your resume. If its not professional and polished, or it doesnt do an effective job of representing your background, then its no wonder employers arent calling.The good news is that there is one step you can take to increase your odds of landing more phone screens and interviews. Its with a resume writing service. ResumeSpice can helpResume writers know what employers want to see.As professionals in the industry, resume writers understand what hiring managers are looking for when theyre screening resumes. They know not only how to format your resume so its easy to read quickly, but they can also work with you to focus on the skills, accomplishments and experiences that are going to help you stand out the most. Not only will you be able to avoid the d readed writers block, but youll get a resume that makes a powerful impact.Youll get high-quality writing.Not everyone is a writing superstar. Perhaps youre more of a numbers person or a technology expert. Whatever the case for you, you have a hard time putting words on paper. But when you use a resume writing service, you can access the high-quality writing you need to more effectively illustrate your background. As a result, youll be able to make a more positive impression on hiring managers.You can avoid sloppy mistakes. Grammar and spelling mistakes are big red flags for employers. While one small error likely wont hurt your chances of getting an interview, many of them will certainly sabotage your efforts. But when you work with a resume writing service, you dont have to worry about that. Instead, your resume will be professionally proofread so you can rest easy there arent any embarrassing mistakes.You can save time.Writing a solid resume takes a lot of time. If youre currently employed, plus searching for a new job, you probably dont have much to spare. But with a resume writing service, writers can handle the work for you, so you can free up time in your day. A professionally written resume can also help you to speed up your search as you get your foot in the door faster at potential employers.You can overcome red flags.If you have employment gaps or youre switching career fields, a resume writing service can help in these areas as well. Writers will work with you to accentuate the positives in your career history and downplay any negatives, so hiring managers can better understand the value you can offer.Want to learn more about how a resume writing service can help you?Give the resume writers at ResumeSpice a call at 832.930.7378. Our experienced kollektiv can transform a weak resume into an expertly written one, all for better job search results.

Dont Always Be a Good Employee, From Someone Who Had a Breakdown Doing Just That

Dont Always Be a Good Employee, From Someone Who Had a Breakdown Doing Just ThatDont Always Be a Good Employee, From Someone Who Had a Breakdown Doing Just ThatIn 2001 I had a nervous breakdown because I couldnt be a good employee for even one day longer.Something just snapped. I stayed at home for three months and could barely talk. I welches on a cocktail of anti-depressants just to keep my head above water. It took me 18 months to put myself back together.Id spent so long playing the role of good employee that I forgot all about who I was under all that exhausting role-playing and wound up totally lost.I learned a really important lesson in the most difficult way I could learn it Squeezing myself into box thats too small is only ever going to hurt.So, let me offer you a simple 1-2-3 that I hope will help you avoid the same trap I fell into and help you deal with the exhaustion of being a good employee if thats where youre at.1. Who Are You Trying to Please?Wanting to be a good emp loyee starts with the best of intentions. You want people to think well of you. You want to build a good reputation. And you want people to like you.But those intentions can so easily be perverted into people-pleasing that you end up spread thin like a marshmallow under a grand piano. You busy yourself with meeting peoples expectations rather than doing what you think is right, you say the right thing in meetings because you want the validation, and you filter how you appear to your co-workers because thats what good employees do.So, who is it youre trying to please by being a good employee? Is it you, or is it everyone else? Have your good intentions been usurped by being seen to be great at what you do and wanting to fit in?Should your answer highlight how youve been playing the role of good employee rather than becoming great at what you do, its time to recognize one simple fact.Your job isnt to please everyone. Your responsibility is to yourself.2. How Do You Want to Feel?Exhaus tion drenches you. It seeps into you and makes it almost impossible to see another way of doing things. But its a pretty safe bet that you dont want to feel exhausted anymore, right?So, if there was another way you could feel, what would it be? What would an alternative look like? What would it feel like? It could be that you want to feel light, creative, and energized. Maybe you want to feel free, driven, and focused. Or maybe you want to feel peaceful, flowing, and appreciative.Like a tow rope to a car in a muddy ditch, the point here is to connect deeply with something real that can pull you up and out.Acknowledge that theres a different way, a way that adds rather than takes away. It sometimes helps to look back at a time in your life when your work and career felt great, and get specific about how that was. How did it make you feel, and what did it allow you to do? What was different between that and where you are now? What would it mean if you could get something similar again ?Recognize that these ways of feeling, thinking, and behaving are independent of any need to be a good employee. In fact, the need to play the role of good employee is exactly what gets in the way of these more flowing and enabling ways of doing things.3. Whats an Easier Way?Trying to be a good employee can have you running yourself ragged in the effort to be validated as such. An easier way starts with being nchste generation to yourself.And the next question is a simple one. How can this be easier?This is not a question designed to take the easy way out. Its there to highlight a way forward that offers a sense of ease and wholeness rather than a sense of needing to be good.Ease over struggle. Flow over frustration. Acceptance over exhaustion.So rather than trying to be a good employee when youre in meetings, whats a way that feels easier that honors who you are? Rather than trying to be a good employee by toeing the party line even when you disagree or have a different plan, whats an easy way for you to honor what matters or voice your opinion without fear of being judged as wrong or bad? Or rather than trying to be a good employee by blending in and doing whats needed, what would be an easier way that lets you be you and do what youre best at?Id take an employee whos at ease with doing great work over one who plays a role any day. How about you?Photo of tired man courtesy of Shutterstock.