Many communities have maker spaces in which members access common shop equipment. For example, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, there is the Gizmo maker space (Link https://www.gizmo-cda.org/). Gizmo has two excellent CO2 lasers, very good 3D printers, table saws for cutting plastic sheets, drill presses, milling machines, lathes, etc. Meeting people in a maker space is a…
CAD programs
CAD programs allow customization of 3D printable brackets. A comprehensive 3D CAD package with parametric modeling is AutoCAD Fusion 360 with a free (but limited) personal version (Link https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal).
Low-cost drone shop
The cost for setting up a drone shop need not be high. A high quality 3D printer (Link https://store.anycubic.com/products/kobra-2-pro) does an excellent job, and during the Anycubic 2024 Christmas sale it cost $199. It will print out all the brackets and mounting fixtures needed for a custom drone. 3D printer filament costs $20 – $30 for a…
Amazing low-cost power source
It is amazing that an assembled 10-level Marx generator can be bought from China at a cost of $107.63 plus shipping. This high voltage generator produces sparks with a peak power level of megawatts. With the right apparatus, this is sufficient to transmute Pepto-Bismal (i.e. ingredient Bi-209) into Po-210. Polonium-210 is an alpha source that…
Megawatts of peak power for a few nanoseconds
Here is a video of the operation of a low-cost Marx generator that outputs megawatts of peak power.Linkhttps://video.aliexpress-media.com/play/u/ae_sg_item/1754526244/p/1/e/6/t/10301/1100008366104.mp4