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Here in the AOC we see a lot of projects using laser-cut birch plywood (like Jeff’s ukulele posted a while back). It’s relatively inexpensive, durable, and looks nice.

But for those of you who feel the need to get closer to the material (i.e. put stuff in your mouth), Chris Reilly has recently published a volley of posts that might open up some new possibilities. Check out these three beautifully documented projects:

1. How to use food coloring for ultrabright color stains

2. How to make food safe wood sealer

3. How to build a “Linguaphone of Tremulous Communion”

Remember, if you’re going for food-safe, sand down the burnt edges using the belt and drum sanders at your local wood shop. Nobody wants a mouthful of ash.

All this talk of food and lasers reminds me of Ector Garcia’s laser-cut tortilla experiment. Also, this:

Ok, go make stuff!

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The newest product from Hasbro will have a huge influence on how children get introduced to technology we use at the school. The Play-doh 3d printer is probably one of the coolest things I’ve seen. The 3d printer will use Play-doh and hand cranked power to extrude Play-doh into an object. With an iPad app it makes it even easier. It’s available starting today exclusively at ThinkGeek.com and it’s only $49.99! I went ahead and bought one for myself.

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Image source: Imperfecthouse.wordpress.com

We get a lot of students asking if we can make notepads. Unfortunately, the way our Perfect Binding machine works, we can’t. But if you are willing to put a little extra time and effort into a project, you can make your own notepad with Lineco Pad Compound! Lineco Pad Compound is a low tack adhesive that dries clear. Just hold your paper together with binder clips, apply a thin layer of the compound on one side, let dry, and presto! Instant custom made note pad. There are tons of ways you can use a pad compound- a neat way to keep business cards organized, notepads with your contact info or a logo, a quick and easy way to make a flip book. The Service Bureau can even cut your paper to size before you bind it!

Happy making,

-Kate

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One of our friendly/talented student employees, Jeff, found this design for a lasercut ukulele on Thingiverse.

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He put this together in a few hours using scrap materials and some bits from a hardware store.

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This is a full-on legitimate instrument, which actually sounds better than most ukuleles I’ve played. Time to make my own…

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Chris Thorpe from The Flexiscale Company has a pretty amazing Kickstarter campaign going on right now. He and his team are taking 3d scan data from various rail engines on the Ffestiniog Railway and producing 3d printed kits. The goal is to create highly detailed plastic models exactly as the engines exist today.

The campaign still has a little under 2 days left before it ends. This is definitely an awesome example of what you can do, using the same technology we have here at the school. For more information on our technology, head over to the Advanced Output Center.

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iPhone 5 Camera Battle: Is It the Best Smartphone Shooter?

It might be safe to say all photographers are using their cameras to take pictures. Whether they openly admit it or not, the smart phone has become a mighty decent point and shoot that you keep in your pocket all the time (unlike that point and shoot you bought for the same purpose but routinely forget) So making sure that those phone/cameras encourage your work rather than crushing your dreams is important. Which one does best on macro? in low light? Curious how your brand new iPhone 5 stacks up against that perfectly working iPhone 4S you traded it for? Gizmodo put the heavy weights in cell phone camera tech to the test. And if you’re looking for that all in one device that can take calls and professional level portraits of your dog, this article is for you!

Happy Snapping,

-Kate

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Hopefully by now, if you’re in the BFA show this sprint, you’ve finished installing. We’ve printed a lot of it, and we’re excited to see it hanging on the walls.

Now its time to think about getting yourself some business cards and post cards. Business cards get your name and contact info the the pockets of possible future business contacts and gallery owners. And we can print them for you too! We print business cards and postcards on 80lb cardstock paper. And they only take 24 hours!

The Service Bureau offers templates for printing business cards or postcards with us. Templates make the whole printing process easier. Using our template, 250 double sided full color business cards on a matte finish cardstock only cost $37 (which is a steal).

The business card template puts 8 standard size business cards on a letter sized piece of paper. The post card template puts two postcards on an letter sized piece of paper. Follow the link below to download the template and instructions.

http://crit.artic.edu/servicebureau/templates.html

There is an Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop version of each template, so you can use whatever program you are most comfortable with. Be sure to read the directions carefully. Each version of our templates will have a “YOUR ARTWORK” layer. That is where your business/post card design should go. When working in Indesign or Illustrator, the template layers are set so that when you export your file as a PDF they won’t show up. In Photoshop you will have to delete the template (but not the crop mark) layer before exporting. If you are unfamiliar with the layers feature in any of these programs come talk to us and we can help you out.

Good luck with your big night! We will see you there!

-k

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Sorting Images in the Photo "Morgue"

Sorting Images in the New York Times photo "morgue"

And it promises to be awesome. In an effort to make public some of the millions (no really, millions) of images the New York Times has accumulated since 1896, they have started a Tumblr called The Lively Morgue. Every week new pictures will be posted to the blog, each with a little back story, some with a long backstory. Some will even be for sale as prints. Get inspired, check it out!

Happy Viewing,

-k

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Welcome to the world of tomorrow! Just this year, an 83 year old women with a badly infected lower jaw, was given a replacement jaw printed to fit her in a LayerWise 3D printer. According to the BBC, the jaw was made out of titanium powder that was heated with lasers and fused together layer by layer. The replacement jaw only took a handful of hours to print, and the surgery went quicker than normal, and the patient was swallowing and talking within a day. That’s right, not only is this jaw naturally more badass than a regular jaw, but the whole process was much more pleasant. Not only are we living in the future, things are more awesome than expected! Now if someone presents a successful Tricorder for the X-Prize, we will have achieve world peace, visit the stars, and money won’t be a necessity anymore, right? A girl can dream.

Live Long and Prosper.

-k

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Love, the Bureau

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