20. Project presentations¶
What does it do?¶
We’re punkers, DIY’s, makers. We make stuff, hands-on. We like to get our hands dirty. We don’t like waste.
Merch is important. It’s the place at a gig where people come together with the band and have a chat. But merch is expensive, it’s pricy for small bands to produce a couple of shirts or tote bags. Or even offer limited prints on their new records. And let’s be honest, pre-printed shirts in bulk aren’t very DIY.
The Pink-to-matic allows bands to print their own merch, as well as offer DIY printing of their designs on merch stalls. Say I have a shirt and I want to have the logo of a band I just saw on it. The Pink-to-matic would be the solution! For a small fee for ink and the design, your fans can print their own merch. Or, of course, you could print is for them if they ask you to.
The machine allows you to print on paper and fabric, depending on the ink you use. Right now only the press printing module has been finished, the screen printing module is still in development.
Who’s done what before hand?¶
There are a lot of easy to use silkscreen kits, but most of them aren’t easy to use in the sense of getting your print in the same place each time as the siff is not attached to a machine.
Examples:
An easy to use automated press machine has not yet been made as far as I could find.
What did you design?¶
I designed:
- the machine casing
- the button controler
- the rubber roll system that moves back and forth while applying pressure
- the electronics
- the stamps
What materials and components were used?¶
Bom: list of materials¶
| Part/component | Description | Quantity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rubber roll system | |||
| Stepper motors | motor | 2 | 9,91 euro |
| Timer belts | 1 m | 2 | 3,37 euro |
| Nuts | M3 | 12 | 0,4 euro |
| M6 | 4 | 0,2 euro | |
| Threaded rod | M6 - 2 x 7 cm | 2 | 1 euro |
| Screws | M3 | 24 | 0,5 euro |
| PLA for the prints | 1 roll of filament | 1 | 20 euro |
| Rubber roll | 30 cm | 1 | 25 euro |
| Maker beam | 35 cm | 1 | recycled |
| Button controller | |||
| Poplar plywood | shared with the casing | 1 | 22 euro |
| Wire | 2 m | 1 | 1 euro |
| Buttons | Single pole push button | 4 | 2,12 euro |
| Resistors | 220 ohm | 4 | 0,06 |
| Machine casing | |||
| Poplar plywood | see above | ||
| Electronics | |||
| Copper board | 55 x 85 mm | 1 | 1,5 euro |
| Polulu break-out boards | A4988 | 2 | 5,95 euro |
| Capacitator | 10µF | 2 | 0,2 euro |
| Header | HEADER FEMALE, 2.54mm CC, 1 ROW, SMT | 4 | 0,4 euro |
| PINHD-1x04-SMD-HEADER | 2 | 0,2 euro | |
| PINHD-1x02-SMD-HEADER | 1 | 0,1 euro | |
| PINHD-1x03-SMD-HEADER | 6 | 0,1 euro | |
| FTDI-SMD-HEADER | 1 | 0,5 euro | |
| AVRISPSMD | 1 | 0,17 eruo | |
| LED | red | 1 | 0,2 euro |
| Resistor | 220 ohm | 1 | 0,06 euro |
| 10K | 1 | 0,06 euro | |
| Switch | 6mm switch | 1 | 0,6 euro |
| Chip | ATmega328p-AU | 1 | 2,07 euro |
| Power regulator | 5V regulator | 1 | 0,3 euro |
| Crystal | ECS-CR2-20.00-B-TR | 1 | 0,2 euro |
| Power supply | 12v laptop power supply | 1 | recycled |
Where did they come from?¶
The electronics came from RS Components. The poplar came from a local hardware store, as well as the nuts and bolts. The ink, rubber, linoleum, … came from a local art supply shop.
Other parts are recycled from old builds.
What parts and systems were made?¶
I made:
- the machine casing
- the button controler
- the rubber roll system that moves back and forth while applying pressure
- the electronics
- the stamps
What processes were used?¶
The following processes were used:
2D-design
Laser cutting for the machine casing and engraving some stamps. Milling for the electronics and an mdf stamp.
3D-design
All 3D-printed parts, mostly used to hold the rubber roll.
What questions were answered?¶
-
How many steps does the stepper motor have to take?
As it turns out the motor needs to do 1750 steps.
-
How will the rubber roll stay put?
3D-printed parts and a bit of tape. In the next version I want to adapt the clamp in order to loose the tape.
-
Will I be ably to programme the ATMEGA328?
Yes! Much less problems with the ATmega than with the ATtiny. Thankfully.
What worked? What didn’t?¶
What worked:
-
the casing, although small adjustments are needed in order to make it into a more sturdy milled trespa version
-
the 3D-printed parts to hold the rubber roll and motors
-
the controller buttons came out really nice!
-
the electronics, thankfully 🙂
What’s not working.. well: it’s not there yet.. As it turned out the screen printing module will have to be finished in the next cycle.
How was it evaluated?¶
For the device prototype I expected the following things:
- the Pink-to-matic has a play button that allows you to start the sequence for press printing
- the Pink-to-matic should be able to run back and forth smoothly over a test stamp
- the Pink-to-matic should have protected electronics as they don’t like to get inky 🙂
- the Pink-to-matic should fit on a cupboard in a small home maker space as my own
All these goals were made 🙂
What are the implications?¶
For this cycle some things from the original plan needed to be postponed to a next cycle. The major shift is leaving the screen printing layer of the machine to a next cycle. I was able to make the machine in poplar, so it has yet to be milled in trespa.