The Wall Street Journal has been surprising me lately with some interesting articles, not least The Origin of Good Ideas.
Also, it will be interesting to see where this goes. Food pairing? Hmm.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
A sensible trail bike
In a previous post I commented that cyclocross bikes have certain shortcomings enforced by the UCI. I myself have enjoyed a cyclocross bike for a number of years, moving to Europe with one as my sole bike over ten years ago. As it has since seen a number of stablemates join it in my collection here, its purpose has been somewhat in question. This seems the fate of any do-it-all type bike that is gradually supplanted with others that better fill this or that niche. I already have another hybrid in use as a commute bike, so the Bianchi has become my long-ride trail bike project.
Here it is, pictured in the middle of a 42km mixed-terrain ride I did yesterday. The 38mm tires offer plenty of volume for rough trail surfaces, though as a rider you have to be more careful than you might riding fat 55mm tires. The cassette and chainring combo provides a broad gearing selection, and the funny handlebar offers plenty of hand positions with good control over the bike.
The ride was maybe 60% trails and gravel, with the remainder well-maintained asphalt, the latter primarily in a strong headwind. The bike performs well as set-up in most of these conditions. Admittedly, I sometimes wished for the comfort, predictability, and braking performance of my mountain bike, and on the ride home I maybe would have preferred my road bike, but I would never have taken either on the entire route.
Here it is, pictured in the middle of a 42km mixed-terrain ride I did yesterday. The 38mm tires offer plenty of volume for rough trail surfaces, though as a rider you have to be more careful than you might riding fat 55mm tires. The cassette and chainring combo provides a broad gearing selection, and the funny handlebar offers plenty of hand positions with good control over the bike.
The ride was maybe 60% trails and gravel, with the remainder well-maintained asphalt, the latter primarily in a strong headwind. The bike performs well as set-up in most of these conditions. Admittedly, I sometimes wished for the comfort, predictability, and braking performance of my mountain bike, and on the ride home I maybe would have preferred my road bike, but I would never have taken either on the entire route.
Birthday Cassoulet
A Sunday trip to Falkenberg furnished a pair of duck thighs, and a normal provisioning trip to a big-box supermarket provided raw Italian sausage, and since it was my birthday, and I had the time, I decided upon a birthday cassoulet. Below, the meats readied for roasting. Clockwise, from top left: French duck, German pig (I took about 100 grams of this Schwartzwalder ham), Italian pig (salsiccia dolce, 300 g) Danish pig (a chunk of ham I had, about 50 g), Swedish pig (a bit of tenderloin I had, about 250g), Swedish lamb (about 400g). A regular Animal Farm EU summit.
I had soaked a pound (450g) of white beans over night, the proper way, rather than my usual method of pushing them with boiling water. No appreciable difference, but the beans were ready to go first thing in the morning. I replaced the soaking water and added a nice can of tomatoes and let cook. Meanwhile, I roasted the meats, salted and peppered and dressed with olive oil under the broiler until nicely browned. When they were ready, I threw them in the pot, and turned the burner off to let them cook together on the residual heat. Meanwhile, two chopped carrots, two chopped onions, and three cloves of garlic got tossed in the rendered fat of the meat roasting pan and were thrown under the broiler for ten minutes or so. When they were ready I lowered the rack and turned the oven down to 125 C, put the veggies in the soup pot together with a healthy dose of thyme and a bay leaf. The whole pot got put in the oven with its heavy lid on tight for a couple of hours. I pulled it out, let it rest, and threw it in the fridge before my mid-day bike ride.
Two hours before dinnertime I fished out the sausage and cut it up, and picked the duck meat off the bone, and threw the pot back in the oven at 125 C. A fine cassoulet.
I had soaked a pound (450g) of white beans over night, the proper way, rather than my usual method of pushing them with boiling water. No appreciable difference, but the beans were ready to go first thing in the morning. I replaced the soaking water and added a nice can of tomatoes and let cook. Meanwhile, I roasted the meats, salted and peppered and dressed with olive oil under the broiler until nicely browned. When they were ready, I threw them in the pot, and turned the burner off to let them cook together on the residual heat. Meanwhile, two chopped carrots, two chopped onions, and three cloves of garlic got tossed in the rendered fat of the meat roasting pan and were thrown under the broiler for ten minutes or so. When they were ready I lowered the rack and turned the oven down to 125 C, put the veggies in the soup pot together with a healthy dose of thyme and a bay leaf. The whole pot got put in the oven with its heavy lid on tight for a couple of hours. I pulled it out, let it rest, and threw it in the fridge before my mid-day bike ride.Two hours before dinnertime I fished out the sausage and cut it up, and picked the duck meat off the bone, and threw the pot back in the oven at 125 C. A fine cassoulet.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Presenting Pocket Coffee
The compact coffee press and alcohol burning stove for the minimalist outdoors enthusiast on the go.
A New Solution to an Age-Old Problem
The outdoors-person has a wide variety of stoves, pans, and other kitchen-wares available for preparing an evening meal or a hearty breakfast in the wilderness. A long-distance hiker or bicycle tourist finds great comfort in a warm meal at the end of a difficult journey, but manufacturers currently ignore the needs of the more modest adventurer on a brief excursion.
Pity the poor day hiker in need of a fresh cup of coffee! This wretched soul has hither-to been forced to either bear the burden of an over-dimensioned camping cook-set, suffer the indignity and clumsiness of stale coffee from a vacuum flask, or go without.
Pocket Coffee to the Rescue
Utilizing an optimized, lightweight and simple low-pressure sideburner alcohol burning stove unit, compact pot with incorporated handle, and separate press mechanism with molded-in sip-lid, Pocket Coffee is a complete system for preparing a cup of coffee in the open air.
Nevermore must a brave day-tripper let a thirst for a piping-hot cup of Java go unsatiated.
A simple tool
Pocket Coffee's simple and proven alcohol burning stove is the heart of the pocket coffee concept. Once primed, the pan may be placed directly on the stove, eliminating the need for a separate pot stand. In normal conditions the little stove will bring 2.5dl of water to boil in mere minutes.
Robust construction
The Pocket Coffee stove and pot are are manufactured entirely of lightweight, tough, and heat-conductive stamped sheet aluminum. The press mechanism is injected-molded in food-safe plastic, with an aluminum coffee screen affixed to the under-side. The proven and inexpensive materials and production technique ensure that Pocket Coffee is fairly priced, and affordable to adventurers of all types.
Truly compact
With a packed size of 10cm in diameter and approximately 5cm in height, Pocket Coffee is truly compact, and with a total weight of less than 100 grams there is room for it in any pack or pocket. Indeed, Pocket Coffee weighs far less than any combination kit available on the market, and less even than an insulated vacuum flask.
The stove element sits snugly inside the press mechanism, protecting it from shakes and preventing rattling. The entire kit fits inside the accompanying pot.
A versatile piece of kit
Despite its name, the Pocket Coffee stove and pot can be used to prepare any warm beverage, powdered soup, or a single portion of porridge.
Pocket Coffee is suitable for use during simple day hikes, ski outings, day-long bicycle tours, or any other outdoor activity when a warm beverage might be appreciated. True minimalists may choose to use Pocket Coffee as their primary cooking kit during more prolonged expeditions, but that is not this product's intended use.
A product of its time
Today's informed and cosmopolitan outdoor enthusiasts refuse to settle for the outdated and clumsy solutions of yesteryear. Pocket Coffee allows connoisseurs the pleasure of a hot and freshly brewed cup of coffee anywhere with ease.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thoughts on cyclocross bikes
"Hybrid" bicycles have long suffered the derision of the fancy-bike set, with the reasoning that they "can't do all things equally well." If by "all things" one includes fast road club rides and ledge-bombing off-road descents, this is a fair complaint.
A simple equation for determining the appropriateness of a bicycle for a given terrain would be something like "tire width" x "gearing" / "rider fitness and skill". "Mountain bikes" tend to have much wider tires, around 50-60mm, and much lower gearing than "road bikes". The remaining differences, one can argue, are trivial, or related more to either tire width or gearing than to the terrain itself. For example, "road" brakes accommodate only "road tires" with little clearance for mud, fenders, or fatter tires. Rider fitness and skill are important to consider as well, however, because particularly fit or skilled riders can accomplish much more with a given bike than the bicycle itself might suggest.
Hybrid bicycles have always tried to run the middle ground, with broad gearing and mid-width tires, which has been a reasonable set-up for indeed most of the riding public riding most roads and trails together with most other people. The sneering from the bicycle community originates mainly in component snobbery and expectations about particular types of bikes in particular terrains. The problem really comes from the component manufacturers' side, which has steadfastly refused to produce quality parts not required for specific types of competition. Thus, a paucity of appropriate tires, and clumsy or aggressive mountain bike drivetrain parts have been part and parcel of the hybrid specification.
Some hybrids are arguably more successful at bridging the gap, such as the short-lived and rare Specialized Rock Combo and Bridgestone XO-1. Both of these bikes pursued the successful route of using 559mm rims, taking advantage of this size's comparatively wide variety of tires. The Specialized, using MTB drivetrain parts, achieved lower gearing, while the XO-1, using lighter road parts compromised with the acceptable low of 34/28. Both also abandoned the limiting flat bar in favor of more "road" bike style bars with multiple hand positions. Tire availability is really the most important factor in spec-ing bikes like this. Drivetrains and gearing are changed easily enough, but with canti-bosses fixed on the frame, changing rim diameter to match tire availability is another matter. Perhaps the most salient example of this problem was the doomed GT Tachyon and its proprietary 700D tire size. Without any replacement tires available, those bikes are sitting pretty useless now.
But things have changed in the past ten years. The popularity of "29-er" mountain bikes has meant a burst of variety on the wide-end of of the 622mm rim diameter tire selection. Tubular tires are gaining popularity even for smaller wheeled mountain bikes (more a curiosity than anything relating to the theme of this post) and component manufacturers are starting to realize the potential for wide range gearing systems, like SRAM Apex. Perhaps most importantly, disc brakes, despite some of their drawbacks, have divorced the rim diameter from the braking equation. This is actually huge news, as it allows one to select tires based less on rim diameter than appropriateness for the intended use. For example, a rider with a hardtail mountain bike can build up an extra set of wheels using 622mm rims to utilize the wide variety of 700x23c tires available in this size. Bottom bracket height still needs to be considered, but as I mentioned before, this is trivial in comparison to tire selection.
OK, so what about cyclocross bikes? These bikes have long been seen by the bike crowd as acceptable hybrids. For mountain bikers, they look an awful lot like a road bike, while roadies see them as a form factor they're comfortable with, just with fat knobby tires. The thing is, of course, that cyclocross is a discipline, with very specific (and arguably arbitrary) rules concerning componentry that cyclocross bike manufacturers have to respect. Despite the fact that the vast majority of cyclocross bikes sold (and, according to reports from Eurobike, [and, one could gather, from this widely circulated cartoon from last year] a lot will be sold this year) will never see cyclocross competition, the buyers of these bikes will have to endure these restrictions as they use their shiny new steeds for commuting or be-fendered winter road riding.
To start with we must address the discipline. Cyclocross racing has about as much to do with trail riding as criterium races have to do with road riding. The arbitrary limitation of tire width to 35mm and the ban on disc brakes has limited the utility of these bikes for consumers wishing to use these bikes for more real-world type conditions. With the new season upon us, of course, the tires have been further limited to 33mm, while the ban on disc brakes has been lifted.
The tire issue is problematic. For those of us with monster-cross builds, or similar 700c hybrids, the issue of quality tire availability in the 35mm-50mm gap has been of serious concern. I'm currently running wire-bead WTB Interwolf 38s, but would love a set of foldables. With the UCI ban on 35s, however, and manufacturers catering primarily to the racing crowd for quality parts I hardly see this becoming a reality in the coming years.
The liberal stance on disc brakes is more promising. As I mentioned before, one of the great benefits of this type of brake is removing the brake from the rim diameter equation. With long-reach caliper brakes, the center bolt of frames intended for 700c wheels have accommodated the suddenly-popular-again 650b wheel size. While at first I was skeptical about the need for this in-between rim size, I can see a greater utility in the tire size when frames are equipped with disc-brake mounts. For example, a cyclocross bike designed for 33mm tires and disc brakes could probably accommodate a much wider 650b tire, even a knobby. This can only be considered a good thing, even if it kind of leaves out all of us with full bike stables and nary a disc brake to be seen.
A simple equation for determining the appropriateness of a bicycle for a given terrain would be something like "tire width" x "gearing" / "rider fitness and skill". "Mountain bikes" tend to have much wider tires, around 50-60mm, and much lower gearing than "road bikes". The remaining differences, one can argue, are trivial, or related more to either tire width or gearing than to the terrain itself. For example, "road" brakes accommodate only "road tires" with little clearance for mud, fenders, or fatter tires. Rider fitness and skill are important to consider as well, however, because particularly fit or skilled riders can accomplish much more with a given bike than the bicycle itself might suggest.
Hybrid bicycles have always tried to run the middle ground, with broad gearing and mid-width tires, which has been a reasonable set-up for indeed most of the riding public riding most roads and trails together with most other people. The sneering from the bicycle community originates mainly in component snobbery and expectations about particular types of bikes in particular terrains. The problem really comes from the component manufacturers' side, which has steadfastly refused to produce quality parts not required for specific types of competition. Thus, a paucity of appropriate tires, and clumsy or aggressive mountain bike drivetrain parts have been part and parcel of the hybrid specification.
Some hybrids are arguably more successful at bridging the gap, such as the short-lived and rare Specialized Rock Combo and Bridgestone XO-1. Both of these bikes pursued the successful route of using 559mm rims, taking advantage of this size's comparatively wide variety of tires. The Specialized, using MTB drivetrain parts, achieved lower gearing, while the XO-1, using lighter road parts compromised with the acceptable low of 34/28. Both also abandoned the limiting flat bar in favor of more "road" bike style bars with multiple hand positions. Tire availability is really the most important factor in spec-ing bikes like this. Drivetrains and gearing are changed easily enough, but with canti-bosses fixed on the frame, changing rim diameter to match tire availability is another matter. Perhaps the most salient example of this problem was the doomed GT Tachyon and its proprietary 700D tire size. Without any replacement tires available, those bikes are sitting pretty useless now.
But things have changed in the past ten years. The popularity of "29-er" mountain bikes has meant a burst of variety on the wide-end of of the 622mm rim diameter tire selection. Tubular tires are gaining popularity even for smaller wheeled mountain bikes (more a curiosity than anything relating to the theme of this post) and component manufacturers are starting to realize the potential for wide range gearing systems, like SRAM Apex. Perhaps most importantly, disc brakes, despite some of their drawbacks, have divorced the rim diameter from the braking equation. This is actually huge news, as it allows one to select tires based less on rim diameter than appropriateness for the intended use. For example, a rider with a hardtail mountain bike can build up an extra set of wheels using 622mm rims to utilize the wide variety of 700x23c tires available in this size. Bottom bracket height still needs to be considered, but as I mentioned before, this is trivial in comparison to tire selection.
OK, so what about cyclocross bikes? These bikes have long been seen by the bike crowd as acceptable hybrids. For mountain bikers, they look an awful lot like a road bike, while roadies see them as a form factor they're comfortable with, just with fat knobby tires. The thing is, of course, that cyclocross is a discipline, with very specific (and arguably arbitrary) rules concerning componentry that cyclocross bike manufacturers have to respect. Despite the fact that the vast majority of cyclocross bikes sold (and, according to reports from Eurobike, [and, one could gather, from this widely circulated cartoon from last year] a lot will be sold this year) will never see cyclocross competition, the buyers of these bikes will have to endure these restrictions as they use their shiny new steeds for commuting or be-fendered winter road riding.
To start with we must address the discipline. Cyclocross racing has about as much to do with trail riding as criterium races have to do with road riding. The arbitrary limitation of tire width to 35mm and the ban on disc brakes has limited the utility of these bikes for consumers wishing to use these bikes for more real-world type conditions. With the new season upon us, of course, the tires have been further limited to 33mm, while the ban on disc brakes has been lifted.
The tire issue is problematic. For those of us with monster-cross builds, or similar 700c hybrids, the issue of quality tire availability in the 35mm-50mm gap has been of serious concern. I'm currently running wire-bead WTB Interwolf 38s, but would love a set of foldables. With the UCI ban on 35s, however, and manufacturers catering primarily to the racing crowd for quality parts I hardly see this becoming a reality in the coming years.
The liberal stance on disc brakes is more promising. As I mentioned before, one of the great benefits of this type of brake is removing the brake from the rim diameter equation. With long-reach caliper brakes, the center bolt of frames intended for 700c wheels have accommodated the suddenly-popular-again 650b wheel size. While at first I was skeptical about the need for this in-between rim size, I can see a greater utility in the tire size when frames are equipped with disc-brake mounts. For example, a cyclocross bike designed for 33mm tires and disc brakes could probably accommodate a much wider 650b tire, even a knobby. This can only be considered a good thing, even if it kind of leaves out all of us with full bike stables and nary a disc brake to be seen.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Exciting times for drop bars
There was a time, not so long ago, when the handlebar selection of your typical high-end shop consisted of road drop bars (25.8-26.1 mm clamp) and flat 5 degree mountain bike bars (25.4mm clamp). Maybe there would be a pursuit or TT bar laying around, and if your shop was particularly cool, a Nitto moustache bar.
Nowadays handlebar variety has exploded, and with it the simple characterization of bikes into MTB/road categories has fallen apart. Sadly, the old WTB dirt drop bend is no longer available, but there are a wide variety of different bars that fall somewhere in-between your typical drop and your typical flat bar. Even flat bars have gotten interesting thanks to Salsa (17 degree flat bar) and Jitensha studios.
Sadly, though, transmission and braking component manufacturers haven't really kept up. Road-derailleur-compatible flat bar brake/shift levers are easy enough to come by, but the variety of brake levers for operating mountain-style brakes beyond cantis on drop bars has been sparse. May Tr!ckstuff be praised!
Photo from cyclingnews.com.
This clumsily-mounted chunky widget converts the mechanical pull of your typical drop-bar brifter into hydraulic-line disc brake actuators. More useful for sure than those hard-to-find Magura set ups that only work with their cant-post hydraulics.
Even more challenging than braking from drop bars has been fitting a Rohloff hub shifter, designed for 22.2mm bars. But Mittelmeyer can help you with their reasonably-priced custom shifter.
So it is definitely time to start experimenting with drop bars off road.
Nowadays handlebar variety has exploded, and with it the simple characterization of bikes into MTB/road categories has fallen apart. Sadly, the old WTB dirt drop bend is no longer available, but there are a wide variety of different bars that fall somewhere in-between your typical drop and your typical flat bar. Even flat bars have gotten interesting thanks to Salsa (17 degree flat bar) and Jitensha studios.
Sadly, though, transmission and braking component manufacturers haven't really kept up. Road-derailleur-compatible flat bar brake/shift levers are easy enough to come by, but the variety of brake levers for operating mountain-style brakes beyond cantis on drop bars has been sparse. May Tr!ckstuff be praised!
Photo from cyclingnews.com.This clumsily-mounted chunky widget converts the mechanical pull of your typical drop-bar brifter into hydraulic-line disc brake actuators. More useful for sure than those hard-to-find Magura set ups that only work with their cant-post hydraulics.
Even more challenging than braking from drop bars has been fitting a Rohloff hub shifter, designed for 22.2mm bars. But Mittelmeyer can help you with their reasonably-priced custom shifter.
So it is definitely time to start experimenting with drop bars off road.
Bangatan: singular sports shoe depository
For whatever reason my street has become the favored place to dispose of sports shoes missing their pairs. Best abandoned by those gray electrical boxes.
No sign of my stolen mountain bike shoes, though. Of course they were nabbed as a pair.
No sign of my stolen mountain bike shoes, though. Of course they were nabbed as a pair.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Miche Loose Cassette Cogs
As an avid cyclist I've been aware that loose cassette cogs are available from Shimano, but have never given them much thought. This display, at my local shop Veloform, caused me to reconsider the possibilities presented by custom cassettes. These cogs, available from Miche, are suitable for 7-9 speed Shimano cassettes, depending on the spacers used, and are available with grooved, locking top cogs in up to 16t. Considering the 8 speed cassettes I use on all my geared bikes are currently available primarily in configurations starting with an 11 t cog, (yes,there is a very nice 13-26 still around) this opens up the door to a variety of interesting gearing options. My favored 12-28 XTR cassettes are long gone (though IRD makes a similar) but now approximations can be made by hacking existing cassettes and replacing top or bottom cogs.
That the loose cogs stop at 29 may seem a problem to those running mountain bike rear derailleurs, but this can easily be remedied by starting with a stock 11-32 (or 11-34 9 speed) cassette and replacing the top cog with a more sensible 13 or so. I plan to do just this with my monster cross build, paired to a 34/48 up front.
I suspect a lot of folks out there with 10 or 11 speed cassettes are running in essence 8 speed drivetrains, as those tiny top cogs aren't likely to see much action if one doesn't live in a place with long, straight, 8% descents or run incredibly compact chainrings. Reconsidering the composition of the cassette beyond what the manufacturers sell is maybe the single biggest, easiest component improvement you can make to your bike, and displays like the one pictured above present this fact to the consumer in a very approachable and inspiring way.
Hack your cassette!
Adjö, Swedish Penny.
At the end of the month, the Swedish penny, the 50 öre piece, will finally go out of circulation. A couple of years ago they finally pulled the other 50 öre piece, a slightly larger silver coin which was (confusingly) in circulation simultaneously.
This is a relief, as these coins have long been practically worthless since dispensing machines won't accept them. Really, we're practically a cashless society anyway, with coins being used for almost nothing besides buying bread and paying for parking.
I raided my daughter's piggy bank and liberated this pile of coins: öre on the left, and US pennies on the right. 50 öre is about 7 US cents, so when we're left with 1kr pieces as our smallest denominations, we're looking at having coins in our pocket worth more than the three smallest denominations in the States. So when is the US going to get rid of the near-worthless penny? Ask the nefarious Canadian zinc lobby. And then get used to Swedish rounding.
I counted up 40 50 öre pieces, slipped a 20kr note into the piggy bank, and headed off to the store. 20 kronor bought us 4 ears of corn for dinner.
This is a relief, as these coins have long been practically worthless since dispensing machines won't accept them. Really, we're practically a cashless society anyway, with coins being used for almost nothing besides buying bread and paying for parking.
I raided my daughter's piggy bank and liberated this pile of coins: öre on the left, and US pennies on the right. 50 öre is about 7 US cents, so when we're left with 1kr pieces as our smallest denominations, we're looking at having coins in our pocket worth more than the three smallest denominations in the States. So when is the US going to get rid of the near-worthless penny? Ask the nefarious Canadian zinc lobby. And then get used to Swedish rounding.I counted up 40 50 öre pieces, slipped a 20kr note into the piggy bank, and headed off to the store. 20 kronor bought us 4 ears of corn for dinner.
3D Fabrication: Toys or Tools?
The NYT article yesterday on rapid prototyping got me thinking about the RepRap machine, the much-lauded self-replicating robot (not entirely, but on the way there) launched a few years ago as an open-source 3D printer. Despite the potential these machines exhibit, I have yet hear about any groundbreaking innovations that they have contributed to. I have never seen one in the "flesh", but am curious about what folks were doing with these things, since the lack of a population explosion reflects that they clearly weren't only reproducing themselves.
Not surprisingly, Thingiverse, a website for sharing 3D files for printing consists primarily of toys and similar widgets. I suppose the vaunted potential of these devices has slammed up against the hard reality that plastic is a lousy sole material for a lot of things. Giving isolated communities the opportunity to create small parts at will is a great idea, but what sorts of demands can these machines meet? In terms of general hygiene, I suppose various types of combs, brushes, and utensils could be manufactured, as well as specific medical odds-and-ends. For mobility you have dustcaps and maybe some seals for moving parts, but a CNC milling-machine would give you much greater flexibility in the manufacture of small parts. I suppose the machines could be of some use producing educational materials, though teachers are quite resourceful in sourcing and improvising these.
But, as far as toys go, there is great potential in easily and rapidly reproduced small plastic part
s. Exihibit A: the Duplo-BRIO train hybrid brick:
Rather than creating an entire play system, this solution hacks two commonly available children's toys to create a hybrid perfectly adapted to the end user. The lesson here is to see 3D printing not as a manufacturing revolution entirely on its own, but rather as a vibrant component within an established and effective network of manufacturing and distribution.
Not surprisingly, Thingiverse, a website for sharing 3D files for printing consists primarily of toys and similar widgets. I suppose the vaunted potential of these devices has slammed up against the hard reality that plastic is a lousy sole material for a lot of things. Giving isolated communities the opportunity to create small parts at will is a great idea, but what sorts of demands can these machines meet? In terms of general hygiene, I suppose various types of combs, brushes, and utensils could be manufactured, as well as specific medical odds-and-ends. For mobility you have dustcaps and maybe some seals for moving parts, but a CNC milling-machine would give you much greater flexibility in the manufacture of small parts. I suppose the machines could be of some use producing educational materials, though teachers are quite resourceful in sourcing and improvising these.
But, as far as toys go, there is great potential in easily and rapidly reproduced small plastic part
s. Exihibit A: the Duplo-BRIO train hybrid brick:
Rather than creating an entire play system, this solution hacks two commonly available children's toys to create a hybrid perfectly adapted to the end user. The lesson here is to see 3D printing not as a manufacturing revolution entirely on its own, but rather as a vibrant component within an established and effective network of manufacturing and distribution.
A new blog in this day and age?
Starting a blog in September 2010 is maybe a bit like firing up the copier to publish a zine in September 2000. So be it.
This blog will primarily function as a vehicle for documenting, sharing, and organizing information relating to lifestyles, politics, sustainability, tools and material culture, and modern homemaking (homing). It will double as an outlet to express opinions on these topics and hopefully triple as a forum for discussing these matters. But you all know what blogs are.
This blog will primarily function as a vehicle for documenting, sharing, and organizing information relating to lifestyles, politics, sustainability, tools and material culture, and modern homemaking (homing). It will double as an outlet to express opinions on these topics and hopefully triple as a forum for discussing these matters. But you all know what blogs are.
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