Circuit Sculpture Hack Chat

@wayn3w I have not played with sound at all, but mostly with lights. Peter Vogel has been a big inspiration and he mostly built sound sculptures

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:49 PM
I power my sculptures mostly over USB so that I don't have to deal with batteries

mic.cisek12:50 PM
Are you selling your work anywhere?

mumi12:50 PM
How often have you shut down your USB port from excessive current draw?

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:51 PM
@mic.cisek no plans on selling, but I do hope to use them to raise funds for charity. I'm open to suggestions!

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:51 PM
@mumi I have not had that issue - most good USB supplies are protected

Timo Emmerich12:52 PM
Where do you get your inspiration from? How do you get to the circuit diagram?

wayn3w12:52 PM
Thanks for mentioning Peter Vogel -- yes, his stuff is inspirational.

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:54 PM
@Timo Emmerich inspiration comes in many forms. I have a book full of doodles of sculptures - one thing leads to other. My background is electronics, so that comes as second nature.

I'm inspired by works of Mark Tilden, Peter Vogel, Ham radio, and BEAM robotics

mic.cisek12:56 PM
What is the biggest thing you've ever made that technique?

Timo Emmerich12:56 PM
Thank u, can I find them on insta?

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:56 PM
It was awesome to see Hackaday host the circuit sculpture contest last year - so may cool projects came out of it!

wayn3w12:56 PM
I missed that contest! darn!

morgan12:56 PM
that was really fun

morgan12:57 PM
motivated me to good big, though I still didn't do the full scale sculpture I have envisioned

Yeah, I loved that contest! Fun to write about those entries

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:58 PM
Search BEAM robots by Mark Tilden or sculptures by Peter Vogel on google, They are the real OGs and not on Insta !

Timo Emmerich12:58 PM
Ok

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:58 PM
I try to keep the sculpture projects small, and something that I can finish over the course of few nights

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे1:01 PM
I'm looking forward to using my bantam tools mill to incorporate wood, and milled brass into projects

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे1:01 PM
maybe circuit inlays in wood?!

morgan1:01 PM
heh, thought I saw that in the corner of one of your pictures

So that's an hour, and we always like to give our hosts the option of bailing if they have to get back to the real world. Everyone is welcome to stay on, of course, but I'll just say a big thanks to Mohit for coming by and sharing his work. I really like the idea of having something to relax with, and I think I'll probably end up trying my hand a circuit sculpture too.

Thanks everyone! We're going to be taking a break from Hack Chat for a while, with the Supercon coming up next week (!) and Thanksgiving soon thereafter. We'll reconvene in December. See you then!

morgan1:02 PM
yay!

Boian Mitov1:02 PM
Thank you Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे Very inspirational! :-)

Matt Phillips1:02 PM
Thanks!

Nicholas Upton1:02 PM
Thanks Mohit! I've got a shopping list and ample inpiration!

hazelton1:02 PM
circuit sculptures for holiday gifts!

wayn3w1:02 PM
Thank you Mohit. There is a wealth of information on line about people inlaying copper into wood. It would be a fruitful area

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे1:02 PM
Thank you @Dan Maloney ! and thank you everyone who took time to come hangout!

Boian Mitov1:02 PM
Thank you @Dan Maloney for organizing it :-)

You bet. Hope to see a lot of you at Supercon!!

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे1:03 PM
I hope to see some of you next week at Supercon!!

Question on cuts: do the irregular ends left by side-cut or flush-cut snips cause any problems when soldering? Seems like a clean cut with a scissor-type cutter might make a better match-up that would be easier to solder.

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:29 PM
great question Dan, yeah, depending on the type of join you are looking at, you'd want a flat cut or a pinch cut. But even then, there is enough solder going around to fill the voids and gaps

Nicholas Upton12:31 PM
Is there any kind of project that you're especially excited to give this artful treatment?

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:31 PM
BTW the Xuron 485 has a clip retainer that stops from having your brass rods flying across the room - or into an eye

I suppose cutting a bit long and then cleaning up the cut with a file or sandpaper would work too

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:31 PM
totally

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:31 PM
here is a great tutorial on soldering brass that is helpful

https://davidneat.wordpress.com/2015/05/03/a-quick-guide-to-soldering-brass/

hazelton12:33 PM
how do you clean the flux off the completed sculpture?

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:33 PM
@Nicholas Upton I'm hoping to start building kinematic robotic sculptures soon

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:34 PM
@hazelton with fine steel wool and alcohol wipes

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:35 PM
For hard to reach places, I use liquid flux remover

Andy Geppert12:35 PM
Mohit, your work is very inspiring - thanks for sharing your tips and tricks. For brass tube bending, have made use of the trick where you pack it full of sand (or similar) before bending to keep it from collapsing?

Matt Phillips12:36 PM
@Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे what brand is the pcb ruler you show in that instagram post? Love Particle btw, currently prototyping a client project with a Boron LTE.

hazelton12:37 PM
you can also try filling brass tubing with soapy water and freeze before bending.

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:37 PM
Thank you @Andy Geppert ! I have not tried that. I wonder if it would also work for 1mm tubes

diego-quiroga12:37 PM
this seems to require infinite amounts of patience.. is it like meditation for you?

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:38 PM
@Matt Phillips I ruler from the video is made by Makis Katsouris

https://www.sv1afn.com/pcbruler.html

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:38 PM
@diego-quiroga it totally is like meditation, thats why i love it!

mic.cisek12:39 PM
How do you resolve situation when you need to solder 3 wires in one place? How do you ensure that previously soldered 2 wires do not desolder while soldering the 3rd?

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:39 PM
It how I like to unwind from a days work of designing PCBs, lol

mumi12:40 PM
do you ever keep designs that didn't work out, just because they look cool?

mumi12:40 PM
or do they all work out, in one way or another

Andy Geppert12:41 PM
@hazelton - I gotta try that trick!

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:41 PM
@mic.cisek its tricky but with practice you learn to apply the right amount of heat for the right amount of time. It also helps when all three rods are filxed/taped - but that isn't always the case

wayn3w joined  the room.12:41 PM

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:42 PM
@mumi I try my best to make it work. I do have a lot of failed attempts that never see any camera time.

Timo Emmerich joined  the room.12:42 PM

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:43 PM
The brass from the failed projects also get reused for newer ones

What do you think are the most aesthetically pleasing component packages? Which ones do you like using the best?

Nicholas Upton12:45 PM
What do you use to ventilate your workspace? If anything

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:45 PM
I also want to give a shout-out to @Jiří Praus who has been doing some fabulous work, and more importantly sharing his process!

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:46 PM
@Nicholas Upton I use a solder fume extractor

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:46 PM
like this one: https://www.amazon.com/TENMA-21-7960-SOLDER-FUME-EXTRACTOR/dp/B001DPOU02

Mohit Bhoite | मोहित भोईटे12:47 PM
@Dan Maloney any packages with 0.1" pitch are fantastic. My favorites have been the seven segment displays

wayn3w12:47 PM
I love your work, and I'm considering trying my hand at a classic experimental sound circuit this way. Have you integrated speakers or piezos in your designs? and are they all powered by but