Cool Crowdfunding: Printer Safety, Letterpress Restoration, Retro Computing, and More
Ideally making is about giving your unique ideas form and bringing them to life in the physical world. But sometimes it ends up being about collecting more new tools instead.1
We receive so many pitches for crowdfunding projects. Since crowdfunding is a bit of a gamble, it is always hard to determine just how to write about these projects, considering that many of them may not ever deliver. Cool Crowdfunding is our way of sharing some of the ones that catch our eye and that we think readers should know about.
Remember, some of the crowdfunding projects from our previous Cool Crowdfunding collections may still be active! Go back and check them out to see if there’s anything you shouldn’t miss.
Clura: World´s First Smart Open Source 3D Printer Enclosure
First up, the Clura 3D printer enclosure. Designed to filter out fumes from FFF printers, Clura has already passed its funding goal. Brainchild of aerospace engineering student Fabrizio Blasio, Clura is open source with documentation and source files already online. The video may be a little over-the-top (3D printer fires aren’t as common as they used to sort of be), but shaping warm plastic presents reasonable concerns, and this looks like a good solution. Plus Clura covers a lot of printer models.
First Impressions: A New Chapter for an Antique Press
The First Impressions campaign won’t help you collect a new tool, but it will help someone collect an old tool. And you will receive art in exchange, which is often more practical. You can help restore history and claim a letterpress souvenir from this effort to return an antique press to its former glory.
Lembrih: Ethical marketplace for Black and African artisans
If you like cool stuff and supporting Black artisans, Lembrih is building a marketplace worth paying attention to. They’re focused on making it easier for buyers to support artists and small businesses, while keeping vendor fees lower than other outlets.
PicoIDE: An open source IDE/ATAPI drive emulator for vintage computers
Vintage computers rely on vintage disks, which unfortunately have a limited lifespan. PicoIDE is a storage emulator for those seeking to rebuild a 90’s-era beige box with something more reliable. It’s open source and solves a lot of practical problems in getting old hardware up and running again. Plus, the campaign video features Mech Warrior 2.
100 Scientific Snowflakes
I like how wonderfully geeky these snowflakes are. And as if options to include an amoeba or Erlenmeyer flask weren’t enough, each snowflake is procedurally generated to ensure a unique design. This is putting digital fabrication tools to great use.
- If you or someone you know suffers from Tool Acquisition Syndrome, see this excellent David Picciuto video on shop cleaning. ↩︎
Leave a Reply