The Engadget Show: Kindle etching and DIY adventures with Adafruit Industries
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted December 2nd 2009 1:23PM
posted December 2nd 2009 1:23PM
You can also see all of the previous episodes by clicking right here.
Host: Joshua Topolsky
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Edited by: Michael Slavens
Titles by: Julien Nantiec
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This is really awesome.
I want a laser etcher of my own. Dang.
@Nerdtalker
TO THE LASER!
I'm digging the "easy-to-conceal" light pistol. Be careful if you tuck it into the front of your pants though .. you might bake your nuts.
She was having none of his question about the big pick & place machines! Awesome etching tho
Hmm, they made a couple changes to the book of f**king everything. I like it!
Shouldn't laser have used all caps? LASER :)
wow she's so nerdy... it's kinda hawt?
@tylersmyler
Also I love the line:
It'll make you sick.. which is kind of cute..
o.0
@tylersmyler
to the LASER
@tylersmyler I lol'ed. Being hit on by geeks must be uniquely entertaining.
""Shooter:You have a 9mm gun, well I have a LED gun Motherfucker!!!
get ready to go to happy land!!!!
Victim: NOOOOOOOooooooo, is like a back in japan!!!!!!""
The real scenario is you'l properly be shot right away if they saw a flash light in your hand!!! haha
Annoyed me that the girl didn't find the humor in the big Pick & Place joke. F*ckin' Douchette. ::smh::
Nice!
I'm going to laser my eyes out after seeing those horrid designs.
@webran61 You're fun.
@Joshua Topolsky lol!
@webran61 the designs are gorgeous! i saw them in person and i've likely etched the most gadgets on planet earth :)
I just love the intro to the show!
Cool projects! Though a jammer is illegal in canada it sure would be fun as hell to make one and cause some havok :D
I like how at the end of the segment its the Engadget logo on a white background, like at then end of an Apple commercial, similarly there is the Apple logo on a white background. It's a nice way to end the segment.
@werty1432k Watch out! A logo on a white background must be an Apple copy.
@decypherSMC You are a douche. Obviously all I meant was that there is a similarity and it looks good. You just jump at the chance to be a douche.
Surprised nobody went with "DON'T PANIC" considering the designs here ;)
I've Always liked the things that come out of Adafruit. I'm thinking of getting that Arduino kit for myself.
Alright you got me Josh, I am an avid reader of Engadget!
Cool vid and the designs look awesome.
Love these video segments!
It might not slice off arms, but I need one of those lasers. I'd probably try to boil water with it.
Alright, I just want to you (Engadget) to know that I never sign in to comment besides contests.
But, I felt that this post deserved a serious thank you from me to you all at Engadget. I like the new site and I really dig the Engadget show! Keep em' coming with great guests!
And to the owner and awesome people in that shop: Really sweet shop you guys have. I am impressed. Thank you for showing it to us!
Awesome video... thanks Engadget!
awww... dorks are so cute!
So does that laser only do scanline like that or can it go into some vector mode too?
@Wwhat - it can do vector cutting as well.
Love 3ng4dg37!
+1
btw, Engadget should register the domain 3ng4dg37.com :)
geek is the new cool, we are so in!
i really enjoy the engadget show but josh's interruptive style of hosting/humor is getting quite irritating. it was cute at first but after the interview with drew bamford end the entirety of episode 3, not so much.
I love my mintyboost, it's been a godsend for road trips. Good to see Adafruit still up to their geekness.
Nice G.R.L. poster above the pick and place too.
Does anyone know if they still work?
@theonestep4 - yes, all the kindles still work
+1
I wonder how many people you would piss off running that cell jammer at an AT&T store...
@DrEngrish - you wrote "I wonder how many people you would piss off running that cell jammer at an AT&T store..."
at & t *is* its own jammer, i can't get a signal anywhere with them :)
@ptorrone very good point :p
Pick and place machines can't pick up microscopic parts.
They also can't "make iPhones" - they can place parts on circuit boards. that's it. Their's isn't even that fast.
Wasn't clear - do they sell pick and place machines?
@RD - you said "Pick and place machines can't pick up microscopic parts".
that's not true, they do, and ours does. most people cannot see the tiny parts and it's very common to use a microscope for placement of these parts by hand.
you also said "They also can't "make iPhones" - they can place parts on circuit boards. that's it."
you are not correct, we can get circuit boards made and sent here, we do all the time, or we can even etch them ourselves. the hard part is the parts placement.
and said "Their's isn't even that fast."
we slowed it down (using the previous version of the software) what you saw is about 50% as fast as it can be.
and lastly, you said "Wasn't clear - do they sell pick and place machines?"
it was clear, we said we just bought this machine recently and was setting it up when engadget visited.
@ptorrone
Defensive much? I'm not harping on your company, just correcting the inaccurate statements made about pick and place (PnP) machines. Designing boards and bringing them through fab+assembly is how I make a living and I'd be happy to field a call should you have questions about the process.
@RD - you said "Pick and place machines can't pick up microscopic parts".
that's not true, they do, and ours does. most people cannot see the tiny parts and it's very common to use a microscope for placement of these parts by hand.
> RD: The woman in the video said, quote: "a mm on a side" which by definition means down to the size of an 0402, or 1.0 x 0.5mm. HARDLY microscopic. 0402s are easily hand placed with tweezers. I've placed and soldered a few hundred myself - it's just not economical when you're assembling boards all the time.
> RD: Even 0201s (0.6 x 0.3mm) are not microscopic - however this is where you start to differentiate one PnP machine from another (if it can handle sub-0402 components or not.)
you also said "They also can't "make iPhones" - they can place parts on circuit boards. that's it."
you are not correct, we can get circuit boards made and sent here, we do all the time, or we can even etch them ourselves. the hard part is the parts placement.
> RD: What is not correct? The woman in the video said, quote: "but you can basically make iPhones with this".
> RD: @ ptorrone: You are confusing who "with this" is directed towards. I was not talking about your company as an entity. The woman is talking about the machine. I was talking about the machine. Watch it back, it's very clear.
> RD: Enough semantics, back to the process... Circuit boards are "fabricated" in an earlier step by different machines. PnP machines place parts after the solder paste has been squeegee'd on through a mask. Then a (reflow) oven melts the solder paste and thus electrically connect the smt parts to the board's pads.
> RD: So... lets be clear. PnP machines perform one step of many: they place parts.
and said "Their's isn't even that fast."
we slowed it down (using the previous version of the software) what you saw is about 50% as fast as it can be.
> RD: You got me. It's twice as fast as seen in the video. Its not slow.
and lastly, you said "Wasn't clear - do they sell pick and place machines?"
it was clear, we said we just bought this machine recently and was setting it up when engadget visited.
> RD: The posted video says, quote: "A couple days ago we finally started setting up our pick and place machine." Therefore your above statement is false. Have you watched the video? The woman in the video did not say: "We just bought this machine..." Otherwise I wouldn't have asked the question in the first place.
> RD: Why make up a false statement then put it in writing when the video doesn't back it up? None of this is a big deal!
@RD - defensive? i answered your questions/comments politely and quickly :) i think any chatter online always comes across inaccurately. i'll address all of your new comments and questions below...
RD: "Designing boards and bringing them through fab+assembly is how I make a living and I'd be happy to field a call should you have questions about the process."
that's interesting, who do you work for? company name / URL?
> RD: The woman in the video said, quote: "a mm on a side" which by definition means down to the size of an 0402, or 1.0 x 0.5mm. HARDLY microscopic. 0402s are easily hand placed with tweezers. I've placed and soldered a few hundred myself - it's just not economical when you're assembling boards all the time.
that's great that you can place parts that small, many people cannot. when people visit and see the parts the first thing they say is "wow, i'd need a microscope to even see those parts". it's a good analogy and good example for a video on engadget. of course since you soldered hundreds yourself you likely have a different point of view.
since this is what you do for a living it would be great if you could make a video explaining this better in less than 5 minutes and make it interesting with useful descriptions and examples - many people are interested in these machines.
> RD: What is not correct? The woman in the video said, quote: "but you can basically make iPhones with this".
for the context of the video, i think that's correct. limor is one of the few people in the world that i know that can make an iphone in her apartment.
> RD: @ ptorrone: You are confusing who "with this" is directed towards. I was not talking about your company as an entity. The woman is talking about the machine. I was talking about the machine. Watch it back, it's very clear.
you are seeing clips edited together, not in order, not everything is there. that said, i think most people understand that iphones don't just pop out the side. but now that you've commented i am sure it's even more clear.
> RD: So... lets be clear. PnP machines perform one step of many: they place parts.
i don't think anyone is confused by that, the video clearly shows the placing of parts.
> RD: The posted video says, quote: "A couple days ago we finally started setting up our pick and place machine." Therefore your above statement is false. Have you watched the video? The woman in the video did not say: "We just bought this machine..." Otherwise I wouldn't have asked the question in the first place.
again, thousands of people have watched this video, dozens of people emailed us saying it was cool that we bought a pick and place machine - so far you're the only one that seems confused by this. but to make it super clear, we don't sell pick and place machines. it's not on adafruit.com, it's not a kit, we really like the machine we bought.
@ptorrone
Fantastic. I agree about online correspondence coming off differently than intended. I'm sorry if I came off aggressive.
Engadget has posted at least one decent video showing the assembly process:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/28/video-watch-an-ssd-get-made-at-the-runcore-factory/
I looked for a pcb fab video and didn't find an end-all be-all video, just lots of little clips.
I will refrain from talking about work-work on the internet. Ping me and I'll write back this afternoon. (I'm in SF) Rob@robdog.com
@RD - RD: "Fantastic. I agree about online correspondence coming off differently than intended. I'm sorry if I came off aggressive."
not at all, it's great talking with someone who does these sorts of things for a living!
RD: i may ping you after the holiday(s) it's crazy at the moment, we're making kits 24/7 !