The BITZ unibz fablab is a Community Workshop for hobbyist, researchers and students in Bozen

Plastic bending machine

Plastic bending machine

von | Jan. 24, 2023 | 2D, machine

A line bender enables the user to form a bend in a sheet of plastic up to 500 mm wide using a heating element. Once the plastic is hot, it can be moulded at any angle and placed in the separate cooling pad until it is cold.

Please be aware that the heating line gets really hot, so don`t put your hands in that area. Always ask the fablab team before using the machine and we will give you all necessary information about working safety.

 

Material 
  • Polyethylene (PE)
  • Polypropylene (PP)
  • Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
  • Polystyrene (PS)
  • Polycarbonate (PC)
  • Polyamide (PA, also known as nylon)
  • Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
  • Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, also known as Teflon)

Costs

2,00 € per machine use

For more information consult our price list.

Vinyl-plotter

Vinyl-plotter

von | Jan. 23, 2023 | 2D, machine

„Roland CAMM1 GS 24“ cutting plotter for various vinyl foils such as adhesive foils for all smooth surfaces or thermoactivated foils to iron on textiles. Bring your designs as vector graphics.

Always ask the fablab team before using the machine and we will give you all necessary information about working safety.

 

Start

Vector graphics: SVG, EPS, DXF, PDF

Software

The software used is an Adobe Illustrator plug-in installed on the computer at the Fablab.

Material 
  • Self-adhesive vinyl
  • Heat transfer vinyl
  • Special vinyl foils

Costs

2,00 € per machine use + material

For more information consult our price list.

Hot press

Hot press

von | Jan. 22, 2023 | machine, Textilien

Its a transfer press, model „Transmatic TMH 28“ mainly used at the fablab to apply vinyl foils on textiles. The plate size is 380 x 380 mm and you can use it also for other drying or ironing materials. The exact temperature can be set on the display between 60 °C to maximum 255 °C.

Always ask the fablab team before using the machine and we will give you all necessary information about working safety.

 

Material 

Thermoreactive vinyl foils, various materials

Costs

2,00 € per machine use

Styrocutter

Styrocutter

von | Jan. 22, 2023 | Handmaschinen, machine

Hot wire cutting machines are tools that cut various foams like polystyrene or styrofoam with a heated wire. The wire is stretched vertically between the work plate and the boom and you can set the temperature according to the thickness and hardness of the foam block. The foam block is cut by slowly guiding it along the fence angle against the wire or moving the block free hand. A foot pedal turns the heat in the wire on and off. Please be careful to do not touch the wire while cutting to prevent burning your fingers. 
Hot wire cutting machines are traditionally used to create architectural models out of polystyrene, furthermore it`s an easy and fast method to create prototypes of objects in the very first steps of product prototyping to define size and shape. Other applications are to cast miniature worlds like dioramas or to cast shapes for fiberglass or carbon fibre coating processes. 
There are a lot of do-it-yourself tricks to create stencils (so called shape shifter) to cut complex, rounded or angled shapes, for more information about that search for „shape shifter wire foam cutter“ in your browser.   

 

Material 

styrofoam, polystyrene

Costs

For free

Embroidery machine

Embroidery machine

von | Jan. 21, 2023 | 2D, machine, Textilien

Embroidery machine „Brother VR“ with one needle and manual thread/colour change. The maximum embroidery area is 200 x 200mm. On the touchscreen display of the machine, you can write small words or select embroidery designs from a library. If you want to stitch custom designs, you need to create the embroidery path in the „PFAFF PREMIER+™2 Ultra“ embroidery software available at the fablab. As template we usually prepare a .EPS vector file, but for some designs also pixel files like .JPG or .PNG work great. 

There are a lot of accessories like different frame sizes, a special frame for baseball caps or a quilting frame and table available.  

Once a month takes place a machine course to learn how to operate the machine and the embroidery software.

 

Start

You need a vector or pixel file (.EPS .JPG .PNG) or select a template for fonts and graphics from the library.

Software

Please attend a embroidery machine course, the software is really complicated.

Material 

textiles, fabrics, t-shirt, sweater, caps

Costs

2,00 € for a large frame
1,00 € for a small frame