Shanghai's Beijing Lu

While in China for a 3D Printing conference, I west to visit Shanghai's famous Beijinglu (Beijing Road), known as the "hardware district" of the great city.



It is only a couple blocks away from the metro - I took line 2 to the East Nanjing Exit and walked two blocks north on Henan Road.

Spanning several blocks surrounding a stretch of road between Xizang and Henan, this area is home to a seemingly bottomless supply of any kind of hardware, tools, stock metals, adhesives, electrical components, and pretty much anything you'd need for any hardware project.

 

 Found in the back rooms and street corners all over this area were men and women preparing packages to be shipped all over the world. I realize now when I order components from China they are most likely coming from places like this!

My DIY CNC

I'm working on a new design for a homebrew CNC mill.  At roughly a 2x3 feet cutting area, I'll be able to use this to produce larger parts than I've been able with my 3D printers and smaller CNC machines.

I came up with a low-cost, DIY solution for anti-backlash nuts.  These, along with a lead screw, transfer the stepper motor's radial motion to linear motion for each axis - and are typically pretty expensive and hard to source with custom dimensions/specifications.  The ones I came up with, pictures above, total about $3.00 each, and are solely made up of components sourced from my local True Value hardware store!

I'm waiting to finalize the mill design until some of the pre-fabbed components arrive in the mail.  I'll then do some mock-ups and double-check measurements to make sure cutting parts and the final assembly will go smoothly.

I'll post more updates in July, when I return from overseas!

China!

A week from today my partner, Louisa, and I leave for China, where I am to speak at BIT's First Annual 3D Printing Conference in Dalian.  While in China, we're also spending time in Shanghai and Beijing.  Because I'm a geek, and the fact that this is my first time leaving the western hemisphere, I mapped out our journey:

First Stop: Los Angeles, USA.  Technically we just have a layover in LA, but it is long enough that we'll be able to hang out for a few hours and visit Louisa's brother.

Second Stop: Shanghai, China.  A good half of our journey will take place in this grand city.  I'm simultaneously thrilled and nervous to set foot in the largest city in the world...

Third Stop: Beijing, China.  We'll be taking a bullet train to Beijing, where we plan on seeing the Great Wall and exploring more generally Chinese customs in one of the country's best-known cultural hubs.

Final Stop: Dalian, China.  A business city - where the 3D Printing conference is taking place.  As Dalian is a coastal city, Louisa and I plan on finishing our adventure with a swim in the Pacific Ocean.

While our itinerary is relatively sparse (this is by design, as we wanted plenty of time for general meandering) I have found a few places I'd like to check out while in Shanghai, including:

DFRobot:  China's equivalent to Sparkfun, with offices in the Pundong district of Shanghai.

Xin Che Jian:  China’s first hackerspace.  I am hoping to attend one of their regular workshops in DIY hardware, software and/or digital fabrication.

Beijing Lu:  This district is Shanghai's largest marketplace for electronics and hardware.  Perhaps my most highly anticipated destination!

I'll be blogging my travel experiences during/after my trip!