FabLab.iMAL

Equipment

Our equipment is composed of CNC and digital fabrication machines as well as standard DIY tools (drills, saws, hammers,...) and electronics components: the fablab is indeed a Maker Space.

Our machines

The Lasercutter

Our lasercutter is a Cyborg LS-1080-K (from Ketele) with a working area of 100x80cm and powered by a 130W CO2 laser. It can cut through wood, acrylic/plexiglas, fabrics,... but no metal or glass. Although the machine can be used for engraving, the model we have (without a z axis but with a powerful laser) is more suited for cutting.

The control software, SmartCarve, can import DXF 2D vectors files (that can be exported from Illustrator or Inkscape) and bitmap images (BMP, JPG, GIF,..).

More info on Wikimal

The CNC Mill

iMAL CNC routing/milling/engraving machine is a High-Z S-720 from German manufacturer cnc-step.

It's a 3 axis machine with a working area of 720x420mm (and 110mm in height).  It is equipped with a Kress 1050W (10.000-30.000 rpm) spindle. We have a first set of tools (mills, drills) to cut and sculpt wood, plastic or soft metal (e.g. aluminium) and engrave PCB. The machine can be expanded to 4 axis and equipped with more powerful spindle for working harder material.

A dedicated PC is configured with various softwares to generate tool paths (machine gcode instructions) from 2d and 2.5d designs. Besides the basic softwares supplied by the manufacturer (Win-PC NC and ConstructCAM), we are using Deskproto and Galaad softwares.

More info on Wikimal

A part of the cutting tools were purchased with the support of la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and la Loterie nationale.

The 3D printers

We have some Fused Filament Fabrication (aka FDM) printers using ABS or PLA plastic:

• Makerbot Thing-O-Matic
  Extruder: MK6 0.5mm (min layer: 0.34mm) 
  Printing volume: 10x10x10cm printing volume, with a heated bed (ABS & PLA)
   
• Ultimaker
  Extruder: 0.4mm (min layer: 0.1mm)
  Printing volume: 20x20x20cm (PLA only)
   
• Mendel 90
  Extruder: 0.4mm (min layer: 0.1mm)
  Printing volume: 20x20x20cm, with a heated bed (ABS & PLA)

Since November 2013, our members can also use the Form 1 from Formlabs, an affordable stereolithography printer. It can print features as small as 0.3mm and layers as thin as 0.025mm, in a special, transparent resin. The printing volume is 12.5x12.5x16.5cm.

• Ultimaker 2 GO

Extruder: 0.4mm (min layer: 0.1mm)
Printing volume: 10x10x10cm (PLA only)

Purchased with the support of la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and la Loterie nationale.

All 3D printers can import 3D models in the STL format.

More info on Wikimal about the Thing-o-Matic, the Ultimaker, the Mendel90 and the Form 1

Wood and metal tools

• Cut off/mitre saw Proxxon KGS 80

Can cut up to 25mm with a precise angle. Cut wood, plastics and aluminium.

Purchased with the support of la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and la Loterie nationale.

• Proxxon Table Saw FET

Cut a width up to 22mm. The height of the blade can be adjusted precisely. The blade tilt precisely up to 45 °. Cut wood, Plexiglas, fiber glass ..., non-ferrous metals.

Purchased with the support of la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and la Loterie nationale.

• Mini-lathe Axminster SC2 300, with all the accessories

Mini-lathe for wood and metal. Max length 300mm, diameter max 160mm. 100 to 2500 RPM. Resolution up to 0,025mm. Automatic feed and the ability to change the speed ratio.

Purchased with the support of la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and la Loterie nationale.