This Automated Machine Makes Cutting Component Tape 'Reely' Easy

When you make a device for yourself, things are relatively simple. You figure out how you wan the ‘thing’ to work, then make a plan for how to accomplish the goal, and probably improvise a bit along the way. When you’re making lots of something, however, like tinker and electronics producer Brian Lough, things get more complicated. In his case, he had a “reel of LEDs that [he wanted] to cut up into strips of five.”

One could always do this manually, but what’s the fun in that? After his January Twitter query, fellow hardware enthusiast Tom Keddie answered back with a video of his auto cutter machine that does exactly what Lough requested. It’s built on an extrusion frame, which holds the tape of parts overhead. A stepper motor pulls these parts through tensioning assemblies made out of LEGO wheels and springs, and photo interrupters are used to keep track of how far the reel progresses. At the end, a stepper-actuated guillotine and razor knife snip the reel off at just the right point to produce the appropriate number of parts.

Or it did at least, Keddie notes that it’s a bit out of alignment now (and it’s missing a few springs), but that it was pretty reliable when in-use. Perhaps his project will inspire something similar at the Lough shop, or even elsewhere, making semi-mass production more palatable than sitting around for hours with a pair of scissors!