Homebrew PCBs

On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 13:24:04 +0100, crankorgan <john@...> wrote:

> Stefan,
>        Lets see him produce plans without the window channel. The
> window channel was my epiphany! He mounted the motor and bearing
> plates on the channel the same way! The Z axis Gas pipe etc. I guess
> if I stole your car and repainted it, that would be ok with you?
>                                          John


No, but if you built one just like it i wouldn't mind at all! I'd ask you  
why the gas sometimes sticks when starting the engine, when you are done.

I had not looked at your machines before, but the way the slides are made  
is the obvious solution, with a plate across the top and two blocks  
underneath. The parts i have for my machine (if i ever have time to build  
it) use the same arrangement, only i had to use two channels in parallel  
because i could not find one wide enough/right shape. But the plastic  
sliders are virually identical. I looked through all the aluminum i could  
get, and if our DIY stores had those same window channels, i would have  
gotten them too, for sure.

I haven't looked at the end mount plates in detail, but it just looks like  
a plastic plate with the motor or a bearing on it, and mounted to the  
channel. There aren't so many options to do this.

I don't doubt he got the gas pipe z-axis (and other stuff) from you, and  
he freely admits he did. I would not use that (because i'd rather use a  
gantry style), but i would not hesitate to use pipes in a similar manner  
for other things. Just because you sell plans for a machine with gas pipes  
like this doesn't mean nobody can build anything like it any more. People  
have done it before, and will do so again.

I really don't want to quarrel with you over this, but maybe you should  
think about it. If he had bought plans from you (or somehow illegally  
gotten hold of them), and then published them, he would violate your  
copyright and you would have all grounds to be angry. But to me it looks  
like he just looked around at homebuilt machines that are out there, liked  
some of what he saw, and built a machin by himself. I don't see bad form  
in that, people have copied what others did for millions of years. For a  
lark, if you are in a situation where you know someone is looking at you  
(say in the tube or a restorant or something), scratch your nose or ear in  
an inconspicuous manner. 9 out of 10 times the person looking in your  
direction will have the sudden need to scratch his nose or ear too. What i  
want to say is it is in human/animal nature to see a good idea, and do the  
same. Unless you have patented your way to scratch your nose....

Anyway, as i said, i don't want to quarrel with you. But talking about  
"stealing" when someone builds something similar to what others have  
built, that's not right. Items intended for the same purpose will always  
end up looking similar, even if different peole make them in complete  
isolation. If the isolation is less complete they will of course look much  
more similar. Look at cars, or toothbrushes, or angle-grinders. Most of  
them follow more or less the same general idea.


ST