Is the Glowforge team still doing laser Thursday? Do they still post what they’ve made/cut? Just curious as I don’t recall seeing any new masterpieces lately.
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Reminded me to check the Twitter stream: https://twitter.com/glowforge?lang=en
Dan’s brother Ari got some goodies made by Glowforge.
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With extra crispy edges that set off the cherry-colored wood nicely.
Today was mostly projects-in-progress, although @madebynick reinvented a tool I can’t wait for him to post.
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@Dan is right! And here it is: two prototypes, one in chipboard and one in acrylic. These calipers were based off an image of a vintage tool I found online, and are used to automatically locate the centre between two points.
The prototype works very well for a first attempt, although as the curved arms are spread apart, their tips gradually rise and are no longer aligned with the central yellow component
I’ll be exploring a way to rectify this, possibly using a cam or pin and slot mechanism, so that as the curved arms are spread apart, the centre indicator gradually rises so ensure all three points remain in line.
If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
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Well, that’s amazing!!! 
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Love it!!
Elegant simplicity.
Perhaps the center point could be on a sliding sleeve that could extend or retract as required…
Very cool Nick! Thanks for sharing with us!
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That would probably be the simplest fix. Now if only we had laser accuracy to make a nice snug fit.
Well done @madebynick
It’s nice to see you posting again.
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would the alignment be thrown off by adding a slot (or extending the slot) for the upper hinge point so that it could slide down?
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hah, I was just thinking of whether that would work too!
just realized that would keep the lower “arms” on the same plane as well…
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So good! I want to make one…
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My Thought exactly.
Let the center sliders determine the extension of the point, I just don’t know how that geometry would translate in terms of accuracy locating the elevation of the point.
Even without auto - positioning, spread the arms to the outside edges and slide the point down to contact center. Bingo.
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I was hoping to avoid having to position the central divider by hand. Something like this might work:
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worth a shot. LASER IT!!
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Bravo. Measuring devices are going to be an important use for my Glowforge. Really neat. And so cool the added design help from the forum.
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I envy your ability to whip out the illustrations.
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That central bead slotted into each arm is mechanical genius.
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I’ve been using Illustrator for a long time David. If you have the time and reason to practice, you’ll be just as fast!
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… wacom tablet makes it pretty easy 
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Thanks Nick!
I look forward to seeing how your tool design evolves! Looks like you pretty much have it nailed down.
At some point I’ll have to duplicate it!
@jbv - Thanks!
I had one years ago, practically wore a hole in the surface. It had a serial connection and the computer was ISA architecture- that’s how long ago.
I have been wanting another one… and justification is stacking up!
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