Brother solved my problem! At PIF Camp we attempted to hack the pen holder to work with electronink conductive ink pen…. and failed. Details are in the 28 September 2015 blog post.   Little did I know that Brother was working on a solution!     I haven’t had a chance to test this adapter with other pens yet. […]

  The Brother ScanNCut mats have an adhesive application already applied to the surface allowing fabrics and papers to be securely held in place while using the machine.   Although the adhesive is low tack it attracts every loose fiber and hair to its surface making it difficult to have a clean cut without causing woven fabrics to fray and […]

  In hopes of resolving the low tack mat adhesive holding the conductive fabric in place while cutting a speaker coil we tried the High Tack Adhesive Support Sheet included with the kit.   This product did hold the conductive fabric in place during cutting of a basic rectangular shape, but the fabric trace needed for the circuit was very […]

  The Brother ScanNCut uses a separate pen holder with specific sized felt tip ink pens to draw your designs. I want to plot electronic traces, but Brother doesn’t manufacture conductive ink pen cartridges so Denis and I began to hack together a solution.   First we took apart an existing pen holder and cleaned both the felt tip and […]

  While at PIF Camp in Trenta Slovenia we tested the Brother ScanNCut with Statex conductive fabric to make eTextile speakers.   Denis began the project by drawing samples of the coils on his computer. Next we fused an iron on adhesive, Pellon Heat Bond, to one side of the conductive fabric.     Scanning the coil samples into the […]

  Brother ScanNCut CM600 straight out of the box with power adapter, blade holder, stylus and removal tool.     Opening the carriage.     Instruction booklet for Quilting techniques in multiple languages.     Touchscreen menu to select language preferences.       Touchscreen menu display for selecting the print/cut area. Use the stylus to designate area by dragging […]

  I purchased a package of DMC Memory Thread from Amazon in hopes that I could use this colorful product as a conductive thread to embroider a circuit.     Unfortunately the thread’s diameter is too large to smoothly thread thru the eye of a hand sewing needle.       The details….     DMC Memory Thread is a […]

  A no-sew conductive trace can be assembled by using Flat Flexible Connectors (FFC) and a conductive ribbon. Simple. Durable. Cost effective.   This conductive ribbon is from Fabrick in 100+ yard orders and has three conductive traces woven into the ribbon.   The FFC is available from DigiKey: Male 609-2178-ND Female 609-2160-ND   Please note that in this example […]

In 2014 I’ve purchased more 400 pin breadboards that I ever thought possible! Fortunately I’ve found an eBay seller that is reliable. CXB Electronics on ebay is the place to go for large quantities of 400 pin breadboards and jumper wires. Order early as it takes 3 -4 weeks to receive them.

I like to use a non-woven conductive fabric because the edges don’t fray when cut with a scissor. Woven rip stop fabric will fray even when using pinking shears. Non-woven conductive fabric has a nice texture and does not fray. The frayed edges of a woven conductive fabric can be used as conductive fringe. Every eTextile project has its own […]