Who am I?

My Name is Niklas and I am currently studying mechanical engineering in Cologne, Germany. My main interests are manufacturing machines/processes, especially CNC-Machines such as Mills, 3D-Printers and Lasers, electronics in general, programming and Material Science.

Furthermore (and mainly), I really enjoy the process of investigating interesting engineering/science questions and developing machines! Some of my creations are a 40Watt - CO2-Laser, a CNC-router and a 5W 450nm laser engraver driven by rotating mirrors. In order to make these and many more projects, I have amassed quite a lot of machines over the years, including 3 3D-Printers (2 FDM, 1 SLA), a metalworking lathe, a welder (TIG/MMA), a plasmacutter, the aforementioned CNC-machines and other general tools. Moreover, I know basics of C++, Python, VBA and Java, but for my projects I usually use C++ (Arduino/Teensy) and Java (UIs). Some of the software I write can be found at my GitHub page.

What is the purpose of this website?

This website is dedicated to my projects, small or big. Most of these projects are driven by curiosity, questions like: What would happen when I shoot a CO2-Laserbeam at Copper powder? Does Argon make a difference? Can I convert my normal transmitted light microscope to make crystallographic images? How is a laser diode driven? Can I make rubies with an arc welder? How do I generate a 1Hz signal from a crystal oscillator?

Its purpose is to show my friends and family, colleagues and complete strangers, what I do in my freetime. It serves as a kind of project log for me, as well. I hope that it will be a starting point, a spark of inspiration for other makers and engineers.

Hopefully some of you out there may be inclined to replicate, build upon, or further investigate some of my projects and ideas, just as some of my projects are inspired by other peoples ideas.

Finally, I am glad you are here! I don’t know how many people (if any) will come across this project-log of mine (which is a project in itself, right?), but everyone is welcome to stay!

So, lets get working, shall we?

-N