Have you ever had an original idea? Most of us haven't. In modern times we often quote Isaac Newton's remark about "standing on the shoulders of giants" to make the point that each of us builds upon the work of those who came before. But did you know that Newton stole the metaphor from elsewhere?

As you may have read here last week, it's much better to steal ideas than borrow them. You see, stealing an idea means that you have absorbed it so completely that it becomes yours to use and mold as you wish. Borrowing an idea is mere copying, and copies are inferior to originals.

Stealing ideas is one of the most powerful tools for any creative person. With that in mind, we invite you to share with everyone the best idea you've ever stolen. We are offering a Big Blue Saw gift certificate of $50 for the best response.

Post your responses here on the Big Blue Saw Blog by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, May 27, 2010. Big Blue Saw will judge the best entry from the responses based upon un-originality, resourcefulness, and wit. One entry per person, please.

By popular request, we have added three new laserable gasket materials in four thicknesses. Our customers who love to work on cars are sure to find a these useful.

• Cork Blend: Temperature range is -39° to +249° F. This looks like regular cork, but is actually made of cork granules held together with Buna-N. This material resists oil and aromatic fuel. It is useful not only for gaskets, but also for decorative and sound-dampening applications.
• High Temperature Gasket: Maximum temperature is 450° F. This material is made from a blend of organic fiber fillers with an acrylic-nitrile-latex binder. It resists water, grease, and oils. Maximum pressure of 1000 psi.
• Treated Paper Gasket: Maximum temperature is 350° F. This material is made from recycled material with an SBR binder. It resists water and grease, with has some resistance to oils. It is similar to the "make your own gasket" material commonly sold in hardware and automotive stores. Maximum pressure of 1000 psi.

Keep in mind that these three materials will have a slightly charred edge when cut on the laser. We think you'll agree that precise laser-cut gaskets are far better than gaskets made with scissors and X-acto knives.

Upload your design now or design your part with the Big Blue Saw Designer to try making your own custom gasket.

As we mentioned, the original Free Part Day was our most successful promotion ever. We would like to make the next Free Part Day bigger and better then ever before. But to do that, we need your help. How can you help? It's very simple, really, you just need to like us.

Well, of course you already like us. But we need you to declare your "like" for us on Facebook. This will help spread the word about Big Blue Saw and Free Part Day 2. When we get to 3,000 likes, we'll announce the date of Free Part Day and let you know how you can participate.

But we don't want to stop there. When we reach the 6,000, 12,000, and 25,000 level, we'll add a new stock material for Free Part Day. What's more, YOU will get to vote on which material you'd like us to give away.

So tell your friends, enemies, co-workers, neighbors, and family to "like" us on Facebook. Just use the "Like" button below, or see the Big Blue Saw page on Facebook.

We have two brand new new acrylic types to announce today: one a solid color, and one a new type of flexible two-tone plastic.

• Opaque black acrylic: this decorative plastic is a good substitute for clear acrylic. It's useful, for example, when you are making an enclosure that you don't want people to see inside.
• Flexible engravable silver/black acrylic: This material is similar to our other metallic engravable plastics. It has the advantage of being flexible so that, for example, it can be wrapped around the base of a round trophy.

In an essay by the potter Dick Lehman, he makes the point that if you are inspired by someone else's work, you should steal their ideas, not merely borrow them. You see, when you steal something, you make it your own, whereas when you borrow something, it still belongs to the original owner. Borrowing is mere plagiarism. But stealing, standing upon the shoulders of giants, is critical to the creative process.

From the original essay:

If, as some have suggested, there are no new ideas in the ceramics world - only discoveries of new ways to develop or assemble the old ideas - then may we all discover much and be indebted more. Of all our artistic vices, "stealing" is among the least. A more telling character flaw is the laziness associated with "borrowing." May we all pledge to borrow less and steal more.

We often help our customers figure out which metal alloy or plastic will best suit their design. While we are making steady progress on our FAQ's on materials, I thought I would share a few of the great resources we use to help track down data such as density, strength, and thermal stability.

MakeItFrom.com

First, we have MakeItFrom.com, a website that lets you compare two materials side-by-side, with useful bar graphs to illustrate the differences. For instance, take a look at their page which compares 6061 aluminum vs. acetal plastic.

Machinist-Materials

Next is Machinist-Materials which contains a lot of good information about materials, including this comparison of various kinds of plastics.

Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha caused a big stir when it launched almost exactly a year ago. While it's not the omniscient machine that many had hoped for, it does have a lot of great information about a variety of metal alloys, as well as polymers.

I did find myself struggling a bit at first, trying to figure out how to look up the properties of various alloys. The best approach I found is to begin by entering the general type of thing you're looking for like "aluminum alloy". Wolfram Alpha will then let you choose from a list of various aluminum alloys. From that list, you can find out that Wolfram Alpha refers to 6061 T6 aluminum alloy as "AA6061-T6", in case you want to look it up again later.

We're proud to announce 4 new engineering plastics available for ordering immediately on the Big Blue online quoting and ordering system.

Here's a quick rundown of the new offerings:

• Polypropylene: A moderately tough, durable plastic. It has the unique characteristic of not fatiguing when repeatedly bent back and forth, so it can be used to make a hinge. The edges get a little bit of melted plastic reformed on them when cut with the laser, but other than that, it cuts cleanly.
• ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene): A stiff, strong plastic with good surface hardness. It is suitable for structural applications where a plastic with good dimensional stability is needed for non-moving parts. Laser cutting will leave ABS plastic with a slightly charred edge; we can optionally remove the charring or give you guidance on how to do it yourself.
• UHMW-PE (Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene): A plastic with outstanding impact resistance and good chemical resistance, and excellent lubricity. This material is similar to the High-Density Polyethylene used in kitchen cutting boards, where it is used because it can take a lot of abuse and still clean up easily. Its high lubricity means that it makes a good guide for roller chains or conveyor belts. When laser cut, it also leaves a slightly melted looking edge, much like polypropylene.
• White Acetal: this is like our black acetal, but in a different color. Acetal's high strength and excellent wear characteristics make it an ideal choice when you need a plastic for things like bearings, gears, and slides.

Upload your design now or design your part with the Big Blue Saw Designer to try out these great engineering plastics.

One of our most frequently requested non-stock metals is copper. Our customers love copper for electronic components like bus bars and terminal connectors, as well as for decorative applications like sculpture, jewelry, and picture frames.

We're happy to announce that copper is now available for online ordering. The copper alloy on the website is alloy 110, which is 99.9% pure copper, with excellent electrical conductivity. It is also considered excellent for forming and working operations, such as bending and rolling.

Upload your design now to try a copper part.