Diego Trapero

Today on How It’s Made: Aluminum extrusion!

Many graphs just to try to pace my Claude token usage

From extruding plastic to extruding aluminum

The die determines the profile's cross-section. Until now we bought all our profile from distributors, which means a middleman. So a few months ago I decided to design our own die and produce directly at a factory.

Extrusion is easy to explain. A hot (but not molten) aluminium billet is pushed through a steel die, like toothpaste through a tube. A long bar comes out with the exact cross-section of the die, then it's pulled straight, cooled and cut.

This is the press that makes our aluminium profile. A few months ago we were buying it from distributors like everyone else. Now we own the die. How that works, and what it costs: 🧵

Con algunas modificaciones, a ver qué tal funciona.

Next step

📟 The screen is alive! Today I had my aha! moment with AI + hardware. A cheap board from Amazon, USB connection and al 10minute sesion with Claude Code. Vibe coding hardware is here, everyone is going to be able to do electronics and physical devices!

🦀 Hey Claude, ship a new order! (with humanoid robot)