I promise, this is a one time thing. The only time I will post anything on this blog not directly related to making or 3D printing. But I’m bursting with pride here and have to tell everyone. As of today I have been awarded the degree of “Master of Computer Science” from the Utah State University. This has been a …
Sometimes you just gotta focus
I’m in the middle of a couple of things, waiting until their done before I report on them here. The right extruder is still out of commission, the replacement heater block I got doesn’t fit the heater element (and Makerbot doesn’t sell official heater blocks any more so I’ll probably have to drill it out), I’m building a new enclosure, …
Pirate3D has launched their Thingiverse competitor
EDIT: My upload just got rejected. Apparently on top of a known printable object with pictures of it printed they wanted 3D renders of the objects. Funny, thingiverse has created their own 3D renders from day one. And there was nothing about this when I was uploading it the first time. Treasure Island needs content. If they’re going to make it …
Tip: Precise Pausing at Z-Layers
My most recent projects have involved pausing my print at a specific Z-height and changing filament. It’s a feature of the Sailfish firmware that I really enjoy. However, as I just learned, if you want to be precise on which layer actually prints before changing filament you need to be a little clever about the use of the tool. The …
Coin Age 3D
Adam P. McIver’s Coin Age is a really cool minimalist strategy game and a very successful recent kickstarter. All you need to play is a credit card sized board and $1.56 in pocket change. However if you don’t want to make sure you’re keeping enough unspendable change around all the time you can always make some 3D printed coins I designed …
Tip: Using a sacrificial tower to save a print
In my previous blog I wrote about a technique for improving prints called making a sacrificial tower that will improve the overall quality of your prints. Okay, really bad image quality. Let me describe it to you. The print on the left suffers from multiple holes in the top because it was such a small part. The hot end remained …
Expectation vs Reality – Coin Age Detailed Coins
Designing for 3D printing is a blast because occasionally you get these really groovy neat ideas that you can’t wait to try out, and then you try it out, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. This is the story of a time it didn’t work.See, those coins I made last time I though would look better if the …
Coin Age 3D Preview
With so much of my print time occupied with etsy or MakeXYZ jobs I don’t have as much to talk about during the week. But I wanted to give you all a heads up on a project that I modeled this weekend that may or may not be printed next weekend. Adam P. McIver’s Coin Age is a really cool …
That was about as bad as it could have been
Here’s a cautionary tale. While I am waiting for my new heater block my old heater element has no home. (The thermocouple broke off, so that’s no problem.) Fortunately the unused feed tube on top close enough and just the right side for the heater element to sit in. As long as I don’t accidentally heat up the right heater …
Support your local suppliers
Through MakeXYZ I found a guy locally who is has an electronics and filament supply business, Addicore. So when I needed some more filament I contacted him. It’s been an up and down experience, some of his filament isn’t that good, but that’s not his fault. He’s learning and I don’t mind helping him and most of it is very …