Thingiverse user Studiokubuz recently uploaded a Printable Dial Indicator and I just had to try it out. A 3D printed machine with a 3D printed spring and 3D printed gears? Yes please. Unfortunately in the end it looks the part, but doesn’t really work at all, but it still has a lot of potential. The first hurdle to overcome was the spring. The …
Help me win the MyMiniFactory Contest and You Could Win
MyMiniFactory’s chess contest is in the second phase which means it’s all up to you. The most downloaded chess set wins. Of course to download you have to give them your e-mail address and their real purposes are revealed. Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. I want to win this thing so much I’ve entered it twice. There’s …
Last call for helpers for TARDIS Run
TARDIS Run has been developing well. I’d like to have this done in time for people to be playing it on the 50th anniversary. But in the end I can’t decide between two different boards. Either a pair of small jogs in the middle that together result in one very unlikely super shortcut or a pair of teleport pads that …
Been busy
I want to apologize for the slow pace things have been around here for a little while. My resources have been occupied with things I need to do and things I’m trying unsuccessfully not to avoid. And there are a couple of things that I’ve held off mentioning until they mature just a little bit more, most of which are …
Printing MyMiniFactory’s chess set
When I first checked out My Mini Factory about the only thing they had of interest to me was a stylish chess set that I had seen around before, but didn’t know where it was from. Turns out it was from My Mini Factory’s army of professional designers, which, yes, I am slightly jealous and would love to get that gig. …
HIPS as support material
Really cool post on Joseph Chiu’s blog about a new material he’s playing with for supports. Looks promising, but the chemicals to dissolve it quickly aren’t very common or cheap. On the other hand there are cheap alternatives (Pine Sol) that will make it easier to remove after a few days. http://toybuilderlabs.com/blog/2013/9/15/melt-hips-shape-abs
Troke, the Old is New Again.
A coworker friend of mine when introduced to Thingiverse out of the blue said “I know something I’ll bet you can do” and told me about this old game he played with his family, Troke. Old game is right, Troke is from 1956 and way out of print. The basic idea is it’s similar to chinese checkers except in this …
Help me test TARDIS Run
Update: Final decision on the board. Please help if you can. Follow this link for more information. Imagine a game that uses the Doctor Who pawns I’ve created that plays on a board that folds into a TARDIS for easy storage. You imagining it? If you’re a fan of Doctor Who, like I am, hopefully you’re pretty excited by this. …
New depths in layer height.
In the past one thing that made shorter than 0.15mm layer heights difficult is that my build plat wasn’t completely level. Where it bowed up it wouldn’t let the extruder get any plastic out and it would clog. But with the new glass build plate providing a more level build platform than before I decided it was time to try …
OverrideGc, Yes, Transparent PLA for Lithophanes, No.
So I finally got around to using a feature of Jetty’s firmware that I knew was there, but never played with. It’s called OverrideGC Temp which essentially allows you to set the temperature for printing on the printer instead of when slicing so I can switch from ABS to PLA without reslicing and it works great. I still have to …