Hobby Thread - November 2, 2024 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread.

We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it landed on a theme of 3D printing for this week. Apparently the Wheel likes building things.

Are you a maker? What do you make? Fun? Functional? Fixes? How long have you done 3D printing? Tell us about your most functional project. Tell us about your least functional but most fun project.

Tell us how you got started and learned. Do you have an early success story? Do you have an early disaster story? Have you made something recently to repair something broken or improve something? Was it easier to make your own part than find and buy a part made commercially? Have you designed and built something bespoke that nobody else makes or sells? Is your 3D printer constantly working?

What equipment do you use, both hardware and software? What resources are helpful? Are you interested but paralyzed because there are SO MANY Youtube videos, websites and other resources? What questions do you have? What knowledge can the Horde help with?

Content below to get the conversation started, but looking for participation from our gray box friends. If meaningful to you, it will be meaningful to the Horde.

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to 3D printing. Politics and current events can be scary but can reside in threads elsewhere. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls. As usual, wearing pants is optional for thread participation.

Top photo: Cybersmythe made 3D printed nametags for attendees to the recent TX MoMe that requested them. They were useful and make a nice keepsake. Thank you!

Blaster, the Official Explosive Ordinance Disposal Provider for the Hobby Thread, sent a few thoughts and photos:

3D Printing is a good hobby because you can use it to support your other hobbies! I started playing with RC cars during COVID. A 3D printer let me make parts that were not available otherwise. One way to use a 3D printer is download a file (commonly an .STL file) and then you just print what is on the file.

You can use a CAD program to create your own. If you wanted to match something real, you are able to make something just like it.

Cybersmythe was also kind enough to send some thoughts and photos from his 3D printing experience:

For a long time, I resisted the temptation to get a 3D printer, mostly because I did not have anything specific that I wanted to do with them. Some of my coworkers had them and they seemed to use them mostly to make parts for their Star Wars droids and making that sort of thing does not interest me. I also was not sure that I wanted to commit a substantial amount of my limited beer money getting something and then having to spend a large amount of time fiddling with it to get it to work. Still, they sounded interesting.

Four or five years ago, I got access to a maker space at work that would 3D print anything I wanted, and I figured I would get them to print the parts for my own printer and build one. That turned into a months long ordeal. One of my coworkers suggested just going out and buying a Prusa because that would eliminate the fiddling and allow me to just print stuff. I went ahead and ordered a Prusa printer. I like my Prusa, and I got it because my friend suggested it, but it's hardly the only printer out there.

So, what sorts of things have I wound up printing? There are functional prints that help me 3D print stuff, other kinds of functional prints, and prints that are knicknacks or toys.

My dragon-loving daughter got this articulated dragon that I printed. Some of these objects look really cool with some of the more exotic filaments you can buy. There are a number of Web sites that allow you to download, sometimes for free, and sometimes for a fee, objects that you can print yourself.

As far as general functional prints go, I mostly design those myself. I made some sturdy bookends because I could not find anything that I liked to download. I also made ice funnels to allow me to fill my water bottles from the ice machines at work. Some functional prints are to help me with my other hobbies, like when I printed a case for my ham radio telegraph keyer, or the capacitance hat hub for a low band antenna.

When you download someone elses design, you use a program called a slicer to turn that 3D CAD object into the instructions, called G Code. The slicer allows you to place the objects on the build plate, a process called plating, and allows me to make different parts of the print different colors.

You can get different effects by making different choices in the slicer, but you need to make your own models if you want to do your own thing using a CAD (Computer Aided Design) program. I use FreeCAD for general use or OpenSCAD for designs that are more like simple geometric shapes.

I have had the printer for several years and have figured out enough about CAD and plating to do some simple and some not so simple prints. I do not know what I would do without it. The printer gets a lot of use.

I like the idea of using tools to make other functional tools like 3D printing this vise:

Entertaining and informative channel - he had me at off road Viper and land speed racer:

Favorite Budget 3D Printer, Books, YouTubers and Podcasts from Adam Savage:

Gridfinity? Yes, Gridfinity. Zack Freedman has inspired an army of organization. Warning - ADHD alert. Think of a record player on faster speed than usual. Lots of interesting organizational ideas, but also highlights the need for thoughtful design before building. When almost anything is possible, what will help you? I really like the microbin design at the 10:55 time stamp.

Gridfinity on Thangs

Interested but do not know where to start? Watch this video:

Things to 3D print when you are bored:

Running a 3D printer farm to make 3D printers:

From Trash to Treasure: Recycle Plastic Cutlery into 3D Filament:

Czinger 21C 3D Printed Car with Jay Leno:

TRex has seen this car in person and can confirm it is bonkers.

3D Printing Rockets at Relativity Space:

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week with a Halloween traditions theme? The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Bonus content from the Mid Coast Maine Aquanuts Scuba Club courtesy of Charles (lurker in good standing). The club has an annual underwater pumpkin carving off South End Beach in Rockland, Maine. Wicked fun. Thanks Charles!

Notable comments from last week:

Last call for now. Anyone interested in a Moron Meetup in Bavaria for 2025 Oktoberfest? If you are interested, send me a note.

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If 3D printing is not your thing and you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different hobby next time. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Ace of Spaces is not responsible for 3D printing projects gone wrong. You are welcome for the extra hour this evening. The bill will come due in Spring. Let the long march through the winter months begin.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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