My brother teaches shooting to his local scout troop. The problem is the Remington 514 youth that he uses are too short for anyone but the younger scouts to use. So he proposed I extend the rifle with a 3D printed part.Nothing much exciting to report, really. Took a stamp of the stock to get the shape and proportions right, …
Testing 3D printed dice fairness
It’s been a question on my mind for a while whether a 3D printed die can be fair and balanced? The reality is that the dice you buy aren’t necessarily fair, so making a 3D printed dice fair could actually be an advantage. For a while I wanted to build a clever machine to automatically test dice, but that’s been …
Dual Printing dice
So playing with the new MakerWare dual print option (for a project I’ll update on when it’s done) I learned a few things. First of all, the sacrificial walls work great. I mean look at those. Catches tons of drool. Love ’em. However, if you position your objects so that the other nozzle spends a considerable time over part of …
New Makerware first impression
Big news, there’s a new version of Makerware out. When I decided to adopt Makerware as much as possible I’ve only found a few little issues. Just last week I found another one, a model that sliced really strange even tho it looked fine in the software. So I’ve got a lot of tests to run. The first thing I …
Printing a dial indicator
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