I needed a clock and found the Grid Clock V2 by Parallyze at thingivsere which looks perfect. This is one of those designs where it is clear that a lot of effort went into making it not only look great, but also work great. I wish I had half the talent to design and document things like this. He also provided some time saving tips on print settings which I used and can confirm really make a big difference. After printing a few parts, I did notice a few things I wanted to modify when I print my clock though. So I am printing a very slightly modified version of his design in the XL size, and plan to upload a remix when it's done. The only changes are to square off the ends of each section so they can be glued together (since I wanted it to be almost seamless) and also to add some inserts to the front to allow some cool design patterns to be inlaid (which are really just blocks printed as support). I got that idea after looking closely at the pics on the original and noticing that he printed the first layers with some wide gaps between lines which gives the front a grill like appearance, which I really like. I could not figure out how to do that in Cura however, so I instead designed some inlays which can be printed as supports and will give a similar look.
The remix will not be a simple print though, since it requires a good deal of knowledge of Cura, but I hope to be able to make something of a guide to help people with the settings. Additionally, I really liked onecton's "make" of the clock where he said he used a layer of PLA printed in black as the diffuser, along with a piece of paper. I'm working on something similar, but want to carry though the pattern from the front to the diffuser as well and have printed a few diffusers which I hope will work without adding paper behind them. In the process, I also found that I can print PLA on laser printer transparency film, which worked well but can imprint from the printed item so it will only be a rarely used trick I think. The diffusers are really a combination of 3 parts merged together, the first is a frame, then a 0.1mm thick solid layer, and above that a 0.2mm layer printed as support which provided a pattern. Everything was then printed at 0.1mm resolution and I used the Cura Z-offset plugin to increase the z-offset by the thickness of the transparency film which was taped to the bed (0.2mm thick). Then I printed as normal with a bed temp of 50°C and the print did start to lift, but being really thin it will not matter once it is sandwiched between the other parts of the clock. Although unprecedented, what happened today is hardly surprising. If there is room for surprise it is the limp planning and response to it. It defies logic that the Capital could be left so vulnerable at a time when all eyes of the nation, and much of the world, were on it. I'm sure due to the historical nature of the defilement of the seat of our government, and the successful disruption of the transfer of power (at best) or an actual coup attempt (at worst), some of the truth may come out in time. But I'm not holding my breath for the full story. What matters now is that, when it comes to Trump, the worst is yet to come.
I recently rebuilt my hot end on the Ender3 after the meltdown which left it globbed up with plastic. The globbing up was not the problem why I had to rebuild it though, but probably the start of why I had to clean it. The heater failed (suspected a weakend wire, and when I went to swap it, I found that the heatbreak was stuck. I could have burned it out, but I had spares so I just rebuilt everything so now it is nice and new, ready to get blobbed up again. However I found that I needed some thermal compound between the heatbreak and the heatsink. I did some research and found that most of the products used for computer CPU thermal grease are not able to sustain temps that a 3D printer hot end will commonly go to. One product that can, and then some is Boron Nitride. I found different companies selling it for different prices, and it several I found indicate that they are made by ZYP Coatings which is based in Oak Ridge, TN (which is also home to Oak Ridge National Laboratory). No idea if there is a reason for that, but chances are there are a lot of smart people in that town, so I would not be surprised if there is some connection. In any case, the Boron Nitride thermal grease looks promising and the cheapest place I could find it was at filamentone.com (no affiliation) and their shipping via USPS was cheap too. The stuff comes in a small metal tube (like a small toothpaste tube), and not the syringe looking dispenser they show on the site. I just installed the heatbreak with the boron nitride paste, and will see how it goes (and will update here if there are issues with heat creep).
The stuff seems relatively safe, but there are some considerations since it is a eye and lung irritant (MSDS here). As a side note, it is nice that they have an MSDS for the stuff, considering most thermal compounds from China that I found on Amazon or Ebay don't even mention one (we could probably learn something about deregulation from China ;-). To be on the safe side, I took the printer outside for the first heatup cycle after installation, and ran a PID tune outside as well, since it was mentioned that "Initial exposure to high temperatures evolves, in small amounts, fumes that may be irritating or corrosive to the upper respiratory system." Though I suspect that "high temperatures" for this stuff is really a lot more than anything my printer is capable of - like 600°C probably. At 240°C which I started it up at, I'd guess it may have boiled off some water since it is 65-70% water. The dust is however an irritant so when swapping the heatbreak or removing it from the heatsink, I would probably wear a face mask or respirator to avoid any dust. A pandemic, a country wrought by divisive politics, and millions looking at an uncertain next few weeks and possible eviction. Things are tough this Christmas for many. But the "holiday season" has endured from ancient times, not because of a Coca-Cola Santa, or department stores, or the sugarplum fairy, but because it is a time of year when we can allow ourselves think about a better future, despite the dark times we may be fixed in. This is the season of hope, even when there ain't much reason for it. But if there is any "magic" to this time of year, it is simply that, collectively, we are all just a bit more hopeful, and that itself is a powerful reason to be hopeful.
So it's the holidays that give me hope that Americans are not as divided as we believe we are. It's the time when people from all backgrounds do things both large and small, to help people they never even met, and some they have, to, if not have a Merry Christmas, at least have a better one. It's the one time of year that being a human means just a bit more than being any of the other things we call ourselves. This is a remix of msCreations' Towel Holder (Hook_sturdy version). It was designed to be used with 3M Command Strips, and I plan to use the large size, which will be cut down slightly for length. This design uses 2 parts, the first mounts to the wall using the Command Strips, and then the towel holder slides on to that. There is a bit of a latch near the base of the holder to keep everything secure. I also changed the "V" groove just a bit to open it up and added a slight radius to it, since most of my towels are a bit thicker.
This is being printed now, but will remain a work in progress until I have it fully printed, tested and mounted (so things may change). You can find it here (but it's a work in progress so I would not recommend printing it until I test it and update it from WIP). Update 1/2/2021: It is printed, tested and updated, you can still find it here. I not (anymore) a flashlight nut, but I really like my Anker LC90 flashlight. So when I saw the Anker Bolder LC40 light on sale for Black Friday for $18, I bought a couple as gifts. But when they arrived I couldn't help myself, so I opened one to see if it would fit the LC90 holder I posted to thingiverse previously. Unfortunately it does not, however that gave me an excuse to make one that does. So I present the "Anker Bolder Holder" which sports a place to hold the micro USB cable as well. I have not yet printed it, but once I do, it will be posted to thingiverse.
Update 1/2/2021: I modified the design a bit from above, and you can find it here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4706391 This country and the world has lost so many this year, those of us lucky enough to have healthy families should not have a hard time finding something to be thankful for. We can all be thankful for the front line healthcare workers who are giving up much more than their holidays to care for the sick in this pandemic. And we can all be thankful that there is hope on the horizon, with several promising vaccines on the way. We just need to keep focused on not letting our guard down, and avoid letting ourselves become a further burden on an already overwhelmed health care system. Next year has got to be better than this.
I hope you and your families are safe and healthy, and stay that way, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! |
Stoopid Me
My mission is to lower the collective IQ of teh Internets one post at a time. Archives
January 2021
Categories |