Snap Mesh – Posable Pieces

An ongoing problem for the different parts of the workshop is task lighting – the different projects and hobbies require different modes and arrangements of lights for optimal brightness. I wonder if we could use the pre-designed ball-joint connectors from TinkerCad to build a snap together flexible mesh for mounting LEDs for a re-configurable light source for…

High Detail Printing – Great Buddha

The Scan the World collection on MyMiniFactory has some great pieces spanning world history. For a number of reasons, this scan of the Great Buddha at Kamakura caught my eye. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dwyer Devices (@dwyerdevices) I did two test prints with this model, working for the first time with…

NinjaFlex Test

Picked up a new flexible filament, so I’m running a test print of a small pyramid with NinjaFlex. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dwyer Devices (@dwyerdevices) Pyramid test print turned out really well – the print took exactly as long as estimated, the shell wall of the pyramid was strong but still…

Wood Fill Test

Printing a simple test pattern with Hatchbox Wood Fill. This wood fill is a blend with standard PLA, but I’m trying out a PrusaControl slicer preset for ColorFabb wood fill, to see if the heat, speed, and retraction settings work equally well for Hatchbox. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dwyer Devices (@dwyerdevices) Hmm…

Glue Tests

It was finally time to pick a glue to use when assembling a few different projects over the Halloween weekend. There was a slight problem, though. Or a few problems. Problem 1 – I had no idea what glue to use for plastic. Problem 2 – these projects were using multiple kinds of plastic, which can be notoriously…

LEGO Compatible Pentagonal Angle

While it’s possible to hack together LEGO solutions for strange angles and shapes, wouldn’t it be nice to have pre-built blocks to help build the regular polygons? I’ve had my eye on the various LEGO compatible SCAD files and customizers, and decided to try one of them out. Using a simple 2×2 plate block as the foundation, I built…

Surface Infill Testing

One of the options you can play with in Slic3r changes the infill pattern used on the bottom and top visible surfaces of a print. Different from the interior infill pattern, the surface pattern changes the look and texture of horizontal planes. By default Slic3r will use a rectilinear surface pattern; simple parallel lines at a 45°…