The RDBlog

This is another Thingiverse print. I thought the "Steampunk" detail was interesting and a challenge for the printer. No challenge for the A/C Kossel delta. When I design something like this it is more towards function than appearance.  I just did that. I made a toothpick holder about this same size. See pix. Not that I need a toothpick holder....

Been printing on the WanHao D7 Replicator with Wanhao green resin and slicing files with Wanhao D7 Workshop. You can see in the Pix it is working well. I made a modification to the Wanhao D7 stock build plate. I used a whetstone I have and ground off the high polish on the build surface. It is not rough like sandpaper but it now has some "tooth". I...

Fired up the Wanhao D7 (DLP printer) and made a few resin prints. The red fish is casting resin and the owls and rook are Wanhao black resin. All the resins are about a year old, so I wan't sure if there was a do not exceed shelf life.   I did my "super clean" post process with IPA, ultrasonic cleaner (detergent), heated vacuum chamber an...

I bought some PETG solid color blue and green filament months ago. I used some of the blue but was not producing good prints. I thought it was because I had not run enough trial prints to get the settings accurate in the Smplify 3D slicer software. I discovered today that wasn't the problem. The print nozzle in my printer was so worn out, none...

In this blog and elsewhere, we have pushed the limits of Single Board Computers (SBC) to do conventional personal and Internet computer tasks. Although they are capable, the reality is that they don't do it as well as bigger computer systems designed for the task. What is proved is that expensive hardware is not necessary to get started explor...

Not seeing double. There are two PI's in the picture. Raspberry Pi to be exact. These are two credit card size, fully operational computers. The one with the cables connected is the only one operating in the picture. These little baby computers are fully functional as any PC personal computer. They operate using the Linux operating system. The...

What am I willing to do? What do I need to do? What do I have to do? Thoughts rumbling through my brain cells. It's all about 3D printing and where am I going with it to justify my "equipment lust" for better quality 3D printing machines. I have spent a few years playing with hobbyist low end machines and have, after climbing the learning curve, be...

An investment in tools is required for most every craft except perhaps daydreaming. Is thinking not a type of formless tool? Let me ponder that… Just a prelude to this pricey little tool used for machine controlled (CNC) wax carving. It is an 1/8 inch shaft diameter, tapered (10 degree [total]) 0.004 inch ball end carbide milling bit. That's a mout...

This is my favorite go-to FDM 3D printer. It just works. It's not a fast printer. Speed is not what I expect. Slow is good when the output quality is excellent.  MamaCetus has it's own slicer software and G-Code generator called UPStudio. Cetus is a printer made by Tiertime. It will also run G-Code produced by other software such as Simplify3D...

Posting here in the middle of a project. Gotta start somewhere.  Been doing LWC (Lost Wax Casting) for a few years. Created a small business called KautzCraft for the silver jewelry and any other "crafty" items I want to sell. The primary goal is to enjoy the work and to at least break even as a business. I have taken perhaps 500 to 1000 pictu...

These boxes are a 50% downsize of the Jewelry box shown in the previous post. One is 50% and the other is sized at 51% due to my experimentation with fitting clearances in that small of a downsize. Turns out there is no issue at all with the parts fitting together. Now there are two new boxes The big roses in the right hand insert don't print prope...

 Not one of my designs but it is how I would design a box like this. It is large, thick walled, and heavy. It's also printed with PLA/wood. Hatchbox brand in this case.. Presently a work-in-progress and will require a lot of material and printing time. But that is OK. I have always maintained that 3D printing is not a race to see how fast...

I am sitting here after filling a few on-line store orders for my customers. I am watching "MamaCetus" (My 3D Cetus (brand) printer doing her thing. She's very slow because that IS her thing, using only 150 micron layer height. BUT she is producing outstanding 3D printing. I do almost all my printing these days at 150 microns. Sometimes I drop to 1...

 This is an original design I created. Both the bowl and the lid. They were drawn in Autodesk Fusion 360 and exported as  STL files. Then sliced by Simplify3D and exported as a gcode file to an SD memory card. The printing was made from the code on the SD card with my Anycubic Kossel (Delta) 3D printer. Layer height is 150 microns. Total ...