Doomstead

I am progressing along well with my new project which has been keeping me pretty bizzy since around mid-summer when I first came up with the idea.  If you were watching the vids I made at the AK State Fair, I mentioned it in one of them.

Big Newz for this week is I made my first "big" CapEx, which is a 3D Printer.  Up until now I have been doing all my prototype modeling the old fashioned way, utilizing balsa wood, cardboard, straws, pipe cleaners, chicken wire, popsicle stcks, bamboo skewers, paper clips, toothpicks, thread  etc etc etc and drawing up and measuring everything by hand with those wonderful drafting tools of ruler, protractor, compass, divider and t-square and triangles.  All the tools from 10th grade Geometry.

I was a pretty proficient modeler as a kid, building numerous wire & RC controlled model airplanes and I'm still OK at it despite the messed up hands and nervous system, but it's tedious and there are still problems with stuff you just can't model this way.  So I bit the bullet and bought a 3D printer, but that's just half the problem.   To create the 3D files the machines run on, you need to be proficient with a CAD program.  I was pretty good with Sketchup when Google owned it and was offering the basic version free, but they sold off the company and the free version they offer up is pretty useless.

So I spent the last couple of weeks trying out a few different ones and finally on my 5th try found one that does most of what I need with the free version and the subscription when I need some other tools is not ridiculously priced.  The last 3 days have been spent creating files for some parts, and last night I decided I was ready to actually start making the stuff for real.  8)   Off to Amazon for a 3D printer, and as luck would have it they had a top rated $600 one on a Black Friday 1/2 price special, so I coughed up the $300 and should be 3D printing by next weekend hopefully.

Once I have my prototypes done, it's off to find the right intellectual property lawyer to get some protection and then looking for a plastics company to produce my stuff.  Good old fashioned Capitalist stuff.

RE

My new 3D Printer arrived yesterday!  8)

I started setup last night with one of the CNAs who unboxed it for me and we got as far as getting the control cable hooked to the touch screen, but he then got called away to wipe somebody's ass and no further progress.  Then this morning I had an appointment at the prosthetic clinic where he inished up the mods to the pegleg which aren't going to make it much more useful, but may work for some cosmetic purposes when I start my meetings with The Suits around Jan 1st if my planned schedule holds up.

After returning just before dinner I snagged the Acting Activities Director, a former CNA who was enlisted to be the Asst Activities Director after the last one quit, and now got bumped up to Directorr since that person also quit.  Just about the entire admin staff has quit in the last 3 months since the gulag here was bought by another corporation.  More on that soap opera in a future post.  Together with her we got the platform freed up from the screws which pin it in place for transportation and got it hooked to the wifi network of my Hotspot on my phone.  Not using the facility network for this because I don't have Admin privileges to add hardware, nor am I likely to get them from the new chief administrator, who is a total witch.  I can see why people have quit just based on her personality and body language.

We got hung up trying to load the Flashforge App onto my phone, it seems to only be available with AppleOS, I can't find it for Android.  I'm going to see what I an turn up for Windows next.  So, I haven't yet actually printed my first 3D part for one of my inventions, but I'm hopeful I will have something by the end of TG Weekend.  If I can start making parts, I'll have no trouble with keeping on my timetable since I have most of the parts already drawn up. I'll mainly be tweaking dimensions to make sure everything fits right.  A lot of the stuff has very small tolerances on the order of 1mm or less, which is why I had to get a 3D printer and quit trying to do the cutting and gluing by hand.  For models done with balsa and cardboard, they're pretty fucking good, but not good enough to really demonstrate how the stuff works.  Think of it like the Bridge set of the original Star Trek.  It looks OK from a distance, but up close you can see it's just a cheap mockup.

Anyhow, I'm really excited about getting the 3D printer and getting going with this.  Even if the Big Idea Bizness doesn't fly, I can do a small biz with the printer making some of my designs and selling them individually, as well as doing custom 3D work for people who need parts made fot things.  Even if I just use it for that and make a little side cash income, it will easily pay for itself in no time.

Definitely a fabulous toy.  Once I get it working, anyhow.

RE

Quote from: RE on Nov 22, 2024, 01:58 PMI am progressing along well with my new project which has been keeping me pretty bizzy since around mid-summer when I first came up with the idea.  If you were watching the vids I made at the AK State Fair, I mentioned it in one of them.
RE

Interesting idea certainly. I recommend proof reading your new website for spelling errors. When professionals look at what you are going to show, including the website, demonstrations that one can't proof read their own text can be a little off-putting. Oh...and Russell Bentley was killed by Russians, not Ukrainians. Not that any of them will give a shit about any pontificating you do about an ongoing collapse no one notices and whatnot, but you don't want them thinking you are what you appear online.

Just some advice from someone who has experience with, as K-Dog says, sharp objects and using them effectively IRL.

PS: Ditch the weird half laugh you seem to throw in for effect regularly. Don't know if it is just habit because your professional experience in this century has apparently been dealing with public school half witted parents and their children, but suits and money will use it to dismiss you outright about the 3rd time they hear it. The assumption being it is a consequence of ongoing mental and physical decline. Unless they see the video where you kick out "bah bah black sheep" at a bunch of white ones...or they know who Bentley was and who killed him. So yeah, don't tell them about your homemade video collection either.

Have fun with your new toys. Get a haircut that doesn't look like you did it yourself. Shave. Hopefully you've got a decent suit already, or at least the top half of one. Use it on video conference stuff. Make a background image for any video calls that somehow ties in with your business venture. If you have someone who can play junior (pretend or otherwise)  partner who actually is involved with young children now, and maybe has had the chance to let them play with your toys and can talk about them glowingly, involve them as part of the presentation.

Good luck.

We know Russell was killed by Ruskies.  They are being prosecuted for it.  They mistakenly believed he was an Amerikan spy.

The website is still a work in progress, obviously.  A lot of the pages are still just templates, it's not even my own text or pics.  Not ready for prime time.  Nobody should be finding it at this point, if they do they were looking for it.  That's fine too.  Not worried about anyone beating me to the patents, I keep what I write and the graphics I put up deliberately vague.  No specifics.

The patents are the key to this being viable as a biz.  Without some protection, Milton-Bradley or Hasbro or a dozen other smaller companies in the educational toys biz will copy me.

I also know the protocol for meeting with Suits.  Been there, done that, own the T-shirt.  It's a big part of why I left the banking biz.  Stuffed shirts and pompous assholes grate on my nerves.  But I can deal with them for short periods of time.

Thx for the good wishes.

RE

Quote from: RE on Nov 28, 2024, 10:34 AMWe know Russell was killed by Ruskies.  They are being prosecuted for it.  They mistakenly believed he was an Amerikan spy.

I am aware of his story. I simply noted that ISN'T what you said on the video in terms of who killed him. You said the Ukrainians did.

Quote from: REThe website is still a work in progress, obviously.  A lot of the pages are still just templates, it's not even my own text or pics.  Not ready for prime time.

Well that's good then that you haven't put it in front of anyone who matters. But proofreading is proofreading, and it is out there should you mention it in a place that has more than the 2 or 3 viewers of your State Fair videos.

Quote from: REThe patents are the key to this being viable as a biz.  Without some protection, Milton-Bradley or Hasbro or a dozen other smaller companies in the educational toys biz will copy me.

Of course.

Quote from: REI also know the protocol for meeting with Suits.  Been there, done that, own the T-shirt.

In the same CENTURY that your motorcycling experience comes from, or today? I've been there and done that to, back then, and now, and in between, and being there and doing it isn't the same today as it was back then.

Quote from: REIt's a big part of why I left the banking biz.  Stuffed shirts and pompous assholes grate on my nerves.  But I can deal with them for short periods of time.
Thx for the good wishes.
RE

Of course. But they aren't all pompous assholes and stuffed shirts, and the ones that aren't are better ones to know than the kind you are apparently familiar with. I rarely have to deal with the types you mention nowadays because these things sort themselves out with time and ability. Folks know folks. And the ones that aren't stuffed shirts find their own sources and experts that aren't stuffed shirts and pretty soon you've got two distinct populations. Stuffed shirts and folks who get it done...with the former really wishing they could figure out how to become the latter.

Ditch that half laugh you insert randomly in the way you narrate in front of them. Seriously. Regardless of the type of money people you meet, all of them pick up on oratory extras like that and take it as a form of unseriousness.

Quote from: TDoS on Nov 28, 2024, 01:30 PM

Quote from: RE on Nov 28, 2024, 10:34 AMWe know Russell was killed by Ruskies.  They are being prosecuted for it.  They mistakenly believed he was an Amerikan spy.

I am aware of his story. I simply noted that ISN'T what you said on the video in terms of who killed him. You said the Ukrainians did.

At the time I made the video, I wasn't aware of the details of the incident.

Quote from: TdosOf course. But they aren't all pompous assholes and stuffed shirts, and the ones that aren't are better ones to know than the kind you are apparently familiar with. I rarely have to deal with the types you mention nowadays because these things sort themselves out with time and ability. Folks know folks. And the ones that aren't stuffed shirts find their own sources and experts that aren't stuffed shirts and pretty soon you've got two distinct populations. Stuffed shirts and folks who get it done...with the former really wishing they could figure out how to become the latter.

The reason they earn the epithet "Suits" is because so many of the folks who wear that uniform are pompous stuffed shirts.  Just as so many who wear the motorcycle uniforms of studded denims or leathers are macho assholes.  Are ALL of them this way?  I'm sure there are statistical outliers, just as there are girls who ride motorcycles.  However, since I am going to be dealing with a subset of Suits called LAWYERS, the chances are better than even they'll be exactly the type of person who most grates on my nerves.  Perhaps I'll luck out and find one who is halfway human and not an alien lizard, but I'm not counting on it.

QuoteDitch that half laugh you insert randomly in the way you narrate in front of them. Seriously. Regardless of the type of money people you meet, all of them pick up on oratory extras like that and take it as a form of unseriousness.

Not sure exactly what this "half laugh" is, but I doubt I'll find anything funny dealing with these folks so I won't be laughing halfway or full on.

RE

I have successfully printed my first 3D object, which appears at right.  lol.

The success is that I actually got the thing to turn on, heat up and detect the filament and then go through a 10 minute calibration cycle.  What you see at right is the stuff that squited out of the nozzle after it finished dancing around in 3D space.  Obviously however, this isn't anything useful.  I'm just happy I  got it to do anything at all.

Now the failures.

So far, despite the fact I have it networked up on the wifi wth my computer, the computer doesn't see it.  It's not in the list of available devices.  I will attempt to contact support, howwever it's the holiday weekend so I'm not too hopeful there.

I ordered a USB male-male cord to try and hardwire it, which I prefer anyhow.  Probably will not make further progress until that arrives.  I've never had a new device for my computer that didn't have glitches and give me headaches in the setup phase.  I'll work it out eventually.  I know it works to do the core function of squirting the plastic onto the build bed.  Just a matter off getting it to go in the right direction.

RE

Rapidly dropping from the .200s now in the .100s headed for double digits on the way to .000 .

After my initial successes getting it unboxed, assembled, booted up, run through a calibration sequence and connected to my WiFi network, I ran into a Brick Wall getting the device to communicate with my Windows computer, where I am drafting the designs for the parts in my proprietary PolyPandora model building set.

I attempted to circumvent this problem by ordering a 6' male-male full size USB cord to hardwire it and avoid the networking method, which I have always had problems with in the wireless era whether it is WiFi or Bluetooth.  It arrived today and when I hopefully turned on both machines and booted them, I plugged one end of the cord into each machine expecting to hear the BEEEP from the computer and the little dialogue prompt "new device detected" pop up as it always does no matter what the device is.  The computer always knows that at least something is there, even if it doesn't know what to do with it and you have to hunt down a Driver for it.  This time though...a big fat NOTHING.

So next step, contact support, but all the online support dialogue box does if you want after-sales support is direct you to email them at support@flashforge.com.  This is bullshit support because any troubleshooting has to be done either over the phone or with a chatbox so you can try things and report if it worked or didn't.  Sometimes if it is going through the net the support person can see the settings himself if you give permission and he can make the changes.  I prefer not to do it that way but rather learn where all the switches are myself, but as a last resort I would do that too.

Anyhow, bottom line is until I can get the 3D printer working, the whole PolyPandora project is on hold, stuck in neutral.  If I ever do get the two devices talking to each other, I STILL have a learning curve on settings, because there's all sorts of things like speed, temperature, infill and so forth that you have to tweak correctly for each roll of the material you used, usually PLA plastic but even that stuff isn't uniform, being made by different manufacturers.  It can vary by the batch and with different color dyes and additives that give the plastic different properties in hardness and flexibility.  So, who knows when I'll actually be able to make my first parts at this point.

Fortunately, I am not in a rush and have no absolute deadlines I need to meet yet.  Any shopping for a SUIT and firm to to handle the intellectual property protection part of this is on hold also until the 3D printing problem is solved.  Eventually unless the machine is a total LEMON, this should be solvable.  May take a while though, and society may collapse before it is done, lol.  Meanwhile, I'll just keep working on designs and periodically working on getting the website ready for prime time.

RE

I am beginning to understand what the issue is with the printer, and it's very insidious.

First with support I exchanged emails back and forth all week, 1 exchange each day.  This makes any progress very slow.  Finally at the end of the week I got a CNA to make a video to send to support, which shows nothing more than what I explained but he seems to think a vid will help him diagnose the problem.  I doubt it and here is why.

After making it, I messed around more trying other ways to network it.  I discovered that my desktop computer has a mobile hotspot function that allows you to share it's internet connection with another device.  So, instead of connecting the printer to my phone hotspot with my computer also hooked to the phone, I hooked my computer to the Gulag WiFi for a net connection and then the printer to my computer with its hotspot.

Doing it this way, an "unknown device" appeared in the device list with its own unique IP address.  It still was not visible as a device in my 3D CAD programs though, either the one I use for design or the one produced by the printer company you are supposed to us with the printer called "Orca FlashForge.  What I did get though was a prompt asking me to login, but I couldn't find anywhere to login nor have I registered with them.  I skipped over that because in setting up the printer when it prompted to load their app to my phone, no android version was available, only iphone.  So my printer is not logged in to their website, and now I believe that is why I don't see it.

What they have done I think is kept all the driver software for the printer on the cloud, and in order to use it you must be logged in to their website.  That is why you can't even hardwire the printer to your computer, and to use it you MUST have an internet connection.  They are trying to control your ability to do 3D printing, and also be able to monitor whatever you make.  The next time I exchange emails with support, I am going to get him to admit this.

Now, possible work arounds.

The printer is controlled by a touch screen module with a bus with about a dozen tiny leads.  If I can find a match to that bus, I believe the computer itself could control the printer with some type of generic software for 3D machines.  The module they provide isn't actually a controller, it's a communication device that communicates with their server.

The other possible work around is to load files directly to the machine in "gcode", which is basic code that runs CNC machines and was developed by MIT years ago.  To do this, I would have to export a file as .stl or .3ds or .obj, then us a free online converter to convert it to gcode, drop that file on a USB stick and plug that into the USB port of the 3D printer.  Obviously, this is a very cumbersome and impractical method.

What I really hope to do is once I get the support guy to admit this is what is going on, I will tell him I need to use this printer in a remote location without a net connection, and I want a control module for it that doesn't require a net connection.  I'm sure they make one, they still have older models for sale and I think this bullshit is very new, which is why they don't even have the Android app available and why there are so many glitches.

On the positive side, I'm learning a whole lot about 3D printing due to having to diagnose and troubleshoot this problem.  This bullshit of forcing you to have a net connection and not providing the driver software for a piece of hardware they sell is total crap.  It raises the bar on control beyond information to the physical world.  It's similar to what they are doing with EV carz now also.  I'm not sure if Tesla does it, but EV cars that are leased can be shut off remotely so the leaseholder can't operate the car.  If you're late on your payment, they just turn off the car from the corporate headquarters.  This is also long standing practice with cell phones.  It's also done with farm equipment.

Essentially, they are making it impossible to actually own a functioning machine of just about any type. Whatever the machine is, whatever it does is all centrally controlled over the net and the machine can be turned off by the manufacturer.  TVs, Refrigerators, Carz...any so called "smart" device is never really yours, even if you buy it outright.  Thew software running it always requires updates, and after 5 years they require the update and stop supporting older versions.  Microsoft will stop support on Windows 10 in 2025, so if you want support you'll have to update to Win 11, which sucks.

Anyhow, one way or the other I will eventually get this thing to work the old fashion way without the net.  The machne itself, the frame and platrform and servo motors all work fine.  I just need to get a hold of some older control module from the 1st or 2nd generation machines and get it wired up right.  I know an EE who knows something about this stuff, so hopefully he can help.  ;D

RE

I put the vid I made for the support tech at Flashforge up on YT.  Enjoy.


RE

I had a minor bit of success tonight and actually got the printer to show up on my computer in the Orca-Flashforge slicer software that's supposed to run the machine.  It's still not visible in the Devices list for Windows though.

The next step after that it asks for is for you to register the device.  When I tried to do that, each time I got a popup telling me Registration Failed.  The explanation on that from the support geek is that their Flashforge server is unstable and I should try again later.  ::)  ::)   There may be a work around to that using a LAN connection, I'll work on trying that tomorrow, I'm shot for today and thoroughly pissed off.

I'm researching completely redoing the machine with a different controller board from another manufacturer.

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71BO2IPXJKL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg)

All of these 3d printers use the same type of bus cable that goes from the board to each of the various motors and the heating element.  Exactly how it's wired though can differ so I need a circuit diagram which I am trying to get from them.  I really don't want to do this because it means a bunch of soldering and if I do it I void the warrantee and I will get no help from support.  However, so far their help hasn't helped and it is still just a big useless paperweight the way it is.

I may yet get it to work the way they want it to work with their software connected to their server so I'm not trying a ground up rebuild yet.  That kind of shit is a little above my pay grade as an electronics and computer tinkerer, so I'd rather not do that.  The only other choice though would be to box it up and return it to Amazon, but I don't have the original packing material, I had to dispose of it as I do not have room to keep big boxes around for returns.  Returning it would be its own pain in the ass.  The last unfortunate possibility is I may end up eating a $300 loss on it.  However, the hardware is really good and I know it can work with thee right controller.

My timeline for PolyPandora now is in major jeopardy.  If I can't get it running soon, I will probably have to set everything back several months at least if not a whole year.  >:(

RE

Seems all you have to do now is get it registered.  All the board does is receive a file over the USB cable.  It loads the file onto a memory card you should plug into the top right connector.  Then the board will run the file loaded on the memory card causing the printer to do it's thing.

Well, after 2 weeks of striking out, I finally got a hit tonight and got the printer communicating and trying to print.


Sadly however, even though it did all the appropriate dancing, nothing came out.

I do think though now I will eventually conquer this problem.  Persistence pays off.

RE

OK, the extruder nozzle was clogged.  Got that cleared, tried again.  This time it squirted out the plastic, but it just made a pile of squiggles not resembling the .stl file at all.  This is progress tho.


RE

Well, I got a partial print of a tetrahedron, which is the closest thing to success yet.


However, besides not completing the entire object, on my next print job it clogged again, this time right in the middle of printing.  I can understand it clogging if the print head cools between print jobs, but not clogging right in the middle of one.  This happened yet again on the next try after clearing it.

Sent of another missive to support noting my displeasure with this piece of equipment.  This part is not because my networking skills are substandard.  The hardware is not operating properly.  Maybe it's the temperature, but according to the screen it's right.

This is a fucking pain in the ass.

RE

A live demonstration on why 3D printing never took off. I did hear the technology is very finicky and even hardcore geeks who are inclined to tinkering and having more patience than most have trouble with these contraceptions. Let us hope you get it to work before the collapse of civilization. By the sound of things it could be a close call...

Quote from: monsta666 on Dec 13, 2024, 11:43 AMA live demonstration on why 3D printing never took off. I did hear the technology is very finicky and even hardcore geeks who are inclined to tinkering and having more patience than most have trouble with these contraceptions. Let us hope you get it to work before the collapse of civilization. By the sound of things it could be a close call...

Yea, Kdog warned me in advance that it was not a turn-key user-friendly technology.  He worked with it some at his old job and was one of the few geeks there who could get it to work at all.  However, to make prototypes of my designs that are good enough for demonstrations, it was either this or a laser cutter to get accurate enough cuts, angles and tolerances.  Here in the Gulag they won't let me have a laser cutter because of the fumes they give off when cutting thru stuff, so I had to risk it.  I got a good deal at $300 for it so it's not a major financial loss if I can't get it to work, but I'm not sure how I'm going to move forward with my bizness if I can't overcome the problems.  I haven't given up yet, but I sure am frustrated.

RE

It took a while to develop the skill to use a piece of paper as a feeler gauge to space the print head above the print table correctly.  I had to feel all four corners and adjust a couple of Allen screws to get the table leveled and the print head spacing right.  Post-it-note paper worked well.  Not the sticky part.  Your machine should have a similar procedure.  There was a menu setting that moved the print head to the corners.

Well, I tried a few more times to print, and each time some problem occurred before the print was complete.  Here's a pic of 3 partially completed parts.

(https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render/00-kUGUui0wm35w8JUYNEI623XCkIQaPShMx1uZvtxdUpx42DvPzLJD7KCIM2HzobEXaAUrgnwgvQnZ_1RWb7NZPA?cn=THISLIFE&res=medium&ts=1734161406)

They offered to replace the print head, but I told them this printer blows chunks and I want it replaced with a different model, the Adventurer 4 Pro.

There are problems besides the print head getting clogged so I don't think replacing it will be sufficient.

I have made 3 more attempts to print objects, and not once has the printer completed an object before it detaches itself from the plate after about 20 minutes of printing.  Attached is a pic of 3 partially completed print jobs.  This printer is a piece of junk.

I would like to replace this printer with a different model, the Adventurer 4 Pro.  I will return the A5M in the packaging the A4P comes in.  If the A4P actually works, I will pay the difference in price, which is about $150 I have seen advertized.

I am attaching also the invoice from Amazon.

The A4P has been around longer so hopefully is better tested.  It also has a glass enclosed print bed, and my CAD program works with it directly so I shouldn't have to shuttle between programs importing and exporting .stl files..

We'll see if they go for the exchange.

RE

You should wait until we know what printer made Luigi's gun.  That one worked pretty good.




    Last Updated: 10/20/2024

Glock 19 Frame dd19.2 STL Files
The FMDA dd19.2 3D Printed Glock Pistol Frame


Download (https://3dgunbuilder.com/pistols/glock-19-frame-dd19-2/)

3D Printed Glock 19 Build Kit


Husky Armory's 3D Printed Glock 19 (FMDA DD19.2) kit includes everything you need to complete your 3D printed Glock frame.

Includes:

- Glock 19 'Iditarod' Slide Kit

- Lower Parts Kit

- Standard Glock 19 Sights

- Aves DD19.2 Rail Kit

- Aves Glock 19 Locking Block







By next Christmas the orange man will have so thoroughly boned America that the right kit will sell faster than a Chinese factory can make them.  There is your 'capitalist' adventure.

Then you can be like this guy.  (https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimages6.fanpop.com%2Fimage%2Fphotos%2F43000000%2F1226-jabba-the-hutt-43028394-1600-1200.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=7360e3275f5816de85ab201c962c4268c886ef57bacc131ad0a4580cf55a6643&ipo=images)  Once you be rich.

What, no silencer?

RE

A carbon fiber cylinder filled with thick printed washers.  Twenty of them with holes larger than the projectile. Between the printed washers rubber washers made from a bicycle inner tube have an outside diameter that matches the tube.  The inner diameter matches the projectile diameter.  The printed washers have randomly oriented gas channels to absorb the back pressure and sound radiating from the hole the projectile passes through.  Two regular washers seal the ends with holes that match the plastic washer holes diameter.

Roll your own.

Sounds like a good muffler design.  You also need an attachment system to the gun.  I prefer the Bayonet style mounts to the screw mounts.  They're quicker to get on.

RE

We have liftoff!

My first 100% successful 3D print!

(https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render/00-kUGUui0wm35w8JUYNEI623XCkIQaPShMx1uZvtxdUpyLoflx7MSt0EFKgb4mbPiKKwg5ydwHipy3aIZBf9dNYQ?cn=THISLIFE&res=medium&ts=1734234184)

The above is a hex connector for my PolyPandora Geodesic Domes.  Mini-domees are one of the things you can build with PolyPandora building sets you cannot do with LEGO or any other building toy on the market.  One of the nuumerous novel aspects of the system that allows the budding architects and engineers to build quality models at home of pretty much any real world structures.  Well, not everything, I haven't figured out everything I need for Suspension Bridges yet.  Those were a favorite of mine when I was teaching. having kids design and build model bridges.

Now the negatives, which are minor.  The thing takes forever just to print one tiny part.  The connector you see in the pic is about 2" in diameter at the very end of the spokes.  It took almost 1.5 hours to print.  A dome takes about 60 of these connectors, so just one demo model would take close to a week if I could keep the machine running 24/7. lol.  These connectors though are just one of numerous parts and pieces.  So you can pretty much forget about doing much bizness with a 3D printer.  Looking at all the parts for the Ghost Glock, one of those has to take a few days to print up for sure.   At least with guns though you have a big profit margin, you can sell it for say $500.
  Most things though you won't be able to sell for nearly that much.

However, while not good for any type of retail biz, it can be used to make custom parts for old stuff that would work if you just had this or that part that is no longer available.  Also good for making the molds to use with a roto or injection molding apparatus.

Best use I think is if you have kids, you can make just about any kind of toy, and they can make stuff for themselves  too, if they are say 10 or so and like to tinker.  I would have been in heaven if I had one as a kid.  Not too bad now either, now that I got it working.

RE

Quote from: RE on Dec 14, 2024, 09:05 PMMy first 100% successful 3D print!

Good deal.

Quote from: RENow the negatives, which are minor.  The thing takes forever just to print one tiny part.

You have big social functions, dance parties and meetings with national political figures it will interfer with? Seems like what you've got is time.

Quote from: REBest use I think is if you have kids, you can make just about any kind of toy, and they can make stuff for themselves  too, if they are say 10 or so and like to tinker.  I would have been in heaven if I had one as a kid.  Not too bad now either, now that I got it working.
RE

How much basic market research have you done to see if these toys bump into some concept already out there that might cause a patent problem? Not the legal patent angle, just similarities. Just for the hell of it I did some googling for like building shapes with toys for kids, and while nothing looked exactly like yours, there are quite a few snap together parts/patterns/objects type things out there that appear similar, although none I could find that were exactly the same.

Quote from: TDoS on Dec 15, 2024, 06:38 AMHow much basic market research have you done to see if these toys bump into some concept already out there that might cause a patent problem? Not the legal patent angle, just similarities. Just for the hell of it I did some googling for like building shapes with toys for kids, and while nothing looked exactly like yours, there are quite a few snap together parts/patterns/objects type things out there that appear similar, although none I could find that were exactly the same.

I used quite a few different building sets while teaching.  The Robotics classes which have developed over the last 20 years or so use them.  Every company that makes parts for Robot toys has some patented parts, as will I.  What is different with PolyPandora is that I am making it developmentally integrated.  It starts with basic shapes and sets that are geared for 3-5 year olds to play with experimenting, then moves up to more complex shapes and connections for 6-9 year olds and completes the developmental process with the age 10+ sets.  The beauty of this system is that the kits you buy for the kid to play with at age 3 still have useful parts you can put into models ypu build for a university level architecture course.  If A parent buys a kid a different kit each year growing up, by the time they get to college they'll have a full array of parts to build almost anything you can imagine.

Nobody else does anything like this.  Companies either make the Preschool level building blocks or the complex Robotics stuff.  Nothing is compatible with anything else, in general.  PolyPandora solves this problem and creates a whole new world for a child to grow in and with.  You can think of the PolyPandora world a little like the wotld of the Transformers films, which are based on the Hasbro Transformer toys.  You could make movies based on PolyPandora World also, if it ever got that popular.

Of course, it takes selling and marketing to get to a point like that, and the toy industry is very nasty for idea theft and big companies squashing small ones.  So there's a huge gulf between what I am currently doing and seeing any financial gain from it.  I'll do what I can to protect it as I go, but my funds are limited and Patents are expensive.  Just have to see how it goes, one step at a timer.

RE

I spoke too soon.    More failures.

After finishing the starter roll of filament with a couple of successful prints, I put in a new roll of PLA filament, and so far after half a dozen attempts have yet to get it to adhere to the build plate at all.  Not even getting a partial print.

Flashforge refused to exchange the printer for the A4P model, so I accepted their offer to send me a new nozzle with a .4mm stream, up from the current .25mm.  It will take a while to get here.  Meanwhile I will experiment with making some manual adjustments and see if there is another stickier adhesive available to try.

Collapse will probably arrive here on the Last Great Frontier before I have my prototypes done.

RE

Quote from: RE on Dec 15, 2024, 07:07 PMCollapse will probably arrive here on the Last Great Frontier before I have my prototypes done.
RE

Said it before, say it again, and it'll be more right than all the claims of doom cycled though the collapse-o-sphere since peak oils and doom were being called in the last century.

Personal doom will happen for all us geriatrics here before it ever shows up to the point where amy of us can finally say "SEE!!!!! TOLD YOU SO!!!!!" as the hoardes of MZBs overrun the locks on doors and ransack the place.

We are now back to Square 1 as the printer has decided to stop communicating with the computer again, so at the moment I can't even run any more tests to get the objects to adhere better to the print plate.  ::)   The video is self-explanatory.


It's once again looking like this printer may be a complete write down as a loss.  Very depressing.

RE

Congrats on the new venture. I hope you figure out your printer issues. We purchased a printed part for a set of headphones last year that put it back in service and was unavailable through regular retail markets. A greenhouse owner has a special clip printed by the same person to hold her irrigation hose without screwing into the aluminum arches. I see a great future for this kind of service. Aging semi retired tech gods doing some at home puttering to keep things working. It would be a good energy dump load for extra summer solar production as well. It's downright uplifting. As usual I'm sure the negatives get the press such as ghost guns and sextoys. I don't post much these days; nothing personal I just am busy being out there building stuff.

Quote from: Nearings Fault on Dec 18, 2024, 07:02 AMCongrats on the new venture. I hope you figure out your printer issues. We purchased a printed part for a set of headphones last year that put it back in service and was unavailable through regular retail markets. A greenhouse owner has a special clip printed by the same person to hold her irrigation hose without screwing into the aluminum arches. I see a great future for this kind of service. Aging semi retired tech gods doing some at home puttering to keep things working. It would be a good energy dump load for extra summer solar production as well. It's downright uplifting. As usual I'm sure the negatives get the press such as ghost guns and sextoys. I don't post much these days; nothing personal I just am busy being out there building stuff.

Gr8 2 hear from U NF!  :)

I will eventually work this out I think.  I ordered a memory stick and I will manually save the .stl file onto the stick, then move it over to the printer to load and print it.  A little cumbersome and a major kludge, but until the networking problems are solved it should keep me printing.

The positive side to this is that since there is more to it than just pushing a Print button, working with it you develop a skill set and knowledge which makes you valuable.  Particularly when you star messing with other materials besides just the PLA plastic, which is finnicky emough by itself.  For any given project or part somebody wants, you need to decide what material would work best for it, then you have to know your machine and its idiosycracies to get the right temperature settings, distnce from the build plate, in-fill amount etc to end up with a good print and functional part.  Plus of course on the design end you have to know how to use a 3D CAD program to create the.stl files the printer uses to guide the machine.

So yea, it's definitely a good hobby/bizness for the old retired tinkering type of guy.  I think anyone who enjoys doing carpentry type projects would enjoy it.  It gives you additional range to be able to make stuff you either can't make or are impractical to do with wood.  Finally, it's small enough and cheap enough that you don't have to be rich with a big shop space to have one.  I'm actually a little surprised you haven't got one for yourself.  Right up your alley, and would make your DIY projects easier to accomplish.

RE

Quote from: RE on Dec 18, 2024, 08:15 AM

Quote from: Nearings Fault on Dec 18, 2024, 07:02 AMCongrats on the new venture. I hope you figure out your printer issues. We purchased a printed part for a set of headphones last year that put it back in service and was unavailable through regular retail markets. A greenhouse owner has a special clip printed by the same person to hold her irrigation hose without screwing into the aluminum arches. I see a great future for this kind of service. Aging semi retired tech gods doing some at home puttering to keep things working. It would be a good energy dump load for extra summer solar production as well. It's downright uplifting. As usual I'm sure the negatives get the press such as ghost guns and sextoys. I don't post much these days; nothing personal I just am busy being out there building stuff.

Gr8 2 hear from U NF!  :)

I will eventually work this out I think.  I ordered a memory stick and I will manually save the .stl file onto the stick, then move it over to the printer to load and print it.  A little cumbersome and a major kludge, but until the networking problems are solved it should keep me printing.

The positive side to this is that since there is more to it than just pushing a Print button, working with it you develop a skill set and knowledge which makes you valuable.  Particularly when you star messing with other materials besides just the PLA plastic, which is finnicky emough by itself.  For any given project or part somebody wants, you need to decide what material would work best for it, then you have to know your machine and its idiosycracies to get the right temperature settings, distnce from the build plate, in-fill amount etc to end up with a good print and functional part.  Plus of course on the design end you have to know how to use a 3D CAD program to create the.stl files the printer uses to guide the machine.

So yea, it's definitely a good hobby/bizness for the old retired tinkering type of guy.  I think anyone who enjoys doing carpentry type projects would enjoy it.  It gives you additional range to be able to make stuff you either can't make or are impractical to do with wood.  Finally, it's small enough and cheap enough that you don't have to be rich with a big shop space to have one.  I'm actually a little surprised you haven't got one for yourself.  Right up your alley, and would make your DIY projects easier to accomplish.

RE

I'll admit I've thought of it. It's one of those problems: yes I COULD do anything I set my mind to... BUT I cannot do everything. construction biz, solar biz, kids, relationship, energy consulting, some downtime... It's a lot. There is room for others to expand into their niches. The little I know of you it sounds like a good fit. Can you scan and duplicate a part? I could see that as a fun side hustle. Post an add offering a service see where it goes. You are in the money would be nice phase of life not the I make money or I'm on the street phase so you can let it grow.
Cheers,  NF

Quote from: Nearings Fault on Dec 18, 2024, 10:52 AMCan you scan and duplicate a part? I could see that as a fun side hustle. \

Sure.  There's a very good free app for your phone or tablet called KIRI Engine that does 3D scans.

https://www.kiriengine.app/

After scanning you usually need to clean it up a little before printing, but you can do it right in the app.

Once I get the thing working consistently and get the bugs ironed out, I'll probably put up an ad on Craig's list.  Also I want to get more experience with other materials.

RE

Well,the networking problems are still with us, but I have overcome the problem with using the USB port to load Gcode files from a USB stick.

When I first tried it, after saving a gcode file onto the stick and plugging it into the printer, nothing appeared on the printer screen when I hit the USB icon.  Back to support.  ::)

Support tells me I need to use a USB stick <16GB that is FAT32 formatted.  You can hardly buy sticks with so little memory anymore, and most of them come exFAT formatted.  Win10 doesn't even format FAT32 built in.  However, I downloaded a utility that does and partitioned and reformatted a 64GB stick, and when I saved to that, POOF the file appeared on the printer screen and I was able to print from it.  8)

My product you see is at right is another design for a hex connector for model geodesic domes.  This ome allows you to use tubing for your struts and the channels run through the conneector so you can use it to run wiring or as plumbing.  What am I using for tubing here? Cocktail Straws!  lol.  I could actually make a 10' diameter geodesic dome out of the straws, and even though they are not very strong, as long as your joinery work is good with your cardboard or plywood triangles, the dome will self support.  In reality of course I'd never use such weak support struts for such a large dome, I'd use carbon fiber or aluminum tubing.

I should be able now to make steady progress with my other stuff also, and possibly be ready to start hunting down some SUITS to get some protection by early spring.  Then we move on from there to see about finding some Venture Capital.

Everybody here in the Gulag is gaga over how cool the printer is and loves watching it do its stuff.  My first contract, one of the nurses wants me to make the LOGO symbol for her band to put on her Drum Set.  Not sure what it looks like or how complicated it is yet.

It's a bit of a pain having to use the USB stick, but I'm OK with it even if I can't get the neyworking running.  As long as it runs.  Like the carz I owned over the years, I never cared what it looked like, long as it got me from point A to point B.

RE

Well, after close to a week of the printer doing its job making parts for me to test out my concepts, I can report both successes and failures.

The Geodesic Domes have seen several different versions of connectors while I worked out the best way to get them to securely snap together.  This won't be an issue for larger size domes bigger than around 4 feet, which will be joined with nuts and bolts at the node points.  However, for small toy domes to use either for doll houses, bird cages or mini-hydroponics kits, I want them to just snap together without hardware.  If I were to do it with nuts and bolts they would be tiny size ones which are a pain in the ass to work with.  I finally have a system which works pretty well I think though I have yet to print up a full dome's worth of parts.

My Developmental system has gone through a complete overhaul, and the cubes and tetrahedrons with the edge insets and holes are out, they just didn't work with the architectural models for the older kids.  However, I came up with a new, better concept for that which I have just begun designing the parts for.  There are a lot of different parts involved in the architecturla models, and making all the preschool shapes compatible and useful means they all have to be carefully dimensioned.  So this is going to take quite a bit of time.

As a result, I won't be looking for SUITS for a while, and my timeline of having products  ready for Xmas 2025 is out.  Everything is being pushed back a year.

The other reason I am delaying is the 3D Printer issues.  After about a week's worth of successful printing using the USB stick method a new problem has now cropped up, it's not loading the filament properly.  So it's once again offline and just a big paperweight cluttering my room.  I have about had it with this printer and am ready to write it off as a learning experience and buy a new one from another manufacturer.  I'm getting recommendations from one of the tech support guys for the CAD progtam I use to find one that they support.  If I can find one under $500, I'll buy it.  I'm offering the one I have for sale for $150, if any of you are interested.  There's a CNA here who's interested, so it may go soon.  I've been up front with him about the issues but he likes to tinker and the challenge.

Anyhow, it's still keeping me busy and occupied, but it's gonna be a while before I get rich. lol.

RE

Quote from: RE on Dec 24, 2024, 12:20 PMAnyhow, it's still keeping me busy and occupied, but it's gonna be a while before I get rich. lol.
RE

"Busy and occupied" makes perfect sense, considering the limitations of your circumstances.

But you've had an entire lifetime to get rich, and even after getting helped out by the Illuminati at a young age you couldn't get that one done. Why the interest now? You've got everything you need, living at the largesse of the taxpayers. You've got EV wheels, computer gear, 3 hots and a cot. It is a good thing you can't get out and roam around, you barely made it over one of those cable bumps at the fairgrounds without being thrown of your EV. At least if it had happened there after you called out the old fart slogan of "help me! I've fallen and I can't get up!", after that first giggle at the sight, one of bystanders being fine Christian folk, would have helped you out.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

QuoteBut you've had an entire lifetime to get rich, and even after getting helped out by the Illuminati at a young age you couldn't get that one done.

Meritocracy is a lie.


If you think inequality is the result of a disparity in individual effort you are full of shit.

Quote from: K-Dog on Dec 25, 2024, 03:57 PM

QuoteBut you've had an entire lifetime to get rich, and even after getting helped out by the Illuminati at a young age you couldn't get that one done.

Meritocracy is a lie.

If you think inequality is the result of a disparity in individual effort you are full of shit.

Good thing I don't think what you think I think! After all, I am not you. In my experience, in success there is luck, personality, persistance, smarts (of differing kinds...irritating kinds...good kinds...and the kind that deliver results), who you know, timing, the economy at the time, and so on and so forth.

The quote you pulled is EXACTLY NOT ABOUT MERITOCRACY. It is about the Illuminati....roaming the world, hiding in the darkness and collecting those who, as RE says, have fathers who are mysterious Illuminati like figures themselves...and helping their children (regardless of the size of their children's brain pan) succeed regardless of merit.

I was just figuring that between RE having gone to the cool kids school in NYC AND unfair help from the Illuminati he should have been GOLDEN! Never said anything about him deserving to be rich. Hell, he should have had that just with an inheritance! Completely supports your idea that not everyone gets what they deserve through merit, and some who might APPEAR to deserve can still screw it up for themselves.

What a lovely Xmas gift.  An insulting post.  Now I get to drop you in the cooler. :)

Getting rich has always taken a back seat to my other priorities, namely doing what I like to do without working too hard. lol.  Generally speaking, as long as I have enough to eat and a roof over my head that's enough for me.  The only reason to get rich now is to have seed money to found a SUN Community.

See you in 2025.

RE