Shawn Hymel in collab with Digikey has started a “Introduction to FreeCAD” video series. I found the first video focused on background info informative. I liked the comparison to other CAD packages, the FreeCAD basics and now I know what the topological naming problem is 😄

youtu.be/8VPYTTnqmfs?si=-pW0hT

Interesting filament experience.

Nothing groundbreaking but two days ago I printed hundreds of grams of yellow Prusament and it went great. Put it in one of my vacuum bags. Today I took it out to use up the last ~50g and got this.

Popped it in my dryer for 6 hours, tried again, and it printed perfectly again. I was surprised by the how quickly it went from “just fine” to “horror show”.

My day of printing dangerously: I have an 8 hour print to do but by my measurement I lacked about 40g of filament for it to complete. Played with several slicer settings to no avail. Then I resorted to lightning infill which saved enough filament for it to work, in theory.

I’m skeptical lightning infill will provide enough support but desperate times… At least I’ll learning something.

This is my chosen VPN provider FWIW mastodon.online/@mullvadnet/11

Just a reminder of what a 💩pile Adobe is. mastodon.social/@BasicAppleGuy

It’s the small things. Like that satisfying “pop” a model printed with PETG makes as it releases from the Prusa textured sheet even when the temp is still over 40C. Like magic.

Also, why have I never found a white filament I like. I think I've had 5 different brands and they're all 'meh'.

Filaments you ask? I notice that for some reason I have 7 different black filaments: 1 Flex, 2 PETG and 4 PLA. Eight if I count the spare Prusa Galaxy Black spool. I may have a problem. No other color comes close.

I went all in on Jessie filament and received 6 colors of PLA the past few days. The samples all look great. I like that unlike other companies if you buy more than 1 at a time they come in 1 box. Prusa, Hatchbox etc always do the box-in-a-box thing.

TIL and this is great! mastodon.social/@rosenz/113603

I currently use Fusion as my modeling tool for 3D printing (free version). I looked at FreeCAD a couple years ago and it seemed lacking in features. But I’d like to take a look at 1.0. Do any of you have an intro blog post or video for moving from Fusion? I’ve done some searching but not found anything good.

I can already tell the FreeCAD UI is going to give me a serious headache so anything to ease the pain of trying it out will help.😉

A triangle in the sky

Model is on Thangs: thangs.com/designer/The%20Kit%

This is one of the best 3rd party models I've every printed. Everyone is in love with this guy.

The most productive thing I did today was spend several hours binge watching chill NHK Japan documentaries. Love NHK’s low key style. 🇯🇵

✅ First fireplace s’mores of the season

In the “It could be worse…” category

Our dishwasher died today. Kind of it to do so after Thanksgiving. 👏🏻

Based on the Black Friday pre-announcement emails I’ve received, the only thing I’ll likely order is PLA filament. I intentionally used up the ends of 6 different spools on my latest prototype so I plan to backfill with 2-3 new rolls. I may try Jessie filament for the first time. Maybe a spare CHT nozzle as well.

BTW I found using random bits of filament to finish prototyping was aesthetically triggering. Lots of clashing odds and ends.

While waiting to put our turkey in the oven I’m organizing photos from the past year to use in our annual family calendar. Also picking the photo to use on this year’s Christmas card. It usually pays to do this ahead because there is typically a worthwhile Black Friday sale on these items.

Also charging my Nikon DSLR’s battery for our annual pre-dinner Thanksgiving photo (which will be in the calendar).
🎄🍗

Please give Kagi a hand if you can. Costs you nothing. mastodon.social/@kagihq/113556

I had to design and print shelves to hold my expanding pen collection. 😬

High capacity Pen/Pencil/Stationery Holder or Stand printables.com/model/1088833-h

I rarely check video events from the camera over our driveway but randomly did so today. Was greeted by one of the rare local wildlife species (coyote). Cool.

The bad news: Working on a new design and I’m fighting with Autodesk Fusion requiring multiple prototype 3D prints. 👎🏻

The good news: It is a good chance to use up the small amounts of filament remaining on several spools. Also giving my MK4S’s runout sensor a solid workout. 👍🏼

It is officially fall holiday season. We set up our puzzle table and started on a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle.🧩

Current challenge: Trying to create a 3D model in F360 for a “bookcase” but with shelves that angle slightly from front to back. The only method I currently know would be brute force and fragile. I want one that can adapt to parameter changes. 🤔

Note the shelves would be fixed, not the removable kind.

Today was a bit of a meta day: spent some time planning how I will use my 2025 Hobonichi Cousin. It was pleasant. 👍🏼