It didn’t actually look burned. Is “burned PLA” the amber stuff I found dripping from my extruder barrel after I left plastic sitting warm too long?
Is this a symptom of sitting warm too long or too much heat, both, neither, something else?
Author: Maker Block
Funny AND sad!
We’ll call it a traumedy! (Or comma?)
I have several websites, but only blog on two. This one, of course, which is really only about two and a half months old. And the other which is a little over two and a half years old. 1 75 days versus 900 days.
After 75 days, this site has significantly more actual followers.
Oh jeez – was this another post about posting?
- It has nothing whatsoever to do with MakerBot, RepRap, or anything interesting. [↩]
New thing idea
I want to design a printable plastic wall anchor. I’m posting the thought here in case I get hit by a bus and don’t get around to modeling one of these.
Like my zip tie (seriously, it was totally worthless – don’t bother to print it), I like the idea of having a library of every day stuff I could print if I suddenly have the need. For instance, remember that day last week when you were wandering around your place wishing you had an extra SD chip blank?
Anyhow, it reminds me of the matter compilers from Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age.
Here’s my resume
So, you can see why I was turned down for a job selling MakerBots. Sorry guys.
Actually, the good news is they’ve got a product that really speaks for itself. Thank god I’m not the poster child for MakerBot, otherwise those poor bastards would still be eating Ramen noodles today…
I failed in convincing someone to buy a MakerBot
It was going pretty well, actually.
- MakerBlock: “Yeah, listen, I’ve got no technical skills – it was basically a bolt together system.”
- Dude: “Seriously?! So, what, when you’re ready to print you just send it an STL file?”
- MB: “Um, well, not quite. I have to take the STL, make sure it’s printable, convert it to GCode, and then convert it into an S3G file, and for maximum resolution/quality save it to an SD chip which I then put in the ‘bot and then… Hey, where’d you go?”
The fact that it’s not yet a USB plug-n-play system kinda scared him off. 1 I’m confident we’ll get there some day. And, even if we don’t, I’m still having a hell of a time.
- Well, that and I heavily suggested my ‘bot could violate any of the three laws at any moment… [↩]
I almost went a whole day without a post!
Can you believe it?! Yeah, I was starting to get withdrawals too.
Hmm. I think a post about posting doesn’t really count.
Well, then again, my last post was about Spacexula’s post wherein he referenced my post.
Help! I’m stuck in a for loop!
It’s not just me!
See! Spacexula has discovered the hard way she’s a wicked temperamental woman!
Shattered acrylic plastruder… Yikes! I printed up one of Zaggo’s Prinstruders – but it appears to be optimized for an early MakerBot Batch 5 with large/small dinos. If I wanted to use my printstruder I would need to pick up some of the extra parts required and essentially print up a small dino.1 However, I think I’d like to start replacing parts out of my MakerBot with printed parts so that I can keep the originals as backups. However, I have a feeling a prinstruder out of ABS is going to be much more robust/resilient than the layered acrylic plastruder. What do I need?
- 2x 626 ball bearings.
- 4x M4 bolts, 60mm long
- 4x M4 nuts (optionally two of them as wingnuts)
- 1x M6 bolt (30mm long)
- 1x M6 nut
- 3x M3 bolts (30mm long)
- 3x+ M6 washers
- 3x+M3 washers
- 4x M4 washers
In addition to these parts, I’ll also need to measure my ‘bot for a small dino equivalent. Since my extruder barrel is out of commission and the plastruder is just lying on the platform, this is as good a time as any to measure it up.
- Shopping list below [↩]
One more good thing about having my extruder clogged…
Is that I tend to think up better ideas about what I want to build with my ‘bot. Seriously, the downtime is quite useful that way.
Am I taking this too far?
You guys are going to have to let me know if this whole “Polly/PLA” and “Abby/ABS” thing starts to get creepy. Ferris Bueller famously once said… “You can never go too far.” As far as I know, anyone who’s ever taken Ferris’s advice ended up just fine.
I’m tempted to explain the references, but I don’t want to kill the joke…
Dear Polly – I can’t believe I’m writing to you again…
My friends are telling me to give you another chance. They say you’re not so bad, that if I just put in the time things will work out. They say you’re capable of being faithful too…
Maybe there was just too much pressure on our relationship. Heaven knows we let things get too heated sometimes.
Was I expecting too much from you? I thought everything would be magic and come out smelling like roses. Things seemed to work fine at first, but they quickly turned into a big gooey mess.
Polly, I’m so confused. After all we’ve been through, I get all choked up… I just don’t know how I can take you back so soon. And, well, Abby has always been there for me… 1
Truly,
MakerBlock
- Well, for the month and half I’ve had my MakerBot… [↩]