What have you been doing today?

[Bentwings]

I’ve been complaining about cold weather but it looks like a break for a week working on mounting turbines and generators on aluminum plate . I did something wrong and oversized two mount hole threads . I’ve got some small metric heli coils so I guess I can fix them . Should have one set running by end of day today I’ve been dealing with password issue again. Some how one got changed or attempted too many times so account is locked up fortunately it’s not the bank account LOL KITTY is having a good time she tipped her toy box over and has scattered toys all over. Just like my hobby room LOL. We have some de matting to do. It’s a little early for spring shedding but the short inner fur mats easily I have an electric rotary cutter . The idea is good but product is junk . I wrote the company and they just sent a new one identical to the original . THANKS now I have two worthless cat devices .

 

[awake]

Over the weekend I finally got around to taking care of a very small but annoying problem. My family likes to use bottles of lotion that have a "pump" at the top, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Lubriderm-Moisture-Lotion-Fragrance-Free-Normal/dp/B005IHSUIE/

The pump is convenient, until the lotion gets down to the last 1/4 - 1/2" ... at which time the pump doesn't pull up the lotion very well. After that, we have to shake the bottle ever more vigorously to get the last bits out. For years I've been thinking, "If only I had a cap for the lotion that would let me put it upside down on the counter, so that the remaining lotion would all be at the opening - no more shaking!"

So I fired up OpenSCAD and designed a lid that I could 3d print. It took a couple of iterations to get the threads just right, but here it is. It screws onto the bottle nicely and the wide flange lets it stand upside down without difficulty. Voila!

 

[awake]

Accidental duplicate post - apologies!

 

[Bentwings]

That’s pretty innovative . Age old problem I save a couple squeeze bottles like dish soap rinse them out and pour what ever was left in the pump bottle in. Save the pump bottle for something else like elmers wood glue Or even epoxy resin have to let bottle dry out but even if doesn’t last long it’s no lose

 

[vk7krj]

Awake, any chance of getting the .scad file for the bottle cap?
I have a couple of ideas I would like to try with it, it would save me reinventing the wheel.

 

[awake]

Sure! I've attached a couple of versions. Both make use of a THREADS library that I downloaded some years ago; I've included that. The THREADS library will need to go either in the same directory as the lotion_cap.scad file or in the OpenSCAD library folder. The first (simpler) version uses only the THREADS library and standard OpenSCAD.

The second version uses not only the THREADS library but also an eased_shapes library that I have been developing for many years. This library is arranged such that the main eased_shapes.scad file goes either in the same directory as the lotion_cap.scad file or in the OpenSCAD library folder ... but there is also a subfolder that should be included with the eased_shapes.scad file. Hopefully that is not too confusing.

The difference is that the version using the eased_shapes library has beveled edges rather than just square edges.

 

[vk7krj]

Thanks Andy, all loaded & working ok. Now to have a play- once I have repaired the heatbed cable yet AGAIN!! 3hrs into a 2 day print- the single core wire they use for the heater cable just doesn't stand up to the continual flexing.

 

[awake]

vk7krj, what type of printer? On my home-built 3d printer, I used stranded wire for the heater bed, but wound up using solid core on the X and Y axes. I thought it would break long before now, but it hasn't; I guess the path it takes is unconstrained enough that the bending occurs over a wide area rather than concentrating in a single spot.

Of course, now that I've said that, it will break tomorrow ... !

 

[vk7krj]

vk7krj, what type of printer?

It's a Prusa I3Mk3s+, and the heater wire is single strand wire. I've repaired it twice now, and re-routed it to spread the bending load but this time I will replace all of it with multi-strand wire. I would like to get hold of some of the super-flexible test probe wire that we could get years ago, but it seems to have joined hen's teeth on the availability list...
Ken.

 

[vk7krj]

Time to eat (some of) my words- another search on-line found some super-flex on amazon, so it's now winging it's way from ?????? to Tassie.

You gotta love the internet- when asked "where did you get that"- answer- dunno, somewhere on the other end of my keyboard cable......
Ken.

 

[awake]

Hmm, that really surprises me. I always think of the Prusas as the gold standard, ultra-reliable workhorses ... not that I've ever actually used one, just the impression I've had from the YouTube folks.

Silicone covered wire is probably what you have in mind as the super-flexible stuff. It seems to be widely available via Amazon here in the US, but that may not be very helpful to you.

On edit - I see that you found it on Amazon while I was typing!

 

[mfrick]

Well today I spent time building a lazy susan to hold all my model fasteners 0-80 to 8-32 it will be nice to have them sorted and stored by size and length makes life eazer.

M

 

[ajoeiam]

vk7krj, what type of printer? On my home-built 3d printer, I used stranded wire for the heater bed, but wound up using solid core on the X and Y axes. I thought it would break long before now, but it hasn't; I guess the path it takes is unconstrained enough that the bending occurs over a wide area rather than concentrating in a single spot.

Of course, now that I've said that, it will break tomorrow ... !

Hmmmmmm - - - - are you the person that was working through a 70+ page document building a diy printer?

 

[lee webster]

Last night I had a thought. If I want more room in my garage/workshop, then I would have to reinstall a steel shelf unit I removed a few months ago to give me more room, it didn't. So, have a big move around of tool boxes to clear the wooden shelf unit. Take all the Austin Seven gubbins out of the A7 and put on the wooden shelf unit, where it has lived for 4 years up till the last sort out. Reinstall the steel shelf unit and restock it with all the tool boxes mentioned earlier. Build a temporary area for storing my off cuts of timber/melamine/ply etc. In other words, put the garage/workshop back the way it was before the last tidy up!
I did all this so I would have better access to my A7 special, because I realised that I would probably never get round to finishing the fibreglass body I started to build 25 years ago. It would be quicker and easier to put the wooden body back on and get it roadworthy again. So after the big tidy up/sort out, I started to cut up the fibreglass body which is fixed to the chassis. Then the wooden body can go back on to give me a bit more room. Phew!

 

[awake]

Hmmmmmm - - - - are you the person that was working through a 70+ page document building a diy printer?

Me? No - I have a few pictures of my printer, and for that matter I have a set of plans that I developed so that I could build it, but I never actually documented the build.

 

[ajoeiam]

Me? No - I have a few pictures of my printer, and for that matter I have a set of plans that I developed so that I could build it, but I never actually documented the build.

Sorry for the noise!

Was remembering someone mentioning that they were x pages into the manual for building a DIY 3D printer . . . can't find the email . . .

 

[lee webster]

Today I removed the fibreglass body from my A7. I started to build the body nearly 25 years ago. I had to struggle to undo some of the nuts and bolts, some I couldn't undo and had to chisel into the bodywork to release them. Most of the body parts are now sitting on my patio waiting for a one-way trip to the dump. I will cut off as much of the metal bracketry as I can, what's left will turn to rust eventually. I am now trrying to figure out if I am able enough to refit the original body I built for the car in the 70s, or if I will have to ask friends/family for help.

 

[Bentwings]

Me? No - I have a few pictures of my printer, and for that matter I have a set of plans that I developed so that I could build it, but I never actually documented the build.

sorry it’s not me

 

[SteamChEng]

Sure! I've attached a couple of versions. Both make use of a THREADS library that I downloaded some years ago; I've included that. The THREADS library will need to go either in the same directory as the lotion_cap.scad file or in the OpenSCAD library folder. The first (simpler) version uses only the THREADS library and standard OpenSCAD.

The second version uses not only the THREADS library but also an eased_shapes library that I have been developing for many years. This library is arranged such that the main eased_shapes.scad file goes either in the same directory as the lotion_cap.scad file or in the OpenSCAD library folder ... but there is also a subfolder that should be included with the eased_shapes.scad file. Hopefully that is not too confusing.

The difference is that the version using the eased_shapes library has beveled edges rather than just square edges.

I really like your eased_shapes library. I am just starting to fiddle around with it to gain a fuller understanding of how it works, but it already provides me an easy way to generate beveled edges on cylinders and cubes without the usual fal-de-ral and farfulsnarf. Thanks for posting!

 

[awake]

I really like your eased_shapes library. I am just starting to fiddle around with it to gain a fuller understanding of how it works, but it already provides me an easy way to generate beveled edges on cylinders and cubes without the usual fal-de-ral and farfulsnarf. Thanks for posting!

I am delighted that you are finding it useful! I developed it a few years ago, and use it all the time. There are some things that I would like it to be able to do ... "one of these day" I want to go back do some more development on it. Meanwhile, it keeps chugging along for me. If you set $fn above 64 or so, it can get very slow for some operations, but knowing that, I do all of the workup at a lower settting, then change to a higher setting for the final rendering, while I get a cup of coffee.

Let me know if you have any questions, or any suggestions for improvement!