I consulted Emilia Hb, an industrial and graphic designer on Fiverr, for a fresh perspective on connecting the design elements. Emilia’s enthusiasm and zeal provided a welcome boost. I will begin printing chair parts on March 11 and I hope to be finished in April. The files are available for download on Thangs for those ..read more

Last Fall, downsizing to a convertible studio with a separate bed nook felt like a step towards cozy living. However, that illusion was shattered the first morning. Each footstep in the hallway reverberated like a loudspeaker through the gap beneath the solid door.  I’d naively blocked similar gaps in past apartments, only to suffer air ..read more

In April, I eagerly invested $58.05 in an original double-sided satin powder-coated spring steel sheet, shipping included. Anticipating seamless printing, I was met with frustration when I couldn’t get my prints to adhere. Despite trying a plethora of adhesion solutions—painter’s tape, kapton tape, masking tape, purple glue stick, regular glue stick, scouring, dishwashing liquid, alcohol ..read more

Squeaking sounds were coming from my CR-10 Mini for months until I realized the cause. It was the timing belt; x-axis belt to be specific. I was hoping that all I needed to do was look for a CR-10 Mini replacement belt online and change the belt. I felt I would not have an issue ..read more

This is a short post referencing a video by 60 Minutes on ICON. I thought I knew everything about ICON as I have followed their progress for years. What I learned from watching this video was that I lacked key information. I will not spoil the video by stating the key information I was missing ..read more

Today was the third test of the year for the solar oven. The oven reached almost 185° without reflectors (see video). I expect adding reflectors will increase the temperature at least 115° to 300°. My expectations are based on the temperature range of the SunTaste 200 solar oven which utilizes cork. After the first test ..read more

It is almost consistently warm enough in Chicago to continue with the solar oven trials. Thinking about last year’s trials, I realized that the solar oven peformed best during the first day on the ground in the park. It makes sense to return to the park tis year. A means of transporting the oven to ..read more

The first iteration of an entire chair is complete! Chair dimensions are 16″ L x 13″ D x 36″ H. All chair parts were printed on desktop printers CR10 mini and MK3s+; bed sizes – 12″ x 9″ and 11″ x 8″. The filaments used to print the chair were 3dPrintlife Pro PLA, PLA/PHA, and ..read more

In the “Dura: PLA based biodegradable Nylon Analog” blog post, I mentioned that I had not tried using the optimized bottom/ironing-enabled method with other filaments. Later, I performed tests on vases using three types of filaments; Dura Nylon PLA, Pro PLA by 3D Printlife, and PLA by Push Plastic. The definition of watertight for these ..read more

The final test of the solar oven for this year was performed yesterday, Saturday, October 22, 2022. Trials will begin again next year, in early summer. The highest oven temperature reached yesterday was about 142° Fahrenheit. That is more than 20° below the temperature from the last test (see video). The trials take place on ..read more