SLA 3D Printer Project Log 10.5: 12 hours in a single shift? Count me in!

Late July?  What kind of excuse do you suspect I have this time?  I mean, 2.3 months, okay, that's not too bad, I thought it was at least 6 months for some reason.  There is a reason why the Tawe TMD blog has suddenly come back to life (hopefully not to fall dead again), and bizarrely it has nothing to do with model trains.

Let me introduce you to my working life; Before recently I was working a standard 5-day 8-hour week, "Big Deal!" you crow, "I manage to model!", trouble is that I'm quite the lazy git - me and go-getting just don't gel.  The company I work at (not named because legal blah) has been quite demanding with regards to overtime, I usually ended up doing 4 hours on Sunday; Add that to my gym session, an essential as I approach that dreaded mid-twenties period where you apparently balloon up without warning, and I am left with only one free day - Saturday.

Now, if some of those who know me suggest "well, if you let go of them train trips you keep taking all the goddamn time..." they'd have an irritatingly condescending point; I take these trips as though I'd go mental if I stop, I don't even know how I can afford anything else sometimes.

This brings me neatly to 4 on 4 off - this is where you take 4 12-hour days in succession in exchange for 4 consecutive free days.  A quick cliff-note version of my verdict:  Super!  The 12 hour days might sound arduous to some, and they are when there's nothing to do and you are basically being paid not to have fun at home, but overall they only feel marginally longer than 8 hours due to sheer momentum.

"But don't you feel super-knackered afterwards?"  That is true, when I cycle home I feel as though I'm being fuelled by raw desire to slump into bed, but that was also true of 8 hour days and even of 4 hour days when I worked retail or even as a gardener (Sewer Maintenance looks like an adventure compared to those two).  You just exist in a state of semi-cryostasis in which you can only find energy to procrastinate.

Is this a SLA log or not?  Content, dammit!

Yep, this is instalment 10.5 simply because I've not got much new to announce, just a milestone and a minor announcement, really.

I've begun construction!

What industry and a wrecked elbow looks like.

Looks like a sizeable pile of parts, no?  Tell you the truth, I have nearly 15 metres worth of extrusion to cut!  Its all spread out across 11 1.5m extrusions (a decision I rather regret now), and initially I used a junior hacksaw i.e:  a one way ticket to both carpal tunnel syndrome and a dislocated elbow.  Get an Angle Grinder on the Case!

Fittings are yet to arrive, as I've ordered 75 Corner Braces alone, it's not easy for Proto-Pic to fulfil such demands as mine on a dime.  Overall, I seem to be well on my way, a fantastic feeling once you've cleared that dreadful middle part of any project, that pit in the bell curve where energy goes to die.

Minor Announcement?  Oh yeah, I plan to make a free build guide for anyone wishing to make their own machine, I believe that I've already said that the .skp file and .STLs will also be open source.  This, if anything, is a dry run for how I take to writing future build guides and possibly eBooks in future.  I dunno what those'll be about yet, probably train trips.

Stay Superb.