SLA 3D Printer Project Log 12: Dropping the Hammer on lack of construction

You know that feeling when you've finally been liberated to make real progress on something?  In a sea of drudgery and busy-bodying in the real world, this is a shot of Dopamine straight to the brain.  This is even more so when you've been procrastinating something for so long that spiders the size of your big toe have set up ambush positions in your cooking utensils (as happened to me when I cleared out my shed; yes, my spine is Petri Jelly, no need to remind me...  *sigh*).

Nails, the classic solution for design ineptitude - that or excessive amounts of glue and filler!

The rush of finally taking action is, as we all know, the best time to find out we've been imbeciles – as I found out when I discovered my top vent had no tabs for locating the parts together!  I had basically expected the builder to be able to glue these together against gravity no matter which way up the join was being made.  Rest assured this will be fixed in the final 1.0 release, but for now, we can get busy with a Pin Vice (Check out the review here!).

If you think this is laborious, try correcting a hammer drill gone haywire...

As I examined the Z carriage to which the Build Bed is mounted to, I couldn't help but notice that there was a slight warp, a horrifying scenario for a part absolutely dependent on being straight and true!  At risk of making the Z carriage too heavy for the Stepper Motors, I knocked together a barn-door solution on a whim...  Unprofessionalism?  What is this, the Intel FABs?

Spare Extrusions fixed in place with Stud-Locked Nuts and Bolts; a nice solution, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned for strain on the Z motors.

Among the bits that I bought in a project-buying frenzy were some black, chunky tapes with a faint magnetic field.  These are for mounting the UV-Reactive Acrylic Window Panels.  TBH I'm a little worried about their powers of retention given that most ferrous things are barely attracted to them, but at least my Hard Disks are safe :)

Pro-Tip for those doing this:  Dampen the plywood surface where the ends of the tape meet, apply cyano, then affix.  Safeguard against peeling ;)

One final note is how we can expect the panels to be mounted; I've found some Slim T-Nuts for the extrusions that don't need to be slid in before the panel is aligned, so I can mount the panels after the frame is built – you can't imagine how much rage this will save!  On the downside, I've missed out on the chance to become the next Francis...

This thing locks against the extrusion when tightened, so no worries about it spinning in situ.

Locking in action, shouldn't too hard to remove them again.

Stay Productive...

Charlie, I think we're on the wrong branch... A confessional

As I write this on the train to work for the first time (coming up in the world ;) ), I'd like to reflect on the possible directions this blog could take; for the 5 people who know this place exists, anyway.

As you are no doubt aware, my SLA 3D Printer is taking a god-awfully long time to come to life, partially because of life concerns (my main PC upgrades being a prime example), but nonetheless, i'm beginning construction proper.  The frame members are complete, ready to join and looking pretty good considering this is my first time with an angle grinder!  The Plywood Panels are ready to be assembled as required and accept paint.

Another thing that constantly nags my attention is the fact the virtually no progress has been made on the Shapeways side of Tawe TMD; there are several reasons for this, but the main offenders are:

1. Material Properties – WSF (polyamide) is tough enough for a model railway wagon chassis, but produces lesser detail than early 2000s N gauge models, I.e, the period where it was seriously mooted that this scale was dying!  FUD is acceptable, but far too brittle in tests, with W Irons and springs falling off only enough force to bruise a gnat.
2. Service – Shapeways is under heavy strain right now, it's a new startup riding a technology that is a newborn amongst giants.  These are not a good combination for rapid delivery and processing, with minor changes in models taking 3 weeks to be delivered and a further week for testing and modification.
3. Research – Diagrams of the ancient wagons I intend to populate my Shapeways store with are hard to come by, and when I do finally find them, they’re often fuzzy with poor detail.

1) is unavoidable for the time being, we'll need newer technologies to print more useable materials before I can seriously consider making entire N gauge wagons (chassis included!) in a 3D Printer. 2) is up to Shapeways to sort out, or If another company can sort that out I'd love to hear about them :).  3) is a bitch, but not entirely unsolvable in many cases.  With regards to my current 3D printed wagons (the Metro Brake and the Rigid 8), I'm sorry to say that these wagons are suspended for the time being, while it's possible to make decently detailed models, 3D Printing really has to catch up strength-wise before I can consider selling them as a serious product.  I may consider a hybrid approach of etches and 3D prints, as EtchedPixels seems to be getting on quite well with, but I'll need to learn my way around brass etching first and my first attempts are a stain on my modelling career that shall never be spoken of again.

Somewhere, Bob Symes weeps for future generations...

In other news, I will be visiting the British Festival of Railway Modelling in Doncaster on the 7^th of February.  I've never been to either Doncaster or this particular show, so it ought to be fun on both counts.  This neatly brings me to another announcement – There shall be reviews on this blog!  Oh yes, the time has come.  Given that I now work hours slightly worse than 9-5 (8-6, though I get an hour's lunch in which to write features, or bilge if you refer my personal blog), I'll probably examine smaller products for more intimate reviews; things like whitemetal kits, brass kits, 3D Printed wagons and static objects.  I'm itching to sample the state of our hobby's 3D printed items firsthand, even the best pages don't tell you much about things like ergonomics (for things like handles), surface quality and ease of construction.

As for features, I'm not sure they'll come to prominence for a while.  I am only 23 in a hobby dominated by retirees, retirees who can drop the hammer and call me out with their all-spanning experience!  That's a funny thing about Railway Modelling, it's probably the only industry I know of where you can survive by being stubbornly old fashioned - many business are still able to survive on mail order alone, Dean Sidings being a prime example, and their Pug conversion for the hornby 0-4-0 got a feature in Parker's Guide (a smashing modelling tips publication from Hornby Magazine).  My thoughts are along the lines of ideas about the state of the industry and where we can go from here, and some things damn well need to be dragged into the 21^st Century!

In spite of the ageing demographics our the hobby, I am confident that it will survive, if only because Heritage Lines remain National Treasures somewhere between Stephen Fry and Spitfires.  Despite all the dreadful rhetoric of the “breakdown of family values”, there are still a great many people not quite so blemished, and can thus appreciate there's more to life than power over others.  I picked up a leaflet about that National Model Railway Museum at Ashford at a show, and I can understand why people may be worried by the line “think about the future of our hobby”, but rather than see terminal decline, I see the opposite – I see people looking out for us and ensuring we don't fade into history like a thief in the night.  In short, I see...  Immortality...

Okay, maybe a little too high on myself there...

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.