3d printing! and other life stuff

[ehyde]

The fun development at our house recently is that we got a 3d printer for Christmas! We had been thinking of getting the kids a Nintendo Switch because there are a few games they've been interested in that aren't available for PC but Jeff and I were not ... excited ... about the prospect of litigating turn-taking between three kids and one device. At pretty much the last minute I was thinking about how eldest really likes playing with the 3d printed dragons her friend made her and idly wondered how much printers go for these days and lo and behold, there are models that cost less than a nintendo switch! So we pivoted to that plan and it's been great. So many articulated dragons. Jeff's been printing minis to play some combat games with the kids and I've been printing some bookbinding tools too. Along with various just, helpful gadgets! I have a lamp with a switch that's really hard to turn in a circle so I designed a cap for it that sticks out wider on the sides and it just snapped right on and works great! I'm still figuring out various 3d modeling software, I've tried OpenSCAD, Autocad Fusion, and TinkerCad (I'm also learning Blender against my will because Eldest is interested in some more artistic sculpting and it's a tricky program for a 9yo to figure out on her own). Not sure which I like best yet but I am having a lot of fun.

A couple of weeks ago we got a massive amount of snow and it hasn't really gotten above freezing since, so we still have a massive amount of snow. The kids got two whole snow days out of it and they're using "by the time the snow melts" as a timeline for their current computer gaming goal (getting into space in Factorio). I am enjoying the snow a little less (my boots have holes. Any recs for not-too-expensive snow boots for wide feet?)

I mentioned before that I had picked up the Guardian drama again, well, I convinced Jeff to watch it with me (apparently "it's a bit cheesy and kind of reminds me of early seasons of BTVS" was a convincing rec) so we re-started from the beginning. Forgot to mention it was based on a danmei but he figured that out for himself at episode 8. We're now up to episode 12 which is *almost* where I left off.

Comments

[umadoshi]

We're now up to episode 12 which is *almost* where I left off.

*quivers*

[ehyde]

ahahaha, I've now seen up to 14 and I know what that reaction is about :D that was very fun

[umadoshi]

ahahaha, I've now seen up to 14 and I know what that reaction is about :D that was very fun

On top of everything else, now you get Zhao Yunlan's ~just married~ hair. *g*

[momijizukamori]

If she gets too stuck on Blender, you may be able to find archived installers for Sculptris or ZBrushCoreMini, which were free stripped-down versions of the very popular ZBrush software, and more intuitive than Blender. I can also pass you a copy of ZBrush proper, though it's kind of A Lot (though still also more intuitive than Blender, at least for me).

A friend had another one she liked - I think it was Nomad Sculpt? But I will ping her to confirm, lol.

(I have tried and failed to learn Blender like three times ahaha)

[galadhir]

Ooh, the 3D printer sounds amazing and a thing it would be useful to know how to use. I've seen some amazing 3D printed light switches that pull down and look like the sort of thing you'd find in a mad scientist's bunker, which I really envy.

[duckprintspress]

oh these are all interesting things.

we got a switch 2 for the holidays and yeah I'm so done with the litigating turn-taking and that's only with 2 kids.

I'd love to hear more about your 3d printer adventures as you go, I keep eyeing them consideringly.

[ehyde]

The printer we got (Bambu Labs A1 Mini) is very "plug in and go," it was recommended by my daughter's friend's mom who has the same one at home but uses others for her work, she said there's really no comparison when it comes to ease of use. I've been impressed with the software/app too! (and being impressed by the app that goes along with an external device is a rare occurrence)

[duckprintspress]

ooo yeah that is rare, I don't think I've ever had printed software (for example) that wasn't fuckin garbage. I will keep this in mind!

[ehyde]

I was trying to get our "wireless" speakers to work and eventually I just gave up and plugged them into an old phone that still has a headphone jack, lol

[halfcactus]

Ahahaha I used to fight my brothers for the videogame console and the only reason it worked out out was because I used to be a morning person who'd get up super early to game. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the 3D printing!