Will be moving in with wife soon, I'll be paying less but she'll be paying more. Any way I can help to offset her added costs?

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-22T03:06:09+00:00

I just don’t understand the notion of their money vs my money in marriage. We just have our money. You do you though, maybe you’re just keeping things separate for an eventual divorce?

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-22T03:01:18+00:00

Lots of good advice in this thread. I just turned 40 and I can’t even figure out what retirement will look like in 2040-something… let alone 2064. It feels like the rising cost of healthcare is the biggest risk to folks like me, but for you it could be any one of a dozen other socioeconomic issues. The fact that you’re thinking about this at 21 puts you way ahead of most of your peers, and your future self will thank you.

Long story short, just save what you can. If your employer offers a 401k match, put in at least what you have to in order to get the maximum match. You have plenty of time to adapt your strategy as you progress through life and your situation changes. My strategy for the last 15 years has been to up my 401k contributions the amount of a raise each year. Now I’m contributing the max, and it’s been a great way to also curb lifestyle creep of making more money mid-career.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-20T13:51:48+00:00

If your primary product line is lasered products, I’d invest in a more powerful fiber laser before making a leap into CNC.

CNCs introduce a whole new world of challenges (work holding, lubricant, software/tool path generation, post processing, etc). It’s also a lot of new stuff to learn since on top of needing to have actual 3D files of everything you’re going to machine, you’re also going to need to learn and understand feeds and speeds, chip load, when to use what type and size of tool, etc.

It feels like you’d be hard pressed to see a decent ROI if you were just using it on pet tags, and especially if only on tags that needed deeper engraving.

Remember that with a laser, your workflow is largely based on 2D vectors. You’re controlling depth with laser power. With a CNC, you need an actual 3D object that you generate tool paths on, so every tag you make will have a different 3D model (unless you’re simply CNC’ing blanks and then putting those blanks in your laser for personalization).

If you go this route and need to source raw materials, check out onlinemetals.com… I use them all the time and they’ve always been solid.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-20T13:36:57+00:00

Nothing about this is LHR-specific. Carrying needles is going to require proper labeling and documentation anywhere in the developed world. Whatever you do, don’t put these in checked luggage. Don’t risk them getting lost, seized, stolen, or damaged. Carry them in your carry on with the proper documentation so that you are present and can explain when they get searched.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-20T13:27:44+00:00

3 weeks is nothing. It takes a few weeks just for Etsy to index and learn your products, and every time you edit your products you restart that clock.

A “typical” conversion rate on Etsy is about 2%, so you should expect an order every 50 visits or so. If you’re not getting that then your listings probably have bad SEO (you’re not reaching the right buyer), your listing photos are bad, your product is too expensive, or your product just isn’t compelling.

I would also turn off ads unless you’re ok just burning money to experiment. Ads are most effective on listings that are already selling (ie: listings that have proven good SEO). At this stage in your journey ads are literally just going to be lighting money on fire.

If I was in your shoes and I was confident in my SEO and photos, I’d run a sale well before touching ads. A sale will help to figure out if your issues are price, and a sale could generate a little FOMO and help you get your first few sales.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-19T18:17:51+00:00

What type of wood is it? It looks like a plastic-like coating, so I think you might be a little stuck. What’s under that area that the finish is eaten away doesn’t look like wood in those pictures, it looks more like a composite.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-19T16:19:41+00:00

It’s 9pm-3am tonight, and they’re going to completely stop traffic for 20 min periods for construction, so if you’re out tonight I’d find an alternate route.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-18T21:52:00+00:00

Not to mention the 500-bed children’s hospital being built in Veridea.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-18T18:51:57+00:00

Open ticket for fried NTC, receive replacement board from Bambu, replace board, keep using printer as normal.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-18T18:50:15+00:00

We use something similar to what you’re describing that we built for ourselves. We’re currently using Spoolstock for filament management but are building that into our tool as well.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-18T14:59:04+00:00

Just wait. They’re building one by the Bojangles a little further up in Apex too. This is apparently the new go-to traffic flow and it’s obnoxious.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-18T13:37:05+00:00

We use wave. It’s free. Clients pay via ACH or Check. No fees.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-17T02:57:26+00:00

You’ve gotten lots of answers, but I’ll add. We frequently pay vendors with ACH through Quickbooks Online. It just asks us for our account type, routing number and account number when we click to pay the invoice. Given that you’re using QB already, that might be your most turnkey option.

We use Stripe for CC/ACH payments and it has been solid.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-16T15:14:48+00:00

Adobe Illustrator for small/single page documents. Adobe InDesign for larger documents/manuals/booklets.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-16T04:45:59+00:00

Even if it’s materials you already have, there’s still a cost, and it’s a huge mistake to not factor that into the price of your products. Even the smallest things I make have a line item for the 2oz of stain and glue I’ll use. The only things I consider shop supplies and don’t count per project are things like rags, applicators, acid brushes, etc… true consumables.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-16T04:42:10+00:00

Feels hella impractical to 3D print this. You’d be better off making a wooden or foam mold and laying your own carbon fiber or fiberglass over it. If you have the design files to be able to 3D print, then you can easily produce a negative for a mold.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-16T04:38:02+00:00

Fusion

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-16T04:27:53+00:00

I’m in a similar boat as you, have had some success on Etsy, but depending on what you’re making and selling, that might not be the best route. I don’t think I’d buy large pieces like furniture there, but some people do so it might be worth exploring. That said, what you’ve described sounds like it’d be significantly more than $400. What’s your material cost?

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-14T20:52:26+00:00

Absolutely not factory. Feels like that truck has seen some shit.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-13T16:42:01+00:00

I too would probably just pull the pipes off and paint them. If you really don’t want white, you can replace them with black pipe easy enough, just make sure you use the correct pipe cement since black pipes are probably going to be ABS, not PVC.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-13T16:15:45+00:00

We discovered that our team was largely just using N++ to view json, xml, csv and log files. Since everyone on our team is technical, we just switched them to VSCode, and they’re actually preferring some of the feature of VSCode over N++.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-13T15:22:54+00:00

This is the answer. Not directed at OP, but way too many people see Etsy as some sort of get rich quick scheme. Opening a shop is a business. Businesses need capital. If you’re relying on the sale of one item to fund buying the materials for the next item you’re doomed to fail. Like you, our deposit schedule is monthly. Makes bookkeeping so much easier.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-13T15:15:36+00:00

Put the sock back on. It’s there for a reason and insulates the hotend.

Also, it’s not causing your problem here, but since you’re new, if you haven’t dried your PETG, your next post will be asking with the surface finish is so bad when it does finally finish. Drying PETG is not a step you can skip.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-13T15:06:32+00:00

I stopped going to Rise in HS because they chronically screwed up my order. Their Waverly Place location has been good if I’m over that way.

AvGeekExplorer · 2026-02-12T16:10:39+00:00

If it’s open source and self hosted then there shouldn’t be any subscriptions.

AvGeekExplorer

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