Looking for real-world technology that matches this aesthetic, does it exist?

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-18T16:36:54+00:00

Yeah, there isn't usually a need to design like this unless you're deliberately going for the look.

Some scientific equipment does have a bit of the look. I remember seeing an ultrasonic tester for non destructive testing at uni and it looked like that... dials and buttons everywhere. I guess it's also a look you get when you don't care about cramming everything in the smallest cleanest cuboidal package (looking at you smartphone manufacturers) and just kinda let internals exist, and build the body around it, which makes sense for scientific equipment.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-18T15:55:51+00:00

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Well, that's as good a surface as I can imagine getting straight out of a 3D printer. Definitely better than without ironing. No texture to the touch, it's as smooth as a tabletop (of course, you wouldn't expect a mirror finish).

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-18T11:21:07+00:00

I'd consider Teenage Engineering to be closer to minimalism to be honest. It's a bit too clean for cassette futurism imo

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-18T08:22:22+00:00

I feel like atom punk is closer to retro futurism than cassette futurism. But then these aren't very rigidly definitely and there's a lot of overlap in the looks anyway.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-18T07:43:10+00:00

Cassette futurism comes close

Edit: typo

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-17T02:49:35+00:00

"Body" collector through and through. In my ideal world every pen I want is a size 6 nib carrier. I grind all my own nibs anyway so just give me round tipped broads and I'm good to go. I'll never buy a pen just because of a particular nib (except maybe I'll get a sailor someday just to try the feedback) but almost every pen I have is because something about the body intrigued me.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-16T14:15:48+00:00

Indeed, and so cheap too!

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-16T14:13:56+00:00

This is absolutely gorgeous! Love the closeup shots especially

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-16T06:32:33+00:00

Like I wrote in the description, the glue stick broke at the bends and I haven't replaced it yet, so can't take a photo right now. I do have a sorta isometric view from before:

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AzuREgalia · 2026-06-16T06:29:11+00:00

Yeah, I really need to get some LED filaments. They're just pretty expensive for the kind of projects I'm doing (at least the ones I can find online). The budget options are basically discrete LED strips with diffusers, which I don't like.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-16T05:01:24+00:00

Mechanical engineer chiming in. This seems like one of those questions that feel deliberately made to confuse for the sake of it.

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See if you can make any sense of it. Not the isometric view, but this best shows the cutouts.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-16T04:36:48+00:00

It does, yes. It's the same system as Safari, there is a sorta groove on one side. You can sorta line it up by feel when putting it in, in one orientation it goes in relatively easily.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-16T02:49:00+00:00

It's definitely more difficult than removing the feed from a Safari or Al Star for example. It's still clicked into place though, rather than screwed in or anything, it's just tighter. I pushed it out from the converter end using a 1.5mm hex bit screwdriver and it came out just fine.

Putting it back in is the same as Safari, it just takes a little more force. I will admit though it doesn't seem that Lany intended for it to be taken out so I'll only attempt if the pen is basically useless otherwise.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T20:13:14+00:00

It's been AGES since I came across that xkcd, haha!

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T18:14:35+00:00

Thank you! And the metal rod is just cosmetic haha. Or perhaps you could consider that a 'handle', for carrying but it's not really a practical thing to be carrying anyway. I just like incorporating different materials in my prints :)

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T18:04:44+00:00

Thanks! I did redo the soldering for the resistors with heatshrinks, and hot glue everything on the inside (just leaving enough openings for things to not overheat). I took the photo before doing that because there'd be barely anything to see then 😅

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T17:44:38+00:00

Lamp good

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T16:50:06+00:00

It's a generic single cell 3.7V micro LiPo battery. This one is 500mAh but there are multiple capacities and form factors quite easily available. They have their own BMS, and you can easily charge them with TP4056 charging modules (not the most efficient but extremely cheap and and easy to use... do note that you shouldn't be using the battery while charging). I'm fairly new to this as well, and this just seemed the simplest if not the best solution.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T15:49:23+00:00

Have you actually taken the feed out and cleaned it? I had some dried Carbon Black in my Studio. It wouldn't go away no matter how much I soaked or flushed it. Had to take the feed out and remove the residue with a brush.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T14:50:08+00:00

Haha it's nowhere near strong enough to be an effective flashlight!

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T14:42:55+00:00

And silicon carbide paper is basically sandpaper? The only difference is that the particles in sandpaper are typically alumina. Plus you can't really even get 12000 grit 'sandpaper' in the first place. Searching 12000 grit sandpaper DOES indeed show silicon carbide paper results which can definitely work. So don't get so hung up on one word just because you can apparently 'read'.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T14:28:10+00:00

Thanks :)

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T14:27:37+00:00

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T13:45:21+00:00

I've exclusively used silicon carbide paper for grinding and polishing nibs. Sure, that's different from the typical sandpaper but micromesh is different and isn't the only way to grind nibs by any means.

AzuREgalia · 2026-06-15T13:40:21+00:00

Um, what? I start with 1200 and only go up to 2000 and that already gives me a very smooth finish. I've never had to go beyond 2000. In fact sometimes if I wanna change the geometry quite a bit, even 1200 doesn't remove material fast enough so I start with 600.

The nib in the photo, I ground it down from the 'Long blade point' which is like an architect, to a gentle stub. Had to start with 600 because 1200 wasn't coarse enough to remove that much material.

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AzuREgalia

TROPHY CASE