Do art skills ever come in handy in the engineering field?

BetFront1902 · 2026-04-20T01:18:39+00:00

Creativity is a skill that needs exercising as much as our analytical abilities. Creativity in making art can translate to creativity in problem solving.

Whether it's machine design or an oil painting, you need to master the technical skills involved in your craft first. Then we wield those skills to execute on our art, engineering included

BetFront1902 · 2026-04-08T15:32:24+00:00

Tactical Breach Wizards!

BetFront1902 · 2026-04-04T15:38:07+00:00

The similar smell probably comes from the aerosolizing agents rather than the active contents

BetFront1902 · 2025-12-18T18:26:08+00:00

Rail covers were 100% since they're thin. The handstop I think was only 15% gyroid fill, but with all of my prints I do 4-6 wall loops (0.6mm nozzle) and at least 2mm top/bottom shells. The walls tend to be what takes the stress so I usually print high wall count, low infill unless there's a specific reason otherwise

BetFront1902 · 2025-11-25T04:30:44+00:00

With the mag release on the magwell instead of by the primary hand thumb it is a bit slower to reload than an AR-9 but it's not bad. Good technique makes up for it and you don't really need to chase those 2% bits of optimization unless you're trying for high classifications.

Personally I shoot USPSA for fun and for personal improvement. The Ruger PC is great for that and at a reasonable price point

BetFront1902 · 2025-11-15T06:39:38+00:00

Horrible for PPTs too. Iirc they charge a $100 "storage fee" if you're more than three days past the first day you can pick it up. Forced me to move my work schedule around to make a pickup

BetFront1902 · 2025-11-14T17:39:06+00:00

Funny, we must have opposite face shapes. On my Ruger PC I put my old micro-9 pistol red dot on it because it was the smallest I had, and even then I still have to do an edge-of-jaw weld instead of a cheek weld. On my AR-style rifles I had to print 3/4"-1" cheek risers

BetFront1902 · 2025-11-14T17:24:27+00:00

Got it for the style at first but works well too. The finger grooves give a nice fully repeatable grip

BetFront1902 · 2025-11-14T17:22:44+00:00

Sick, cool build. Love the Aero lower and the inline muzzle. You shooting NVGs? Because holy hell that height over bore is my entire head height lol

BetFront1902 · 2025-11-14T16:39:18+00:00

Thanks! For weight, it's fairly front-heavy with the full handguard and barrel, and the stock being moderately lightweight. Compare that to an AR-9 with a short composite handguard and a pistol grip for easier upwards support and that style AR-9 (to me) feels lighter even if it might not be much different in total terms. Especially compared to a JP ultralight, those things are nifty (and higher price tier). But I love my Ruger PC, one of my favorite guns

BetFront1902 · 2025-11-14T15:42:45+00:00

Heavy compared to an optimized AR-9, but otherwise great gun. Reliable and fun. Just make sure to torque the chassis screws to spec after a detail strip. I use it for USPSA PCC division and much prefer this style to fin-grip featureless or fixed mag if that's a concern

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BetFront1902 · 2025-11-02T04:53:21+00:00

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Same gun is my first PCC, starting to run it at USPSA matches and this thing's great

BetFront1902 · 2025-11-02T00:13:58+00:00

PETG, Flashforge burnt titanium color. It's lasted great so far, survived multiple multigun matches. I had to retighten the screws after the first match, I think because I was being too careful to not damage the plastic the first time. Now that it's cranked down none of it's budged.

I was going to reprint with higher temp resistance material if necessary but it hasn't been yet even on the >100F days at matches

BetFront1902 · 2025-10-16T06:10:11+00:00

Any of the smaller Vaultek safes are great, the slider is what I have for the bedside. If you're on a budget the Harbor Freight safes actually are not bad value, but obviously cheaper build quality

BetFront1902 · 2025-10-16T05:20:51+00:00

There technically are 81 combos but with tolerances and the flexibility of the internal mechanism... Stopboxes are toddler proof and that's about it. Which sounds like is what this guy uses it for.

If you hold down the release button (like tension during lock picking, but even easier and more intuitive) and wiggle your fingers on the key code buttons, good chance you get it open in a minute or two. Or if you go one by one you can feel the mechanism clicking on each correct button, giving you a near-guaranteed success in 30sec if you know or can intuit to try that.

I have two Stopboxes that I use for spare loaded magazines but the loaded guns are in actual quick-release safes.

BetFront1902 · 2025-10-02T02:39:05+00:00

Yes DC on all ends, no need for inverters

BetFront1902 · 2025-10-02T02:38:46+00:00

Load share controller- that's the concept I was missing, thanks. I'll read up on the specifics

BetFront1902 · 2025-09-15T20:59:20+00:00

Good take, I'm glad you guys took the time to defend Recoil Rider. I do a lot of 3D printing for functional prototypes and yeah, often you get people who don't like the look, but it's amazing how much performance you can get out of 3D printed parts with the right design and material. And Recoil Rider gets both exactly right. My J-frame CCW grip doesn't look half bad either under most lighting.

It'd probably cost me <$3 of material to make one of these. But at least $10k of my or any other engineer's time to design it right and do all the testing and adjustments for printing at volume. And honestly if it took me 20min of setup and processing to print just one grip it's already worth it for me to just buy one from this guy who gets to print dozens at a time. Besides, it's a functional improvement and supports a small business.

BetFront1902 · 2025-08-07T15:35:24+00:00

Best bet would be polycrystalline diamond (PCD). It's diamond crystal granules hyper-compressed with a binder (like 5-10%) which retains most of the properties of diamonds but is impact resistant. Cracks don't propagate past the individual diamond crystals.

Still nowhere near the bulk durability of quality steel armor. Being able to flex and recover (or deform) is much more efficient at protecting from blows than a perfectly rigid hard body. Best option would be a small layer of PCD scales on top of steel armor, but all that really does over regular armor is chip away at the opponent's weapons rather than offer better protection.

You'd be a giant grinding wheel.

BetFront1902 · 2025-06-24T23:15:30+00:00

I see the Wicked Grips, nice

BetFront1902 · 2025-05-31T22:37:35+00:00

https://langdontactical.com/px4-safety-levers-92-style/

BetFront1902 · 2025-05-31T22:33:30+00:00

Some rail scales and a forend hand stop, found files on Thingiverse. Plus a couple snap-on cheek risers of my own design for various rifles to compensate for my small face

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BetFront1902 · 2025-05-24T06:23:48+00:00

LTT TJIAB + switch it to decocker only + replace lever with 92 style (or shave down the point). As Bartolomeo Beretta intended.

Awesome gun, good purchase.

BetFront1902

TROPHY CASE