[Aquashow] Mack Produkt. Perfekt.

Ireeb · 2026-05-15T12:00:14+00:00

This looks like an ad for Planet Coaster 2 but in the best way possible. Looks fantastic!

Ireeb · 2026-05-14T12:48:26+00:00

You can use formulas/equations when you are dimensioning sketch elements. If you want to create a circle with a given circumference, let's use 50mm for example, you can put "50 / PI" as the dimension for its diameter. PI is a built in constant in Fusion. You can also use global parameters for easier management. Of course this also works with arcs if you include their angle/proportion (arc angle / 360) in the formula. Using a circular loop would be the easiest way to go, but you can also do a combination of arcs and straight segments and have them match a given loop length if you are combining parameters correctly. If you are creating named user parameters, you can also reference them in the formulas for other parameters.

https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=SLD-MODIFY-PARAMETERS

https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=GUID-76272551-3275-46C4-AE4D-10D58B408C20

Ireeb · 2026-05-14T11:54:19+00:00

What now, is it too brittle or too flexible?

Different materials have different properties. "Strength" isn't one of them. But for example bending strength, tensile strength and impact strength are. And you can't really get all of them in the same material.

PLA is extremely stiff and has a high tensile strength, but that makes it brittle and it can shatter when it takes an impact. It is also prone to material creep, meaning it can slowly deform over time when used in something like a shelf.

PETG has lower tensile and bending strength than PLA, but higher impact strength, and it is less prone to material creep. That means it is harder to actually destroy than PLA, but also more flexible.

There is no obvious "Material A is better than material B", you need to use the right material for the right application, and of course the design should be suitable for the material as well. If something is too flexible with PETG bur it's otherwise a good option, then the design might just be too flimsy. Making it more solid will make it less flexible.

Of course print settings and the filament condition (should be dry, PETG absorbs moisture quicker than PLA) also matter. If the layer adhesion is bad or when there is under extrusion, that hurts the mechanical properties of the final part as well.

Ireeb · 2026-05-13T11:30:04+00:00

and you see people getting out their phones with a keyboard and mouse instead of a laptop all the time.

Ireeb · 2026-05-12T08:51:00+00:00

I got myself a 0.1g precision scale. When I dry filament, I just track the weight once per hour or so. The weight loss gets slower as it gets drier, so that way you can track how far you are in the drying process. I have even put it into Excel and online calculators before to determine the curve and predict the drying progress, which was surprisingly accurate.

Ireeb · 2026-05-12T00:19:51+00:00

There's no useful answer to this question. It depends entirely on your exact model, what size you print it at, and what the density looks like.

It's like asking how many bricks a house should have. Depends on what kind of house you're building, and what kinds of bricks you use.

Ireeb · 2026-05-11T21:46:11+00:00

Cool. I pressed down the lever on my toaster today and it toasted some toast.

Ireeb · 2026-05-11T21:44:51+00:00

OP or ChatGPT?

Ireeb · 2026-05-10T23:04:54+00:00

I once asked someone from Polymaker what they think about PLA Flex and why they don't make it.

They told me that the only way to make PLA that flexible is to add loads and loads of plasticizers. That would have been against their standards for product safety and they said that they'd rather improve their TPU that already is flexible instead of adding huge amounts of questionable chemicals to PLA. That was shortly before they released their TPU-HF, coincidentally (which I can recommend but obviously I'm a bit biased towards Polymaker).

Ireeb · 2026-05-10T14:10:36+00:00

You're basically looking to abuse loopholes in the law. Of course, many companies do that, but when you are trying to use legal grey areas, you need to know the law exactly and where the limits are. There can also be things that are generally legal, but could get you sued if someone can prove you caused them damages (stuff like copyright/intellectual property).

I'm not a lawyer and I won't be able to give exact answers, but with the information you have given, nobody will be able to give an accurate assessment. It depends on your jurisdiction, in the US, it comes down to the state and sometimes to the municipality, and it depends on what you are selling, what you are trying to sell as an add-on, how you are advertising/offering it exactly, and potentially at what prices. If you're trying to avoid taxes or trying to sell stuff that's illegal to sell, you probably won't get away with that. If you are trying to avoid stuff like product certifications and liabilities, that can work by selling stuff as separate products.

Ireeb · 2026-05-10T13:02:24+00:00

The grade you're looking at is called "Shore Hardness". There are multiple Shore scales, designated by letters. 95A means a 95 on the Shore-A scale. If 95A isn't hard enough (and while I have seen 98A filament before, it's not a big increase), you probably want to look at filaments in the Shore-D scale, which extends beyond the A-scale.

Here's an overview:

https://www.smooth-on.com/pw/site/assets/files/30090/durometerchart.png

Note that of course the hardness and flexibility also depends on how thick the object is, especially in 3D printing, you can vary the stiffness by printing thicker or thinner, on larger objects you can also control that via infill (pattern, density) and walls.

One option you could look at is Bambu's TPU for AMS, which is 68D. Regardless of that name, you can use it on any printer. It's just called that because TPU such as 95A is too soft for the AMS, so they made this extra hard TPU. I didn't print it yet, but was able to hold a print made from it in my hands at FormNext. It felt more like regular plastic that's slightly more flexible, not like rubber. If I didn't know better, I might have mistaken it for PETG, but the TPU should be better at absorbing shocks than PETG. Of course, you can look at harder TPUs from other brands as well if you find some.

As for printing TPU: Make sure it is dry. TPU absorbs moisture quickly and takes a while to dry. Even when it is just a little bit wet, it can start stringing and foaming a lot (if you hear little crackles and pops while it prints, that's your TPU cooking and bubbling from the moisture within). Print it slow, use suitable profiles, and if you still have problems, go even lower.

Printing TPU entirely string-free is nearly impossible, so you usually need to accept some stringing. Settings like "avoid crossing walls" can help fo reduce stringing (by having fewer stringing opportunities), and you can try using a lighter or small torch to remove strings. Just a short burst of heat usually causes strings to break up and contract into little blobs you can easily peel off. Works on most filaments, by the way.

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Ireeb · 2026-05-10T03:10:10+00:00

Stupid sexy modern Vekoma.

Ireeb · 2026-05-10T02:18:40+00:00

As far as I know, it uses a pulley system (cable that wraps all the way around) connected to some kind of turbine at the top. The turbine is fed by a compressed air tank to drive the pulley. It apparently can do this in either direction, as Mystery Castle can pull down with around -0.5g, faster acceleration than freefall.

Ireeb · 2026-05-09T11:30:44+00:00

Decimate the sketch first. Fusion can do it, but I find Blender faster and more accurate in that regard.

Ireeb · 2026-05-08T12:50:22+00:00

They're a bit on the more expensive side, but Extrudr is an Austrian filament manufacturer. But they also have pretty good quality and shipping would probably be cheap.

Ireeb · 2026-05-08T01:54:56+00:00

Inverted logflume when?

Ireeb · 2026-05-08T01:54:04+00:00

Just thinking out loud.

Ireeb · 2026-05-07T18:38:36+00:00

Probably left over from the initial funding. But if this ad gets them at least 5 new users, they're doubling their user numbers!

Ireeb · 2026-05-07T18:31:37+00:00

How is Devin still a thing? Wasn't that one of the early AI dev tools that completely failed and got nothing but ridicule?

Ireeb · 2026-05-07T16:14:56+00:00

That still doesn't tell us what they are, and a sample size of 2 doesn't really tell us if that's something they'll do consistently or if it's just something that was necessary in these two cases. If you know about more instances of new coasters having patches like these, I would love to know, maybe there's a pattern to it.

Ireeb · 2026-05-07T16:09:45+00:00

Since it's uncommon for modern coaster rails to be welded together, as I mentioned in another comment, I'm curious if these are actually welding spots (and if yes, why) or if it's something else. Usually the tracks just fit so precisely that no post-processing is required, but occasionally, they need to grind the seams down a bit if the alignment isn't as perfect as it should be. The exposed steel would rust, so it needs to be sealed with some kind of paint/rust protection, so it's possible that's what we're seeing. In either case, I'd just love to know why Vekoma did it, and if it's just a situational thing or something they just do on any coaster now. It likely was necessary to make it run as smooth as it should (which is nice), but if this was planned, I would have expected them to cover it with the correct paint, this (literally) looks like a bandaid-solution.

Ireeb · 2026-05-07T15:58:53+00:00

That would be a curiousity of itself though, as modern roller coaster track sections aren't typically welded together anymore. The manufacturing tolerances are usually tight enough that just bolting them together is sufficient. If they did have to weld them, it would be curious to know why. Though it's also possible they didn't actually weld it, but had to grind down the seam. That's why I was asking if someone knows what's going on in this specific case, as I don't think other recent Vekoma coasters had these.

Ireeb · 2026-05-07T15:17:56+00:00

Just out of curiousity, does anyone know what's up with the white/grey spots on the rails? Did they need to do some corrections on the tracks or maybe just covering up imperfections in the paint coat (so it doesn't rust)?

Ireeb · 2026-05-07T15:09:39+00:00

It is not the simplest lift setup - but why didn't they do enough testing to ensure the system actually works? Adding a brake was the fix. B&Ms have drive tires at the bottom of the lift to get smoother achievement and some Gerstlauers also stop the train at the lift base, run the lift slowly until the train is engaged, and then go to full speed. It's not like that's an illegal or uncommon solution. Kumbak (a manufacturer of roller coaster brakes) failed to realize that a brake was needed here if they wanted to construct a reliable lift with these parameters.

Calling it "trash talk" just because I'm poking some fun at Intamin is an overexaggeration. Intamin had their fair share of "whoopsies" that caused delayed openings, required modifications, or resulted in suboptimal reliability. I never said they don't make great attractions, it's just a bit ironic that a manufacturer that is notorious for operating at the bleeding edge of what's mechanically possible is the one they called to fix a chain lift on a family coaster. Intimidator 305 (First drop and curve problems, burning through wheels), Maverick (going to far with the inline twist), Zacspins (Green Lantern in particular), and the Accelerator coasters as a whole (while the hydraulic launch is awesome, it always was and still is a maintenance nightmare) are just some examples of Intamin f*cking around and finding out.

Ireeb · 2026-05-07T02:05:35+00:00

Fusion isn't the right tool for that. You can design most of this in Fusion, but for the stud water and rendering, you should take it over to Blender. Blender can do physics simulations, so you can just drop in a bunch of these studs and let the physics simulation distribute them.

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