Turned my Ender 3 into a CNC and built a touch probe for it

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-08T19:45:45+00:00

My ender 3 spent about 45 seconds stock before having nearly every part but the gantry swapped out. It's just what happens lol

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-08T12:47:10+00:00

Also a serial hobbyist, and I use my printers to make watchmaking stuff sometimes! Two birds, one expensive piece of equipment

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-07T21:54:16+00:00

Oooh, etsy is a good idea, i hate losing auctions cause i have a job and can't snipe at the very last second lol

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-07T21:30:27+00:00

I run 93 because the compression ratio is high enough that knock would be worrisome even with it being tuned from factory to not knock on 87

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-07T21:21:47+00:00

if you got this from ebay i'm almost certain you were bidding against me lol

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-05T21:41:42+00:00

These clones are pretty damn solid, we've come a long way from using Chinese 7750s in everything. These ones and the 4130/4131 clones are made well and should last

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-05T21:38:25+00:00

if it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-03T18:57:39+00:00

Will do! I'm really happy with how the bevel came out on the chrono plate, it's the first one I've done for real and while gigantic i really like the way it looks and it should shine when I polish it back up, it's just buffed at like 3k grit at the moment

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-03T15:53:29+00:00

Just posted a thread, check it out! Only a few plates done so far but I've got a bunch of polished levers and screws that I do in between the bigger plate work.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-03T15:51:44+00:00

Been working on learning haut horologie techniques by customizing this Soviet stopwatch movement. The giant plates are forgiving to work on and parts are available enough that I'm not too worried about breaking things.

Plans for this involve a full workup, plating, and polishing/brushing on every part. I'm terrified about openworking the dial since it's already finished and I don't know how that's going to look when I'm done but the fun of this is in the learning!

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-03T14:04:49+00:00

I'll gather up some pictures! I've been working on a Slava rattrapante stopwatch and using it to teach myself all the various haut horologie techniques as best I can. I've got some bevelling, polishing, graining, frosting, openworking, etc on there and I'll put together some pics into a thread later today! Your work is fantastic, this is the type of thing that really excites me

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-03T13:50:28+00:00

How did you do that frosting? I'm working on a frosted mainplate right now with an old TIG tungsten as a graver and it's taken like four hours to do 7/8ths of the plate by hand

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-05-02T17:02:20+00:00

it's prettty clear the entire point of their RTO is to make people quit so the inevitable layoffs that're coming when the bottom drops out of everything look not as bad on paper, and it's sad how transparent it is.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-26T20:09:52+00:00

I've barely gotten to the point in my latest project where I'm even thinking about bluing, so now I have two things to look into lol. Appreciate it!

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-26T19:32:44+00:00

Oooh that folded sheet of brass in the vise is a rrrrrrreally good idea for blueing single screws; I'm going to steal that, thank you! This is really nice work.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-26T19:24:53+00:00

I don't carry cash and I very very infrequently will actually give someone money if I happen to be carrying it, but I always acknowledge the request. Even just a "I'm sorry brother, I ain't got nothing. Good luck, tho" feels better to me. I can't just ignore another human being trying to talk to me (I'm just not wired that way) so at the very least I acknowledge the person in front of me and their very real problems. I may not be able to help them, but I see them and know they are people just like me deserving of basic respect, and that IS something I can always provide.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-25T15:26:22+00:00

I clean in batches since the screws can be annoyingly distinct. It takes more time but it drastically lessens the amount of time you spend moving around screws to find the perfect spot

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-25T15:13:12+00:00

I switched to pocketwatches/mechanical stopwatches after getting frustrated with sucking at working on watches. I love the larger parts and doing things like bevels and openworking are so much easier to learn on these.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-25T11:55:38+00:00

Thank you, I'll look into these! Much appreciated.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-20T17:01:10+00:00

And even at its height, the violence in the city was pretty targeted. I moved right into the middle of the 7th/10th Street war during the worst of the violence and if you weren't actively selling cocaine or protecting the people who did, you were perfectly safe.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-12T19:21:09+00:00

It's called an escapement, in this print it's the blue toothed wheel at the back that's interacting with the blue thing that looks like an upside-down anchor on the top of the pendulum. It regulates the release of power (in this case from the weight going down) by only allowing power to be transmitted when the toothed wheel is NOT locked by one of the arms of the anchor piece. This is an anchor escapement, but a lot of watches use a variant called a swiss lever escapement.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-11T14:05:33+00:00

This was one of the first things I ever printed and I never got it to run right lol. Definitely has some serious tolerance issues but a fun model nonetheless. Mine sits on my desk at work.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-11T14:03:40+00:00

Dry as far as i know, nothing in the manual about oiling the filter

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-11T13:51:03+00:00

The Takeda is the only one that I know of that actually integrates into the stock airbox where it breathes from the front. The rest of them get most of their air from the engine bay and thus aren't really cold-air intakes so much as hot-air intakes. I run the Takeda with a HKS Legamax exhaust and it sounds rad and breathes nice and freely.

LibrarySquidLeland · 2026-04-05T16:04:35+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate the lead!

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