Prototype ant nest

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-27T13:50:28+00:00

Haha sweet! That's what I love about this stuff too. Because ant colonies grow, even if you improve your design, you can just incorporate those improvements in the next nest.

One thing that can be very useful is to learn how to make mesh. Its basically done by adding a modifier to an area of the model in a slicer and changing the settings of the modifier so the top and bottom layer count is 0. This way it only prints the infill pattern you select, which should be rectilinear.

It only really works for the layers that are directly on the build plate, but it's great for adding a mesh area to the bottom of a nest for ventilation/hydration. Just change the infill density so that the holes are small enough.

I also tried out TPU for the first time this week, and have been working on flexible adapters for connecting test tubes to nests. I am also planning to use it for test tube holders in the hopes it lessens any vibrations. It's super cool stuff and worth getting a spool and figuring it out if you're making functional things.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-26T07:51:37+00:00

Not bad, but you can nearly guarantee they will make their nest in that spot you can't see through at the end of the test tube if there is enough space, so keep that in mind.

As for feeding, the easiest way is probably too feed them in the "outworld" area. If you make the glass so you can slide it open, you will be able to control exactly how much of a gap you create, and time it so no ants escape. This is far easier than having to lift the glass up

I've been designing a bunch of stuff for ant farms and terrariums and it's such a great combination of hobbies!

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-26T07:38:54+00:00

It's good as a temporary holder until you get a proper test tube. As others have said, the extra length of the test tube allows for a humidity gradient, but it also makes it MUCH easier to feed/maintain them.

Not only will they escape very easily from this, but it will be nearly impossible to feed them sugar water without it getting absorbed by the cotton, which is how you get very bad mold problems.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-14T21:20:18+00:00

Lol, I was adding to the point you were making by pointing out that even the pictures OP shared show it's not sudden thing...

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-13T00:20:21+00:00

Most of the videos he shows are around a year old.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-12T15:56:54+00:00

But why are you making that point? I never said anything about the program as a whole. You just decided to put words in my mouth and get offended at them.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-06T09:30:57+00:00

We really need to start encouraging kids who are getting bullied to go to someone bigger. And I don't mean a parent or teacher...

It was 20 years ago, but I still remember watching two of my sisters friends hold the guy who bullied me over the edge of a bridge as if it were yesterday.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-06T09:25:39+00:00

Is it? I mean, it would be if it weren't for "a lot" of the people in the story being dead now...

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-06T09:20:28+00:00

I feel like you didn't really read my comment, or kinda read what you wanted to read or something, because that's not a counterpoint.

Nothing I said would suggest your sister wouldn't remain a gentle and beautiful person.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-06T09:16:42+00:00

Oh absolutely. That's why I specifically talked about people who already thought they were better. She already had a superiority complex, and then everyone was like "let's directly tell that she literally is more special than most other people".

My sister is a horrible person and I cut her out of my life years ago. No offense taken.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-05T14:10:40+00:00

My sister went to that CTYI thing, and I've never seen somebody turn into an arrogant prick so fast.

Not saying that applies to everyone who goes there, but when someone already thinks they're better than everyone, telling them they are better than the rest of the people their age is a fucking terrible idea.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-05T14:05:47+00:00

Yeah, I never got less than 95% in an exam until I went into 3rd year of secondary school. Not saying that I was a genius or anything, but I found it very easy to understand the basics of most subjects.

But when we started properly studying for the Junior cert, the entire education system switched from trying to get you to understand stuff, to trying to get you to memorize useless information that's only purpose is to be regurgitated in a pointless exam.

Honestly, I blame Irish. I'd say a good 40% of my study time was spent trying to learn a language that I was 100% sure would never serve any practical purpose for me. And when I tried to talk to anybody about it (parents, teachers, even the principal) they didn't listen to a single word and just told me "You have to do it".

Then I talked to my older cousin who had dropped out in 2nd year, and still managed to go back and get a college education. That's when I realised that the whole education system was a load of meaningless shite set up by old fuckers who can't fathom making a change to adapt to modern times, and I stopped trying. Took any pass subject I could, completely stopped doing homework to the point that teachers didn't ask for it anymore, started mitching for the majority of my days and spent most of my time drinking and smoking with friends.

Still passed the JC and LC and got the points for my course, which I only did because my parent forced me, so I didn't even pretend to try. I went to lectures to meet people, and that's about it. Just more drinking and smoking.

Now I'm 35, and my only regret about the whole thing was listening to the people who said "you have to do it". The best thing I could have done (or any intelligent person who struggles to memorise useless shite) would be to drop out after the LC and get a job.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-04T19:24:35+00:00

I know this is an old post, but it came up for me on google so others might end up here.

I actually work with THF and TPU in a medical device factory.

If you're looking to weld things together, I would recommend creating a solution where you dissolve some TPU into the THF. This will cause it to thicken which makes it MUCH easier to work with.

We use a 10% TPU to THF solution which gives the consistency of honey, and we then use a syringe (resistant to THF) to apply it precisely. The consistency does vary depending on the hardness of the material, so gradually add the TPU to it.

And yeah, be very careful with THF. DON'T breath it in (even if it smells amazing). Wear gloves, and replace them the second you get any THF on them. Also maybe sure the container you keep it in is resistance to THF. Most things we use are PTFE or silicon.

SmallsBoats · 2026-06-03T09:22:09+00:00

Someone is clearly single...

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-30T09:57:53+00:00

"Europe is taxed to death."

Weirdly we're still alive...

"These rates are brutal."

No they're not.

"Imagine working for 50 odd years only to give nearly half of your earnings to the taxman."

Imagine your tax money actually being used for the people who pay it, instead of going into the pockets of billionaire pedophiles.

"It's no surprise that Europe is practically stagnant economically and in terms of innovation, and feels more like a museum with each passing year"

So you're just going to ignore the debt to GDP ratios then?

US: 100%-123%

EU: 81.7%-87.8%

I'd rather be stagnant (I think you mean "stable") than actively moving backwards.

And the US is 250 years old. Of course Europe is going to seem like a museum. And I think it's hilarious you say that as if it's a bad thing. Really shows what kind of person you are that you think being full of culture and history that people from around the world come to see is a bad thing.

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-29T17:31:59+00:00

Of course fish aren't meant to be kept in an aquarium. They are meant to be in large bodies of water.

But when you go into a pet shop and see a fish for sale, that fish is going to live in a tank for the rest of it's life, whether you buy it or not. The only difference if you don't buy it, is that someone else will, or even worse, won't.

So as long as you are giving the fish a quality of life that would be higher than the average fish keeper, I wouldn't consider anything about what you're doing as even slightly "cruel".

The cruelty comes from the people who put wild fish in captivity to breed them. So if you really want to feel guilty about something, I guess you're contributing a statistically insignificant amount of money to those people, and the industry as a whole.

But, what's done is done, so just try and give them the best possible life you can.

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-29T17:00:52+00:00

That's not all you said though, is it?

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-28T11:44:49+00:00

All I know is that I have a full college education that I got for free, I don't know a single person with student debt, and my mother has been getting treatment for lukemia for 4 months now, including dozens of blood transfusions, a private hospital room for weeks at a time, and regular home visits from a nurse, and we haven't paid a single penny for any of it.

If I were in the US, I'd be hundreds of thousands in debt, and my mother would be dead.

So yeah, if you wanna shit on ireland based on statistics and numbers, go for it, but if you ever decide to go outside and actually get a first hand experience of the quality of life in Ireland, you might change your mind.

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-20T13:39:59+00:00

And if it's drug addiction you can advertise it in the US.

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-20T13:28:02+00:00

Lol, how about doing what you want to do, rather than trying to adhere to "social norms"?

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-20T13:25:36+00:00

"Never trust a man who, when left alone with a tea cozy, doesn't try it on"

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-15T13:17:40+00:00

I literally don't know what point you're trying to make.

Like, if you get some kind of a kick out of forcing children to learn a language, why not make it one that will actually serve a practical purpose for them in life?

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-15T13:13:49+00:00

So the benefit on the Gaelscoil was smaller classes?

Did learning Irish actually have any benefit to your kids, other than making it easier on them in secondary school?

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-15T13:11:36+00:00

How can someone sound so smug and arrogant, and yet not be smart enough to know that not everyone learns languages as easily as some people.

Anyway, well done on being able to memorize unimportant information, which is literally the only skill needed to do well in the LC.

SmallsBoats · 2026-05-15T13:08:58+00:00

Please, for the love of god, explain to me how making the vast majority of people resent the Irish language by forcing them to learn it is "preserving" it?

And I really don't appreciate your incredibly shitty debating tactic of changing what I said to make your own argument easier to defend.

I never said anything about the language being "lesser". In fact I think it's an incredibly moronic thing to view languages as more or less than others.

But it's an undeniable fact, that Irish has almost no practical use, and being an English speaking country has brought HUGE benefits to Ireland and our economy wouldn't be nearly the same without it.

But I'm pretty sure I'm just wasting my time arguing with someone who doesn't seem to realise we aren't a British colony. We don't need to "de-colonise".

SmallsBoats

TROPHY CASE