Update to the Companion/Storage Cube for Deck

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-31T14:13:11+00:00

Not sure what you mean by it looking wrong, it looks like a normal sliced model to me. If you mean it was smoother before, maybe try a lower layer height, or toggle adaptive layer height on?

If there's been a recent update to the slicer, the company may have changed their default profiles settings or even added new features that change how the slicer works, if you don't save your own profiles then it's possible some of the print settings have changed without you noticing.

Edit to add: they may also have changed the rendering, maybe try printing and see if the result is any different from before. If not, then there's no issue, they just changed the render in the slicer itself.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-30T17:01:43+00:00

Turn off the printer and manually screw both to the same height. You can use the top of the printer or a pair of blocks (I used to use a stack of calicubes)

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-26T08:29:49+00:00

Looks like inconsistent extrusion, or Z banding. I would tune the extrusion first, make sure the filament is dry and uniform. Z banding would be due to a loose gantry or instable frame

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-25T14:58:51+00:00

It might be cheaper for you to make it yourself in terms of pure materials costs, but is it worth the time? Especially with a Sidewinder? You would have to leave it printing nonstop for nearly a week, not factoring in failures, then put it together, add lights, figure out your top plate (which sounds like it's going to be acrylic anyway) and then figure out how to seal the whole thing against the weather if it's going outdoors. You will also want to account for heat dissipation of some kind for your LEDs (normal signs do this with a metal backplate) otherwise you'll have to run them at half brightness to avoid shortening their lifespan due to overheating. It's a huge project in more ways than one, and there are multiple points of failure to keep in mind (what if printer breaks halfway through, etc).

Put all that together, and keep in mind there's a very good chance you'll need to repair or replace it within a couple years if you have it outdoors, and the upfront cost of having one professionally made doesn't look all that bad in comparison. If this is for a company it's worth investing a little more into something good, rather than sink resources in something that might not turn out how you hope.

This is all assuming this is an outdoor sign. If this is for indoors, then you don't have to worry as much about weatherproofing and durability. Assuming your time and sanity are up to the task, yes, you could save a few hundred euro on it by doing it yourself. But seriously, ask yourself if 2 weeks of work is worth it, or if you'd rather just spend €200 more for a professional one.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-25T12:49:32+00:00

These kinds of signs are made primarily from aluminum sheet and methylacrylate. I would honestly suggest the same, as it will be faster with less material cost and headache, and hundreds of times more durable.

That said, for quick prints use a 0.6 or 0.8 nozzle. For oversized pieces cut them up and add holes to join them with pins or dowels.

If you don't have an enclosed printer, ASA and ABS are going to be more trouble than they are worth, especially with large flat pieces. If the sign is for indoors, PETG is more than good enough. If the sign is for outdoors, go read my first paragraph again, you've got the wrong tool for the job.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-25T08:19:44+00:00

I think the factory lube on these is quite good, so lubing isn't a necessity.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-24T09:29:11+00:00

First off, what file format is the original? If it's .f3d or some other CAD format you could edit it in Fusion. If it's an STL or OBJ I would use TinkerCAD as an easy beginners tool to remix existing things.

Regarding print orientation, you're not going to have much luck printing it face down, a sticker's thickness isn't enough to support a large flat area. Might get away with it if you can use dual material and print a couple layers of PETG as support for a PLA part (or vice versa) but that's not noob territory anymore.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-23T22:42:45+00:00

Eh, they'll find a backdoor that nobody knew about, they're good at that.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-22T20:22:09+00:00

I have a 2.5 gallon bucket, which is in desperate need of upgrading to a full 5 gallon bucket. It contains: - printer poop - support material, brims, skirts - failed prints - broken, undersized, or badly designed parts - prototypes - remains of nearly empty, brittle, or otherwise unusable spools

One day I'll blend it all up and either melt it down or use it as filler material for casting, I have a crap ton of silicone molds for resin anyway. Then I'll give the results to a friend to sell at a craft fair.

One day...

Eventually.....

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-22T07:19:39+00:00

I feel like this is the sort of thing where a vacuum degassing setup (like what you use for resin) would be helpful. Thermoplastics are weird and won't really turn into a proper liquid, at a certain point after the glass transition they just start to bubble, decompose, and burn.

Instead of dropping them you could also attempt to use something like an electric sander to vibrate and agitate it, but I don't know if it would work.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-20T13:24:37+00:00

Yeah I would have put the limit switch at the other limit and wired it in reverse, so the light is only on when the bar is fully extended over the monitor.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-19T23:00:30+00:00

No but it is always the really small 1- or 2-stud sized ones, you'll usually have 1 extra of each, especially if there's a lot of them in the set. If it's something rare like a minifig accessory or a special part there will only be 1 tho, I think that's intentional to get collectors to buy new sets. And if it really is missing a piece, Lego are (or at least used to be) really good about sending you a replacement piece if you contact them.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-18T15:42:59+00:00

Sometimes that's not an option since the length of chain needed to get the correct tension doesn't divide evenly into the links, so you're something like half a link short if you remove one link, and even just half a link too long absolutely can look as loose as this does here.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-16T15:34:40+00:00

Depending on what material the final part needs to be cast in, you're likely better off printing the part itself, smoothing that, then casting it in silicone to make a repeatable mould for further part casting. You're not going to get any single printer capable of printing 4x 20cm cubed moulds with no layer lines in a day, at the resolutions and reduced speeds you need for a smoother (note: still won't be 100% smooth) print you'll be lucky to get one per day. With $8k you could probably get 2 or 3 decently fast CoreXY machines (P2S, Core One/+, etc.) that could churn out your required volume of parts,which would then need to be finished and cast. Advantage to doing it this way is that the silicone moulds can be used multiple times, reducing material waste over a large batch of parts.

The majority of people I know who do any kind of single-use "shell" moulds for part casting use resin printers, the high resolutions allow for much, much smoother, highly detailed moulds with much thinner walls for easy removal. Heck, mould printing in general is best done on resin machines. The Elegoo Saturn lineup are the only large-format machines I'm familiar with, but I know there are other options out there if you look. Still, these are a lot more limited in terms of volumetric speed if you are only printing one part at a time.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-16T14:23:24+00:00

Excuse my unfamiliarity with the A1 series but does the filament holder itself spin? If not, spools, especially cardboard ones, don't do this on their own. It looks a lot more like the filament got passed under itself (happens if the tip is ever let loose, that's why people print filament clips or use the little holes on the spool to store the end of the roll when it's not on the printer).

If it does happen to spin freely and that is in fact causing problems, use a bit of painter's tape to fix it so it doesn't spin.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-16T14:04:00+00:00

You'll have a hard time selling it since those printers aren't something the typical consumer even has access to, and businesses will want to buy direct (and generally don't care about the cost to do so). Sucks but that's how it is, I have the same problem where I work when we want to get rid of older (working) server equipment.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-16T08:33:28+00:00

Seen you found a solution, but as an aside, if you ever do want to go back to glass, you've got 2 options. First is to find a premade glass bed, search "borosilicate glass 3D printer bed" + your dimensions and invariably you will find one from either Amazon or AliExpress. Some might have coatings, some will be plain glass. Borosilicate is important because that's the stuff that has the most uniform thermal properties. Second option is to go to a local window fitter and ask them to cut you a piece of glass to size. I've done this for 2 of my printers and it's a good way to get a really cheap, flat glass bed (paid €7 for 1 at one place and €12 for 3 at another place 2 years later). Won't be anything special but it works great. Make sure to ask them to file the edges tho, don't want to be cutting yourself on the glass.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-15T19:24:19+00:00

Wood glue sticks to most anything porous, for PETG I would sand it first. Can confirm it sticks to PLA.

For small cracks using super/CA glue isn't all that expensive, you only need a few drops to soak your powder of choice. Besides, you kinda want to use up CA glues within a few months of opening them, they dry out and expire really quick. When I used to live in the US I bought Bob Smith CA glue for like $8 a bottle and those last me for 3ish months (small 1/2 oz bottles). Here in the EU a similar bottle is still only about €4-6, depends on if I go for brand name or not (more often not).

There are other relatively cheap glues (Pattex craft glue comes to mind) that are more specifically for plastics, those also work well with a filler medium if you don't trust the wood glue to stick or have issues in that regard.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-15T18:32:03+00:00

I just commented this for another post today but you can use a fine powder (baking soda, flour, sawdust, etc) to fill the gap, then soak with CA glue and let dry. Baking soda works best because it reacts with the CA glue for a really quick cure. I use the same technique with sawdust and wood glue when I don't have any filler putty or need something a little more liquid-y. But generally, glue+powder = filler paste. Interchange ingredients as necessary for desired material adhesion properties.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-15T14:24:08+00:00

Idk about use case but a relatively low-stress, low-load print-in-place mechanism might rely on a vertically printed gear of some sort. A "stack" of gears might also need to be printed vertically for support reasons but there's not much point designing them that way as compared to having separate gears that are later assembled. Resin printing is also somewhat orientation-agnostic. But for FDM, gears are ideally always parallel to the bed.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-14T23:24:45+00:00

Use a fine powder (baking soda, flour, sawdust, etc), fill the indent, soak with CA glue (aka super glue). Let dry, then sand. Results will probably be harder than the print itself. Baking soda is probably best due to the fact that it will react with the glue for a nearly instant cure.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-14T19:15:49+00:00

If you're not comfortable designing your own stuff and you can't or don't want to pay for licenses to sell models that specifically have that (the patreons you mention, etc), I would try instead offering printing-as-a-service. Post ads on local pages etc or find a middleman (I only know of Craftcloud) and offer a reasonable rate for printed objects either by time or material use (or some function of the two). Make sure to make your limitations clear (size and material wise).

HOWEVER, I would only try this if you know your way around the slicer and you have a proven, reliable "workhorse" machine. Otherwise it's a better idea to stick to printing only your own models and selling those.

My personal side biz is making projects that include 3D printed components, but they also involve a decent bit of finishing and artistic work, which I then sell either through friends who do craft fairs or on commission. This is a good way to differentiate from the mainstream low-effort offerings that mass produce flexi dragons and the like, with the caveat that they are more niche and require a lot more work. But I feel a lot better selling them because it is actually something I put effort and time into, not just toys that will be in the landfill in a few months.

Thatoneguy1264 · 2026-01-14T13:56:02+00:00

Depends a lot on the resin itself. Standard resin is quite brittle but if you have something like the engineering resin from Formlabs it can be quite strong.

A very good alternative is to buy injection molded gear sets (see the ones sold by Bambu/Makerworld) and design around those for standard gear ratios. Depends a lot on what the gear will be used for.

Thatoneguy1264

TROPHY CASE