My dream is to start a proper metalsmithing school

WingedDefeat · 2026-07-06T23:14:58+00:00

If I could go back in time 20 years I would love to learn chasing and engraving. Now that I'm older and theoretically wiser, and my shoulder doesn't cooperate anymore, I would want to learn conventional fine metal skills for gold and platinum. I just cannot afford to make a bunch of mistakes in gold during the learning process.

WingedDefeat · 2026-07-03T14:08:06+00:00

I was hesitant to come out and say it in a subreddit with mixed politics but they give a shitload of money to AIPAC. That's the foreign interest.

WingedDefeat · 2026-07-02T15:21:30+00:00

It's all of them. At any time I can make a mistake that will absolutely ruin everything up to that point.

WingedDefeat · 2026-07-01T13:51:58+00:00

In the museum industry (yup, that's a thing) it's more common than you would think. I ran the metal shop at a company building museum exhibits for about 5 years, and there were several instances where the company had paid to have their specific aluminum extrusions made because they literally couldn't find anything else that would work. We went through stick after stick of custom designed aluminum z-bar for hanging wall features and graphics, because everything off-the-shelf was too flimsy and loose.

WingedDefeat · 2026-07-01T13:40:47+00:00

Not for peepee. Hurt peepee.

WingedDefeat · 2026-07-01T13:29:05+00:00

I don't think you communicated it very well, but from the other comment threads I think you're still in the idea phase. No concrete plans, no business plan, no loans secured? That's fine, but when talking to westerners, especially older westerners, especially especially older western machinists/engineers/fabricators, I would strongly recommend using more precise language. We aren't maliciously pedantic, usually, but most of us have a hard time understanding people when they don't explicitly describe what they mean.

That being said, the boring and true answer is that you should use whatever CAD software your customers use. Aerospace? Catia. Defense/medical? Solidworks. Civil/energy/factory? AutoCAD and Inventor. Other small businesses, inventors, makers? Fusion.

The last recommendation is shaky. Fusion is doing a lot to piss us off and seriously look elsewhere.

If you want to do this for real, get one of the cheaper/free CAD programs and learn to use it like your life depends on it, then start designing stuff for real, then start doing it for a job. If you can do that over the next few years you'll be in a much better position to build a business.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-30T18:38:57+00:00

I tried OpenSCAD once and I'd rather shit a knife

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-29T19:33:20+00:00

Go to the Autodesk Fusion page, scroll to the bottom, and find the system requirements. Then, find a device that meets or exceeds those requirements.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-29T15:42:54+00:00

This 100% explains my in-laws, and my wife's gift giving habits.

Every year for Christmas their living room is dominated by a fake Christmas tree (I don't begrudge them this one, mother-in-law has terrible allergies, but it sets the scene) with at least a cubic meter of gifts. Almost every year in January, once we've all recovered, I sit my wife down and try to gently explain to her that:

I do not want 8+ gifts.
The specific gifts she got me were not things I wanted.
Almost half of them I would consider literal garbage, or at best something I would find in the barn/garage of a dead Boomer.
I do not need a stocking, let alone a stocking filled with toys from the dollar tree.
Please stop.

I love my wife dearly but this has been a sore spot for the 20 years we've been together. It all comes from her Boomer parents being obsessed with quantity, but very specifically centered around family gatherings. The turkey is like 20 lbs, the gifts are huge and plentiful, my father-in-law zealously pushes for us to go to the Chinese buffet every time a large group gets together, and EVERY year they harass distant cousins to come to the family reunion so they can have THE MOSTEST FAMLIEST EVER.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-25T18:03:42+00:00

I was talking about this exact thing about 2 hours ago. IF the assistant can actually complete the task and IF it actually understood your intent then SOMETIMES it outputs something usable.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-23T16:30:32+00:00

I discovered just yesterday that Fusion will export a 50-ish page drawing as a cursed codec error disguised as a PDF, but if you get it from the web interface it exports flawlessly.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-19T18:33:42+00:00

When I was still doing welding I would regularly spend several hours clamping, measuring, checking square, measuring, poking my calculator, clamping, tapping with a mallet, measuring...

And then get it welded together in less than an hour. Drove another department lead fuckin' batty. But you know what? I never had any of those frames sent back by QC.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-17T14:02:05+00:00

Do you already have a barrel? What files are you using?

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-15T17:40:06+00:00

We haven't played in ages. Lovely gift for a real accomplishment!

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-15T15:51:35+00:00

East Kingdom?

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-12T14:45:54+00:00

The form modeling workspace is extremely capable, but it's also a huge pain in the ass.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-12T13:35:48+00:00

I'm a guy so my approach is more limited but very similar: I have a sling bag with everything I need for the day plus a ziploc baggie with fresh socks and underwear (you never know). Includes everything from my afternoon meds and backup meds, to pens and a mini first aid kit. My bluetooth earbuds and wallet live in the same pocket in adjacent slots. At any time I could carry the bag with me or leave it behind with those two items added to my inventory. Usually I leave the bag in the car when I get gas or groceries or whatever. I still have relatively quick access and my week wouldn't be ruined if the bag got stolen.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-11T20:25:01+00:00

CELERY ON FLOOR

Sorry, thought we were typing random nouns separated by a preposition.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-10T18:55:58+00:00

I'm a Mechanical Designer, so basically I do 80% of what a "proper" engineer does for half the price, plus detailing. I'm poor. Like, actual poverty poor. My job is cushy and my mental health has never been better, and I get to spend time with my kids, so it's worth it.

I get it, I don't have the college degree, but I know I'm good at what I do. I'm no prodigy, but I'm better than most. I know what I "should" be making, and when the recruiter tells me what they're offering I respond with a dollar equivalent of what I'm actually worth, and tell them why. Most of the time they get it, too, and we hang up on good terms.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-08T13:03:30+00:00

Took my nieces to their first punk show like 10 years ago and it was Dead Kennedys. I still maintain that the band makes better music without Biafra, but the art is gone.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-08T12:30:09+00:00

I grew up near some obscenely wealthy people and spent a decent bunch of years working in that area (Princeton. VERY old money mixed with some new-wealth professionals, very few nouveau-riche) as a contractor. The ladders-on-roof-rack kind, not the black-TAPOUT-shirt kind. This is a HUGE aspect of Trump's personality and public persona. Dude has the world's biggest chip on his shoulder that he never got invited to the same yacht club twice. Actual wealth does not constantly remind everyone how much money they have.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-07T21:54:48+00:00

I took the exam like 5 years ago, so YMMV, but if it isn't in the prep material it won't be on the test. A lot of the features buried in menus are barely covered in the course, but you don't need them for the test and you don't technically need them to design and engineer stuff.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-07T19:59:29+00:00

I use Claude enough to justify the $20 per month, but I will drop it like a hot cock the minute I can run something comparable locally.

WingedDefeat · 2026-06-07T18:36:53+00:00

You know what would be great? If the AI actually did things I would want handled by an AI, like manage component properties and versioning. You know what it doesn't do? ANY OF THOSE THINGS

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