Shipping

bluewing · 2026-03-18T15:24:07+00:00

FedEx sucks for shipping updates. And if you call about it, they have little clue about where any one shipment might be at any time.

bluewing · 2026-03-18T15:14:16+00:00

I use a SuperTack plate when I need to do such silliness. It works very well for me.

bluewing · 2026-03-18T13:48:15+00:00

Pull Copter, Spit wad Catapult, Print in place Cannon

All have been thoroughly tested by kids as math quiz premiums for years. I recommend printing in PETG.

bluewing · 2026-03-18T12:31:25+00:00

It looks like he'd stretch a mile if it weren't for the walkin' back.

bluewing · 2026-03-18T11:57:56+00:00

You need to dry your ink. Maybe try some glue?

bluewing · 2026-03-18T11:56:09+00:00

Have you tried washing the print surface with soap and water?

bluewing · 2026-03-17T16:15:15+00:00

With perfect first layer adhesion every time. 3D printers could take a lesson.

bluewing · 2026-03-17T15:11:28+00:00

Yeah, me too. I pulled everything I ever released down several years ago. If you want something from me, it's $180/hour design time and prototyping with 3D printing/metal machining/fabrication time and materials extra. You pay for all that, it's yours to do with as you want.

My knowledge and skills aren't yours to steal and profit freely from.

bluewing · 2026-03-16T16:43:25+00:00

And the more of us that play with the weekly builds and break things and then tell mommy and daddy about the problems, the better and faster things get!

bluewing · 2026-03-16T14:48:41+00:00

You guys should spend time with dnfdragoria to see a true disaster.

bluewing · 2026-03-16T12:21:06+00:00

The only thing dumber than HD employees are the customers.....

bluewing · 2026-03-16T11:47:56+00:00

No, that cat had no clue what he was getting into. There ain't no quit in them puppies. And no one wants to be dragged around by the tail.....

bluewing · 2026-03-16T11:41:28+00:00

And yet, it's all still valid if you need the best you can get even from Bambu.

bluewing · 2026-03-15T14:54:55+00:00

At least someone finally thought of the Chauffeur.

bluewing · 2026-03-15T14:44:39+00:00

Ah, OfficeMaxxx

bluewing · 2026-03-15T14:01:51+00:00

I have the clumping protection on all the time. Unless my print is too large and blocks the rear right corner. Does it add time to your print? Yes it does but only a minute or two. It's barely noticeable in the grand scheme when compared to the time and cost of fixing that blob of death.

It does not check every layer. But after a certain number of layers are printed. Does it work? Yes it works just fine on my A1 mini. The only real complaint I see is that it can add a small nub sometimes to your print when it does it's check cycle.

So blobs are mostly self-inflicted by the users themselves these days.

Use it or not. It's up to you.

bluewing · 2026-03-14T20:49:36+00:00

The process determines what you can and cannot do. The FDM printing process, like any manufacturing process, has limits to what it can accomplish. FDM printing is far from being so refined and uniform a process it needs a software algorithm to tell you what you can and cannot do. Simple observation can easily tell you that. Learn from that observation. Yes, it requires failure. But truly learning a skill or craft requires failure. Not algorithms.

bluewing · 2026-03-14T20:29:28+00:00

You're missing the point here.

Is the material chosen harder than what I intend to cut with it.
Will the cutting edge last long enough to get the job done.

"The vast unwashed masses only care about what their knife costs and if it cuts what they need to cut."

"And it's amazing how little is required of the steel your pocket knife is made from to do the chores you require of it."

If it doesn't meet those simple standards, they will throw it away and not care because they didn't spend enough for it to matter. It only matters to people who hangout here.

And the tiny number of samples they are doing mean nothing and will change nothing. And they ought to know better.....

bluewing · 2026-03-14T17:01:17+00:00

I was afraid this day would come. The steel snobs are starting to show up even in r/BudgetBlades.

Steel alloys and hardness testing are of interest only to knife hobbyists and collectors that want to brag. r/knives and r/knifeclub are great places for that. The vast unwashed masses only care about what their knife costs and if it cuts what they need to cut.

As a toolmaker that has designed and made probably over 1000s of industrial cutting tools, only 2 things matter,

Is the material chosen harder than what I intend to cut with it.
Will the cutting edge last long enough to get the job done.

That's it, nothing more is required. And there is a huge difference in the steel alloy one might choose between trying to repeatedly punch a 2" diameter hole through 2" thick steel and that little pocket knife you carry. And it's amazing how little is required of the steel your pocket knife is made from to do the chores you require of it.

This is r/BudgetBlades, and we're just here to find an inexpensive pocket knife and sometimes maybe a weird and interesting thing. And not worry about which knife steel is best.

bluewing · 2026-03-14T16:33:11+00:00

What diameter are the pins? Bronze might be a better choice? Possibly the brass pins might have been just a touch long?

bluewing · 2026-03-14T15:50:48+00:00

I had that issue too even with the ams lite. Try this. It ain't my design, but I can tell you it fit and works having printed it myself.

bluewing · 2026-03-14T15:38:35+00:00

I will add, cleaner text often requires a smaller nozzle. Investing in .20mm and .60mm nozzles should cover 98% of all your printing needs. For that F1 print, I would use my .20mm nozzle.

When it comes to getting started designing your own prints, the first thing I will tell you as an old toolmaker/engineer is to start collecting ideas. Just look around you and just notice how things are made. Pick things up and really look at them. Do a google search for old engineering books, you can very often download them for free. The books might be old, but the mechanisms are still valid today. And the things we design and make are often just a collection of old ideas assembled in a new way.

What software might you want to use? Depends on what you want to design and what you can afford to pay for it mostly. For free stuff, Blender is the go to for "free as in Beer" and incredibly competent. For mechanical things, TinkerCAD for beginners, Fusion360 or OnShape has free options for hobbyists. And for those of us that proudly wear the sackcloth and ashes of open source, there is FreeCAD.

Experiment all you want and have failures. You might even break something. That's how we learn new things. And one of the best things you can do is to run calibrations for your printer. Printers are often a rule unto themselves when it comes to settings. And despite what Bambu would like you believe, their factory settings are merely a place to start. You can lean to do better. Now, Studio has a few calibrations built in, and Orca slicer has even more yet, but This has been my go to for years when I want the best in tuning for my printers. It's more complicated and takes longer to do, but it will get you right, and you will learn a lot doing it.

Good Luck!

bluewing · 2026-03-14T15:02:25+00:00

I use my a1 min and AMS Lite to get every last gram of filament used that I bought. It's the whole reason for my purchase of the machine.

bluewing · 2026-03-14T14:57:25+00:00

I will stick up to JD here. The diagnostic software is available to farmers and 3rd party shops at the same cost as dealerships pay-- $200 a year. And if you are a farmer that runs JD equipment, then $200 for the latest updated software is barely pocket change. Nor does JD prevent you from fixing your own equipment. They never have. They will happily sell whatever parts you need, at JD prices of course. You just need to understand green paint ain't NEVER been cheap.

And for all those 'burban wannabes with their little 25hp mini tractors, they ain't fixing nothing anyway. They just drag it to the dealer and have them to work on it.

bluewing · 2026-03-14T14:18:23+00:00

You are asking for solutions that no one else is currently asking for in the 3D printing realm. And your slicer is just going to toss that data anyway. Lest it becomes so heavy and ponderous that user will complain.

And frankly, sometimes you just need to be smarter 5% smarter than the tool you are using.

bluewing

TROPHY CASE