chris, i gave up on watching CNC machines long ago after i built my router table. it is painfully slow due to a poor stepper motor selection, especially doing 3d paths with a ball end mill and 25% stepover. i mainly use 1/8" bits on it for the final pass which can take hours on a relatively small model like this pinewood derby car my son and i built years ago. i now mainly use it to v-carve lettering into metal panels where its 30"/minute max speed isn't painfully slow. my son does enjoy babysitting the new printer but prints, even at 100mm/sec (i know, i'm switching measurement systems but 3d printers seem to be described mainly in metric, about 240"/minute in real units), take much longer than using my router table. i'm perfectly fine letting it grind away on its own, especially since cura provides a pretty good estimate of when to return when it's done.


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Sharp looking machine! You won any space cash with it?

no, but he won best nature theme, best animal theme, and most original with this pickup truck that sat almost twice as tall and wide as the standard pinewood derby wood block car. we added a lift kit, fenders, and a a dead deer in the back. it was apparently "redneck fabulous." ben got to use the wood lathe, belt sander, drill press, and the foredom with the power chisel. not bad for an 8 year old.


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Dang, the kid's got talent!

I remember those pine wood derby cars... that was one of the projects in scouts, was to build one with your farther and race against each other... there were categories, by weight, and my old man put the maximum amount of lead allowed... had to tweak the wheels to keep the car centered, and off the dividers, as dragging along the dividers, slowed the car down... Thats going back quite a few years.

Thats not too bad... it kinda looks like carbon fiber at first glance... Where I would need the fine print quality is in objects that had a lot of intricate detail... objects with large consistent surfaces, can be smoothed before casting it in the plaster.

What are you using the lens cover for, anti-spy, or just a dust cover.

it's on my work computer and i've noticed the light on the camera (indicating it is on) stays on sometimes. it's probably nothing but i'd rather print a fix and use the opportunity to learn to use the printer and learn its capabilities just in case.

Assuming you use Win10-11.... Turn it off under background apps, under windows 10 settings privacy backgrounds apps.... check under the camera's app settings permissions.... as well as disable it under task manager startup tab... I put a piece of tape over mine.

There are scripts that can enable your camera over the web, thats one of the reasons I use firefox with the noscript plugin, and I clear the entire whitelist and use it as a script firewall.

My work computer is so locked down after the ransomware attack that I don't even have permission to delete certain shortcuts from my desktop. I use the camera multiple times a day so I can't unplug it. A lens cap will have to do.

Thats Awesome!!!! most original is an understatement!!! Should have had a Saskatchewan licence plate on it just for true effect!!!! Of course the deer would have had to have been bigger... Monsters up here!!!! ;)

Don't rub it in Chris, we know you have the descendants of Hanson's buck roaming around up there. :p

Had a few spare moments and my lathe was crying from loneliness, so I gave GG's insert a whirl as a test... Got it almost right the first try - even got the "short tap" almost right I think.. The backwards reverse thread up to the flange was not as bad as I thought it would be and easy to index except for the fact that 32tpi is beyond my visual resolution.. Had to pull out my old man magnifier... :)

Willing to give this a whirl Lonnie if you want - will give you a call to discuss.


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Please excuse my "working man fingernails". Was doing some auto "Brake Work" before play time....

Oh you know about this place they call Saskatchewan! :o Yep - lots of deer up here.. have seen some biggies but you don't see many during hunting season - Don't know if I have ever seen a Decendent yet but they are out there.... I got 2 with one shot last Christmas Eve. Wasn't a great situation though as I was using my wife's 2018 Santa Fe as the projectile... wasn't quite an insurance write off but close.

Forget about the monster buck, Saskatchewan, thats Bigfoot country.

Insert looks good Cat... Indexing you can only get it wrong half the time without reference... all to do about nothing really. :)

Don't feel shy... that's how mine look on Sundays, after basically scrubbing my fingers down to bare bones...

Wow, I haven't even received my material yet and you've already whipped out a part. I really don't understand how you find the time for all these projects but very glad you do.:)

Crappy drawing, but dims are accurate.
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The best part is that favors from Chris always come with zero strings attached.

Thanks Lonnie - Thats what I needed - Will leave the OD slightly big and you can run it into your incoming Die if need be... Hopefully will find bit of time this weekend to knock out a few...

Can't help it.... I'm Canadian :cool::D

you've also never sent me a box of broken junk before, very polite of you canadians.

Ya gotta love them snow-meggicans...

Just kidding, Chris... In a way I am stinking jealouse of your skills (but jealouse in a positive way ;) )

Bert, you cut yourself short... with a mini desktop lathe/mill combo, you could do anything with your skill aptitude... everyone starts from the beginning... with a 3D printer, you would pick it up and be doing your own prints in short order... If Raleighli' can do it, you certainly can as well... don't put limits on yourself, your a bright guy with many hidden talents waiting to be explored. ;)

i would love a good desktop lathe/mill. unfortunately a > $1000 tool purchase plus required accessories like chucks and cutting tools is not in the budget at the moment. if i could find a home repair that required a lathe i could get it purchased pretty easily. that's how i got most of my tools. regarding the 3d printer, i'm certain bert could have one machine up and printing in no time, after all, he is meticulous with setting up mechanical items in his day to day work. learning CAD (fusion 360) is the difficult part but that's not insurmountable, it just takes effort and time. at the very least, a 3d printer would allow bert to retire the zip ties he uses to attach hall sensors to engines.

The mechanical part of slapping a printer together, absolutely should not be a problem... The digital part of it is: Not the kooking up to the computer, that is just a few plugs in the designated ports, but how to get the software running. I have somehow a HUGE "blindspot" for anything software related. I have a general good understanding of how software is supposed to work, what it can and cannot do, but the "link" between that and getting a program to work is basically completely missing, and the strange part is, once I get something (unexpectedly) going, the next time I try it, my memory is blank again.

Quite a while back, Hans helped me near hands-on (via whatsapp video call) to download, unpack install whatever you call it, the LUA script he sent over e-mail, into my Taranis. Even if you beat me to death, I couldn't repeat the steps now if I had to.
I have no idea how to write a LUA script, but what is so remarkable, I was without even the slightest issue able to modify that script when it did not work properly. That's the strange thing. Some levels of it I "see", like the glitches in the script, and some I am completely blind for, like compiling a script or even loading it in the Taranis.

I have something similar with math: I understand process control and the math behind it, know exactly what derivative and integrating actions are, even how they mathematically work, am familiar with differential equations and such, but I am unable to solve even the simplest of those equations, or write an equation that represents a control-loop or such.
But I am able to stand in front of a controller in action, observe it 5 or 10 minutes and tell you which output change is due to what parameter, which parameter to adjust if needed, P, I or D, and by approximately how much from just looking at it.

I have no idea why that is or how that works. I have the same with smartphones, I forget everything but the most frequently used options, have no clue how to change configuration or where to find settings, and it is such an inconvenience, that I barely use it for anything else than calls, Whatsapp messaging and simple banking stuff. I went to trainings and courses, but nothing sticks.
I set up my Taranis with the 6 buttons, I do have the companion software but do not have the faintest clue how to use it. The 6 buttons however, they "speak to me"...

Got it! Looking good, should work very nicely.

Thanks, a few will do. I'll be sending something your way in return. I'm sure you'll like it.

No need to leave the OD oversized, my 5/16-32 tap and die arrived and the tap fits very snuggly in the cylinder threading. .312"/7.92mm OD is fine. 1-1/2 to 2 threads for swaging should hold the insert in place.