Member postings for Neil Wyatt

Bagful here, all became my little brothers...

N.

To modify STLs you can use Blender. I find it VERY hard to use for all but basic operations, but people do amazing things with it.

I've discovered scanning, and found that if I need 'crew members' I can dress up a 1970s Action Man (with gripping hands, realistic hair and eagle eyes, no less!), pose him, scan him and print out a smaller version.

Look out for more details in a future MEW!

Here's a teaser - this is a 3D scan not a photo, it can be rotated in three dimensions. It even captured his flat-ended nose (as a result of an accident forty-odd years ago).

Neil

Crossed in the post!

It should dry fairly fast, I would normally leave acrylic a day before applying decals, just to be on the safe side.

Neil

This is what Humbrol say:

Enamels: Gloss: 1-2 hours. Matt & Satin: 20-40 mins touch dry, up to 24 hours for hard dry. Metallics: hard dry in approx. 10 days. Recoat: 6 hours minimum.

Acrylics: 1-2 hours ‘hard dry’, allow longer for Gloss and Metallic finishes.

uk.humbrol.com/support-and-advice/advice/humbrol-product-guide

Is this acrylic or enamel?

From experience, the enamel is slow drying and wants a lot longer tha 30 minutes between coats, or it could take several days to cure.

Acrylic should dry a lot faster.

Neil;

Well done John!

I was going to suggest drilling a hole in a bit of bar and using a round file while it spins on the motor to make a groove in a temporary pulley.

If there's a bigger pulley on the lathe to keep the belt aligned, you could just build up the motor shaft with masking tape, this would work well enough to make a pulley.

Neil

I haven't ever come across anything better than Google site search.

It works better than the built-in site searches for Screwfix, B&Q, Wickes and Toolstation for a start! Where would DIY be without Google?

Neil

For economy filament I would recommend Sunlu, and pay rather less than £20 for 1kg of PLA +

I seriously recommend PLA+ over standard PLA.

There are plenty of good brands out there at reasonable prices, and truly 'bad filament' is a rarity these days.

For 'tip top' results pay the extra for the big name brands, but the improvements are marginal if your printer is well set up.

If your printer isn't well dialled in, cheaper filament seems more likely to result in clogs, missed layers, stringing or poor adhesion.

Neil

Is anyone from the York area travelling to and from the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition on the 13 October?

If you are and might be able to give a fellow reader a lift each way, please drop me an email at [email protected]

Many thanks,

Neil

I'll be demonstrating the Halot Mage Pro resin printer and the K1 Max FFD printer at the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition, on the SMEE stand. There will be examples of successful prints and ones that went wrong over seven years or so of 3D printing!

I'll also be giving a talk about 3D printing on the Tuesday afternoon (and repeating on Friday afternoon, as we have lost a speaker).

Feel free to come along and ask me questions - I will try and have a note saying when I will be about on the stand.

To whet the appetite, this is the K1 Max printing a benchy (sped up!)

Neil

If you have good insulation, it's worth considering the contributions other devices make to heating.

Even though my office doesn't have a cavity wall (it's in a 125-year-old house) the ~300 watts from my computer makes a useful contribution to keeping the room warm (and can be a pain in summer!)

Similarly, in my previous home a condensing tumble drier in the kitchen made a significant contribution to heating, so effectively you got to use the energy twice.

The direct debits are recurring, open-ended purchases (although you can cancel renewal).

The 12 and 23 issue credit card purchases are non-recurring, so different products.

The only recurring credit card purchase is monthly, which is not available by DD.

There's no overlap between any of the various options that I can see.

Neil

Oops... should have read on...

Neil

You need to create an axis along the centre of the cylinder (or centre the cylinder on an existing axis) and revolve your shape around the axis.

Neil

There's no 'official' definition, just accepted usage, and as such it's always open to interpretation. You can always find a source that agrees with your personal definition and another that disagrees with it.

I used to feel it was that bolts hade a plain section, but nowadays I tend towards screw being simple fixings whilst bolts have a secondary role such as providing a location or closing an eye.

Neil

Interesting!

Neil (NotBot)

How odd - I had the same problem a week ago!

Utterly frustrating, I had to give up in the end as it was impossible to spray a good finish a few puffs at a time.

Neil

Is there a press release anywhere?

Neil

What Tony says!

Neil