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Any recommendations on "best" FREE CAD software?
I really like OpenSCAD - CAD for programmers. I've been able to make some pretty cool designs without a lot of difficulty.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx
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Thanks very much. I will check it out.
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Fusion360 is free for hobbyists and great for 3D printing. Lots of great tutorials on the web and a very active community. HUGE learning curve for sure. Downside of the free version is printing full size plans on actual paper. Not a prob for 3D printing, but is if you are making stuff out of balsa.
Tinkercad is great for really simple stuff. Super easy to learn, but you'll outgrow it quickly, better to invest the time in learning Fusion360.
Blender is really good for sculpting and "natural" shapes. Also a steep learning curve, but easier than Fusion360. More for artists than engineers maybe?
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Have a look here: Adventures in 3D printing Part 1: Fusion, you CAD![^]
Adventures in 3D Printing Part 2: Rise of the 3D Models[^]
Adventures in 3D Printing Part 3: Making Complex Apertures - Recovering from the Bends[^]
And very important things:
1) Getting the bed levelling right is really important. If it's "low" on one side then that side will print too loose and then it'll detach and melt itself to the hot end. And it's a PITA to clear it off because the head needs to be 180C or so to melt the filament it's covered in so you can't touch it (especially not with a wet cloth!)
2) After bed levelling, the next critical thing is the bed and nozzle temperatures. Check the filament manufacturers recommendations and start right in the middle of those.
3) Material. PLA is easy to work with, but not very strong, and it's glass temperature is pretty low - so it'll sag if you leave it in a car in the sun! It's also not as durable as PETG, which is about as easy to work with, though it needs a higher print temperature. ABS beats them all in everything except actual printing - I abandoned ABS because PETG gives be much more reliable printing. My hot end still has traces of ABS from the last "birds nest" it created ...
Have a look here as well: PLA vs PETG: Which Material Should You Choose? - 3Dnatives[^]
Good luck - and persevere! It's surprising just how many things you didn't know you needed to make that can be printed. For example, I'm making kitchen cupboard doors - so I've printed three jigs for the handle locating holes: they are all in the same relative position and I don't need to measure anything.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Thanks so much for taking your time to give me those tips.
I will definitely check out the resources you gave.
As I was purchasing I saw all kinds of stuff about Bed Leveling but had no idea why it is really that important. These few sentences you gave me helped me more than a lot of other stuff I've read elsewhere. Didn't know about nozzle temp importance either. really great stuff.
Thanks again.
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You are more than welcome!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Have you tried TPU? We're using it for some bearing covers for work and like the flexibility of it.
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I haven't - I know my printer can handle it* but I don't need flexible printing at the moment.
* Anycubic Mega S and TPU - Best Settings & Upgrades[^]
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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All good advice here. Nothing else to expect from Griff.
I would recommend PLA more than PETG that the site suggests. PLA is considered more of a "beginner" filament vs PETG because it is easy to work with etc... but some of the objections and advantages I think are subtle and a bit over done.
PLA is considered more biodegradable for example, but people that have buried things in their gardens for a few years see that the PLA items are still about as robust as the PETG ones. The other differences don't show much contrast between the filament types (ie. on a scale of 1 to 10, a 9.1 and a 9.2). And I disagree completely with the temperature ranges provided. In my experience, PLA prints in the range of 180 to about 250 degrees, PETG 200 to about 260. PETG is much worse at stringing and self-adhesion between layers. Any models with a lot of "action" are much harder with PETG. PETG has more print failures.
And colour? Surprisingly I've seen more differences between filament colours (and brand names) than between material type.
I have come to the point of printing a temperature tower for each new box of filament, storing it in the box it came in and picking the right print temperature based on what my print model looks like. Something with overhang, sharp edges or flat surfaces would be printed in PLA, something requiring durability or strength would be PETG. Some vendors have something called PLA+ that I am happy with. No idea what it is.
I started with PLA, then shifted to PETG later and have built up a considerable library of (mostly) PETG filament. I have become a bit jaded with PETG and am shifting back to PLA.
Oh and ... Cheap filament is usually no bargain.
If pigs could fly, just imagine how good their wings would taste!
- Harvey
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Congratulations !
I'm curious as to what your gizmo does.
cheers, Bill
«The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled» Plutarch
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BillWoodruff wrote: I'm curious as to what your gizmo does.
Thanks for asking.
It is a very simple device really. It tracks room temperatures and allows you to log them to the SD Card. It also allows you to read the temperature from any room where the device is via Bluetooth on your phone (I have a prototype android app also -- and later there will be iphone). It also allows you to retrieve the data on that is written to the SD card over bluetooth so you can view graphs of the data and see spikes (or dips) in room temperature very easily.
It's just a temperature tracker on steroids. 
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Excellent. Just look for some 3D Model that is 'boxy' enough to fit your boards and then modify it so that it can actually be used as a case.
My current favorite as a case for the Zwölf would be this thing: Galileo shuttle by 3dmax - Thingiverse[^]
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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Thanks for the tip and the link. That's a great idea. Start with something close and alter it.
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Just looked at that case. It is great. Star Trek shuttle.
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And, also, I started clicking around on the Thingaverse site and I'm addicted at seeing all the projects. Cant. Stop. Browsing...
Really cool stuff. thanks
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raddevus wrote: I've recently converted my breadboard prototype (rat's nest of wires)[^]
Where did you get the breadboard done? I've got a couple of projects and started the research, but was a little overwhelmed. Any pointers would be appreciated.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx
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I downloaded Kicad[^] (FREE schematic / PCB design software).
And watched a couple of videos on getting started with it -- if I find the links I will send them along.
I had to create my PCB direct -- meaning I skipped the schematic creation step -- which is probably not advised -- and I directly designed the PCB. That's because i didn't know how to match a schematic symbol to the through-hole part that I wanted to end up on the PCB.
I was in hurry, because I'm always in a hurry. 
Well, I finally somehow got a basic PCB designed.
OSHPARK
Somewhere I saw this Oshpark.com - PCB manufacturer in US[^] (maybe on twitter)
Very Cool : Upload Test
Here's the cool thing.
I noticed that I could upload my PCB to the oshpark site and it would generate a board preview -- a real image of what my board would look like.
I kept altering things & uploading over and over and that really helped me get to the final.
I used Oshpark and got three boards for $30.50 USD. Shipping is included in that price -- but it is slow (via US postal service).
It's a long wait when you want to test it to see if it even works. 
But I got them in about 14 days or so.
I really like Oshpark and how their site works. Very helpful. And I still can't believe I got it done because I have no idea what I'm doing. 
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Personally I'm avoiding Autodesk Fusion 360 because it's 100% cloud-based. I've settled on FreeCAD for my first attempts at learning this stuff, but I have nothing more to offer you other than the following:
Andreas Spiess just put out a video about how he prints his project boxes.
- Owen -
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Thanks for the info. I will definitely check out FreeCAD and I've just started watching that video link. Really great.
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The thing that's always stopped me from buying one, is uncertainty about the cost of feeding it. About how much filament would it take to print, say, the angel shown on the Amazon page?
Truth,
James
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I have no idea about that either. I ordered two spools of stuff that the amazon site suggested with the printer. One was $10 & the other was $21. I saw the type of one was PLA and others have mentioned it so I am guessing they will actually work.
When I get my printer and make a test print I will try to give you an idea of how much it takes.
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Ah... Didn't realize you didn't have it yet.
Truth,
James
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Completed my first print & wanted to let you know about filament usage.
Filament usage is very small actually.
Here is the sample filament they gave with the printer: https://i.stack.imgur.com/QukEv.png[^] There is a micro SD card in the center of that loop to give you an idea of how small amount this really is.
Here is an item (chip clip) I printed with that filament (with much left over): https://i.stack.imgur.com/iWe65.png[^]
I added a normal ball point pen for scale comparison.
Here's what is left of the spool on the 3d printer (a lot):
https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ae2BC.png[^]
Hope this helps give you an idea.
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My systems drive was only 256 GB and was slowly filling up. So I decided that in preparation for a clean install next month when Windows 11 arrives, I will install a new, larger drive. I got a 512 GB NVMe SSD from Amazon and fitted it into the machine.
Then I tried to boot from a Macrium recovery USB flash drive to restore my last image. Macrium booted OK, but nothing worked. The mouse had no effect. I was stymied. Went into the BIOS a couple of times to fiddle with the boot options, but nothing worked. Fiddling with the BIOS always makes me nervous, and I became convinced I had broken something in the BIOS.
I was about ready to start crying when I noticed something: The mouse was black! My computer's wireless mouse is red! When I started using the red mouse, everything worked like a charm! I felt such a fool! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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I had the same issue with multiple keyboard for multiple machines on my desk. I'd always wonder why the typing wasn't working.... wrong KB!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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