• 3D printing - Around home - Blog

    3D printer..let the fun begin

    As soon as 3D printers came out Mr. G has been wanting one.  Here it is…fresh from the box.  It came with a little yellow octopus that they print with your particular machine before shipping it. And enough filament and the necessary software to print a second slightly varied model.

    3D printer | Halle's Hobbies

    ***FYI–photo heavy post***

    3D printer | Halle's Hobbies3D printer | Halle's Hobbies3D printer | Halle's Hobbies3D printer | Halle's Hobbies3D printer | Halle's Hobbies3D printer | Halle's Hobbies
    I present the finished “roctopus” which it this particular company’s logo/mascot.

    3D printer | Halle's Hobbies

    It was such a fascinating process to watch.

    Next Mr. G moved to the garage and went about printing some calibration units to fine tune the machine…I didn’t document any of that…I got bored. After that process was complete he went about printing a case for the tiny RapsberryPi computer that he has running the machine.

    3D printer | Halle's Hobbies 3D printer | Halle's Hobbies 3D printer | Halle's Hobbies

    This is the bottom of the case. Amazing isn’t it!!! How a spool of plastic filament can become a 3D object. There is a CAD program involved and a slicing program… I know some of you may be thinking “blah,blah..techie…blah..” but it is a very cool process.

    In my next couple posts I’ll be sharing how all this plays into things of an artsy manner as well as super practical things such as….

    3D printer | Halle's Hobbies…gears for the machine itself. All the plastic parts for this 3D printer are…you guessed it….3D printed. WHA?? Super cool. They give the files to create replacement parts with the machine. They recommend that you print certain ones that wear the quickest.

    Mr. G also has ideas for household uses…such as the air compressor was in need of a new filter for the air intake…he wanted something more high performance to prolong the life of the compressor itself.  He designed this new fitting in a CAD program then printed it out.

    3D printer | Halle's Hobbies

    Perfect fit for the filter he prefers.

    3D printer | Halle's Hobbies

    How cool is that!

    Okay…I’m sure you’ve had enough of me bragging about my husband.

    I’m working on painting some cool pieces for a couple board games and thinking up fun crafty things as well…more to come…I promise!

  • Around home - Blog - Crafts

    T Tuesday: pattern making edition

    Good morning and welcome to T stands for Tuesday.

    T stands for Tuesday

    I finally caught the cold/virus that Big J was suffering with all last week. Bummer! Hopefully we won’t continue to pass it along to the rest of the family.

    Before I started feeling cruddy I was asked by Mr. G to make a cover for his new gadget…a 3D printer.

    T Tuesday pattern maker edition | Halle's Hobbies

    More on that in a future post.

    T Tuesday pattern maker edition | Halle's Hobbies

    Measurements in hand I went about drawing and figuring out how to make a cover that had a special feature…an opening for the carry handle.

    T Tuesday pattern maker edition | Halle's Hobbies

    I picked this blackout curtain on clearance at Target for my fabric. I have used this material in the past for printer covers…the synthetic lining keeps dust from filtering through.

    T Tuesday pattern maker edition | Halle's Hobbies

    After cutting my pieces I pinned them inside out around the 3D printer. That way I could take up any slack where needed and make sure my flap idea actually worked.

    T Tuesday pattern maker edition | Halle's Hobbies

    Tada! It worked just as I thought. The flap overlaps…think of men’s boxer shorts flap…it’s closed but there is still access when needed. 🙂

    T Tuesday pattern maker edition | Halle's Hobbies

    It’s a bit wrinkled but who cares…it serves the purpose of keeping the dust off.  See the green gear like object…that was printed with this machine.  I’ll do a whole post about the 3D printer. It’s really cool!

    As for today…I’ll be drinking lots of hot tea with honey. Unfortunately the laundry still needs to be done, dishes washed and food made…darn it. I’ll be plugging away at those things today.

    What are you doing today?