This is a very sharp article. Think I first saw it on Hackaday. I should be using the checklist more often. If there is to be a 3D print bible like Machinery’s Handbook, this article is foundational.

In particular, chamfers and fillets and their relationship to strength by reducing stress risers is often missed on amateur designs.

I need to look at crush ribs and ribs for screws/bolts more.

The idea of a sphere being the most efficent shape is counterintuitive when most mechanical design is inherited from subtractive manufacturing. Also, speed holes reducing strength and increasing material usage is wild. These are powerful ideas that are going to cause almost a philosophical change in manufacturing. It’s going to take decades. Absolutely mind-blowing stuff when you really think about it.

DFM, in general, is a woefully underappreciated aspect of engineering. One of the great things about 3D printing is that the designer is generally forced to eat their own dog food.

MEs should recieve more education about DFM. 3D printing would be an easy way to force them to understand the difficulty poor design causes. Of course, DFM for subtractive is a larger and more complex subject, but printing would at least teach the lesson with a little sting.

Woah.

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs

This may be the true inverse of that statement. Automated for maximum efficiency/extraction.

Cyberpunk dystopic as fuck.

It’s wincest. Especially if it features little people.

Whoa. I haven’t heard of Pervertube. I have specific tastes involving a dirty mattress with no sheet or at least one overflowing ashtray.

NEW PORN!!!1!!!1!!!

Just a note on the efficacy of activist messages in FOSS.

In the Aughts, I was learning to play with microcontrollers. PIC microcontrollers were free as well as the JAL language. I ordered a hardware programmer from the Dutch guy who created JAL: Wouter van Ooijen. Probably my first purchase online. There was a statement in the license, to the effect of, the language could not be used to develop arms.

Looking back, that was a turning point for me. I was machining arms for a living and continued to do so for years. It got me to thinking about what it was that I was producing with my hands. Weapons for killing people.

I thought about it a lot. All these things I was making with blood and sweat being used to kill people. Running machines on night shift gives you time to think.

His statement was, at minimum, at least partially responsible for me changing my mind. I grew past the bad religion and far right ideology that I was taught.

I’m going to send him a thank you note.

I started with Surfcam then MasterCAM, done some TEBIS, Fusion 360, AutoCAD, Eagle, Solidworks, and probably some others. I’ve even used inkscape and GIMP to cleanup and convert images into models for measurements and reverse engineering.

I have never had the trouble I have with FreeCAD. Have seen others complain about it as well.

Metal printing and such would be in the context of building a CNC shop and him being proficient at modeling and such after playing with an FDM printer for a few years. We’re talking a pro grade printer and sintering oven. If he has the interest, my son could handle printing and I would handle CNC. That’s the dream. Requires tens of thousands of dollars. Baby steps first to see if he has the drive. Bambu is almost certainly not on the list unless I trip up on an incredible deal.

I guess my ultimate goal is that he learn to model and begin building proficiency with CAD to prepare him for CAM. I also want him to start getting a feel for CNC movement and thinking in Cartesian. I think the best way to get there is by getting him engaged in printing. I’m not sure if tinkering will help or hinder this process. I know it helped for me, but I’m not sure if it will for him. I think it might. Still pondering the appropriate level of tinkering, but am leaning towards Voron, not sure if that’s my personal bias.

Yah, these days I refer to anyone under 30 as a kid. Especially in a manufacturing or trade context.

I check on FreeCAD every so often. The UI team should be forced to wear underwear made from pinecones until they fix that horror. Been doing CAD/CAM for more than two decades and FreeCAD is so unintuitive that it is unusable. Making a sketch or taking a measurement shouldn’t require research. Recently tried it again and was unable to sketch angles for a brace I was making and needed dims on. Tried libreCAD (unfortunately 2d only) and was able to get my angles and lengths in 15min or so without any tutorials.

I hear and agree with what you’re saying about open CAD software. However, I don’t want my son trying to learn something that will just frustrate him. I wish OSS would catch up on CAD/CAM, I could ditch windows for good.

I watched the RepRap development back in the day, but eventually stopped following 3D printing closely. (Ended up with an Atlas Craftsman lathe with milling attachment that did all the home manufacturing I needed). Prussa and Voron are our top contenders for printers now. He’s got a spreadsheet where he’s comparing specs and I’m getting him to read the quick starts and manuals.

I’m going to dig into the Voron world and see if it’s a reasonable project for me to support my son on. Not sure if it will be beyond his attention span. Otherwise it will be either a Prussa or maybe an Ender.

FDM for now. Not planning on doing casting or proto mockups at this time.

Envelope is not a large concern, I assume it is similar to machining. You buy 1.5x the size you think you need and find out it should have been twice as big. The plan is to cut teeth on this printer before moving to something better/larger.

Mostly want to use the printer as a tool, not bothered if some tinkering is required. A Harbor Freight machine like a drill press or band saw is a ‘kit’. Use it for a little bit, take it apart and fix the manufacturing shortcomings. I’m okay with a printer of similar build quality as long as the bones are good.

Voron sounds interesting, have seen the Enders as well, seem to be okay.

I get what you’re expressing. I’m not going to try and force him to enjoy it if he hates it.

However, he’s about to be as old as I was when I got my first job. Some personal discipline is necessary. The family business is going to be machining and at minimum, he will push buttons and load parts at some point.

He spends several hours a day playing Storm works and has been teaching himself the Lua scripting that is in it. He has expressed interest in civil engineering, architect, and all sorts of mechanical things. He’s nuts about cars, tractors, trucks.

We’re kind of reaching the point where the rubber meets the road. I have provided Arduinos, discrete component kits, knives for whittling, his own rolling tool chest, pirate server, rpi, FFA involvement, python, and so on. There has been some engagement, but, not the deep engagement he shows with gamified machines.

I need him spending less time gaming, even if it is an engineering based game, and more time building some practical skills. He’s at the age to begin transitioning to an adult. He’ll be driving soon. It is time to be a little firmer about learning real world mechanical skills. It’s my duty.

He’s been very excited about the printers at school and the seat of Fusion. I’m hoping this will spark the fire.

Given his interests, it’s critical he actually learn how to model instead of playing with the limited implementation in something like stormworks. (He frequently shows me machinery he’s built in game and we discuss them.)

He did built a kit picnic table this year, where he had to chop saw the 2x4s and screw it together. I’ve about got RTFM hammered into him.

I’m also pushing him to research his interests instead of just watching YouTube videos. He doesn’t have to be a machinist or even mechanical, even though his interests are there. However, he must begin learning how to work and teach himself.

Yo-ho-ho. The wife and kids love the pirate life as well. They just search what they want on Radarr or Sonarr and it pops up on Jellyfin in a few minutes. We were spending around $200/no on services with a lot less choice and lower quality.