Not the illegal ones.
But it does cut down on the legal ones.
Wait. What…?
On second thought….
I promise... it's just enthusiasm!
even the linux-from-scratch snobs are usually pretty decent (really it's only when it's their first time out of the server room in too-long a time). I usually try to switch it up to something like "have you tried playing The Battle for Wesnoth. (it's a turn based fantasy strategy game that's... uhm. surprisingly good.)
mostly... I tell people who are using linux that I use linux, too.
The sudden moment of awkwardness when you realize they're using ubuntu and might run back to microcrap because you came on to strong is real.
this is one time I side with the NIMBY's.
fracking is awful and we need to kick the oil habit anyhow. it absolutely fucks up the local enviroment, and destroys the water table. the full name is literally hydraulic fracturing... because the process is basically taking something you can't normally get oil out of, pumping in a shit load of water until the bedrock shatters to fucking hell.
it lets you get to the oil, sure, but it also releases the oil (and all sorts of other shit, like gases) so that it gets into wells and everything else.
Basically the only people that are pro-fracking are the assholes that are perfectly okay fucking over every one else, and the assholes that take their money.
Lake Superior is deep enough. but it's cold enough the corpse won't go away anytime soon.
I imagine you can fit a wood chipper into a boat and then take care of all the problems that way.
Start with a wood chipper.
Saw that in a movie once.
Mostly by the cost? As for sets, they’re going to be 200+ easy.
Theres also some difference in tolerances, but to be honest, a super tight tolerance is a double edged sword. Bulk-produced bolts won’t be as tight anyhow.
For casual/infrequent uses, it’s totally fine to get the inexpensive ones. (I’d recommend going to a local hardware store, they tend to have not totally-shitty sets and most sizes/threads individually.)
Also, for printed parts, you can absolutely just cut in with the bolt, unless your printer is somewhat inconsistent, a with a well-calibrated printer, all you really need to know is how much your holes tend to shrink (the thermal contraction as the plastic causes the final diameter to be smaller. This is why we invented test prints….. well. Not me. Somebody’s smarter than me.)
So the stuff about the 1/8” rod is… just a general fabrication tip.
If you’re ever reading a bill of materials and they call for threaded rod- which is unfortunately common for a lot of printer groups- you can almost always use the same size smooth rod if you cut thread on the ends with a die.
It saves money (threaded rod is smooth rod with threads cut the full length,) and it looks neater. (A drill and some sand paper and a bit of scrapped t-shirt cloth doped with green buffing compound will make it shiny, even.)
What the other person is saying about tap magic, is just to use lubricants while cutting. 3-in-1’s og is my go to. Tap magic is a similar brand. You can get by with wd-40 if you have to.
all it’s doing is helping with temperature, and making cleaner cuts since it lubes every thing (the cutting edge still bites, but it doesn’t bind as much with the chips.)
The other thing to remember is that every turn or half turn, you should break off the chips (the metal coming off,) by backing off a quarter turn. This helps keep the cutting head free making a neater thread.
Other than that there’s no reason to be intimidated by any of this. For this, you can probably just cut the m5 thread, but you’ll want to predrill what ever bolt’s standard bore size is, and be sure to keep that square and straight as you do.
The uxcell is a “cheap” brand, for a one-time thing it’s fine but if you find you use it more and it’s getting frustrating to use… it’s lost its edge and is dull.
So, the biggest difference in quality is the steel and hardness.
For 2020 aluminum, it’s not that big of a deal. Even less so for “occasional” use. For harder metals, the cheapos will wear out faster and that maybe leads to frustration.
Guess my point was… we almost never use more than 2-3 in a set, so, it’s better to get the 2-3 and better quality at the same - but totally get the cheapie if you don’t want to spend that much.
At least I only use m3,5 and 1/8” sets.
Also, for the record, you can absolutely tap plastic for a reasonably strong thread. Just add a couple extra perimeters.
So the thread in the aluminum was stripped?
There’s a few options that might work. Threadlocker isn’t really epoxy or glue. I’d the thread is merely loose, it’ll keep it from coming out with vibration.
Another option is straight up epoxy- but this would be hard to undo.
Possibly, the best option would be to re-tap the thread. You might be able to get an m4 tap and clean it up with that.
If that doesn’t work, or it’s already that far gone, you could probably go up to an m5, though that would weaken the extrusion more than intended.
If you do want to try re-tapping, avoid the trap of buying tap and die sets. Just get the individual pieces you need (the chuck/holder thing and a the m4 or m5 tap.) a cheap set will still be more expensive than high-quality taps in the 2-3 sizes you actually wind up using.
(Also, general note 1/8” smooth rod is in every hardware store, and a die is much cheaper than 1/8” thread and usually looks neater, unless you need it fully threaded.)
Saw this going to a friend’s house- they bagged the fire hydrants….one thought was snow; but this is the first year apparently. And snow has been a mild issue this year compared to most.
Due to reasons... I've "adopted" a CR10s that a friend had bought. It was used, and was already well on it's way to being a janky Printer of Theseus. My hope is to get it up and running and put through it's paces before the holidays so I can give it back as a gift.
With the linear rail upgrades, I picked up the hardware and it's on it's way; which got me looking at how to do the upgrade, which I have mostly figured out; the question I'm having is, most upgrades seem to place the rails on 2020 extrusions sitting on top of the base frame- same as how the original y axis 2040's were designed.
Which raises the question- why not lower it so the 2020 rails are even with the frame, with the mgn12 rail sitting on top? Like so:
The short answer I came to is this would necessitate replacing the brackets for the y stepper motor and it's idler; but it should be possible. the easiest solution would be something like:
which raises the question: are printed parts rigid enough to hold against the tension on the belts? The motors can't handle too much tension anyhow, and the printer already has the screw-cap tensioners for x and y printed that seem to have been holding up well.
has anybody replaced the OG metal bracket on the back? does it stress and need replacing often, or is it fairly reliable (and above all, consistent,)
