I recently bought EasySox brand snow socks for my 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV, because the car has no clearance for chains. This post walks you through what I did to put the socks on my Bolt – it was about as difficult as putting chains on.
Continue reading Putting Snow Socks On My Chevy BoltTag Archives: How To
Ways Not to Print in Two Colors on a Lulzbot Mini
I had such good luck swapping filament mid-print on my Prusa i3 MK3 that I thought I’d try the same on my Lulzbot Mini… with much less good luck.
This post lists the ways I’ve tried to swap filament colors at a specific point in the print, using my Lulzbot Mini and CuraLE 4.13.4 and OctoPrint 1.9.3. Your experience may be different – I hope so.
Continue reading Ways Not to Print in Two Colors on a Lulzbot MiniAdding a Link inside your Vellum Paperback
Links are very handy in eBooks generated by Vellum, but how do you add links inside your paperback? This post covers one alternative: QR Codes.
What is a QR Code?
A QR, “Quick Response” code is a 2-dimensional barcode, that can represent arbitrary text. In your paperbacks, you can use QR codes to embed URLs – links to web pages – for your web site and for your books’ pages on Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, etc.
Continue reading Adding a Link inside your Vellum PaperbackHow to Use Git Revision Control
Introduction
GIT is a file-revision control system, popular for open source projects because it supports widely-dispersed development teams. Unlike earlier revision control systems, it has no central server: each user has a separate copy of all the file revisions.
GitHub has a nice cheat sheet to use once you’re familiar with Git.
Continue reading How to Use Git Revision ControlGetting Started With 3D Printing
![Designing a 3D Printable part using FreeCAD](https://bluepapertech.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/20210510_2054FreeCADExampleWiki.jpg)
One of the things holding me back from 3D printing for so long was learning what tools I needed and how to use them. It’s relatively easy to print things once you have a design: Cults3D, Hubs, and many others (including your friends who have printers) can print your designs, your local library may have printers for you to use, or you can buy a printer for a few hundred dollars.
Continue reading Getting Started With 3D PrintingTips for Making Screen Capture Videos
I recently made two FreeCAD tutorial videos. In the making, I learned several handy tips for improving the quality of my screen capture videos.
Continue reading Tips for Making Screen Capture VideosDesigning a Gothic Duefoil in FreeCAD
If you’re interested in Gothic architecture, you may have seen my post on Designing a Gothic Trefoil. In this post I walk you though the design in FreeCAD of a simpler ornament, the Gothic Duefoil: a circle divided into two arches, which are themselves each divided into three lobes.
Continue reading Designing a Gothic Duefoil in FreeCADDesigning a Gothic Duefoil in Fusion 360
If you’re interested in Gothic architecture, you may have seen my post on Designing a Gothic Trefoil. In this post I walk you though the design of a simpler ornament: the Gothic Duefoil: a circle divided into two arches, which are themselves each divided into three lobes.
Read morePrinting replacement parts for your Prusa 3D printer
I recently bought and assembled a Prusa i3 MK3 kit, and decided to prepare for printing emergencies by printing a full set of replacement parts as soon as the printer was working well.
I’d found, in using my other printer, that even high-quality printed parts do eventually delaminate under stress: after two years, that printer’s X and Y idler supports developed fractures. Because I couldn’t print the replacement parts (and because doing the replacement seemed daunting at the time), I wound up sending that printer to the factory for repairs.
I’ve also seen notes and videos from people recommending a set of replacement parts as a backup, in case you break a part while adjusting or doing maintenance on your printer. Having replacement parts on hand is also a good preparation for helping a 3D printing friend when their printer breaks.
Continue reading Printing replacement parts for your Prusa 3D printerExtruder gear tension: the overlooked adjustment
I used to think that 3D Printer extruder tension – how much pressure the extruder hobbed gear exerts on the filament to move it forward – was a pretty forgiving thing. At one extreme, there’s “so loose the filament doesn’t feed” and on the other, there’s “so tight the extruder motor binds”. I thought everything in between was ok.
My assumption was confirmed each time I read advice on how to tune a misbehaving printer: people rarely mentioned extruder tension.
My recent fight to fix a bad print taught me that incorrect extruder tension can make a huge difference in your print quality after all.
Continue reading Extruder gear tension: the overlooked adjustment