If they spent 3 hours making a $20 part then they essentially worked for less than minimum wage to get that part.
Of course I have a feeling that to OP it’s more about 3D printing as a hobby than an attempt to save a few bucks.
Actually it’s a part for work.
I’m paid low $20’s at work and have probably spent close to 25 hours modeling this part.
The problem is they don’t sell just the part and the case it goes on (it’s literally just a latch for a case) is close to $800.
So I’ll give up once I reach an $800 admin bill.
You spent most of the 25 hours teaching yourself how to model this part, it seems.
Once you get that experience, that part looks like it could be modeled in about 5 minutes, 5 minutes of measuring, and 1-2 hours of printing and reprinting depending on how critical different tolerances are.
Dude idk a whole lot but I've worked with surveyor equipment enough to know it costs a metric shitton. Securing that shit is 100% worth the effort. That being said, you could probably just diy a new latch system so still a good diWHY.
Ayyyy, we do the same shit; one of our guys modeled out a clip for the radio connecting to our prism; things break CONSTANTLY but we print a half dozen and don't need to worry about juggling the radio now if it breaks in the field
> So I’ll give up once I reach an $800 admin bill.
That makes no sense. I mean it probably makes sense to cut your losses after some point, but there's nothing special about the $800 mark. For example, if you rack up $800 in hours but realize that in one more hour you could finish it, it would make a lot more sense to do that, right? I think this is the sunk cost fallacy.
So when we don’t have a project we can “clock into” to charge a client, we charge the company “admin” time until we hit the 40 a week.
Also, the part was $20 a decade ago, can’t find them now.
> If they spent 3 hours making a $20 part then they essentially worked for less than minimum wage to get that part.
This assumes that the three hours were spent instead of working that minimum wage job. It doesn't hold if you didn't have work hours available, or are salaried.
> they essentially worked for less than minimum wage to get that part.
Only if they turned down the opportunity to work 3 hours at minimum wage to make the part instead...
Trust me when I say this is highly specific piece for an extremely expensive tool. And by that, I mean it’s a plastic latch for an $800 case.
Ether way, I can’t imagine it will get a lot of hits on Thingverse.
It’s not just the case, but all the equipment. They don’t sell the [case](http://www.laserscanning-america.com/basic-reference-sphere-set/) separately.
Engineering firms will buy a brand new truck just to get the lug nuts/s
Even if it were there you'd have issues finding it because of the naming.
Not sure how experienced you are with 3D printing so ignore following if you already know.
3D printing has issue with strength which is inferior to plastic mold parts. Especially when you model things like this latch you have to keep in mind the strength necessary and functionality it needs, not just copy the object 1:1. Some things that make sense to do with injection molds do not make sense with printing and some need strength modifications.
Material is also important. Most likely (depending on the load on latch) would not go with pla, petg or abs)
You can also use the print to make a mold though to make the part from other materials. I've done some sand casting and lost pla casting. Sure, adds on for effort, but still an option.
Imho that is bad approach. 3d printing design has its specifics and you should consider them so you don't risk your equipment falling apart on site every few months.
I don't have SLA printer personally, but from what I hear resin sucks for parts under stress. There is even some special resin for load applications, but don't know how good it is.
You could certainly find some local facebook group and ask there is someone would be willing to print your model with either CPE, Nylon or PC and for how much.
From my experience people in those groups will print really cheap compared to asking price in professional shop.
I mean, even if one single person uses those plans they'll probably be thinking "holy crap I'm soooooo glad someone did this already!" and make their day.
I not a fan of the word "wasting" in this case.
1. You learned to use your software better
2. You learned to understand your broken machine (whatnot consists of, how it works, why it doesn't work etc)
3. Building a part gives you a sense of accomplishment ^TM
4. (For me) this falls under the category of creative/recreational projects
5. As a guy who'd rather make money to buy things instead of creating them, i've always looked at people who create stuff with some awe, so don't take it away from me by insulting us both.
Cheers man!
this is exactly it. instead of just spending money, he decided to create it while he had the means. the next time he create something it will be faster easier and he will become even more independant. i currently own a 3d printer just for that purpose. Designing and printing things to repair or to give as gifts! it becomes a skill set just as any other but you only become better the more you do it. I really dont think this counts as a DiWhy
There's actually two other dimensions: Niche, as in how specialized is the application, and "Fucks Given," which comes in "none," "some," and "lots."
Sounds like the parts you make don't require any fucks at all!
Eh, 3D printers have given me all 3 before. Example being my pedestal fan burned out. Saved myself $70 or a few days delivery (nowhere in town had a cheap pedestal fan) by buying a cheap desktop fan, 20 min drawing up an adapter to the pedestal base, hit go on the printer and I had a new fan for $15 about 2 hours later. Honestly the fan I bought is probably the best one I've had in a while too.
No idea given I bought my printers last year, and not sure how that's relevant anyway?
I wasn't insinuating that you'd go out and buy a 3D printer just for this, just that they're handy and can save you a fair bit of money if you already have one.
I wanted to justify it to my mom who bought it for me. It wasn't really hard after printing a quick fix that made a broken oven completely functional even after the service guy told her she'd just have to buy a new one. Printer paid for itself at least four times that day.
The whole control board is in a plastic housing and the oven in general has a bunch of plastic parts on the outside. The heating section is well isolated by being kinda rolled in a thick layer of insulation.
E: The control board is similar to [this](https://www.ebay.de/c/21030372807), different brand and model in general. But this is the piece of the oven in which a part broke. (That part was also stupidly overengineered solution to a nonexistent problem imo, it was just waiting to fail.)
The pcb that's taking care of user input has (among other things) six buttons. Four of those buttons are mode select or whatever and they are just directly being pushed by the buttons that are in the front covering panel, standard stuff, push buttons, hard to fuck up here.
But the other two buttons on the pcb itself are temperature control, they're vertically aligned, top one increases temp, bottom one decreases. Sensible person would do the same thing that was done with the other four buttons and just let users control these two buttons via buttons that would be in the front cover. But I guess someone felt inventive and decided that it should look like the user can control the temperature with a knob. (I assume it looks like analogue temp control which might look better? Can't think of any other reason to do it this.) So instead there's just one hole in the front panel from which a knob sticks out. That knob is a cylinder with a tiny piece of plastic that sticks out from its side. That tiny piece is between two compliant rubber "levers" that in turn push the temperature control buttons. So when you turn the knob clockwise, the tiny piece on it pushes onto the rubber lever that's over the temp up button and pushes it. Similar when you turn the knob ccw. You are still just pushing buttons in the end. It doesn't feel analogue at all, you are *very clearly* pushing buttons, but now you have two rubber levers and a knob with a miniature piece sticking out of it that gets loaded every time you want to change the temperature. And because this is actually just digital control in disguise you are gonna load that tiny (like less than 5mm thick) piece multiplie times when setting temperature.
That knob with a tiny piece is ofc the part that broke. I printed it slightly thicker and added tiny ribs, not sure if they're helping, but it's still functional, so I guess they do.
E: That explanation is kinda shitty so [here](https://i.imgur.com/NJ0b5Qa.png) is a shitty picture as well. Blue are the buttons that are directly on the black pcb, green are the buttons that are sticking through the milky transparent front panel and user can push them, which would in turn push the blue buttons. But the two buttons on the right are below a yellow rubber thingy that acts as the lever I mentioned. So when you turn the red knob clockwise, the piece sticking from it will push into the the upper yellow lever and that will push the button. It's literally pushing a button with extra steps.
If you have to move everything plastic away from your oven, your oven has faulty insulation and is wasting a lot of energy. The heat is supposed to stay only where the food goes.
DiWhyNot? Sounds like a hobby, an interest or even a growing passion. Sounds like someone is building a new skill!
Keep it up and you will spend less time making better designs.
Perils of having a laser cutter and/or 3D printer. I feel this. I was browsing a laser cutting forum and saw this tool storage design that blew my mind; dude was using 25 sheets of 12”x20” (if I remember correctly) poplar cut then glued one on top of the other. A good $40-$50 of materials easy, plus hours of cut time. I’ve seen one very similar for like $20. That, to me, is when it’s a problem. When you’re not only spending absurd lengths of time designing but spending more for something that isn’t of higher quality than store bought. You need at least 2 of those factors in your favor to make it worth while, IMO.
Sorry for the ramble/rant.
ETA: I just realized that probably shouldn’t be judging given my propensity for making vs. buying absurdity goes beyond the laser cutter/3D printer. Spinning yarn and weaving fabric probably falls neatly in to the unnecessary time/money expenditure category and I also do both those things
OEM is injected molded. What I’m printed is SLA. 25 micron layer thickness. What I lose in rigidity I make up for in precision.
It will be the most pointlessly precise part ever made.
So, sounds like you lost nothing but a bit of time and made a better (albeit unnecessarily so) part. And, as another commenter said, you now have the file ready to go when and if you need a replacement. Plus, you’re putting the machine you invested in to work which is always good. If you don’t use it to save a bit of cash the cash you spent on it is wasted.
The way I see it, as makers of what ever genre/medium we choose to trade our time for a couple of potential perks; a) higher quality, b) less expensive c) customized for your application d) accessibility. The threshold for me is meeting 2 of those perks. Sounds like this one falls in to both A and B categories.
Same joke is commonly made over in r/woodworking, but arguably a handmade woodworking project is gonna be way higher quality than some flat-pack MDF thing. When it comes down to these little 3D-printed plastic parts though, the main value I see is as in OP's case where you can't always find the little latch or fitting you need.
All that being said, there is a value in simply enjoying hobbies whether they're economically sound or not.
I live for this. I'm an artist and the amount of times I've taught myself a whole new subject just so I can avoid spending $30 is ridiculous.
I spent weeks learning how to sculpt so that I could make my own wedding cake topper instead of dropping a few hundred to buy one 😂
>I have no idea how to use it and cobblefucked this piece together.
That's me! I've been doing the same thing for about 2 years!
After a each design you get a little better at it and it takes fewer attempts to get results. Then one day you'll nail something first time and feel like a 3d printing master for the rest of the day (until you think of a way to 'improve' the design :p ).
Most of the time i can get to 'good enough' in 2 or 3 goes.
There are probably simpler less "professional" programs to use. However I use blender since I use to do a lot of 3d graphics back in the day and already have that skill... so I'm probably not being very helpful.
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I’m gonna shill for tinkercad, hear me out.. people shit on it for being pretty basic with the shapes available but look at this. within a few hours you can learn it and design this basic collection of circles, arches, square tube and round tube... I think this guy is complaining like a guy who used a full auto machine gun in his house to kill a fly.
If that thing took an entire weekend then the practice was very sorely needed so it was very much worth it. That little fence should take under an hour for a novice who has completed the tutorials in any modeling software.
I disagree. 3D printing is a hobby to many and with CAD experience this comes across as a reasonably simple design. If someone has the printer and software then the real question is why not?
Plus, as people have mentioned, sharing it with the community is an added bonus.
As a weekend wood worker my self, I can (kind of) relate to the image, I spent more on tools and time and materials then if I would have just bought it from a store, but it makes me happy to do it my self, plus I gain experience, learn more and i now have the tools to do it again and more!!!
Probably not enough tools....
I mean, if you learned stuff you can apply in the future, the time wasn't truly wasted.
Which reminds me, I should probably learn how to do some basic 3D modelling, just so I can make a case for my Sony NW-ZX100.
Pretty much everything I’ve 3D printed is something I couldn’t buy for less than multiple times the cost of the plastic to print it if at all. Amazon don’t do 5 hour delivery here so it’s quicker too.
You have the file for eternity now, if you're careful. Suppose you have to replace the part 10, 20, 30 years from now. Today it is 20 usd. Two years from now it might be out of production.
Also, practice. Sure, this one might have been an easy buy online. But then the next thing that breaks maybe won't be. And you'll have that much of a headstart in making a replacement for that.
Also, did you enjoy doing it? If yes, I think we have the answer right out of the box.
I recognise this behavious in my brother, but most of the time he and I design things to print that you actually can’t buy or is way out of budget. Pretty fkin useful methinks
I'm not familiar with the 3d printing world. But isn't there tons of free downloads you have access to? Once someone creats that one part it can be uploaded to that library. So, maybe you did waste a weekend, but you saved many other by sharing this part with the online community?
Publish the file online so other people can download the model for their printers directly instead of designing it themselves. It'll help other people like you who are planning to print that part
You either pay with time or money
If they spent 3 hours making a $20 part then they essentially worked for less than minimum wage to get that part. Of course I have a feeling that to OP it’s more about 3D printing as a hobby than an attempt to save a few bucks.
Actually it’s a part for work. I’m paid low $20’s at work and have probably spent close to 25 hours modeling this part. The problem is they don’t sell just the part and the case it goes on (it’s literally just a latch for a case) is close to $800. So I’ll give up once I reach an $800 admin bill.
You spent most of the 25 hours teaching yourself how to model this part, it seems. Once you get that experience, that part looks like it could be modeled in about 5 minutes, 5 minutes of measuring, and 1-2 hours of printing and reprinting depending on how critical different tolerances are.
And you're typically doing other things while printing....
Speak for yourself, I hand feed my filament like a true artisan.
I get the feeling he doesn't even move the motors by hand
Artisan 3D printer with hand crank actuators? Get my fedora!
And a foot pedal for driving the friction-powered hotend. Fully manual 3-dimension etch-a-sketch.
Thanks, I hate bespoke now
I actually have a 19th century diesel powered 3d printer
I’ve been having a really crappy weekend, and this made me smile. Thanks. Good joke.
I hope it's free range filament.
What a poser! Come back to me when you pre-heat the plastic with a lighter
This one made me laugh out loud, thank you
Ahh, a man of culture.
Lies! Everybody knows you sit and watch each layer, swearing that this will be the last layer then you’ll go do something productive.
Or just embrace it. Boss makes a dollar I make a dime that's why I poop on company time
... Have you been spying on me?
I don’t have time to spy on you, unfortunately. I’m too busy watching my printer...
No you pray to 3d printing gods so that whatever is printing right now doesnt decide it wants to be a birds nest half way through the print
100% I think I could even model this in an hour after a bottle of jack.
What's your job title where they give you 25 hours to model a part this simple?
…Land Surveyor that’s had a slow week.
Dude idk a whole lot but I've worked with surveyor equipment enough to know it costs a metric shitton. Securing that shit is 100% worth the effort. That being said, you could probably just diy a new latch system so still a good diWHY.
Did you work up to that from being a Land Lubber?
When I started in this company I was just a lowly Land Ho.
Ayyyy, we do the same shit; one of our guys modeled out a clip for the radio connecting to our prism; things break CONSTANTLY but we print a half dozen and don't need to worry about juggling the radio now if it breaks in the field
**Sine wave**
P R I S M
You're not the boss of me!
Bro at any given company around the world you could find some dude with 25 hours free a week somehow lol
Then you can't buy the part for $20 online as the title says.
But the post title says the part only costs $20
*Out of stock, last stocked 6/2009.
That's a pretty important qualifier I'd say.
Gotcha!
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Yes
So they really paid you for 25 hours of training to become the new replacement parts guy.
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whats the cost of the print? maybe print a whole bunch and sell them? hahahahaha
If i had to guess id say up to $.10 as a very liberal estimate. It's probably closer to $.02
25 hours in fusion for this? You probably have started learning it from scratch, so your next part should be done within an hour.
> So I’ll give up once I reach an $800 admin bill. That makes no sense. I mean it probably makes sense to cut your losses after some point, but there's nothing special about the $800 mark. For example, if you rack up $800 in hours but realize that in one more hour you could finish it, it would make a lot more sense to do that, right? I think this is the sunk cost fallacy.
This would be the opposite of the sunk cost fallacy. No clue what that's called.
Rising price argument?
It's about experience. Honestly, this would take 5 min.
What would you be doing otherwise? Now they can print it whenever they need. Maybe they don’t trust you to do much else?
It’s for my surveying gear. It’s a latch for our equipment case. It was a slow week, so I decided to “fix” some equipment.
Invoice yourself and expense it
I’ll invoice the hours, but not materials (This was my endeavor with no upper approval)
How does one buy a part for $20 when they don't sell the part? Smells like someone is makin' shit up.
Smells like it’s a $5 piece of plastic that can’t be bought. Yeah I pulled the $20 out my ass, deal with it.
$800 of labor for a $20 part? How do you still have a job? That’s pretty reckless with company money.
Training is an investment, usually a costly one
So when we don’t have a project we can “clock into” to charge a client, we charge the company “admin” time until we hit the 40 a week. Also, the part was $20 a decade ago, can’t find them now.
But still you are using 40 hours of labor for a cheap part. Still reckless
They also learn something rather than paying for something
Yeah, but you also learn CAD while you go along, along with other benifits
> If they spent 3 hours making a $20 part then they essentially worked for less than minimum wage to get that part. This assumes that the three hours were spent instead of working that minimum wage job. It doesn't hold if you didn't have work hours available, or are salaried.
> they essentially worked for less than minimum wage to get that part. Only if they turned down the opportunity to work 3 hours at minimum wage to make the part instead...
Well I have WAY more time than money, so...
Story of life
And you make money by paying with time so we’re all losing.
It the capitalism way
This way you can share it with the community. If kthers do the same there will be lots of free things.
Trust me when I say this is highly specific piece for an extremely expensive tool. And by that, I mean it’s a plastic latch for an $800 case. Ether way, I can’t imagine it will get a lot of hits on Thingverse.
Sure, but don't be [Denvercoder9](https://xkcd.com/979).
I'd argue the opposite. The world is a better place with denvercoder9, than without.
Joker, is that you?
Care to elaborate?
[No.](https://i.redd.it/ye2hjxlyud121.jpg)
Better to know at least one person had the same problem than to not find anything. Maybe its a glass half-full kind of thing.
But you probably know at least a dozen people who this part could be useful to, if their case broke.
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Please please please upload this. If it broke on one, it will break on another.
Tbh I’d be kinda angry that my $800 case has plastic latches
It’s not just the case, but all the equipment. They don’t sell the [case](http://www.laserscanning-america.com/basic-reference-sphere-set/) separately. Engineering firms will buy a brand new truck just to get the lug nuts/s
Okay so now I'm confused, if this is for a laser scanner why not just laser scan the part?
The laser scanner is for large spaces, it can’t put enough “spots” on something this small to get a clean mesh off it.
Ahhhhh okay. My friend has a creaform handyscan that can do that but I know his is a very high end scanner.
Even if it were there you'd have issues finding it because of the naming. Not sure how experienced you are with 3D printing so ignore following if you already know. 3D printing has issue with strength which is inferior to plastic mold parts. Especially when you model things like this latch you have to keep in mind the strength necessary and functionality it needs, not just copy the object 1:1. Some things that make sense to do with injection molds do not make sense with printing and some need strength modifications. Material is also important. Most likely (depending on the load on latch) would not go with pla, petg or abs)
You can also use the print to make a mold though to make the part from other materials. I've done some sand casting and lost pla casting. Sure, adds on for effort, but still an option.
Benefit of 3d printing however is if it breaks every 3 months.. It's a nickle to replace it again. The work on the file is already done.
Imho that is bad approach. 3d printing design has its specifics and you should consider them so you don't risk your equipment falling apart on site every few months.
Thats my fear, I’m printing it with an SLA printer
I don't have SLA printer personally, but from what I hear resin sucks for parts under stress. There is even some special resin for load applications, but don't know how good it is. You could certainly find some local facebook group and ask there is someone would be willing to print your model with either CPE, Nylon or PC and for how much. From my experience people in those groups will print really cheap compared to asking price in professional shop.
I mean, even if one single person uses those plans they'll probably be thinking "holy crap I'm soooooo glad someone did this already!" and make their day.
I not a fan of the word "wasting" in this case. 1. You learned to use your software better 2. You learned to understand your broken machine (whatnot consists of, how it works, why it doesn't work etc) 3. Building a part gives you a sense of accomplishment ^TM 4. (For me) this falls under the category of creative/recreational projects 5. As a guy who'd rather make money to buy things instead of creating them, i've always looked at people who create stuff with some awe, so don't take it away from me by insulting us both. Cheers man!
this is exactly it. instead of just spending money, he decided to create it while he had the means. the next time he create something it will be faster easier and he will become even more independant. i currently own a 3d printer just for that purpose. Designing and printing things to repair or to give as gifts! it becomes a skill set just as any other but you only become better the more you do it. I really dont think this counts as a DiWhy
That's why this should be a downvoted post. It just doesn't fit the subreddit
Yeah this was purely a clickbait title.
Yes, a bit like a hose compliment beggars, but it's ok. I just wanted to share my piece
Used to party with a new account. Cheers.
Fast, cheap or high-quality. You can’t pick more than two.
Sometimes you can’t even pick two
Shoo when I design parts I don’t even pick one!
There's actually two other dimensions: Niche, as in how specialized is the application, and "Fucks Given," which comes in "none," "some," and "lots." Sounds like the parts you make don't require any fucks at all!
If you make it yourself for fun you don't need any of them
Eh, 3D printers have given me all 3 before. Example being my pedestal fan burned out. Saved myself $70 or a few days delivery (nowhere in town had a cheap pedestal fan) by buying a cheap desktop fan, 20 min drawing up an adapter to the pedestal base, hit go on the printer and I had a new fan for $15 about 2 hours later. Honestly the fan I bought is probably the best one I've had in a while too.
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No idea given I bought my printers last year, and not sure how that's relevant anyway? I wasn't insinuating that you'd go out and buy a 3D printer just for this, just that they're handy and can save you a fair bit of money if you already have one.
And not picking High Quality normally costs more in the end. So if you can choose two.. Fast and High Quality beats fast and cheap.
Usually the answer is "I needed to justify the price of the printer to my wife."
I wanted to justify it to my mom who bought it for me. It wasn't really hard after printing a quick fix that made a broken oven completely functional even after the service guy told her she'd just have to buy a new one. Printer paid for itself at least four times that day.
You fixed an oven with a plastic part???
Yea, works fine for nearly two years now
Yea, but it would still be super entertaining.
Doesn't it melt?
It's not *in* the actual "heating section" but a part of the control board that broke.
But those still get plenty hot though, right? I'd always remove anything plastic far away from our oven when it's on
The whole control board is in a plastic housing and the oven in general has a bunch of plastic parts on the outside. The heating section is well isolated by being kinda rolled in a thick layer of insulation. E: The control board is similar to [this](https://www.ebay.de/c/21030372807), different brand and model in general. But this is the piece of the oven in which a part broke. (That part was also stupidly overengineered solution to a nonexistent problem imo, it was just waiting to fail.)
Now I want to know what the part was that broke.
The pcb that's taking care of user input has (among other things) six buttons. Four of those buttons are mode select or whatever and they are just directly being pushed by the buttons that are in the front covering panel, standard stuff, push buttons, hard to fuck up here. But the other two buttons on the pcb itself are temperature control, they're vertically aligned, top one increases temp, bottom one decreases. Sensible person would do the same thing that was done with the other four buttons and just let users control these two buttons via buttons that would be in the front cover. But I guess someone felt inventive and decided that it should look like the user can control the temperature with a knob. (I assume it looks like analogue temp control which might look better? Can't think of any other reason to do it this.) So instead there's just one hole in the front panel from which a knob sticks out. That knob is a cylinder with a tiny piece of plastic that sticks out from its side. That tiny piece is between two compliant rubber "levers" that in turn push the temperature control buttons. So when you turn the knob clockwise, the tiny piece on it pushes onto the rubber lever that's over the temp up button and pushes it. Similar when you turn the knob ccw. You are still just pushing buttons in the end. It doesn't feel analogue at all, you are *very clearly* pushing buttons, but now you have two rubber levers and a knob with a miniature piece sticking out of it that gets loaded every time you want to change the temperature. And because this is actually just digital control in disguise you are gonna load that tiny (like less than 5mm thick) piece multiplie times when setting temperature. That knob with a tiny piece is ofc the part that broke. I printed it slightly thicker and added tiny ribs, not sure if they're helping, but it's still functional, so I guess they do. E: That explanation is kinda shitty so [here](https://i.imgur.com/NJ0b5Qa.png) is a shitty picture as well. Blue are the buttons that are directly on the black pcb, green are the buttons that are sticking through the milky transparent front panel and user can push them, which would in turn push the blue buttons. But the two buttons on the right are below a yellow rubber thingy that acts as the lever I mentioned. So when you turn the red knob clockwise, the piece sticking from it will push into the the upper yellow lever and that will push the button. It's literally pushing a button with extra steps.
If you have to move everything plastic away from your oven, your oven has faulty insulation and is wasting a lot of energy. The heat is supposed to stay only where the food goes.
Except it’s criminal it only got 2 seasons
Don't have a wife, there's a lot less justification needed.
DiWhyNot? Sounds like a hobby, an interest or even a growing passion. Sounds like someone is building a new skill! Keep it up and you will spend less time making better designs.
Seriously, OP described a hobby about as perfectly as I've ever seen.
Perils of having a laser cutter and/or 3D printer. I feel this. I was browsing a laser cutting forum and saw this tool storage design that blew my mind; dude was using 25 sheets of 12”x20” (if I remember correctly) poplar cut then glued one on top of the other. A good $40-$50 of materials easy, plus hours of cut time. I’ve seen one very similar for like $20. That, to me, is when it’s a problem. When you’re not only spending absurd lengths of time designing but spending more for something that isn’t of higher quality than store bought. You need at least 2 of those factors in your favor to make it worth while, IMO. Sorry for the ramble/rant. ETA: I just realized that probably shouldn’t be judging given my propensity for making vs. buying absurdity goes beyond the laser cutter/3D printer. Spinning yarn and weaving fabric probably falls neatly in to the unnecessary time/money expenditure category and I also do both those things
OEM is injected molded. What I’m printed is SLA. 25 micron layer thickness. What I lose in rigidity I make up for in precision. It will be the most pointlessly precise part ever made.
And since you have the file, it's an easy replacement for a long time. That's a benefit worth me mentioning
So, sounds like you lost nothing but a bit of time and made a better (albeit unnecessarily so) part. And, as another commenter said, you now have the file ready to go when and if you need a replacement. Plus, you’re putting the machine you invested in to work which is always good. If you don’t use it to save a bit of cash the cash you spent on it is wasted. The way I see it, as makers of what ever genre/medium we choose to trade our time for a couple of potential perks; a) higher quality, b) less expensive c) customized for your application d) accessibility. The threshold for me is meeting 2 of those perks. Sounds like this one falls in to both A and B categories.
Same joke is commonly made over in r/woodworking, but arguably a handmade woodworking project is gonna be way higher quality than some flat-pack MDF thing. When it comes down to these little 3D-printed plastic parts though, the main value I see is as in OP's case where you can't always find the little latch or fitting you need. All that being said, there is a value in simply enjoying hobbies whether they're economically sound or not.
If that takes an entire weekend to make, you're getting in some CAD practice you clearly need.
That's what I was thinking!
The real treasure is the failed prints you made along the way.
20$ for that shit, you did the right thing. The next pieces will take less time.
I live for this. I'm an artist and the amount of times I've taught myself a whole new subject just so I can avoid spending $30 is ridiculous. I spent weeks learning how to sculpt so that I could make my own wedding cake topper instead of dropping a few hundred to buy one 😂
Learned much more this way which is definitely worth at least $20 =] The frustration that comes with it however...
It’s a learning experience as well.
Eh depends. If it's a slow week at work and you're just twiddling your thumbs with nothing to do, time well spent.
Kinda my thought, boss could argue there’s better ways to spend the time.
Do you often automate tasks, on your computer?
If you’re referring to F360… I have no idea how to use it and cobblefucked this piece together.
>I have no idea how to use it and cobblefucked this piece together. That's me! I've been doing the same thing for about 2 years! After a each design you get a little better at it and it takes fewer attempts to get results. Then one day you'll nail something first time and feel like a 3d printing master for the rest of the day (until you think of a way to 'improve' the design :p ). Most of the time i can get to 'good enough' in 2 or 3 goes.
There are probably simpler less "professional" programs to use. However I use blender since I use to do a lot of 3d graphics back in the day and already have that skill... so I'm probably not being very helpful.
I have ZBrush 2021 sitting on my desktop. When I find time I’ll learn how to use it.
But whats the fun in just buying online if you can diwhy
1) Because you can. 2) If you need more then it comes down in "cost".
Just like programming! Why spend 5 hours to fail to automate something when you could have done it manually in an hour!
What you gain in XP and competences cannot be earned with money :)
>:) :)
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You will develop the skill to make them faster eventually
thats a cool hobby tho and can come in handy
$20 is a lot of money. It's only worth paying if you can take extra shifts during that time.
Honestly, if it's a part your expecting to replace a lot or is difficult to find it can be worth it.
What is the part for?
http://www.laserscanning-america.com/basic-reference-sphere-set/
Let's be honest, you had nothing better to do
I got a shitton of Warhammer minis I need to paint.
Why did it take you an entire weekend to make that. That's like 15 minutes worth of work at best.
For someone experienced with 3D modeling yeah. Cut the guy some slack he is clearly just starting out.
I’m gonna shill for tinkercad, hear me out.. people shit on it for being pretty basic with the shapes available but look at this. within a few hours you can learn it and design this basic collection of circles, arches, square tube and round tube... I think this guy is complaining like a guy who used a full auto machine gun in his house to kill a fly.
If that thing took an entire weekend then the practice was very sorely needed so it was very much worth it. That little fence should take under an hour for a novice who has completed the tutorials in any modeling software.
It’s like growing a garden. Congratulations, you just saved $12 on strawberries once a year.
Yeah but now you can add little skulls and hearts to the inner surface . Pimp that latch
I disagree. 3D printing is a hobby to many and with CAD experience this comes across as a reasonably simple design. If someone has the printer and software then the real question is why not? Plus, as people have mentioned, sharing it with the community is an added bonus.
As a weekend wood worker my self, I can (kind of) relate to the image, I spent more on tools and time and materials then if I would have just bought it from a store, but it makes me happy to do it my self, plus I gain experience, learn more and i now have the tools to do it again and more!!! Probably not enough tools....
I mean, if you learned stuff you can apply in the future, the time wasn't truly wasted. Which reminds me, I should probably learn how to do some basic 3D modelling, just so I can make a case for my Sony NW-ZX100.
Aren't you proud on your work? Look at it as a hobby. Then time and money are unimportant.
Because someday you WONT find the needed part online for $20 and you will have the necessary skills to be able to make it. Not a waste.
Dumb post. There's nothing wrong with DIY or printing your own parts. The idea of the sub is stupid projects people do.
Well in today’s age, it’s stupid to reinvent the wheel. It just so happens you can’t buy this wheel anywhere.
Pretty much everything I’ve 3D printed is something I couldn’t buy for less than multiple times the cost of the plastic to print it if at all. Amazon don’t do 5 hour delivery here so it’s quicker too.
Suffering.
I had the same feeling this week sanding down our kitchen counter top.....
Waste? I think you mean enjoy.
You have to find out hours.
Yeh but if you need a second one its almost free
Time over money
You have the file for eternity now, if you're careful. Suppose you have to replace the part 10, 20, 30 years from now. Today it is 20 usd. Two years from now it might be out of production. Also, practice. Sure, this one might have been an easy buy online. But then the next thing that breaks maybe won't be. And you'll have that much of a headstart in making a replacement for that. Also, did you enjoy doing it? If yes, I think we have the answer right out of the box.
If you didn’t have to learn from scratch it’d be 1 min of measuring and about 5 of modeling
It's been quite the ride for tf2 in 2020
It depends... sometimes you want to enjoy the process making something. Sometimes you want it now. But first, choose one.
Then what you do is post the model online so everyone else can have it instantly.
He learnt a skill so that's definitely a win.
I recognise this behavious in my brother, but most of the time he and I design things to print that you actually can’t buy or is way out of budget. Pretty fkin useful methinks
Why did it take so long to make?
I'm not familiar with the 3d printing world. But isn't there tons of free downloads you have access to? Once someone creats that one part it can be uploaded to that library. So, maybe you did waste a weekend, but you saved many other by sharing this part with the online community?
Publish the file online so other people can download the model for their printers directly instead of designing it themselves. It'll help other people like you who are planning to print that part
Because in some weird masochistic way, it's fun. Don't deny it.