The cheapest filament ever (round 2)

3D Printing + Cheap Filament

Yesterday I found (what I think is) another reincarnation of SMIC Technologies / Nova Technologies / Thomas Chain Discount Shop / ...

Now, the original SMIC never shipped my order, and I think it's a scam. But I like to be fooled twice...

Plate Lab - Glass Fiber based Building Plates - Part III - Textured Surfaces

3D Printing + Plate Lab

There's surprisingly little understandable explanation of the impact of texture on adhesion and release on print beds... But we can reason it through. (And steal from the real scientists 😇)

Obviously, texture also applies to PEI, Polyurea, and in fact, every other plate!

The cheapest filament ever (or is it a scam?)

3D Printing + Cheap Filament

I'm still waiting for the delivery of my 10 kg PETG... and somehow I doubt I will ever get it.

So, am I being scammed, and will I ever see a refund?

The cheapest filament ever (and where to find product details on orders on AliExpress)

3D Printing + Cheap Filament

Well, there must be cheaper, but this was the cheapest I ever found so far... 10 kilo of PETG, for  5.17 euro per kilogram, including shipping from Spain.

I've ordered it, and it should arrive tomorrow. When checking my order, I found a few interesting details that have me ever so slightly worried... if a. I'll ever going to get it, and b. what the hell is it?

Plate Lab - Glass Fiber based Building Plates - Part II - (Surface) Materials

3D Printing + Plate Lab

For a change this is all about the surface (of building plates, yes, but ain't it great to be superficial for once?)

I've split the previous page in two, as it was starting to confuse myself, and moved all the material stuff in here.

Plate Lab - Glass Fiber based Building Plates - Part I - The Basics

3D Printing + Plate Lab

This is a boring page. Skip it if you don't care about the materials used in your glass fiber / carbon based Building Plate.

Still with me? Okay. Here we go... Remember: everything in this post is about using glass (carbon) fiber based materials as build plates.

Plate Lab - Textured PEI - Bambu and Third Party

3D Printing + Plate Lab

In the beginning 😇 Bambu Lab was shipping the X1C with random plates. These days they all seem to come with the gold colored textured PEI plate (at least here in NL). A sensible thing, as it's one of the easiest to use 😏

Textured PEI doesn't just make sense for Bambu Lab owners... they make sense for every 3D printer with a heated bed.

Plate Lab - Cleaning Building Plates

3D Printing

How to clean a 3D Printer building plate? It ain't much more than simply cleaning the dishes...

Read more...

Netflix - Rebel Moon 1 & 2

Movie Review + Netflix

Rebel Moon is... a mess. Take Star Wars, add a bit of B-movie stuff like Krull, try to incorporate elements of the different 47 Ronin movies and it's descendants (The Magnificent Seven, Seven Samurai, and even Battle Beyond the Stars).

Next, spend a lot of money on effects, tits, and gross-dom, and call it the 'Director's Cut'...

Fat Miata / Thic Mx-5 - Why Cupholders Make All the Difference

Column + Car + MX-5 + Wallpaper

People complain my Mazda MX-5 NC2 is fat.

Let me be clear. I'm fat. My car isn't.

Read more...

Plate Lab - PEY and relatives - All the holographic stuff

3D Printing + Plate Lab

To be honest, I don't own a single one of those PEO / PEY 'holographic' plates, except the 'PET Carbon' one. Which a. isn't made of carbon, and b. has some very minor texture to it (though I can't feel it). And c. This page is pretty useless 🤣

Read more...

Disney+ - Shogun 2024 - Season 1

Series Review + Shogun + Disney+

I doubt we'll ever get a second season, and it isn't necessary. And though I've read the book, the ending was still... somewhat unexpected.

The story is complete, the show is done after 10 episodes, and my verdict is short and simple: it's a great watch, all ten episodes long. 

Plate Lab - Bigtreetech Panda Dual Textured SSS building plate (black)

3D Printing + Plate Lab

Bigtreetech sells a number of products aimed at the Bambu Lab printers, all using the Panda moniker. Marketing-wise it's a great idea. Product-wise the SSS plate is a bit of a disaster.

It looks like PEI (but only at first glance). It isn't though. It might be epoxy, some other unholy coating, or it might be a kind of truck bedliner / oily paint.

Nobody knows, including Bigtreetech.

Wallpaper - Dear Author... (Too Close for Comfort)

Wallpaper

Found this on Penny Arcade, which is either a complete miss, or a spot-on hit. This one goes into the latter category... How does it feel to be an aspiring author?