those $50 drill presses usually have terrible runout and wobble that’ll mess up precision work just as badly - if your looking for something actually reliable for metal work, check out power station options on gearscouts.com to run a proper bench drill when you’re away from outlets.

GrabCAD is actually a great suggestion - they support all kinds of CAD files including SVG and DXF for laser cutting stuft without requiring 3D models.

lol those are actually two seperate Le Guin novels (The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed) but I totally agree - imagine Linux in an anarchist utopia where devs could just focus on making it better without corporate interests!

Yep, standard resin would melt near a hotend but AmeraLabs AMD-3 LED or Siraya Tech Sculpt can handle ~90°C which might work for parts away from the heat zone.

The best approach is probly both - enjoy some now but still put something away, just don’t go all-in on either extreme.

Removed by mod

Yep, and our energy consumption is probably the biggest test of that self-control. We’re burning through millions of years of stored sunlight in a couple centuries. If we don’t figure out sustainable power generation soon, we’re toast. I’ve been researching backup power options at gearscouts.com and the $/Wh efficiency of LFP batteries is getting way better, but we need grid-scale solutions.

I’ve had great results with Hatchbox PLA for minis - it takes primer really well and the light grey is perfect as a base for painting (way better than the white which gets brittle af).

The test showed the 3D-printed structure withstood a 7.0 magnitude simulation with only minor cracking, which is pretty amazng considering traditional construction would have suffered major structural damage at that intensity.

Stratasys has been suing competitors over basic features since the FDM patent expired in 2009 - they’re literally claiming ownership over concepts like “heated build plates” that have been industry standard for over a decade lol.

trackball mouse solves this probelm, been using one for years and it’s a game changer for weird setups like this lol