It's the week between Christmas and New Year's in our house, which means there isn't much getting done. Presents have been wrapped and unwrapped and strewn everywhere, there are remnants from the baking extravaganza littering the kitchen, we are all exhausted, and in the background is the ever-present sound of the 3D Printer. This means there isn't much in the way of any work-in-progress this week, so instead we're going to take a look at what happened over 2023.
Building
As I started to go through my photos, I didn't think I really got much done this year. Sure, a lot of stuff got printed, but after being out of state for approximately a month and a half, getting dragged to Origins Game Fair and Gen Con for work, and starting up Troxell's Trading Post, I really couldn't think of much I got done.
Then I started going through the photos.
 |
| Click to see photos of all finished projects |
From the looks of it, I got nine separate projects taken care of this year. Eight of those were from Star Trek, one of the Star Trek ones was for a friend, and then there was a helmet I made for VoltCon. Everything was 3D printed, of course. First, there were the "pew pews." There were two Phaser Rifles, from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: First Contact, there were two "Type 2" Phasers, one from the early seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and one from Star Trek: Nemesis, and there was a "Type 1" Phaser from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I had the opportunity to mess with some 3D printed combadges from Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation's "All Good Things..." and one from Star Trek: Picard. Actually, make that three. One for me, two for the friend I made the Phaser Rifle for! Finally, I did a wearable Optimus Prime helmet/mask from Transformers that looks inspired by the G1 line. I say "wearable" because it will squeeze onto my head, but you can't actually see out of the lenses due to how quickly I had to throw it together. It does light up, though!
Everything except the First Contact rifle, two Picard combadges, and the Optimus Prime helmet were made in the first four months of the year, which is what led me to believe I didn't get much done. And looking at 2022, I technically only finished six projects, but one of those was a complete set of Bo-Katan armor for another friend, so I still feel like I got a lot done.
Equipment
2023 was the year when I got sick of fighting to make Creality 3D printers work, and decided to spend money on a printer that just works. Oh, and one that works most of the time. Upon my return from California this summer, I cleaned up and sold off both the CR-10 "Smart" and the CR-10 S4, and replaced them with an Elegoo Neptune 3 Max, which is the same size as the old S4. Then, this past fall, using some money from commissioned pieces, I was able to snag a Bambu Labs P1P from the new Micro Center here in Indianapolis.
First, some thoughts about the Elegoo Neptune 3 Max. It's one that some makers on social media who I trust to not be shills for free printers said was a printer that was supposed to just work. Honestly? It's the printer I got the Optimus Prime helmet off of, and the printer ran like a champ through the whole thing, even after a single 127-hour (over 5 days) print of the main helmet. It recently started coming up with some extrusion issues, though, and I haven't had the time to get those figured out. Do I need to level the bed again? Clear out the nozzle? Replace the nozzle? Replace the entire extruder and hot end? Only the Shadow knows...
 |
| Oh yeah, also got my HasLab proton pack. Just something random that didn't fit with the building and equipment. |
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Bambu Labs P1P. It's a smaller printer, but damn, y'all. Just... damn. I really don't want to jinx it (doing upkeep when I'm done with this laser rifle), but it's been running almost non-stop since I bought it at the beginning of September. Sure, there have been a few print failures, but 98% of those can be attributed to poor support placement, or lack of a brim on a smaller piece that couldn't hold up to the speed this thing lays down filament. I have been very happy with it, and I'm looking to get rid of my two Creality CR-6 SEs and my Anycubic Photon with Wash Station early next year so I can get the Bambu Labs A1 Mini with a .02 nozzle and use it for the tiny pieces that need more detail. This was the job of the Photon, but I'm just so tired of working with resin. So very, very tired.
The only other big deal on equipment in 2023 was received on Monday: A belt and disc sander. It's small, it's fairly inexpensive, and it's from Harbor Freight, but for the reasons I need it? It will work perfectly. Plus, I can easily fit it under my workbench, and bring it up when I need it, then dust it off and put it right back.
Troxell's Trading Post and Support
Finally, there's how I'm paying for all of this stuff. Especially with an extra person in the household blowing through our data plan, I don't have much spare cash. To help offset this, I have been accepting donations through Ko-fi, recommending items in an Amazon Store, and putting up Wish Lists. You can find all of these over on my Beacons page, which I'm also hoping to do more with in 2024. In addition, so we aren't asking for something for nothing, my son and I have started up Troxell's Trading Post, where we sell 3D-printed tchotchkes, Perler bead art, and (eventually) leather work and buttons. We're currently hosted on Square because, well, that's where we were set up for our first convention table at VoltCon, but I'm hoping to make it to a self-hosted site in 2024, but once again, that's a topic for next week.
All in all, 2023 was a really busy year, but I was able to still get some stuff taken care of. Next week, since I won't be able to do much due to wrapping up the year for work, for Troxell's Trading Post, and all that jazz, I'll talk about what I'm looking to do in 2024.
Until that time, take good care of yourselves and each other. Remember, the world kinda sucks right now. Try not to make it suck any more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a little less.
Take care, everyone.
Tony Troxell
December 27, 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment