Showing posts with label 3D printing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3D printing. Show all posts
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Working with Chance - Shifted Perspective
After thinking about what we have been discussing indeterminacy and working in chance in my conceptual strategies class, I decided to apply it to my independent studies class as well.
In 3D printing, a lot of variables are left to chance. There is no guarantee that your print will be successful. If you print the same object 1,000 times, there are any number of things that will effect the outcome. Ambient temperature, material, hot end temperatures, computer issues, hardware issues, and more can change the outcome of your print.
Case in point:
In 3D printing, a lot of variables are left to chance. There is no guarantee that your print will be successful. If you print the same object 1,000 times, there are any number of things that will effect the outcome. Ambient temperature, material, hot end temperatures, computer issues, hardware issues, and more can change the outcome of your print.
Case in point:
This is an 18 gallon tote filled with failed prints (going back about a year - there are more that have been thrown away or are in other boxes as well). Some failed due to equipment failure. Some failed due to material failure. Some of them we have no clue as to why they failed.
This box is intended to be run through a "filabot" style machine to reclaim the expended filament. Mind-2-Matter and LaserGnomes try to be as green as possible, so reclaiming spent filament is inline with our business plans. I figured in the meantime, I could do a bit of reclamation myself.
I spent some time digging through the box to create a sculpture from failed and discarded prints. Since we design and print a myriad of things from engineering parts to organic shapes, it was an interesting melange of components to choose from.
We had a number of MegaFire and SlugFire shells that failed for various reasons or were made prior to additional revisions that lead to our finished retail ready products for NERF blasters. We also had a number of failed flowers from another project that we undertook for Valentines Day.
Obviously it's time to get a larger photo tent :)
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| Shifted Perspective |
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| Shifted Perspective |
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| Shifted Perspective |
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Hot Trend: Brass, Bronze and Gold Finishes
And we at Mind-2-Matter, know a thing or two about brass.
Currently we are casting brass and pewter with little to no problems. We've also tackled bronze as well!
Currently we are casting brass and pewter with little to no problems. We've also tackled bronze as well!
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| Brass Impeller |
Brass Minimal Surface Cube
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| Bronze "Lazard" by Justin Kelly |
Brass, bronze and gold tone finishes are all the rage in decorating right now (in moderation I can understand, but it sort of reminds me of the Golden Girls and the 1980's horrid bathroom fixtures when overdone).
The resurgence in popularity apparently has been building since early 2013. I know that when a former employer would offer vintage brass pieces, they'd sell out almost instantly, but I didn't realize how far reaching it was. House Beautiful called it out in December 2012, Apartment Therapy was singing its praises in 2013 and it seems like the love of brass is still going strong, especially at New House New Home.
There is certainly a nostalgic bent about brass and bronze. Brass always makes me think of my grandpa. One of his favorite pastimes before his hands got too bad was going to the thrift store and restoring brass pieces.
The Brass Minimal Surface Cube (above) is an awesome example of what Mind-2-Matter can do. This form is based on theoretical mathematical principles that would be near impossible to bring to reality without 3D printing. Using traditional milling methods, it would be impossible to generate this object in brass, bronze or any other metal. We've developed a technique that has made it a reality.
The Bronze "Lazard" is another example of bringing digital assets to life. It was originally created as a model for a class Justin took and it's been brought to life using 3D printing. We've then used our process to cast in bronze. This is an amazing took for digital modelers who may want to create a physical object from their digital assets!.
Got an idea? Contact us. We can help you bring your ideas from mind to metal :)
Friday, January 31, 2014
Superstorm School!
It's been a hectic week. School started on Monday and I have classes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
I have discovered a perk of NOT attending a private school: flat rate tuition. I am taking 18 units (well, 15 until my independent studies section is approved) for the price of 6.1-12 units.
Say what?
At AAU, the same number of units would run about $14k.
I have also crashed my first class, ever. In all my years of college, I've never had such restrictive enrollment. Typically I just enroll like the first day enrollment opens (community college and AAU worked this way). This time around it was tiered enrollment. I could enroll in up to 7 units at orientation, then I had to wait a month to enroll in up to 15. Then a week after that I could enroll in up to 19.
Unfortunately, every single class I wanted was full by the time my enrollment time for the second round came up. I had just checked class enrollment levels half an hour prior to my enrollment time. I logged in at 1 minute to 5 and by the time I entered the class numbers, all of my classes were full.
Eventually I got enrolled in some classes. Some that I really didn't want but I had the units. One of the classes had an instructor that was half an hour late, swayed back and forth and had voice modulation issues. I had a severe case of motion sickness by the end of class. Here's a sample of what I sat through.
The next night I saw that there were 5 seats open in the Gerontology class I really wanted. I made the bold choice to try to crash that class even though I had another class at the same time. Well, apparently everyone else had the same idea. There were 65 seats in the class. The instructor had already given 8 add codes out and was capping enrollment at 75 students. A total of 90 people showed up. I was totally making myself sick with trying to decide to sit it out and see what happened (hoping a bunch of people really didn't want to study death and end of life issues) or run over to the gym to the class I was actually enrolled in.
I stayed. And so did 15 other people. It came down to putting names in a box and randomly selecting 3 people. Thank Jebus I was the first name drawn! I was so worried I skipped the first class of leisure and recreation for nothing.
As far as my independent studies class goes, it is going to basically be artistic reproduction using new and emerging technologies. I will do 4 projects (from creating the artwork in physical or digital representation reproducing those works using various methods incorporating technology) and write a final paper. I'm super excited about this. This means I get school credit for stuff I would normally be doing 4 days a week anyway (with my school schedule, there's no real way I can go to the Gnomery on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday).
I am also fairly stoked on my textiles class. Textiles? Yeah. After discussing with the department chair my ultimate goals, we came to the conclusion that textiles would be a great place to focus my energies. People are intimidated by fine art. If you aren't an artist, you aren't really going to feel comfortable painting a picture or drawing or sculpting. But people are far less intimidated by crafts. I'm learning hand sewing, crocheting, embroidery and the like. These are skills that are far less intimidating to most people.
I have discovered a perk of NOT attending a private school: flat rate tuition. I am taking 18 units (well, 15 until my independent studies section is approved) for the price of 6.1-12 units.
Say what?
At AAU, the same number of units would run about $14k.
I have also crashed my first class, ever. In all my years of college, I've never had such restrictive enrollment. Typically I just enroll like the first day enrollment opens (community college and AAU worked this way). This time around it was tiered enrollment. I could enroll in up to 7 units at orientation, then I had to wait a month to enroll in up to 15. Then a week after that I could enroll in up to 19.
Unfortunately, every single class I wanted was full by the time my enrollment time for the second round came up. I had just checked class enrollment levels half an hour prior to my enrollment time. I logged in at 1 minute to 5 and by the time I entered the class numbers, all of my classes were full.
Eventually I got enrolled in some classes. Some that I really didn't want but I had the units. One of the classes had an instructor that was half an hour late, swayed back and forth and had voice modulation issues. I had a severe case of motion sickness by the end of class. Here's a sample of what I sat through.
The next night I saw that there were 5 seats open in the Gerontology class I really wanted. I made the bold choice to try to crash that class even though I had another class at the same time. Well, apparently everyone else had the same idea. There were 65 seats in the class. The instructor had already given 8 add codes out and was capping enrollment at 75 students. A total of 90 people showed up. I was totally making myself sick with trying to decide to sit it out and see what happened (hoping a bunch of people really didn't want to study death and end of life issues) or run over to the gym to the class I was actually enrolled in.
I stayed. And so did 15 other people. It came down to putting names in a box and randomly selecting 3 people. Thank Jebus I was the first name drawn! I was so worried I skipped the first class of leisure and recreation for nothing.
As far as my independent studies class goes, it is going to basically be artistic reproduction using new and emerging technologies. I will do 4 projects (from creating the artwork in physical or digital representation reproducing those works using various methods incorporating technology) and write a final paper. I'm super excited about this. This means I get school credit for stuff I would normally be doing 4 days a week anyway (with my school schedule, there's no real way I can go to the Gnomery on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday).
I am also fairly stoked on my textiles class. Textiles? Yeah. After discussing with the department chair my ultimate goals, we came to the conclusion that textiles would be a great place to focus my energies. People are intimidated by fine art. If you aren't an artist, you aren't really going to feel comfortable painting a picture or drawing or sculpting. But people are far less intimidated by crafts. I'm learning hand sewing, crocheting, embroidery and the like. These are skills that are far less intimidating to most people.
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| Not quite underwater basket weaving. Maybe that's a more advanced class. |
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Everyone needs a day off.
I was all super ready to do a run down of Matter Control today. Well, life happens and it was a beautiful day at the beach with my family.
We go to Blind Beach as a family on Jan. 20th to remember my brother, Jesse, each year. It is a place filled with great family memories, I got married there and it's the beach from the end of the Goonies.
It definitely does NOT feel like January. In the least. It was like 70 degrees and sunny with barely a breeze. You can't even get that weather in July around here (we had overcast and cool weather for our June wedding).
I'll be home in the morning (it's about 12:30 a.m. and I'm at the Gnomery) so I will do the video walk through of MatterControl set up on Desky. I've got Screencast-O-Matic installed on Desky and makes recording video/audio a snap. It's also a bit better than just posting some pictures of screen shots.
I have to say that I've done the set up, played around with it and Matter Control should be a breeze for novices. Considering we have only had one printer at home (well, there was a bit of time we had 2 printers at home) and it was being used for making $$$$, I never really got a chance to play around with some of the other controller software out there. I can tell you from watching Justin spend countless hours figuring it all out, none of them are as straight forward as Matter Control.
Matter Control introduced me to the Airwolf line of printers. While we exclusively use Type A Machines Series 1 printers, I'm slightly obsessed with the Airwolf printer. Really only because it has such a badass name. I've had the Airwolf theme song stuck in my head since I saw the printer.
I can't attest to how Airwolf printers work (though if the makers want us to test head to head on a commercial level versus the Type A Machines, we'll gladly test it for you!), and I know they currently come with a much larger diameter hot end (.5 is their standard with a .35 hot end available sometime in the spring), so it's comparing apples to oranges.
We go to Blind Beach as a family on Jan. 20th to remember my brother, Jesse, each year. It is a place filled with great family memories, I got married there and it's the beach from the end of the Goonies.
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| Does the arch look familiar?! |
I'll be home in the morning (it's about 12:30 a.m. and I'm at the Gnomery) so I will do the video walk through of MatterControl set up on Desky. I've got Screencast-O-Matic installed on Desky and makes recording video/audio a snap. It's also a bit better than just posting some pictures of screen shots.
I have to say that I've done the set up, played around with it and Matter Control should be a breeze for novices. Considering we have only had one printer at home (well, there was a bit of time we had 2 printers at home) and it was being used for making $$$$, I never really got a chance to play around with some of the other controller software out there. I can tell you from watching Justin spend countless hours figuring it all out, none of them are as straight forward as Matter Control.
Matter Control introduced me to the Airwolf line of printers. While we exclusively use Type A Machines Series 1 printers, I'm slightly obsessed with the Airwolf printer. Really only because it has such a badass name. I've had the Airwolf theme song stuck in my head since I saw the printer.
I can't attest to how Airwolf printers work (though if the makers want us to test head to head on a commercial level versus the Type A Machines, we'll gladly test it for you!), and I know they currently come with a much larger diameter hot end (.5 is their standard with a .35 hot end available sometime in the spring), so it's comparing apples to oranges.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Mind-2-Matter - Hard at work!?
This is how hard Pi works at The Gnomery!
I've been trying with ZERO luck to upload this video of what happens at night in The Gnomery. Blogger is a jerk, so it won't embed no matter how I try to upload it, so a link will have to do.
I haven't done a ton of creative work this week, but creative work has been going on in the Gnomery (part of the video above is "testing" the "TactiGnome SlugFire" - a LaserGnomes designed accessory for the NERF SledgeFire blaster).
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| TactiGnome SlugFire designed and manufactured by LaserGnomes |
It's been a full week of research and paperwork for me, but Mind-2-Matter is almost done with all of that. We have moved to a fantastic space in San Leandro, CA. We're sharing this space with Type A Machines and it's going great.
The City of San Leandro is committed to revitalizing and re-imagining American manufacturing and we are excited to be a part of it. San Leandro has a fiber loop (can't tell you how excited Justin was at the mention of this!), tons of warehouse and commercial space available (the building we are in was formerly a Ford, Chrysler and Caterpillar plant) and they are currently having a "holiday" from business license fees to attract new businesses to the area. This applies to almost any new business setting up shop in San Leandro, which is unheard of.
As a "start up" company, that is a great incentive. For us, a very small business (3 people currently), the savings don't seem like a ton (about $300), but considering business licence fees are calculated on the number of owners and employees, that can quickly add up. Can't beat free, right?!
Keep an eye out for some of our upcoming projects. We are about ready to start casting in the new facility (we're up to 4 kilns) and we are expanding our 3D printing capabilities.
Here are some of the places you can find our services:
3d Hubs
MakeXYZ
Fictivmade
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Thursday, January 2, 2014
It Never Stops (and we wouldn't have it any other way)
Oh my damn. So many things to write about.
First of all Happy New Year! I've been slacking but it's been a busy couple of weeks!
LaserGnomes/Mind2Matter is all moved in to our new location in San Leandro with Type A Machines!
I totally thought I had more pictures on my phone/camera but I've been so excited to just make things and get set up, I have been slacking on the photos!
I'll get some tomorrow of the nearly completed space.
I do have pictures of some of my projects. I want to test out scanning equipment on sculpture, so I have been working with Sculpture House Prima Plastilina Modeling Clay, Sulphur Free, Light Tan, 2 lb - 2 lb
, which is an oil based clay that does not dry out. I've never worked with it before and was sort of worried about the "hardness" of it (I put off model making 1 forever and a day because of the thought of using it). When Justin used it for school, he was warming it in the oven to soften it and then you ran into the issue of it getting too hot and burning your hands.
Well, I discovered the wonders of the heat gun. I've used the heat gun for finishing PLA and doing some welding/shaping work in PLA, so I grabbed it to use on the plastilina. It works wonders! How a heat gun is NOT a part of your materials list for classes that require it is mystery to me!
I definitely needed a break from working with it today, as my hand and arm hurt a lot but Wintergreen Essential Oil. 10 ml. 100% Pure, Undiluted, Therapeutic Grade.
has been a lifesaver when it comes to pain caused by over exertion. I have 20:80 dilution mixed up at all times (usually adding wintergreen oil to avocado oil or coconut oil as a carrier) and it works wonders. I even gave some to my mom for her horrible chronic foot pain and she said it helped really quickly.
I had a couple of kids request a fairy sculpture when I went to the Creative Learning Loft Christmas party, but it's turning out to be a bit more elfin than fairy. I'm not one for fairy princesses anyway :)
All I can say is this is a really exciting time and I'm so proud of my husband for keeping at 3D printing even when it was frustrating beyond belief. We had an idea of where we wanted to land, but weren't sure how we were going to get there.
We now have a wonderful creative space and are making money doing what we love. We can even take the Pi to work with us.
We will be having an open house/shop warming party in the near future. Keep an eye out for the info!
BTW - I haven't forgotten about the whole 3D modeling software trials. Between the move and holidays, it's been busy and in all honesty, it's faster for me to bust out the clay. I spent hours trying to figure out how to do fairy garden fence pieces using software and had doors in 3 sizes, a fence and part of an elfin creature done in an 8 hour day.
First of all Happy New Year! I've been slacking but it's been a busy couple of weeks!
LaserGnomes/Mind2Matter is all moved in to our new location in San Leandro with Type A Machines!
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| Rod, Justin and I! |
I'll get some tomorrow of the nearly completed space.
I do have pictures of some of my projects. I want to test out scanning equipment on sculpture, so I have been working with Sculpture House Prima Plastilina Modeling Clay, Sulphur Free, Light Tan, 2 lb - 2 lb
, which is an oil based clay that does not dry out. I've never worked with it before and was sort of worried about the "hardness" of it (I put off model making 1 forever and a day because of the thought of using it). When Justin used it for school, he was warming it in the oven to soften it and then you ran into the issue of it getting too hot and burning your hands.Well, I discovered the wonders of the heat gun. I've used the heat gun for finishing PLA and doing some welding/shaping work in PLA, so I grabbed it to use on the plastilina. It works wonders! How a heat gun is NOT a part of your materials list for classes that require it is mystery to me!
I definitely needed a break from working with it today, as my hand and arm hurt a lot but Wintergreen Essential Oil. 10 ml. 100% Pure, Undiluted, Therapeutic Grade.
has been a lifesaver when it comes to pain caused by over exertion. I have 20:80 dilution mixed up at all times (usually adding wintergreen oil to avocado oil or coconut oil as a carrier) and it works wonders. I even gave some to my mom for her horrible chronic foot pain and she said it helped really quickly.I had a couple of kids request a fairy sculpture when I went to the Creative Learning Loft Christmas party, but it's turning out to be a bit more elfin than fairy. I'm not one for fairy princesses anyway :)
All I can say is this is a really exciting time and I'm so proud of my husband for keeping at 3D printing even when it was frustrating beyond belief. We had an idea of where we wanted to land, but weren't sure how we were going to get there.
We now have a wonderful creative space and are making money doing what we love. We can even take the Pi to work with us.
We will be having an open house/shop warming party in the near future. Keep an eye out for the info!
BTW - I haven't forgotten about the whole 3D modeling software trials. Between the move and holidays, it's been busy and in all honesty, it's faster for me to bust out the clay. I spent hours trying to figure out how to do fairy garden fence pieces using software and had doors in 3 sizes, a fence and part of an elfin creature done in an 8 hour day.
Friday, December 20, 2013
The Gnomery (Gnome Sweet Gnome)
I haven't forgotten about my reviews of 3D modeling software. I really haven't.
But it's been quite exciting around here nonetheless.
The Gnomery is moving. We picked up keys and started moving furniture in today!
I spent much of yesterday working with ComposiMold, which I had come across at MakerFaire earlier this year. It's a reusable molding compound for making a variety of molds (including 2 part, push molds and more). It comes in a variety of formulations, including FC, or food contact.
I ordered my ComposiMold through Amazon and it arrived in 2 days as Prime Shipping usually does (I say usually because I had one item show up like 5 months later after a replacement had already been sent out).
Unfortunately, the top of the container was contaminated with mold!
I was totally bummed and reached out to ComposiMold on Facebook. Granted it was like midnight when I posted the pictures, I didn't really expect anything to happen right away.
Well, when I got up the next morning, I had two responses to my post and a separate email from ComposiMold. They apologized profusely and have issued a replacement AND refunding my original purchase price in order to make things right.
Later in the day, I even received a voicemail from Sean at ComposiMold apologizing for the situation.
Even though my initial experience was less than stellar, they have worked really hard to make it right. It is really rare to find good customer service (let alone any customer service) these days, it was awesome to have a company be so responsive to a problem.
I can't post any pictures of the project since it's Christmas and all (don't want to give away the goods!). I'll post pictures once I've given the gifts.
We picked up some furniture from Moving Sale (our local second hand shop), including a super sweet whiteboard set up! Unfortunately, it was about 5 pm when Rod got into town with the kiln hoods so traffic was horrendous getting out of the city. I think it took more than an hour to get there (The ride home took less than 20 minutes without traffic).
I can't tell you how exciting this is. A year ago, we were getting our 3D printer. We had a dream to put it to work for us. We didn't know how we were going to do it, but that was the plan. We've had our ups and downs with the printer itself. In fact, take a look at my first post, Type A Machines Series 1, it was quite the learning experience.
Today we are setting up our future. We had an idea and we've stuck it out. We have gone from the above results to print on demand fulfillment, including 3D scanning and metal casting. Some didn't have faith in our dream but we did and now it is paying off. My husband's perseverance through this project has been nothing short of amaze (and yes, I meant to type amaze).
Sometimes it has been nerve wracking. My poor husband stays up all night working. I have felt tremendous guilt for being busy with an outside job and school, but we've pressed on. Big things are happening and I'm filled with gratitude to be a part of it.
But it's been quite exciting around here nonetheless.
The Gnomery is moving. We picked up keys and started moving furniture in today!
Post by LaserGnomes
I spent much of yesterday working with ComposiMold, which I had come across at MakerFaire earlier this year. It's a reusable molding compound for making a variety of molds (including 2 part, push molds and more). It comes in a variety of formulations, including FC, or food contact.
I ordered my ComposiMold through Amazon and it arrived in 2 days as Prime Shipping usually does (I say usually because I had one item show up like 5 months later after a replacement had already been sent out).
Unfortunately, the top of the container was contaminated with mold!
I was totally bummed and reached out to ComposiMold on Facebook. Granted it was like midnight when I posted the pictures, I didn't really expect anything to happen right away.
Well, when I got up the next morning, I had two responses to my post and a separate email from ComposiMold. They apologized profusely and have issued a replacement AND refunding my original purchase price in order to make things right.
Later in the day, I even received a voicemail from Sean at ComposiMold apologizing for the situation.
Even though my initial experience was less than stellar, they have worked really hard to make it right. It is really rare to find good customer service (let alone any customer service) these days, it was awesome to have a company be so responsive to a problem.
I can't post any pictures of the project since it's Christmas and all (don't want to give away the goods!). I'll post pictures once I've given the gifts.
We picked up some furniture from Moving Sale (our local second hand shop), including a super sweet whiteboard set up! Unfortunately, it was about 5 pm when Rod got into town with the kiln hoods so traffic was horrendous getting out of the city. I think it took more than an hour to get there (The ride home took less than 20 minutes without traffic).
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| Justin opening the door with our key for the first time! |
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| Our spot. The room is about 8k sqft and we have an area about 18' x 34' with room for expansion. |
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| A photo from my first blog post about 3D printing. Our failed print graveyard. It got larger, much larger over the last year. |
Today we are setting up our future. We had an idea and we've stuck it out. We have gone from the above results to print on demand fulfillment, including 3D scanning and metal casting. Some didn't have faith in our dream but we did and now it is paying off. My husband's perseverance through this project has been nothing short of amaze (and yes, I meant to type amaze).
Sometimes it has been nerve wracking. My poor husband stays up all night working. I have felt tremendous guilt for being busy with an outside job and school, but we've pressed on. Big things are happening and I'm filled with gratitude to be a part of it.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
So much to do!
And so little time!
We went to check out the new facility in San Leandro today, which is BEYOND exciting!
I'm trying to figure out school for next semester, which is sort of frustrating. SFSU still hasn't requested transcripts, so I'm not entirely certain what is transferrable from AAU. I know what transferred from Los Rios Community College, so that helps a bit, but some of the core classes I have no idea if I actually need to take them or not.
I'm going to go down to campus tomorrow to pay tuition and see if I can get together with an adviser or at least someone in admissions/records to help me out. I have a rough plan, but I'd rather have it taken care of so it's one less thing to worry about.
With checking out our new space today, it's really coming at us fast. It's exciting and scary at the same time.
I have orientation for school on Saturday, but I would like to have an idea of what my schedule will be like so I can figure out where/when I can be of use when we start kicking into gear. I'm a planner a lot of the time. I like to have an idea what is going on.
I usually have classes registered for the second they are available, but my lack of readily available immunization records prevented that. I'm 34. It's not easy finding records from shots I got when I was like 7. My pediatrician went out of business ages ago.
Instead, I had to pay $100 to have a blood test performed to prove I had my MMR vaccine like 27 years ago. That meant I risked having the results come back showing that I have no immunity. Which would have meant get the immunization (again, pricey on top of the test I just paid for) or find a doctor that would write me an exemption.
Thank Jeebus it came back that I have immunity. One less worry (I was concerned about finding a doc that would give me an exemption!). I have the Hep series from when I was a firefighter and I did get a TDAP in 2009.
I'm still working on the 3d modeling software trials.
It's FRUSTRATING! Good god, I don't know how Justin made into 3d modeling! All I can think of every time I start up the program is "holy crap, I could grab a block of clay and have this done in 10 minutes and then scan it!"
That was what I did for the Rufio costume and it worked out well. But I'm super determined to learn how to model. Especially when I see the possibilities for what I want to do design-wise.
I've got finals tomorrow and Tuesday. I've got Orientation on Saturday. Le Midge's birthday is next Tuesday. Christmas is next Wednesday.
We've got people asking about our New Years plans. We have barely even thought about Christmas, aside from sweet, delicious tri tip at my mom's.
We went to check out the new facility in San Leandro today, which is BEYOND exciting!
I'm trying to figure out school for next semester, which is sort of frustrating. SFSU still hasn't requested transcripts, so I'm not entirely certain what is transferrable from AAU. I know what transferred from Los Rios Community College, so that helps a bit, but some of the core classes I have no idea if I actually need to take them or not.
I'm going to go down to campus tomorrow to pay tuition and see if I can get together with an adviser or at least someone in admissions/records to help me out. I have a rough plan, but I'd rather have it taken care of so it's one less thing to worry about.
With checking out our new space today, it's really coming at us fast. It's exciting and scary at the same time.
I have orientation for school on Saturday, but I would like to have an idea of what my schedule will be like so I can figure out where/when I can be of use when we start kicking into gear. I'm a planner a lot of the time. I like to have an idea what is going on.
I usually have classes registered for the second they are available, but my lack of readily available immunization records prevented that. I'm 34. It's not easy finding records from shots I got when I was like 7. My pediatrician went out of business ages ago.
Instead, I had to pay $100 to have a blood test performed to prove I had my MMR vaccine like 27 years ago. That meant I risked having the results come back showing that I have no immunity. Which would have meant get the immunization (again, pricey on top of the test I just paid for) or find a doctor that would write me an exemption.
Thank Jeebus it came back that I have immunity. One less worry (I was concerned about finding a doc that would give me an exemption!). I have the Hep series from when I was a firefighter and I did get a TDAP in 2009.
I'm still working on the 3d modeling software trials.
It's FRUSTRATING! Good god, I don't know how Justin made into 3d modeling! All I can think of every time I start up the program is "holy crap, I could grab a block of clay and have this done in 10 minutes and then scan it!"
That was what I did for the Rufio costume and it worked out well. But I'm super determined to learn how to model. Especially when I see the possibilities for what I want to do design-wise.
I've got finals tomorrow and Tuesday. I've got Orientation on Saturday. Le Midge's birthday is next Tuesday. Christmas is next Wednesday.
We've got people asking about our New Years plans. We have barely even thought about Christmas, aside from sweet, delicious tri tip at my mom's.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Made In Space!?
We went to a really great 3D printing meet up on Sunday (it's been a busy week with Mind-2-Matter and getting ready for finals next week, so I wasn't timely in blogging about it).
It was hosted by Type A Machines and 3DHubs, who just recently unlocked San Francisco.
3DHubs is another print on demand service that required a certain number of printers to sign up in an area prior to "unlocking" a city. We had been watching for months for San Francisco to be unlocked but have been steadily using MakeXYZ to grow our business.
We spent a bit of time networking and one of the featured speakers was Made in Space!
What's Made in Space you ask?
Basically they are a group that is working on the first 3D printer in space!
How rad is that idea?
I can't say we're working on anything as ground (or space) breaking as 3D printing in space, but Mind-2-Matter getting to be a REALLY exciting project.
I'm working on the photography tomorrow morning before we head out to Half Moon Bay.
I went through the entire casting process on Saturday from spruing to pouring the investment mold to pouring the pewter! Justin took some video so I will get that posted up tomorrow as well as the photos of Gnorman in various states of being.
Here are a few of Gnorman from my cell phone (the real pictures will happen tomorrow!).
It was hosted by Type A Machines and 3DHubs, who just recently unlocked San Francisco.
3DHubs is another print on demand service that required a certain number of printers to sign up in an area prior to "unlocking" a city. We had been watching for months for San Francisco to be unlocked but have been steadily using MakeXYZ to grow our business.
We spent a bit of time networking and one of the featured speakers was Made in Space!
What's Made in Space you ask?
Basically they are a group that is working on the first 3D printer in space!
How rad is that idea?
I can't say we're working on anything as ground (or space) breaking as 3D printing in space, but Mind-2-Matter getting to be a REALLY exciting project.
I'm working on the photography tomorrow morning before we head out to Half Moon Bay.
I went through the entire casting process on Saturday from spruing to pouring the investment mold to pouring the pewter! Justin took some video so I will get that posted up tomorrow as well as the photos of Gnorman in various states of being.
Here are a few of Gnorman from my cell phone (the real pictures will happen tomorrow!).
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| Brain Rot |
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| I really wanted to keep a golden Gnorman, but he had to go through the polishing stages! |
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The Studious Stag
I know I've been neglecting the blog a bit.
I have been working diligently on projects, especially now that I have a lot more time on my hands. I haven't really settled into a routine since losing my job. I really think that will help. We're going crabbing tomorrow (hopefully a crabfest will be had tomorrow night!) but I would really like to get a good routine down.
In fact, I just finished this piece today:
It's available in our Etsy store and it's a part of a series of 5 pieces I'm working on.
In all honesty, the general crappiness of the eCraft has been the hold up on this and several other projects.
Contacting Craftwell has been of little help other than "you're doing it wrong". I finally found a blogger at Purple Paper Paradise who apparently knows how to use the machine and is WAY more help than Craftwell's customer service.
I was able to get a few usable cuts following her tips, whereas I was still just throwing paper away trying to "do it right" according to Craftwell Customer Service.
Perhaps they need to sit down and watch PurplePaperParadise's videos in order to work in CS? I don't like to be mean to CS people, they're usually doing the best they can with the limited resources and training that they get. I'm more frustrated with companies that offer products with little to no support documentation and you just sort of have to figure out, especially when they purport their product to be easy to use out of the box.
I've got some additional projects on my list, including Christmas cards. I know it's a bit late (a lot of people do their Christmas cards Thanksgiving weekend), but I seriously didn't even think about them until I asked my husband yesterday if he wanted to send any out and if we were going to make them or do a lame photo card.
I hope to have cards ready by the weekend. You can always leave a comment here if you have suggestions. I'm really interested to hear if there are letter press plates that people really want to see made for units like the Fiskar's Fuse or the like. I've got the capacity to help make that a reality and have had it on my radar for a while now. I've asked friends and family if there were any sort of crafting themes they would like to see but none of them want to craft (everyone is into Instagram to apply filters to their photos but no one actually does anything with said photos).
I have been working diligently on projects, especially now that I have a lot more time on my hands. I haven't really settled into a routine since losing my job. I really think that will help. We're going crabbing tomorrow (hopefully a crabfest will be had tomorrow night!) but I would really like to get a good routine down.
In fact, I just finished this piece today:
It's available in our Etsy store and it's a part of a series of 5 pieces I'm working on.
In all honesty, the general crappiness of the eCraft has been the hold up on this and several other projects.
Contacting Craftwell has been of little help other than "you're doing it wrong". I finally found a blogger at Purple Paper Paradise who apparently knows how to use the machine and is WAY more help than Craftwell's customer service.
I was able to get a few usable cuts following her tips, whereas I was still just throwing paper away trying to "do it right" according to Craftwell Customer Service.
Perhaps they need to sit down and watch PurplePaperParadise's videos in order to work in CS? I don't like to be mean to CS people, they're usually doing the best they can with the limited resources and training that they get. I'm more frustrated with companies that offer products with little to no support documentation and you just sort of have to figure out, especially when they purport their product to be easy to use out of the box.
I've got some additional projects on my list, including Christmas cards. I know it's a bit late (a lot of people do their Christmas cards Thanksgiving weekend), but I seriously didn't even think about them until I asked my husband yesterday if he wanted to send any out and if we were going to make them or do a lame photo card.
I hope to have cards ready by the weekend. You can always leave a comment here if you have suggestions. I'm really interested to hear if there are letter press plates that people really want to see made for units like the Fiskar's Fuse or the like. I've got the capacity to help make that a reality and have had it on my radar for a while now. I've asked friends and family if there were any sort of crafting themes they would like to see but none of them want to craft (everyone is into Instagram to apply filters to their photos but no one actually does anything with said photos).
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