I've had a few ups and downs in the last couple of days.

A big positive is my workshop is finally almost fully operative! I ran up the mini-lathe and the SC4 yesterday, no problems, although a few little things to fiddle with here and there. The bandsaw amazed me by having the blade fitted and ready to cut – I could have sworn it fell off last year and I hadn't refitted it!

Resin printing is awesome, I have completed a Stug III at 1:35, based on a 1:56 model off Thingiverse. I designed a lot of upgrade parts (hatch, better spare track links, shurzen, jack, fire extinguisher etc.) and from a couple of feet away it stands up comparison with injection moulded kits.

One issue… don't make the tips of your supports too small, or you will end up having to waste resin running the clean function and peeling a messy layer off the bottom of the print vat with bits of failed print stuck to it

Last night I printed some mesh covers for the air intakes on it and my Tamiya Panzer III. I designed some with a finer mesh than an example of Thingiverse – 0.2mm with 0.5mm spacing and 0.2mm thick. It's printed beautifully in resin, but very flexible!

Also, a replacement battery cover for cheap digital calipers – works great. There are several designs on Thingiverse, select a caliper that looks like yours

The downside, I want to print some speaker surrounds on my Prusa i3 clone. Set it all up with a new nozzle and levelled it nicely.

First time a dodgy SD card and the print hung after about ten minutes.

Second time appeared to print OK, but I couldn't get the 'tree-style' support off without damaging it.

Third attempt and three quarters of the way through, the heater cartridge has gone open circuit.

In this oppressive heat, I really can't focus enough to replace it this afternoon. It will have to be with an old hot end, but I've ordered a couple of spares, at least they are cheap.

Other little stories… where have all my small allen keys gone? Where is my razor saw? Why have I got less room in a bigger workshop!

More news on the way…

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 22/06/2023 17:17:13