atomic peach

If you’re up for making it a hobby and you like tinkering, have you thought of building a Voron? After using a few off-the-shelf units, I’ve come to appreciate using an open source project because upgrading components is so easy and second nature. You can incrementally upgrade specific aspects when your wallet and desires dictate it.

I think it’s important to remember that hobby level printers often require some amount of hobby level tinkering. There are many plug and print options available, and anything is extendable if you want to put the work into it (i.e. don’t fret if multicolor or multi-material are available yet or not, it’s always possible to mod a printer later). Any new cutting edge tech will likely have a bunch of bugs to work out, so expect some hurdles when adopting it.

If you want something to print here and there, it might be worthwhile to look at makerspaces near you. Let a shop handle the tinkering and machine upkeep and yet have something ready when you need it. Makerspaces often have a ton of additional resources so you aren’t stuck to just plastics.

But having worked with numerous off the shelf printers and finally building a Voron, I think it’s important for any printer owner to know how their machine is pieces together/how it works. Then, when things go wrong you’re able to fix them without much fuss. You don’t need to be an engineer to operate one, but it helps to know what’s holding each piece together and where the moving parts travel in order to quickly fix issues.

I’m not sure I understand the need for charging to play media on a private server when not on the local network. Why is this no longer going to be free? I’m glad I bought a lifetime pass many many years back but I definitely wouldn’t pay for Plex nowadays with alternatives being comparable. What a silly choice they made~

Fuck no! I always found it funny how communities find specific words offensive and look down upon people that use them. Context is important, of course, but the vast majority of cases I witness people swearing are non malicious in nature. (Don’t get me wrong, there are absolutely words/phrases I will never say; again, context is key here)

Coming up with alternative words for the same intent is super silly to me, too. The individual makes it very clear they are aware of the “rules” and are making an asserted attempt to sidestep them. Why bother with all that effort and not simply use the intended word instead?

Take a week and build a Voron. The kits are super easy to piece together and you end up with an insanely great, reliable printer for a fraction what it should cost. Yes, the build time and initial calibration might take a bit, but mine’s been without issue, printing 24h long prints perfectly for over a year now. You don’t need to settle for a mediocre built printer if you have the patience to piece together one. Not to mention, since you built the kit, you know how to troubleshoot any issues that pop up much faster than something you pulled out of a box and plugged into the wall.

Acrylic paints are your friend here. They last a long while in their bottles and you can keep a palette for a few days when using a wet palette. start with just using a brush and jump up to an airbrush if you want to cover a bigger area or do fancy stuff (an air brush is far from required). As another commenter said, the minipainting community has a ton of resources, text and video tutorials, and willing to provide constructive feedback if you want it.

Just remember: thin your paints~

I’ve had a lot of success taking the rules that YNAB uses and applying to my own budgeting method. I recommend checking out Actual Budget if you’re capable of self-hosting and want a fancier software instead of a spreadsheet. The rules are key, though; pick a methodology/mindset you agree with and stick with it.