{"id":32922,"date":"2022-10-10T16:30:21","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T20:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/?p=32922"},"modified":"2022-10-10T16:30:21","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T20:30:21","slug":"branching-out-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/2022\/10\/branching-out-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Branching out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"author's
This has been a while in the making, but not half as long as I’d imagined it might be. Short story:<\/strong> I now have a new page up with some 3D printed accessories for nature photography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These are my own designs, except where they’re remixes of someone else’s designs, and I expect that page to be updated semi-regularly – there’s a definite benefit to creating my own accessories, and hopefully others can get some use out of them as well.<\/p>\n

I’ve been considering getting a 3D printer for some time, but was reluctant because of both the cost, and the factor of learning even more software for designing the necessary files. But this past March, I found someone selling off a Printrbot Simple Metal printer for a much lower price than I’d figured I’d have to spend, and since that time I’ve been hashing it all out. I won’t say that this is an easy thing to get into, because decent prints can take a lot of fussing around, and I’ve been doing adjustments right from the start. However, this is the kind of problem-solving I can get into, and it’s damn cool fabricating things, even when just using someone else’s designs. Meanwhile, this basic used printer has undergone several different upgrades including improved fans, a lighting system, a larger power source, and a heated bed.<\/p>\n

Now that I’m starting to get the hang of the 3D design software (Blender,) I’ve been finalizing my own stuff, which is what I’ve linked. I can tell you, the telephoto lens grip seen in the photo is a significant benefit, something I’ve been trying to work out how to create for years<\/em>, and this wasn’t even the avenue I was considering. It’s pretty damn cool, and I’m hooked.<\/p>\n

New designs will of course appear on that page, and will probably be posted here as well. And if you have the inclination, check out the rest of Thingiverse.com<\/a> as well – it’s one of the premier websites for uploaded 3D files, and I’ve printed dozens (hundreds?) of things from there.<\/p>\n

\"preservedAs a bit of trivia, 3D printers can utilize a wide variety of materials, but the common, consumer models usually use simple plastic filaments, most often PLA (poly-lactic acid) – this is essentially corn starch<\/em>, and is biodegradable. Which is good, because you go through a lot trying to get the feel for such jobs. And while it sounds like it wouldn’t be terribly durable, I can vouch that it’s as tough as many plastics, and inexpensive. You don’t want to know<\/em> how many knickknacks I have on my desk, or the kind of things that I’ve made for others…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This has been a while in the making, but not half as long as I’d imagined it might be. Short story: I now have a new page up with some 3D printed accessories for nature photography. These are my own designs, except where they’re remixes of someone else’s designs, and I expect that page to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[6924,6928,6925,6927,6929,6926],"class_list":["post-32922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photo","category-random","tag-3d-printing","tag-fabrication","tag-fdm-printing","tag-maker","tag-photo-accessories","tag-printrbot-simple-metal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}