Monthly Archives: February 2015

What does that button do

You know the adage that documentation is to let other people understand how and why you did something, including the other person that is you three months from now? If I had either documented the steps I took to get … Continue reading

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My office is too small for a mobile robot

Why four-wheel drive is a bad idea for ostensibly simple bots Continue reading

Posted in things that don't work, toys | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Meetings go so much faster when fewer people attend

Well, also when you have a basic consensus on what you want to do and most of what you need is fill in the implementation details. The Montpelier Makerspace meeting at the library this afternoon was like that. (Yeah, we’ll … Continue reading

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First rule of holes

I wanted to get something printed before this afternoon’s maker meeting, So when Repetier crashed (it does that on and off) I figured it would be no problem to just restart, reconnect and get the print going. Nerp. Apparently it … Continue reading

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Less is more

Yesterday I took off my cobbled-together insulation and installed the simple fix that Printrbot sent out — thank you! Since part of the installation process involved running the bed up to 100c to get the thermal expansion right for tightening … Continue reading

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Printrbot Metal Plus thermal fixes

(UPDATE: See the next post for the fix that’s been sent out by Printrbot, which works a treat.) A lot of people have been complaining about the heated bed on the Metal Plus. The original design didn’t heat the bed … Continue reading

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An organized workplace is a sane workplace

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to build a bunch of the kits that have accumulated in the basement over the years. Among them a cheap 4-wheel-drive robot chassis (well, actually the previous version, which will become significant in … Continue reading

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