planet snewpy

surface transmissions (2017):

Ring Video Doorbell

2017-01-08 14:53:20 -

I received the Ring video doorbell as a Christmas gift this year. Overall, I like it. However, I have a few reservations about recommending it to others.

My First Time Lapse

2017-02-26 09:25:07 -

I'm spending time learning about my Creator Pro, and in the process, I've come across a lot of resources, including plenty of YouTube videos. One trend I've noticed is a lot of folks like to post time lapse videos of their printer doing its thing, so I thought I'd give it a shot. In this clip, I'm printing copies of this impressive design of a fluted Ionic column that is Lego compatible. A couple of photos of the finished product are below.

New Chicken Coop

2017-04-30 15:48:04 -

Hard to believe it has been five years since we constructed a home for our first flock. Those birds developed a taste for their own eggs, and that is a very hard habit to break in a small flock, so we were forced to start over this year with new chicks. I took this opportunity to improve upon the design of our last chicken coop and so construction has begun on a completely new and this time permanent structure. We are also going to give the deep litter method a try, so stay tuned for updates on how that works.

Topeak Bicycle Basket Latch

2017-09-03 17:50:27 -

My wife has the Topeak QuickTrack system on her bike. She recently bought the Topeak MTX rear basket that works with the system, however, the geometry of the bike seat and basket are such that she couldn't slide the basket far enough forward to engage the latch without hitting the back of the seat. Apparently, based on internet comments, this is a fairly common problem.

I Want Candy

2017-10-31 13:28:51 -

This is a really cool design for a Halloween candy dispenser that I found on Thingiverse. It took 14 hours to print, but it turned out pretty well, and works as advertised.

XBox One Vertical Stand

2017-10-28 12:39:22 -

The Wii is starting to get a little long in the tooth, so it was time for an upgrade. My son had asked a while ago for a driving game, so when I saw an XBox One bundle on Amazon that included Forza 3, we decided to get it for his birthday. But unlike the Wii, which included a stand, Microsoft wants to charge you an extra $20 for one. Amazon only wanted $16, but the winning bid this time came from Thingiverse - big thanks to lamiskin for saving me some money - and I could even print it in my son's favorite color.

Poster Hangers

2017-12-03 11:54:12 -

When I was a kid, I had some of these really cool poster hangers on my wall and on the door to my room. They had a really simple but clever design that used the weight of the poster itself and a small roller inside to clamp down and hold whatever you put inside the clip. Now that I have kids, I've looked online over the years for a similar product that I could buy for their rooms, but I've never been able to find them anywhere. The other day, I found a place that advertised them, but when I contacted them they said their vendor no longer made them.