Thanks!
I want to make it clear that this is like 99% Savage's work from his plans. I know I rearranged stuff a bit to fit on the laser cutter, and I did some minor things, like adding mounting points for a few of the parts, but the plans are pretty much "all his".
I'd never have gotten this far without SavageCreature's plans.
Specifically:
All the 3D parts are basically SC's parts.
- I did tweak the top sections a bit, but merely to find the symmetry he already had in his model, and to add supports that worked a little more reliably for my printers. (I loathe most slicer's support generation, it always finds solutions I don't agree with.)
- I also tweaked a couple of the other parts, adding posts for mounting, and changing the posts a little for my hoses, but I don't think that really counts.
- I modified the transparent bit through the wall since it seemed to me that the hose diameter was the same as SC's bump. The really cool thing was that the section I removed to add the hose works brilliantly to fit the hose, it's the exact diameter.
- Ok, I totally hollowed out one post so I could make my fake-plug.
- Chopped up the "heatsinks" because I can't paint. I'm not even convinced this change is very useful, now there are more parts to assemble.
- And I added a round cap instead of SC's square on the base, however the photos aren't great to show what shape it is, this is a matter of opinion. And my cap is the same diameter as his square's sides.
The "flat pack" tweaks are even smaller:
- Laid them out for my laser cutter, mostly because his CnC's bed size is larger than the laser I have access to.
- Added notches & slots to a couple bits because I had trouble getting the grooves right on the laser. (laser cuts are kinda all-or-nothing. Partway like his CnC aren't really practical)
- Added a few mounting points (the top disc basically, for the T fittings).
- I did combine the J & K rings for "Jtop" for more support, but that's sort of a nonsense change.
- I've removed the bottom band on the latest revision as my take on the photos is that the bottom's more pointed (but I'm not gonna rebuild mine because of that, nobody'll ever notice.)
I also depended heavily on his build log and photos. I'd've never been brave enough to putty the holes or bothered trimming the one band without his guidance.
I've now cut parts for 4 of these and printed parts for 3. The process has been iterative as I learned how things fit (or didn't). I *think* it's reasonably repeatable now, but we'll see how the other 2 folks build's go (hopefully they'll share).
The things I'm still bugged by are:
- The fitting of the bottom hose sockets. I don't feel confident that I can provide mount points on the bands accurately enough to position them correctly. The template helps a lot there.
- I haven't actually gotten the upper diffuser into place on mine. I'm hoping that the updated version with tabs/slots works OK, but it's annoying to me that the diffuser basically has to be added after painting as it's not really removable after gluing. That's pretty minor for a build like this though.
- I don't feel like I've found the "perfect" diffuser material, though it's good enough for me. The panels I picked up are definitely too clear. The paper inserts "work" great, but feels like a hack.
- I've broken off the ends of the lower hose fittings. I'm wondering if they'd be better as a sold wood dowel or something set in a 3D printed form for the lower bit.