I need a Don’t box.

Lot of people seeming to miss that point here!

Gnucash

Another comment for freetaxusa. The name sounds like a scam for boomers, but it’s legit and good.

This is right, for as long as the fdm printer hobbyists can avoid the lockdown and enshittification that some printer brands are definitely pushing. The value of this paper, for it’s authors, seems more like a proof of concept: fingerprinting is possible. And I think that’s actually it’s same value for hobbyists: the problems with a closed system and proprietary printer firmware are not hypothetical.

The fact that this could only work in 100% locked down ecosystems was my thought too. About cutting the part up, that seems to be what this particular paper is most proud of: they did a bunch of math to make some codes that they could still figure out even when they were cut into pieces and mixed up—like if a person broke their printed part after using it. Sort of like error-correcting codes I guess, but able to be reassembled from fragments.

Here’s the paper where they explain it. Basically, they make subtle fluctuations in layer height, adding or subtracting small amounts that are not visible to the naked eye, to encode 0s and 1s. So, maybe in principle this could run at the firmware level on your printer. Then, someone can use a microscope to read off the code from pieces of the printed part.

I would have some doubts about how reliable this is, given the relatively large tolerances in fdm printing, but they have a section about that in the paper, so I guess they at least have thought about it.

Thanks! I wondered about the glue stick trick, but I think you’re right that a taper would be better. I have to wonder why he didn’t say that, but maybe he was tight on time or some other thing.

The part at the end about the fins is good, but too quick. He says put a gap under the fins, and that makes sense, but then how do they print? Are they small enough that they can basically just break away? I’ve heard ironing is the key to stacked, separable prints (like miltiboard grids). I’d that (a) necessary, (b) unnecessary but helpful, or © irrelevant for these fins?

P.s. while I was internet searching to try to understand this, I found a cute video of his from 3 years ago where he is explaining the same concept, but with less polish and less good vtuber equipment. Still neat, and neat to see how he has and hasn’t changed over time.

Like others have already said, this article is a good collection of tricks/principles/examples. There are also lots of links out to other resources that cover the various items in more detail.

But I haven’t seen anyone mention how awesome that head image is! Take a closer look if you didn’t at first. I’d love to see an animation that wipes from design to completed piece.

None of the sites are completely free from enshittification, but printables seems the least bad. Prusa has a better track record with supporting an open community, at least for now. Bambu+makerworld is an example of a company trying to close as much as possible to lock people in. Now I can’t download without a login? No thanks.

Yeah, there’s probably all kinds of clever ways to use folding for subdividers or something. If you come up with something to post, tag me so I can check it out!

Yeah! I know people make full organizer models for it, but mine has grown into its own thing over time, as I add more parts for the new expansions.

I don’t think that really narrows it down, but this is certainly one of the math animations of all time!

This animation and explanation is really good!! The studio, which is guess was new at the time, was called Pixar. According to the credits, one of the animators there shares a last name with one of the mathematicians who developed this method (Thurston).

No one is mentioning gnucash and I think that’s beautiful.

My partner and I used a spreadsheet from Google docs “budget template” or something. Moved on to gnucash after we wanted more features. I love it now, but it was a struggle to learn. Also a clunky interface. Also way more complex than we need. But I did once track down a tiny error in one of our bills, saving us a fraction of a dollar after hours of cross-checking!!

(I do love it though; the tradeoff is that we don’t have to do repetitive manual entry and duplication of info. Instead, we have extensive notes on how to accomplish what we want!)

M.eegrant is the only version that fits the setup.

Here’s one starting point: https://boardgamegeek.com/hotness

That website (boardgamegeek) has a lot of other resources for finding different types of games that might appeal in different ways.

Freecad!

I like the sustainability, but if I’m being honest, what I really enjoy is the pure satisfaction of solving a tiny but annoying problem. This was a lot cheaper than a full replacement, but also a lot easier than tracking down the part and ordering it.