Update on the Toolbox
My 3D Printing Tool Station
Ever since drafting and designing a set of mini storage towers for my 3D printing tools, I have been on the lookout for useful things to add to it. I can’t wait to share my cool new stuff!
I love my scraper; if I had to choose between scraper and digital caliper for most useful tool, I am not sure which would win out. Probably the scraper, as I think I could replace the caliper with a ruler and some squinting. I’m sharing a snap of my new scraper, smaller than the other and with a surprisingly nice edge. This is especially handy for getting at awkward angles, and it excels at lifting small pieces. It isn’t a replacement; the larger one is better for anything larger than a thimble and even remotely accessible.
After the nightmarish extruder jam, we got a fancy cleaning kit. It has a couple of stiff metal brushes, a tube full of delicate wire probes, a couple of oddly shaped wrenches, and what looks like sharp fancy tweezers. SO excited, though I hope I never have to use it. A note about those delicate wires: they BEND at the slightest pressure.
The purple sandpaper now represents a mere fraction of my sandpaper stockpile. I also have the choice of using sandpaper sponges or running through a thick stack of increasingly finer grades. I found I absolutely needed the sandpaper for good finishes, though the finer-grade bit is more useful with the primer-filler technique.
I 3D printed a protractor and some fancy triangles. Those are great additions for making technical drawings! Another useful tool I 3D printed was a holed board about half the size of a credit card, which I use to measure out space between screws.
Alongside the chisels, I now have a needle file set. I use the chisels fairly often; I haven’t used the files yet. I plan on using them in areas I want to sand but can’t quite reach, like cracks and crevices.
I have both primer filler and ordinary primer. I’ve only done the primer-filler technique once so far, but I needed both types of primer, followed by some paint, to get the job done. The primers aren’t actually in my toolbox; I don’t even keep them in the house! I consider them part of my toolbox all the same.
The super-glue drawer is now more of an ‘accessories’ drawer, as it also contains stick-on beads, a thick wad of string, a 3D printed glue-spreader, and two different sizes of 3D printed balls for lazy susans and the like. While the string and glue are used to help build things, I got the beads for decorating a shelf, then decided not to use them.
In another drawer, I have two different sets of magnets, very close in size. I have used these in putting together the Kindle Scribe stylus I 3D-printed earlier. I’m considering designing a set of refrigerator magnets; these sure would come in handy!
Well, that’s it, the newest additions to my toolbox, along with some tips for how these things can be used in 3D printing. I’ll share my next expansion once it’s a reasonable enough size for a post :)