• FatVegan@leminal.space
    18·
    7 天前

    I woulld order a 3d printer, learn how to print, learn CAD, print a new part that doesn’t fit and then order a new part.

    • Schmuppes@lemmy.today
      6·
      7 天前

      In my experience, you’re missing two steps. “Forget again how to print” because at some point, you’re running out of models that are already available. Then the printer collects dust for two years, leading to “re-learn how to print and calibrate”. I now own my third printer and never got around to teaching myself CAD. Must be happening soon though, I’m convinced.

      • FatVegan@leminal.space
        2·
        7 天前

        That is way to accurate to be funny. I bought a printer a few years ago, printed a couple of things, worked pretty well after fiddeling for a few days. I was finally ready to print the thing i actually wanted to. Problem with the z-axis. Ah that’s a problem for another day. Two years later i looked at that printer going: what even is anything?

      • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
        1·
        7 天前

        I’m not horrible with CAD, but I always forget how to print. Well, not so much “forget” as “can’t be bothered to sort out the software”.

        I have a MakerBot Replicator Mini which I bought second-hand. It only works with an old version of MakerBot’s proprietary software, which is only available for Windows. I’ve since switched to Linux on all of my machines, so I’d have to do a lot of fiddling to get it to work.

        Maybe the software works on Wine, I haven’t tried yet. I don’t really want to run a Windows VM just for this, but it’s much more likely to work. Getting the STLs into the MakerBot software would be pretty annoying.

        If I was more enthusiastic about it, I might want to replace the brains of the printer with something more universally supported, so it just works on standard 3D printing software. But it’s so low in my priorities list that I don’t think I’ll ever do that.

        Maybe I should just look for a makers space where there are public 3D printers that you just pay per print. But I don’t know if there are such places in my country at all, let alone my city.

        • Schmuppes@lemmy.today
          2·
          7 天前

          I got myself a printer with a 370°C hot end so I can print all of the filaments, including stuff that gets used in areas like an engine bay or needs to be very robust mechanically. If I’m not gonna learn some basic CAD, I might as well sell it and not think about 3D printing.

          • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
            2·
            7 天前

            If you’re not already used to any CAD software, I really recommend FreeCAD. It used to be pretty horrible, but the recent releases (1.1 especially) make it genuinely excellent IMO, quite a lot more user-friendly, and fun to use. It’s still got a learning curve to it like literally any professional/creative software, especially those as complex as CAD, but there’s a strong community with plenty of tutorials and resources that you can learn from.

            I have heard that it’s much harder to learn if you’re already used to other CAD software, with one Lemmy user telling me it’s far worse than switching between any other two CAD solutions. But since you don’t have that baggage, I think you can do alright.

            • Schmuppes@lemmy.today
              2·
              7 天前

              FreeCAD is what I made an attempt at last year when 1.0 was released. There is a bunch of great tutorial videos and files out there, so there’s definitely no lack of resources. It’s more a “I need to be willing to dedicate time to learning it on a regular basis” problem. I learned some basics, printed one or two of my creations and then stopped for some reason. Now I gotta start at zero once again.

        • FatVegan@leminal.space
          1·
          7 天前

          Linux and cad or slicer software don’t get along, i found out. I mean i didn’t try suuuper hard, but definitely not out of the box. With a grudge i reinstalled windows on my laptop to use it just for cad and printing. A horrible experience to beginn with, but everhthing worked. The next day, the laptop suddenly had no internet connection. It could find every wifi network, except my own. I reinstalled everything and it worked. Used my wifi to print, nice. Next day, same thing. No internet, my wifi was gone. I’m no computer wizard, but usually i’m pretty good at dinding solutions online and fix problems. This one is so ultra specific that when you look for something like: can’t find wifi or whatever, everything else comes up. I had wifi, it worked… Twice. Anyway, i fucking hate windows

          • IsoKiero@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            1·
            6 天前

            Slicers on linux work just fine. At least the ones I’ve tried. With CAD you have a bit limited options. FreeCAD is fine if you need a new knob for your appliance or something relatively simple. OpenSCAD can do pretty wild things but learning curve for it is pretty steep. And then there’s browser based cads but they tend to have monthly subscription. Plus of course Blender, but I wouldn’t count that as CAD-software and that if something needs time and effort to learn.

    • Synapse@lemmy.world
      2·
      7 天前

      Chances are that someone already published the part ready to print, you just need the printer and filament ;)

  • FrChazzz@lemmus.orgEnglish
    5·
    6 天前

    Story time!

    I once lived in the garden cottage of some house and the main house shared the same washer and dryer. One day the dryer knob breaks and disappears and the actual device itself would fall into the dryer. So the landlord comes over and shows me what I need to do in case it happens while we wait for the replacement.

    Day or so later the extremely good-looking woman who lives in the main house comes knocking on my door. She looks a little helpless and says “I hear you know how to fix the dryer knob?” Me, wanting to look like a man who can fix problems and impress the pretty girl, tell her that I can – and I’ll show her how it’s done so she can fix it herself if it happens again.

    So I go into the laundry room with her and explain to her that the actual switch itself has fallen into the dryer. So I use the screw driver to remove a few screws from the back panel and show her where it has fallen. Feeling really confident and manly, I reach down and grab the switch unit (I’m not at all sure on the terms here tbh).

    Thing is, I forgot to unplug the dryer first.

    So I immediately get electrocuted to the point of shaking. I’m able to withdraw my hand and I catch it on the inside of the dryer, nicking off a slice from around my lower thumb knuckle. I still bear a scar, a reminder to not let pretty girls distract me when handling un-shielded electronics.

  • bstix@feddit.dk
    3·
    6 天前

    I probably wouldn’t bother paying for a replacement or 3D printing.

    Instead I’d put a piece of wood as a handle and declare it fixed. The selection is shown on the leds anyway.

  • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.worldEnglish
    61·
    7 天前

    Quick fix is not the most ethical or honest, but it’s to go look for a store that sells your brand of washer. They don’t change the knobs that often so you might be able to swap the broken for a non broken. But like, I don’t personally feel good using that method.

    There’s a decent chance that store sells the knobs tho

  • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    3·
    6 天前

    Two of our control buttons broke, so I drilled out the panel and stuck chopping sticks into the holes to hold us over for the week it would take to get the replacement.

  • frunch@lemmy.world
    4·
    7 天前

    Shot in the dark here but if you take the part number and try it at McCombs Supply you might be able to get the replacement timer a lot cheaper. eBay is another option.

    • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      7 天前

      I know am appliance store in Sacramento I trust as well. Also ACE hardware tends to hire experts who can help you jerry-rig something together. At least the owners of the local franchise (friends of the family) are cool.

  • Chaos@feddit.org
    2·
    7 天前

    Reminds me of the nail on a string I was using for a while when the blinker switch on my motorcycle had fallen off.

  • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
    1·
    6 天前

    Looks like a job for a cad program and a 3d printer. I lost a knob off a outdoor fan and it only took me twenty minutes to create a new knob. Most of that was measuring the switch stem and the size I would have to make the knob. Took less than an hour to print.