Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Nick's Two-Car Detached Vdub Garage

[bdbecker]

...Gruv just started a March Madness sale... . Going to try to resist buying for the sake of collecting vs. stuff I will likely watch more than once.

I've never heard of that site... this damn forum is going to delay my early retirement plans.

I tend to be very picky about what discs I buy these days. I had a pretty good size DVD collection about 15 years ago but got rid of probably 3/4 of them when I realized I hadn't watched most of them more than once, if at all (some were still in the original plastic wrap).

Now I can close my eyes and pick a random case out of the cabinet and not be disappointed by whatever movie I grab. If I'm thinking about adding a movie to the collection, it needs to pass that blindfold test.

 

[nicholam77]

There's the Minnesota I know!




Mind you this was all overnight, everything had melted previously. But that's March for ya.

Kindergarten and daycare were cancelled. I remember having like one or two snow days in my whole childhood. We've had two this winter... the two times it's actually snowed much haha. So I was stuck home trying to work with both kids... absolute chaos. The amount of days school and/or daycare are closed due to weather, grading, teacher development days, every damn holiday my work doesn't celebrate etc, that I still have to pay for childcare and keep the kids home is bonkers. Idk what I would do without WFM as an option.

I tend to be very picky about what discs I buy these days. I had a pretty good size DVD collection about 15 years ago but got rid of probably 3/4 of them when I realized I hadn't watched most of them more than once, if at all (some were still in the original plastic wrap).

Now I can close my eyes and pick a random case out of the cabinet and not be disappointed by whatever movie I grab. If I'm thinking about adding a movie to the collection, it needs to pass that blindfold test.

Good for you! At heart I am a minimalist and don't believe in keeping things around that aren't important, don't get used, and could be used by someone else. On the other hand, I think physical media does have a 'collection' and 'preservation' component, and not everything in the collection has to be in heavy viewing rotation (for myself, anyways). These days I like to spend most of my movie watching efforts watching stuff I haven't seen before. I don't think I could survive the blindfold test, as I watch a variety of films and some of them are not necessarily 'fun', or require a certain mood to watch.

I wish I had your restraint, but I've already succumbed to the Gruv sale . Picked up:

Blade Runner 2048 / 4K
Blade Runner: The Final Cut / 4K
Casino Royale / 4K
Skyfall / 4K
Jaws / 4K
The Exorcist / 4K
The Nice Guys / HD
Shaun of the Dead / HD
The Magnificent Seven / HD
Neighbors / HD
Wanted / HD
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein / HD

I am trying to resist buying 4K for everything, because they are way more money, and I'm taking into consideration how good the 4K version is and how it was done, how much better it is than the HD release, and the importance of the film to me. So far I'm skewing towards newer films being 4K, but there are some standouts like Jaws I've heard has a really great 4K transfer.

I do expect after I build up a core collection this will peter out, but right now it's still new and exciting.

And now Barnes & Noble is doing a 50% off select Paramount titles sale. Must. Stay. Strong.

 

[zanyad]

The amount of days school and/or daycare are closed due to weather, grading, teacher development days, every damn holiday my work doesn't celebrate etc, that I still have to pay for childcare and keep the kids home is bonkers. Idk what I would do without WFM as an option.

Ain't that the truth! Wife is full WFH, I can do WFH sometimes but am nearly 100% at the facility. Breaks, gov't holidays that us regular workers don't get, parent-teacher conferences, etc. Then there's sick days bc kids are mini petri dishes....

 

[bdbecker]

...Good for you! At heart I am a minimalist and don't believe in keeping things around that aren't important, don't get used, and could be used by someone else...

I justified it because I signed up for Netflix. This was back in the disc-by-mail days and you could rent pretty much any movie or show you could think of. It's a little trickier now that everyone has their own streaming platforms and distribution is much more tightly controlled.

...On the other hand, I think physical media does have a 'collection' and 'preservation' component, and not everything in the collection has to be in heavy viewing rotation (for myself, anyways). These days I like to spend most of my movie watching efforts watching stuff I haven't seen before....

Same here. I honestly don't watch a ton of movies off discs, but the ones I do have are there because I want to be able to watch that movie or show whenever I feel like it without having to try and find it on a streaming platform.

...I don't think I could survive the blindfold test, as I watch a variety of films and some of them are not necessarily 'fun', or require a certain mood to watch...

I should clarify that I typically don't blindly grab a disc off the shelf when I want to watch a movie. What I should have said is that there aren't any discs my collection that I'm indifferent to - they are all classics to me for one reason or another. It does make it tough to pick what to watch sometimes. If I'm in the mood for a certain genre but can't quite decide, I'll narrow it down to a handful of discs out and play "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" and won't be upset about which one I end up with.

 

[SamYoung]

I think the other portion is the film type. 4k doesn't add any sustenance in a comedy or plot driven low action movie, but 4k adds so much in an action movies with intricate fight/chase scenes and special effects.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

There's the Minnesota I know!




Mind you this was all overnight, everything had melted previously. But that's March for ya.

Kindergarten and daycare were cancelled. I remember having like one or two snow days in my whole childhood. We've had two this winter... the two times it's actually snowed much haha. So I was stuck home trying to work with both kids... absolute chaos. The amount of days school and/or daycare are closed due to weather, grading, teacher development days, every damn holiday my work doesn't celebrate etc, that I still have to pay for childcare and keep the kids home is bonkers. Idk what I would do without WFM as an option.

It really is amazing what causes schools to shutdown anymore compared to 20-30 years ago. They closed schools in part of Charlotte the other day for high winds.

 

[Xti04]

We have been shut down for risk of snow, high winds flooding and flu so far this year.

 

[legenddc]

If you're still collecting Systainers, the Systainer Store has discounts on the black M137.

 

[nicholam77]

If you're still collecting Systainers, the Systainer Store has discounts on the black M137.

Ha! I did see that

I would like some more, but as of now I don't have a purpose for more. I love the way a "Systainer wall" looks, but I also have a bit of OCD about the colors and generations. I prefer the light grey / blue latch T-Loc, vs. the new Sys3's. T-Loc gen 2's are pretty much discontinued and sold out everywhere. If they had the M137 light grey on sale I'd probably jump on it. Eventually I'm planning to make cabinets above my main workbench in the garage for more Systainer storage, maybe I'll finally get to that this summer.

 

[legenddc]

Ha! I did see that

I would like some more, but as of now I don't have a purpose for more. I love the way a "Systainer wall" looks, but I also have a bit of OCD about the colors and generations. I prefer the light grey / blue latch T-Loc, vs. the new Sys3's. T-Loc gen 2's are pretty much discontinued and sold out everywhere. If they had the M137 light grey on sale I'd probably jump on it. Eventually I'm planning to make cabinets above my main workbench in the garage for more Systainer storage, maybe I'll finally get to that this summer.

I just picked up a T-Loc gen 2 with an organizer because it seemed like a good deal.

I saw someone was using different color latches as a way to identify what was inside like green for woodworking, blue for plumbing, red for electrical, etc. Maybe that could help settle your OCD about the colors.

 

[nicholam77]

Wow. I can't believe it's the end of March already. This year has really been flying by with not too much to show for it. I'm still here, though.

Work has been nuts. I don't often post pictures of myself, but here I am after working through a weekend and pulling 10pm nights for a week straight:



All the chair time has really put a dent in my DIY physical therapy. Back and leg are in a flare up. But as my current project is wrapping up, I'm starting to climb out of it again. Ebbs and flows.

As a pick-me-up I've been treating myself to some good foods and the occasional movie theater outing.




As far as home projects, I've been knocking off light items around the house just to feel ever-so-slightly productive.

We had a number of patio string lights burn out over the winter, so I finally replaced them all with LEDs. Hopefully should last longer.



And on a whim replaced our more traditional nightstand lamps with IKEA Dejsa lamps... I love this lamp. Yes it's mass-produced and trendy, but it looks great, soft light, works great with RGB bulbs, clean minimal contemporary design.



After enduring the patio wind screen door slamming shut for 3 weeks straight, I finally replaced the door piston that had broken off.





Also by the back door we have these coat and bag hooks that have annoyed me since I installed them 8 yrs ago.

They are pulling out of the wall, stuff tends to fall off them, and they rotate on a single screw so don't feel very sturdy.




So I ripped them out.




(behold: the WORST type of drywall anchor ever created)

Of course then I had to mud the holes and paint. And while I had the paint out I noticed about a million crayon and marker scuffs on the walls, and ended up going around the whole main floor touching up. Scope creep strikes again!!!



The hooks got replaced with these, each of which is now hitting a stud in at least one screw:



Far more substantial.

I had some extra, so I put some by the front door to hold my kids' backpacks, too. Or as my son likes to call them "pack packs".



I'm mentally struggling to continue on the basement... I really just want to wash my hands of it, but I did manage to hack together some corner bead and attempt a 1st mud pass on the columns.




Will need more passes and sanding of course, and I'll have to figure out how to clean up the bottoms after I'm done.



On the up side, I'm headed to Mexico in two days for Spring Break. A vacation is sorely needed and I'm hoping it gives me the reset I need to tackle some bigger things as we move into nicer weather.

 

[Xti04]

My son always called it his pack pack too.

 

[kaymccampbell]

You put duck tape on the floor when you're mudding down to a bead like that. Or stick cardboard between the bead and the floor.

 

[nicholam77]

You put duck tape on the floor when you're mudding down to a bead like that.

You mean like this?



**in all seriousness, yes, that would have been the smart thing to do

My son always called it his pack pack too.

nice

 

[kaymccampbell]

You mean like this?



**in all seriousness, yes, that would have been the smart thing to do




nice

Yup. That way you didn't get paddle prints in your fresh mud.

 

[jake28]

Mexico > Mudding. Enjoy the trip and kudos for pushing through the project inertia.

Years ago, I met a guy who had two pristine vintage Volvos in his garage that he had done full nut and bolt restorations on. I asked him for any secrets and he said, “I commit to doing an hour a day of something car-related every day, and I can finish one of these projects in under a year.” Just commit to a little step, each day.

 

[nicholam77]

Mexico > Mudding. Enjoy the trip and kudos for pushing through the project inertia.

Thank you Jake, it was a fantastic trip.





Somehow I didn't realize Puerto Vallarta and Banderas Bay were surrounded by the Sierra Madre mountains.



We spent two nights in Puerto Vallarta, and four nights in San Pancho. Puerto Vallarta is a fairly large city, and San Pancho is a sleepy little surf town about 45 minutes up the coast.



We had plenty of beach time.




And amazing food.






Experienced the wildlife (humpback whale sightings, free roaming chickens and dogs, and my wife caught an iguana in attempts to rescue it as it was struggling in the surf).




Later I read they can actually swim quite well. Didn't know that at the time. But apparently not this one as it was almost drowned when we pulled it out of the surf.

San Pancho was a mix of underdeveloped, more dilapidated homes, and also some quite aesthetic, newer, fancy ones.




But no matter the scale, there was a clear focus on outdoor living spaces.

After long days in the sun, there were drinks and relaxation.





And of course I picked up some art to bring home.




Best of all, despite doing a ton of walking, in flip flops, my back and leg problems felt 95% relieved while I was there. Not sure if it was the warm weather, the "vacation effect", lack of stress, or what, but it felt amazing.

---

Immediately upon re-entering the U.S. I got bombarded with emergency weekend work requests, cold weather, negative news cycle, and within a day my leg tightness returned full force. Funny how that works.

I think when you go on a trip like this you're very much living a glorified, idealized version of what it would really be like to live in that place. But I won't lie... even though we're back home, I'm having a hard time not dreaming about the ocean, the sunsets, and the perfect 85° weather.

I suppose I had better quit rambling and get back to mudding that column.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I can recommend acupuncture for your stress. There's a couple spots they can needle, while you think the about the bad thoughts. The feelings don't go totally away, there is a great attenuation of the bad feels resulting from the stressors.

 

[nicholam77]

I can recommend acupuncture for your stress. There's a couple spots they can needle, while you think the about the bad thoughts. The feelings don't go totally away, there is a great attenuation of the bad feels resulting from the stressors.

I've never tried acupuncture, but have consistently heard good things. My dad has had back and neck issues most of his adult life as he was hit (as a pedestrian) by a city bus in college. He always said that's the only thing that ever really helped.

---

When you find a half-price George Nelson Pedestal side table, you buy it. That's a rule I live by, anyways



Not sure where it belongs in the house yet, but I'll find a spot. I got it at a store that sells used office furniture. Like if a business liquidates or downsizes they come in and buy the stuff, and sell it to whoever wants it at a decent discount. Kind of a warehouse / outlet type operation. With a focus on contemporary office furniture from brands like Herman Miller and Steelcase. A lot of it is more on the contemporary side, but occasionally they'll have some Eames conference tables or the occasional "Modern" design piece.

For now it makes a great Magna Tiles station.

---

In the basement, I did not continue with the half-mudded columns. No, that would be too logical. Instead I've jumped to this last closet I need to rebuild on the office side:



If you'll recall, originally there was a face-mounted frame and set of rail + stile doors:



As such, the interior shelf supports and 'bottom' go flush with the drywall.



Because I flushed every thing up for a trim-less inset look on the other main closets, I want to do the same here. I've been putting this lil' guy off because it's going to take some oddities to make that happen.

Starting with the bottom, the old was some cupped 2x4's and a poorly-fitted slab of melamine sitting loose on top.




We can do better than that. So I pried those out and starting figuring out what to replace it with.

I am tired of spending money on this project, so my goal is to make this whole closet (except the door panel) from bits of existing materials I have on hand in the garage.






And this is the odd duck I came up with. The plywood sides screw into the side walls, and the raised lip on the front will be painted white, and harness a 1/2" bottom panel. Here it is installed:



The gap at the bottom will be covered by baseboard. Obviously I still need to cut and paint the panel to drop in.

To be cont'd...

 

[Denwood]

Thank you Jake, it was a fantastic trip.





Somehow I didn't realize Puerto Vallarta and Banderas Bay were surrounded by the Sierra Madre mountains.



We spent two nights in Puerto Vallarta, and four nights in San Pancho. Puerto Vallarta is a fairly large city, and San Pancho is a sleepy little surf town about 45 minutes up the coast.



We had plenty of beach time.




And amazing food.






Experienced the wildlife (humpback whale sightings, free roaming chickens and dogs, and my wife caught an iguana in attempts to rescue it as it was struggling in the surf).




Later I read they can actually swim quite well. Didn't know that at the time. But apparently not this one as it was almost drowned when we pulled it out of the surf.

San Pancho was a mix of underdeveloped, more dilapidated homes, and also some quite aesthetic, newer, fancy ones.




But no matter the scale, there was a clear focus on outdoor living spaces.

After long days in the sun, there were drinks and relaxation.





And of course I picked up some art to bring home.




Best of all, despite doing a ton of walking, in flip flops, my back and leg problems felt 95% relieved while I was there. Not sure if it was the warm weather, the "vacation effect", lack of stress, or what, but it felt amazing.

---

Immediately upon re-entering the U.S. I got bombarded with emergency weekend work requests, cold weather, negative news cycle, and within a day my leg tightness returned full force. Funny how that works.

I think when you go on a trip like this you're very much living a glorified, idealized version of what it would really be like to live in that place. But I won't lie... even though we're back home, I'm having a hard time not dreaming about the ocean, the sunsets, and the perfect 85° weather.

I suppose I had better quit rambling and get back to mudding that column.

Awesome pics of the kids in Mexico. Memorable perspective there on a few shots

Your house is looking great. All that attention to detail...

 

[nicholam77]

Your house is looking great. All that attention to detail...

Thank you, Dennis.

I had another burst of energy, so continuing on.

One side of the closet houses an HVAC duct. As such, there are not many studs to hit. To get an inset door, I need something to attach the
hinges to, and that thing needs to be set back from the opening face at least 3/4". That means it will barely hit the stud at the front of the closet, and the shelf cleats on that side would miss it entirely.

So my plan was to put in a vertical board to attach the hinges to, and secure the shelf cleats to that with pocket screws.

Lots of table saw cuts were made.



I didn't want the pocket screws to be visible, but I was using a 3/4" board for the vertical hinge anchor, and 1/2" material for the shelf cleats, so the cleats needed to be offset.

This is why I love my MFT workbench. I was able to quickly make a setup to "brace" that offset so the cleats wouldn't slide around while screwing the pocket screws (as they tend to do).




To do this I used some new Bessey horizontal clamping elements I got for Xmas. They are pressing the long board against some bench dogs, and the OSB panel is floating just above to provide the indexing plane. This makes it easy to slide the long board down, re-clamp, and keep things aligned.



The end result is offset cleats with the screws on the back side.



Now to empty the closet and remove the old cleats.



I set a 3/4" setback on the new piece and tacked it in with 2" 18-gauge pins.




The opposite side gets slightly longer cleats but no vertical hinge board. It was a balancing act trying to get them level with the left side, 3/4" set back, and hit the studs.



I wanted the bottom to be 1/2" or 5/8" melamine, but I didn't have any. So I used some 1/4" plywood I had laying around. The opening was not square at all, so I used the track saw to taper a custom fit.




Close enough.

So here's where we are after all that:



Because of the vertical hinge board, I had to cut down the depth of the existing melamine shelfs, which I again used the track saw for.



Closer look at the 'hinge board':



This will get Blum full overlay euro hinges with standard 37mm hinge plate setback.

Planning the door to be 3/4" MDF, painted white, which I'll have to buy a sheet for that.

So I need to order the hinges, drill the hinge plates and cups, buy and fit the door, paint the door, paint the bottom front trim board, and scribe a new baseboard across the bottom. And then I'll finally have this bit checked off the list.

 

[nicholam77]

The weather has been yo-yo-ing this spring, but I decided it was time for summer wheels.



I had my son (and intermittently, daughter) out there 'helping' me



Yes he's in shorts, tshirt, and sandals, but it was only about 43° F out. Perpetual summer guy.

I've complained about it before, but over the whole winter I've been having this metallic 'crunch' / 'screech' sounds from the front suspension on bumps.

Originally, I thought it was the spring coils touching on deep compressions, but then I seemed to notice it a bit on lesser compressions as well. It also seems to be louder / higher pitched at highway speeds.

I know @Denwood suggested some bushings might be noisy, and due to winter cold and general miserable-ness I hadn't investigated or lubed anything up yet. But this whole thing had resurfaced when I changed to my winter wheels last fall. I found that very odd.

Anyways, I already had a rubber spring coil isolator installed on the top coils of the front springs. I had ordered some more, so with the wheel off, I added one to the bottom coils of the spring, too.




Pressure washed everything real well. I had used Fluid Film on the suspension bits last fall, and made sure to wash off all the grime and any salt.

And then wheels back on.



Yes, I've got my Safety Crocs on.

In the back, I noticed one of the shocks had a large scuff all the way through the paint with a little surface rust. No idea what would have caused this, but slightly concerning??




My winter wheels use centering rings. Sometimes they get stuck on pretty good. After all these years, I finally had a Eureka! moment and realized they have tabs you can pull with pliers



Got the tires aired up, and went for a drive. In fact I've been for several drives so far.

And... no screeching. What!?!?

Now, I cleaned the suspension bits, added the additional coil spring pad, and swapped the wheels. So multiple changes at once.

But gut feeling... I think it's the wheels somehow. I didn't jack up the control arm with the wheel off, but it seems unlikely the coils would be touching.

I don't really understand. The only thing I can think of is my winter wheels have a more outboard offset (pretty flush with the fender), and the BBS are a bit more inboard by 10-15mm. Maybe the winter wheels are rubbing? It always seemed like a metallic groaning sound to me, but I guess I don't know what 'rubbing' sounds like. And it would maybe explain a louder, higher pitched version at highway speed.

Honestly I'm stumped. But every bump I've gone over so far hasn't triggered it with the summer setup back on. I need to hit a good parking lot speed bump to be sure.

I was literally about to order coilovers if it persisted, but now I'm second-guessing and scratching my head.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Denwood]

The weather has been yo-yo-ing this spring, but I decided it was time for summer wheels.



I had my son (and intermittently, daughter) out there 'helping' me



Yes he's in shorts, tshirt, and sandals, but it was only about 43° F out. Perpetual summer guy.

I've complained about it before, but over the whole winter I've been having this metallic 'crunch' / 'screech' sounds from the front suspension on bumps.

Originally, I thought it was the spring coils touching on deep compressions, but then I seemed to notice it a bit on lesser compressions as well. It also seems to be louder / higher pitched at highway speeds.

I know @Denwood suggested some bushings might be noisy, and due to winter cold and general miserable-ness I hadn't investigated or lubed anything up yet. But this whole thing had resurfaced when I changed to my winter wheels last fall. I found that very odd.

Anyways, I already had a rubber spring coil isolator installed on the top coils of the front springs. I had ordered some more, so with the wheel off, I added one to the bottom coils of the spring, too.




Pressure washed everything real well. I had used Fluid Film on the suspension bits last fall, and made sure to wash off all the grime and any salt.

And then wheels back on.



Yes, I've got my Safety Crocs on.

In the back, I noticed one of the shocks had a large scuff all the way through the paint with a little surface rust. No idea what would have caused this, but slightly concerning??




My winter wheels use centering rings. Sometimes they get stuck on pretty good. After all these years, I finally had a Eureka! moment and realized they have tabs you can pull with pliers



Got the tires aired up, and went for a drive. In fact I've been for several drives so far.

And... no screeching. What!?!?

Now, I cleaned the suspension bits, added the additional coil spring pad, and swapped the wheels. So multiple changes at once.

But gut feeling... I think it's the wheels somehow. I didn't jack up the control arm with the wheel off, but it seems unlikely the coils would be touching.

I don't really understand. The only thing I can think of is my winter wheels have a more outboard offset (pretty flush with the fender), and the BBS are a bit more inboard by 10-15mm. Maybe the winter wheels are rubbing? It always seemed like a metallic groaning sound to me, but I guess I don't know what 'rubbing' sounds like. And it would maybe explain a louder, higher pitched version at highway speed.

Honestly I'm stumped. But every bump I've gone over so far hasn't triggered it with the summer setup back on. I need to hit a good parking lot speed bump to be sure.

I was literally about to order coilovers if it persisted, but now I'm second-guessing and scratching my head.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That rubbing, sure looks like metal contact to the shock. Could it be part of the winter rims rubbing there on compression? I'd take a good look at clearances there in case say the winter rim offset is not the same as your summers.

Compare the inner surfaces of your winter rims. If there is contact, you'll see it telegraphed to the rim. Maybe you need a spacer in addition to the hub centric rings.

On the corrosion issue, I just hit the hubs with a wire brush in the fall and apply a light coat of anti-seize. It's a virtual requirement given winter salt in these parts

 

[nicholam77]

@Denwood
Thanks, Dennis

To clarify, that scuffed part is the rear passenger shock. I did not notice anything like on the rear driver's side.

The suspension noise that has been plaguing me as definitely been coming from the fronts, not the rears, so they seem to be two separate issues.

In the rear, it seems a bit weird to have a large mark like that on just one side, yeah?

My winter wheels are the OEM width for the car (7.5"), and the offset puts the wheel more outboard than the OEM wheels by 20mm. I know the lowering might change geometry a bit, but I don't think it *should* be touching the shock at all. Adding spacers would almost create some poke. I've also been running these winter wheels for 10 yrs now and this is the first time I've seen this. My old shocks before my suspension job had no marks.

I didn't think to inspect the backside of the wheels, but I did pressure wash them and nothing jumped out at me. I'll take another look. Pretty weird, though.

When I was mentioning rubbing, I was thinking if the front tire could be rubbing the inside of the fender arch on bumps. But I don't know if that would make the sound I had been hearing or not.

 

[nicholam77]

Oh, and I do use anti-seize on the hub surfaces where the wheels mate.

Pretty obvious I've never wire brushed them, though

 

[Finallygotit]

Nick, I'm pretty sure that scuff you're seeing is from the metal sleeve that protects the piston rod. From the picture it looks like it's a bit tweaked.

 

[nicholam77]

Nick, I'm pretty sure that scuff you're seeing is from the metal sleeve that protects the piston rod. From the picture it looks like it's a bit tweaked.

Oooh yeah that's a good thought. I did notice it was slightly off kilter. Pretty sure that sleeve is hard plastic and not metal, but maybe it could still scratch like that. I'll take a look, thanks!

 

[Denwood]

Nick, I'm pretty sure that scuff you're seeing is from the metal sleeve that protects the piston rod. From the picture it looks like it's a bit tweaked.

Ahh, yes..a likely scenario with the shock compressed.

 

[nicholam77]

A quick 3d printer project.

I've had a TP-link Kasa smart RGB bulb on my office desk as a 'notification light' for a while. I have it light up certain colors for 5 seconds when a person is detected at the doorbell or presses the doorbell, since I don't have audio announcements in the basement. That way if I'm working from home downstairs, it gives me a reminder to check for packages or know someone is at the door upstairs.

But it's literally just the exposed bulb in a cheap Amazon base.



It does the job, but I make sure it doesn't light up when I'm on Zoom meetings because it tints my face pink if someone comes to the door

So I hopped into Fusion to make a quick shroud for it, to knock back some of the light.



The next day I had this:



My intention was to block most of the light, and just have a thin ring towards the middle of the cylinder that lights up in a minimal, but noticeable, way.

Well, turns out that 5mm of solid walls is not enough to block light transmission with white PLA. So the whole thing glows.



The 'ring' is brighter than the 'body', but still more translucent overall than I had hoped. Does look cool, though. Not sure if I will reprint with thicker walls or not.

 

[bdbecker]

The easy fix would be to mask off the groove and give it a shot of white spray paint.

A more elegant fix would be to make an opaque sleeve. I'm not sure how much room you have on the inside, but you could print a thin black insert to slide into it. A little dab of superglue should keep it from shifting around.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I'd leave it. Sometimes mistakes turn out cooler than than your first idea, and I think this is one of those times. It's ****.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

The enclosure for the light looks really cool. As long as it doesn't light your face on camera anymore then I would leave it.

 

[jonshonda]

Nice to see the A1 getting a workout! Have you seen the price hikes on the Bambu stuff as of late? Makes me glad I was coerced by GJ when I was to dive into printing, as they are getting very expensive now.

 

[nicholam77]

The easy fix would be to mask off the groove and give it a shot of white spray paint.

A more elegant fix would be to make an opaque sleeve. I'm not sure how much room you have on the inside, but you could print a thin black insert to slide into it. A little dab of superglue should keep it from shifting around.

I think I am going to leave it alone for now, but good ideas, Brad. I thought about doing the black sleeve... somehow I always forget about spray paint

I'd leave it. Sometimes mistakes turn out cooler than than your first idea, and I think this is one of those times. It's ****.

Thanks, Kay. I mostly highlighted my design intent because I was surprised at how much light it let through. But I agree... I like the overall glow, and the 'ring' still glows brighter as an accent. There's a bit of overlap in the ring where the top connects, I might revise the top design so the ring is crisper.

Leaving it as-is I can also set it to a warm white as an accent / ambience lamp and not just for RGB alerts.

The enclosure for the light looks really cool. As long as it doesn't light your face on camera anymore then I would leave it.

Thanks!! Even though it lights up, it cuts back the light from the exposed bulb for sure. I can set up my automation to have it come on at a lower brightness when on Zoom, too. I think it will be fine.

Nice to see the A1 getting a workout! Have you seen the price hikes on the Bambu stuff as of late? Makes me glad I was coerced by GJ when I was to dive into printing, as they are getting very expensive now.

Thanks! It had been awhile since I've fired it up.

Yeah, I'm super glad to have grabbed it when I/we did. I got mine during the Black Friday sale for my A1 Combo, so about as low as you can go!

In fact, at the current price of $699, I don't think I would have purchased it, and probably continued on with my existing Ender.

I do feel compelled to mention that they are "getting very expensive now" predominantly for U.S. customers, as a response to the tariffs, which has been publicly acknowledged by Bambu Labs CEO. There are endless threads about this on the Bambu Community Forums.

Prices have gone up not once, but four times in the past four months.



I'm sure you're well-aware of all that, I'm just pointing it out to anyone casually following along, since I'm not sure where this leaves 3d printing hobbyists for the time being. I still think Bambu Labs make a good product, but they are less of a value proposition now. And pretty much all 'affordable' 3d printers are Chinese-made by Chinese companies. So far it looks like Bambu Labs has been the most aggressive with responsive price hikes, but I know they have their U.S. warehouse as well, so they are for sure paying the import fees themselves. It seems Creality and some of the others have had some smaller recent price increases, but not across the board, and not on every model.

I guess time will tell what happens, but I think to anyone *considering* getting in the game, the time to buy was yesterday. Same with the Covid supply+demand/inflationary hikes... I don't suspect prices will fully go back to where they were, even if all the tariffs are magically dropped.

I'd say maybe it's time to look at Prusa again, but they don't have an entry level model that can compete with what the A1 (used to be) priced at.

All that to say, yeah, I guess we had good timing!

 

[jonshonda]

All that to say, yeah, I guess we had good timing!

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

I think I am going to leave it alone for now, but good ideas, Brad. I thought about doing the black sleeve... somehow I always forget about spray paint



Thanks, Kay. I mostly highlighted my design intent because I was surprised at how much light it let through. But I agree... I like the overall glow, and the 'ring' still glows brighter as an accent. There's a bit of overlap in the ring where the top connects, I might revise the top design so the ring is crisper.

Leaving it as-is I can also set it to a warm white as an accent / ambience lamp and not just for RGB alerts.





Thanks!! Even though it lights up, it cuts back the light from the exposed bulb for sure. I can set up my automation to have it come on at a lower brightness when on Zoom, too. I think it will be fine.



Thanks! It had been awhile since I've fired it up.

Yeah, I'm super glad to have grabbed it when I/we did. I got mine during the Black Friday sale for my A1 Combo, so about as low as you can go!

In fact, at the current price of $699, I don't think I would have purchased it, and probably continued on with my existing Ender.

I do feel compelled to mention that they are "getting very expensive now" predominantly for U.S. customers, as a response to the tariffs, which has been publicly acknowledged by Bambu Labs CEO. There are endless threads about this on the Bambu Community Forums.

Prices have gone up not once, but four times in the past four months.



I'm sure you're well-aware of all that, I'm just pointing it out to anyone casually following along, since I'm not sure where this leaves 3d printing hobbyists for the time being. I still think Bambu Labs make a good product, but they are less of a value proposition now. And pretty much all 'affordable' 3d printers are Chinese-made by Chinese companies. So far it looks like Bambu Labs has been the most aggressive with responsive price hikes, but I know they have their U.S. warehouse as well, so they are for sure paying the import fees themselves. It seems Creality and some of the others have had some smaller recent price increases, but not across the board, and not on every model.

I guess time will tell what happens, but I think to anyone *considering* getting in the game, the time to buy was yesterday. Same with the Covid supply+demand/inflationary hikes... I don't suspect prices will fully go back to where they were, even if all the tariffs are magically dropped.

I'd say maybe it's time to look at Prusa again, but they don't have an entry level model that can compete with what the A1 (used to be) priced at.

All that to say, yeah, I guess we had good timing!

I know everything is going up but dang had not crossed my mind to look at my fall planned project. Might push the 3d printer to next year at this point.

 

[nicholam77]

Another small 3d print for my garden shed.





If you know what this is, then I'm guessing you live in the Midwest

 

[kaymccampbell]

Another small 3d print for my garden shed.





If you know what this is, then I'm guessing you live in the Midwest

We use snow rakes here in the northeast, too.
Nifty brackets. I'll have to see if those will work in my shed.

 

[jonshonda]

If you know what this is, then I'm guessing you live in the Midwest

Ahhh, the pooper scooper for people with a really weak stomach and bad gag reflex!

 

[nicholam77]

We use snow rakes here in the northeast, too.
Nifty brackets. I'll have to see if those will work in my shed.

Here's the model if you're interested. The actual hook isn't super heavy-duty, but the aluminum poles are pretty light.

I printed in PLA as per usual. My shed gets pretty hot in the summer (90°+), so this will be test #2 at how PLA performs outside in heat. My wireless AP mount on the outside of the shed is still going strong.

Ahhh, the pooper scooper for people with a really weak stomach and bad gag reflex!

Or really, really big dogs.