Skills

The very first thing you need to do when choosing a printer is know what you want to print.

I can’t stress this enough. Sure you can go buy a $2000 11×17 color laser printer. But are you going to print 11×17? Do you need full photographic quality prints?

If what you are doing is printing your tax forms, then a simple $200-$300 black & white printer will do just fine.

The same is true for 3D printers. What do you want to print?

For me there was the “true” driving want, which wasn’t enough to justify a printer. I wanted to be able to print foundry patterns.

With enough research I found that organizational capabilities was high on my list of to-dos that has never gotten done.

To that end I picked MultiBoard as the ultimate pegboard and Gridfinity as my “flat surface” organizer.

Given these three drivers, I could start to list what I required in a printer.

I have tried printing foundry patterns in the past. It didn’t work. Today it should work better.

Most, if not all, of the MultiBoard and Gridfinity can be printed in the cheapest, easiest filament, PLA.

PLA requires a build plate that will support 55°C and a nozzle that supports 220°C. This is every printer out there.

If you need something a bit stronger, PETG is the go-to today. It requires a 70°C build plate and a 230 °C nozzle. Still well within the reach of most 3D printers.

Everything else requires more series printers. ABS, ASA, PA, and PC all require an enclosure. Without an enclosure, your prints will fail. The print will warp, and you will have issues with bed adhesion.

If you need to print something that will be exposed to the elements or that needs to be stronger, you need to go with one of the stronger plastics.

Which leads to the next class of filaments, those with additives. Carbon fiber and glass fiber are two of the common additives.

These fibers will eat your equipment. It will wear your PTFE tubes, but worse, it will eat your extruder and nozzle. You need hardened steel extruder driver gears and nozzle. You just have to plan on replacing the PTFE tubes as they wear. This should already be on your to-do list.

Some new printers come with multiple hotends so you can switch filaments while printing, quickly and easily.

For me, all of this took me to an 3D printer in an enclosure with a series build volume. The build volume I was looking for was 250x250x250 mm.

Because I knew I was going to be printing some CF or GF filament, I knew I wanted to upgrade my hotend to hardened steel.

Finally, I wanted to be able to change the nozzle without messing with cables, wires, or complex procedures.

After doing some back-of-the-envelope research, I started looking for a low cost printer that met my needs.

The printer names that popped up were Elegoo, Flashforge, Creality, and Bambu Lab.

I had never heard of Elegoo or Flashforge, but I had heard of both Creality and Bambu Lab.

The printer I was looking into was a Creality printer, but the Bambu Lab kept showing up with positive reviews. Their P1S met my needs except for the hardened nozzle, but that was an “easy” upgrade. The thing that was blocking me from pulling the trigger was that replacing the nozzle required changing out electronics. Something I did not want.

And then I stumbled on Bambu Lab P2S. This was released in late 2025. The reviews were all positive, but more than that, the reviewers were surprised at the types of improvements.

The P2S came with a hardened extruder and a hardened nozzle. They had also ditched the old hotend and gone with the hotend from one of their higher-end printers. They went with the H2D hotend.

This hotend has a quick replace system for the nozzle. You no longer need to replace electronics or mess with cables; you remove a silicon boot from the nozzle, release two spring clips with your fingers, remove the old nozzle, put the new nozzle in, close the clips, put the boot back on, tell the printer what nozzle you have installed.

I’ve done this twice. The first time took about 5 minutes, the second time about 30 seconds.

This left the ecosystem.

Bambu Lab is a closed ecosystem. They recently updated all their printers. With this update, 3rd party software tools lost the ability to control the printer. You could still move files to and from the printer, but you couldn’t initiate a print.

I had also read that Bambu Lab was using AI to evaluate the things being printed and would refuse to print some models from the cloud.

You could move the files by USB drive, but that gets painful.

They did have a LAN-only mode. That is what I am currently using. In LAN only mode you get full control of your printer. Your printer no longer talks to the Cloud. Your printer is yours.

It also turns out that the OrcaSlicer, which is a fork of the Bambu Studio slicer just works in LAN-only mode.

In addition, the price for the printer and the Automatic Material System (AMS) was less that the Creality printer I was looking for.

Conclusions

Am I happy with my purchase? Yes.

Is there anything I regret? Yes, I didn’t get enough filament out of the gate. I’ve gone through about 10 pounds of filament so far, and I’m not slowing down.

I don’t like finding out that I need a seperate dryer. And the amount of effort it takes to get dry filament.

I don’t like that I can’t directly move files from the Bambu Cloud to my printer; I have to move it through OrcaSlicer.

Would I do it again? Yes. Would I get a different printer? No.

My printer has been printing nearly non-stop since I got it. There were a couple of days when it was busy drying filament and not printing.

They offer the A1 combo at $399. That is the A1 and the AMS light. The AMS light handles four spools and you can have upto four AMS connected to your printer.

They also have the A1-Mini which comes in at $219 but only has a 180x180x180 build volume.

Please remember that I’m a Unix/Linux geek with to much experience in too many fields. What works for me might not work for you. Do your own research, but remember the first rule, have a reason you are going to spend some money. If you aren’t sure, look for a used A1 or A1-Mini or the most popular 3D printer, the Creality Ender 3.

I went with a Bambu Lab P2S printer. It is an enclosed printer; it has excellent support and ecosystem. And it has strong vertical integration.

In order to 3D print something, you need the printer, a build plate, filament, a model, and a slicer.

The build plate is a surface that the filament will adhere to when you want it to and release your printed part when you want it to release.

Filament is a thermoset plastic. I.e., a plastic that melts when heated and can be reshaped and then will hold that new shape after it cools.

The model is a digital 3D solid. It is normally generated with a CAD package.

The slicer take the 3D solid and slices it into layers, then creates a sequence of g-code instructions to recreate that solid in plastic.

The First Print

To start with, I purchased filament from Bambu Lab to use on my printer. Their filament spools come with RFID tags. When you put the spool in the AMS, it will read the RFID, which tells the AMS what type of filament it is and what color. It also says it is Bambu Lab filament, but nobody else has permission (cryptographic) to create RFID tags that the printer/AMS will read.

I selected a useful “print” from the prints that are preloaded in the printer. Then I pressed “go”.
It printed exactly what I wanted, and it has been in use ever since.

The Second Print

It is nice to have models preloaded to print, but that would get boring rapidly. The next step was to use their phone app to print something.

This consisted of starting their app, pointing my phone camera at a QR code on a box. That QR took me to a model in the Bambu Lab cloud. I clicked the print button and a short time later I had a 3D version of that print.

There were more things I printed this way, but it was time to move up.

The slicer

The approved software is Bambu Studio. Which is an Apple or Windows program, no Linux version. I choose to go with OrcaSlicer because it is well respected and integrates nicely with Bambu Lab printers.

Using the slicer, I was able to download models from other sites, outside of the Bambu Lab cloud, slice them, and then send them to the printer. I could then use the Bambu App to start the print, or print directly from the printer control panel.

Over time, I’ve moved away from the Bambu Lab Cloud. I’m doing everything locally now. I still use their cloud to find models ready to print, but that is only because it is easy. I can use their phone app, search for a model, tag it, then download and print it later.

ReMix

My first major print was a riser for the AMS. This was printed in four large parts and a set of TPU gaskets. Yes, I can print custom gaskets.

The riser holds two drawers. I printed those drawers with a Gridfinity base.

All is good so far. I then print a deburring tool Gridfinity bin. It should fit perfectly. It does, except it is too tall. I can’t close the drawer.

This lead to me doing my first remix. I pulled the STL into FreeCAD, then created a sold cube the right size. Intersected the two solids and ended up with a shortened version.

This worked. My deburring tool now fits perfectly in my Gridfinity drawer.

This type of remix is simple. More complex remixes take more time. I’m not good at it yet because it requires me to create a solid from an STL or STEP file.

My First Model

I wanted a Gridfinity box to hold my ultra-precision torque screwdriver. I did all the right things, except I did a shit job of my B-splines. I also took a bad picture. I was too close, so lines that should have been straight were not.

Regardless, I printed it. What came out fit the Gridfinity base. The bin was short enough that the drawer would close.

The issue? The finger holes to lift the tool out were way too small. I’ve learned that I need between 20 mm and 30 mm to bake it easy to grip.

I have a second attempt ready to go, but I haven’t printed it yet. It was cool to see. It is a disappointment for it to not work.

My Latest Model

To control the path of filament, 3D printers use lots of PTFE tubing. This is 4 mm OD and about 2 mm ID pneumatic tubing. These fit into PTFE couplers. One of the coupler/connectors I’m using is a PC4-M10. This has a push connector on one side and is threaded M10 on the other.

I’m using a printed replacement cap for a cereal container. A 4L cereal container will hold a 1 KG spool on rollers with space for a hygrometer and desiccant. With a hole in the container, you can feed your filament out and directly to your printer without ever exposing your filament to the moisture in the air.

One method is to drill a 10 mm hole in the side of the container and use a PC4-M10 screwed into the side. A better method is to put a M10 flanged nut on the backside.

I would rather not drill holes, so I went with the replacement cap with a socket for the PC4-M10.

The model prints the cap, a sealing plug, a threaded and knurled screw-on cap. The cap proper has an inset threaded boss for the knurled cap to screw onto to seal the container.

That boss holds a PC4-M10. The model also contains a printed nut for the PC5-M10. Now here is my issue: the person that printed this seems to have found PC4-M10 with M10x1.5 threads. The PC4-M10 I have is measured with M10x1.0 threads.

I went into FreeCAD, I created a solid with a flange, 17mm hex nut, and a proper M10x1.0 threaded hole.

And it worked. Those nuts are now in use.

I am that much closer to being able to print my patterns for castings.

It has been a learning week for me. I’ve actually gotten to the point where I’m printing things for me rather than for the printer and the printing process.

Every part of the process is so much better than it was the last time I was attempting 3D prints. I have one confirmed model that is a failure. I’ll work with the least failed print to get the tool I need.

The two biggest issues in 3D printing today are bed adhesion and bad filament. Now bad filament isn’t always bad, sometimes it is just that it has absorbed too much water from the air.

There is a relatively simple fix for that: dry your filament.

My printer came with an AMS (automatic material system). It consists of a chamber that holds four spools of filament; each spool has its extruder/feeder. The printer controls the AMS. When the printer wants a particular filament, it unloads the current filament, then it tells the feed motor to push the filament down a sequence of PTFE tubes and Y connectors until the filament is at the extruder proper.

The printer then pushes out the old plastic from the hot end with the new filament, leaving the nozzle loaded with the new filament. It is cool to watch.

The AMS is designed for four small packages of silica desiccant. One of the first things I printed was a set of boxes to hold more desiccant. The AMS now has about between 10 and 20 times as much desiccant as it started with.

The AMS is sealed, has circulating fans and a heater. This means it can be used to dry filament as well as feed it.

There is one small issue: you can’t print while it is drying. You have to have a separate power supply for the AMS to dry while printing.

Which takes me to my “quick” fix, a SunLu S1 Plus filament dryer. This holds one spool of filament, it can run at up to 55°C, and it does a good job of PLA, PETG, and one or two other filaments.

Using it I have been able to rescue some 10 year old PLA that was stored open. It has all just printed, after it was dryed.

Now the fix to this temperature issue is to use a “blast oven”. A blast oven means an oven that can maintain a constant temperature for an extended period of time while air is forced around the filament.

I don’t have a blast oven. What I do have is a printer that can maintain a constant temperature but doesn’t have a fan.

The manufacturer recommends printing a cover in Polycarbonate (PC). But PC is extremely hygroscopic. Straight from the package, it has to be dried at 90°C. Which my SunLU can’t do.

If I had a PC drying cover, I could dry the PC in the printer. All I need is some dry PC but what I have is wet PC.

And this issue exists for every filament I have. So I’m doing a bootstrap.

I did a printer bed drying of some ASA. This took around 12 hours. I used a cardboard box, as recommended. To make a fake cover.

With the ASA dry enough to print, I’m printing a blast oven. This is a two part filament dryer that uses the printer bed for the heat source and a carefully designed drying chamber with forced air.

Now all I have to do is hope that part two prints successfully tonight.

One of my FB prepper groups posted this a week or so ago, and I’ve been watching what people talk about. Lots of stuff about toilet paper. Medications. Food, of course. Pretty much everything mentioned was STUFF, though. And I don’t think that the top 3 “unobvious” things are … well, things.

My first thing that I think people haven’t bothered to think about is garbage. By garbage, I mean both waste from our homes (food packages, moldy leftovers, clothing beyond repair, etc.) and waste from we humans. I don’t think most people give a second thought to garbage. Either they’re like me, and they’re used to taking their garbage to the dump, or they’re like my neighbor, and the magic truck just arrives once a week and takes it all away. In a real SHTF scenario, neither of those things are going to happen.

If the SHTF, you won’t get me within a mile of the public dump. Either everything there will be hella unsanitary (because public dumps require attendants to keep them clean and tidy, and a lot of the recyclables and such are removed each day, as is much of the actual garbage. If the social contract dissolves, there will be no attendants, and nowhere for the garbage to go. It’ll become rat infested, and frankly, human infested.

Human waste is an issue I don’t think the average citizen thinks over long about. I think about it all the time. What do you do with your piss and shit? I like that I flush and it goes away. That’s nice. But I also spend quite a bit of time every summer in places where that’s not the case, and I have to be careful. Port-a-potties are okay, but they fill up (quickly, more quickly than you think they will), and are not a long term solution. Trust me when I say, if the SHTF you want to turn off your toilet and block your access to the street once you’ve assured yourself it’s truly SHTF. You do not want that stuff backing up into your bathroom. Toilets can continue to be used until sewage overflows its bounds at whatever downhill facility it’s going to, at which point it’ll start coming up the tube to meet you.

What DO we do with human waste then? I’m a firm proponent of the “lovey loo” as one company decided to call it. The composting toilet, which need not be expensive or complex if building codes are no longer an issue, is the perfect answer to human waste. If you have even an acre of land, you can put it to use. There’s an fantastic book called The Humanure Handbook that explains the whole process, what to do with waste, and what not to do.

Basically, #1 should go into a bucket with a tight sealing lid, and when full, disposed of either in a hole that goes deeper than 10 inches, or poured out over an area that is not near any running water. Digging a hole is the best way to deal with it, and if you’re ONLY using it for urine, you can dig it and leave it dug, with just a cover over it to avoid anyone falling in. The urine will work its way through the soil and return to the water table safely. Remember that, for the most part, pee is sterile. You want to keep it separate from solid waste.

#2 can be collected in a homer bucket (lined with a garbage bag if you’re squeamish) with a layer of fresh wood shavings over each (ahem) movement. If you’re diligent about keeping urine separate and using your wood shavings, there usually isn’t any smell. You keep using the bucket until it’s full, and then you add in a handful of worm casings and bang the lid on tightly. Carefully label the exterior of the bucket ALL OVER, and set it neatly in the brush at the back of your property. After one year, it’s probably soil that’s fine to use. After two years, even the most delicate of scientists will tell you that all that’s left is dirt. Go use it in your garden. It’s compost, and it’ll be very rich. You work it right and you’ll have enough compost to keep your garden going basically forever.

Please note, all of the above is very short-handed. Go read the book. They explain everything in great detail. I have only given you the highlights here.

The second thing that I don’t think people are the least bit prepared for is the general idea that, if you have a disease or health issue, you’re going to die a lot faster than everyone else. If the SHTF, even if you have stored medication, it’s limited. When it runs out, your risk of dying skyrockets. Now if you’re lucky and the problem is Type II Diabetes, you might manage to work yourself into a safe zone and survive. Working your ass off will do that. But if the problem is cancer or Type I Diabetes, or PCOS or any number of other diseases, you have to be prepared to die. I hate to say it, and it’s uncomfortable to think about, but it’s the truth. It’s important to come to terms with the idea that you or others could die of stuff that was “easy to fix/control” just months earlier.

I deal with this stuff all the time, because I talk to people at historical events. They always ask, “Well, what would have happened to my dad in the 15th century, what with his diabetes?” Well, hon, he’d die. People with gluten intolerance or dairy intolerance? Dead. Allergic to bees? Dead (though not quite as easily as some other deaths). Allergic to a food that’s needed for survival (bread, peanut butter, cheese)? Dead. Have asthma? Dead. It’s a shitty reality that people need to be aware of long before the SHTF. It’s important to ask yourself NOW… am I more help to my family if I stockpile meds and try to make it through the worst days of the SHTF, or would my death be more useful (in which case, don’t store meds and accept what’s coming much more quickly)?

And number three, simply the amount of work people will need to do in order to survive. I do not for a minute believe that most people in our country today will survive the process of making soap to clean their clothes, or the sheer amount of work it takes to make a hot bath, or clearing a driveway without a snow blower. I’ve got a SMALL taste of it, when I spend my 7 to 10 days up at the fort. I only have to cart my water a few yards instead of up from the river, and I have modern soap to clean my clothing with, but I do my best to live like they did. It’s a lot of work. I don’t have time to look at my phone, or read a book. If I have time during daylight hours, I use it to mend clothing or do something else that requires light. On an average stay at the Fort, I walk between 11 and 17 miles a day, and that’s just when I’m staying IN the fort and not going for walks or wandering down to the river. That’s 15 or so miles walking from table to hearth to wood pile, in a big circle, a bazillion times. And that’s me acting as a woman, with a lot of work but a lot LESS walking than my menfolk will be doing.

What are three things you think people are unprepared for? Not the obvious stuff. No toilet paper. What situations or things or thoughts have you contemplated, that you don’t believe others have put thought into?

I’m not as much into white bread as some people are, but once in a while it’s nice to have that soft, spongy white stuff. Grilled cheese, for instance, is fantastic in a good white bread. And French Bread is the ultimate white loaf. It’s also ridiculously easy to make, which I appreciate so very much. This is the recipe that I use, and it turns out some freakin’ awesome loaves (pics at the end of the post)!

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cups warm water, 110-115 degrees F
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant or active dry yeast (see note)
• 2 ¼ teaspoons salt (see note)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oil or avocado oil
• 5 ½ – 6 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour (see note)

You can make this in a stand mixer or by hand. It’s not a difficult dough to make even entirely by hand. I’m including directions for both methods.

Start by combining the water, sugar, and yeast. Let the mixture bubble and foam before moving on to the next step (this can take up to ten minutes if it’s really cold or your yeast is old, though usually you can see bubbles within a minute). Instant yeast doesn’t require you to activate it, but I find it’s always good to do this. If no bubbles happen, you know that your yeast is dead BEFORE you start investing time and flour into it.

Once the bubbles start, add in the salt, oil, and 3 cups of the flour, and mix. This can be done in a stand mixer with the dough hook on it, or with a wooden spoon in a large bowl. Continue to mix until the dough becomes a bit soupy, then slowly add in 2.5 to 3 cups more flour. I usually do this about a quarter to a half cup at a time so I don’t overload the dough with too much flour. When the dough is too “formed” to use the spoon anymore, when working by hand, turn it out onto the counter and begin the kneading process. In the stand mixer, continue adding flour until the dough clears off the sides of the bowl and makes a soft ball that might begin crawling up the dough hook. Turn it out on the counter and work the rest of this by hand.

French bread is a soft, sloppy dough in my opinion. You want to knead the dough for a few minutes, but not the 20 minutes a regular hearty bread requires. If it gets too tacky and starts to stick to your hands, add a couple of tablespoons of flour and knead that in. The goal is a ball of dough that is slightly tacky, very smooth, and soft enough that it starts to slump a little bit when left on the counter.

Put the dough into a bowl (I just use the mixing bowl I was using earlier) lightly coated with olive oil, and turn the dough to coat it LIGHTLY. Cover the bowl with a grocery bag or some plastic wrap, or cover it with a warm, moist towel. Set the bowl in a warm, relatively moist place. If you have a proofing box, use that. If you have nothing else, you can use your microwave to heat up 2 cups of water to almost boiling, then put the dough bowl in there WITH the hot water, and close the door. It’s usually a tight fit, but most modern microwaves will manage it. It becomes your proofing box.

Normally I would suggest several methods for rising bread dough, but French bread is a little finicky. It likes it very warm and moist. You want 85*F and almost steamy. My usual tricks won’t work (in a box with a heating mat, or in the oven with the light on but nothing else).

Let the dough rise for about an hour, until it’s doubled in size. If it isn’t doubled, wait longer. I sometimes snap a quick pic of my dough, so I can judge the size more accurately when I go back to check.

Once the dough is risen, turn it out onto your counter and cut it in half. Using the heel of your hand, pat each half out into a thick rectangle, about 9″ x 13″, though it doesn’t have to be exact. I usually put my baking sheet out where I can use it to judge size, and aim for a loaf about the length of the sheet. As you’re patting out the dough (NOT rolling it), use your palm to press out any air bubbles you find. Roll the dough up the long way (you want it 13″ long, not 9″ long), and then pinch the seam closed. I usually tuck the ends in as well, but that’s me. Just make sure they’re even and as sealed closed as possible. Place each of your French loaves onto a bit of parchment paper, onto a baking sheet. Some people use two different baking sheets, but I just pull up the parchment paper between the bread so it doesn’t accidentally grow into its neighbor.

Using a bread lame, razor blade, or VERY sharp knife, cut several gashes at an angle over the top of each loaf. While you can score the bread after it rises, that will sometimes deflate it. Doing it now ensures a nice, even rise that you don’t disturb. Spray some plastic wrap with no-stick spray, and cover each of the loaves gently, leaving a little room for growth. Try to avoid sealing it down, as you want it to have room to rise properly. Put the loaves back in your proofing box, or in the least drafty, warmest and moistest place, and allow them to rise again until they are about doubled in size. This will take another hour or so.

Preheat your oven to 375*F, and make sure your oven rack is centered. Put a small, heat-safe bowl in the bottom of your oven. Remove the plastic wrap from your dough, and slide it into your preheated oven. Toss 2 or 3 ice cubes into the small bowl that you put into the bottom of the oven. This gives you a nice, extra crisp crust! Bake the loaves for 25 to 30 minutes, checking ever 5 minutes after the 20 minute mark. You want golden, puffy loaves that sound hollow when knocked with your knuckles.

If you want a softer crust, slide a stick of butter over the top of the loaves the minute they come out of the oven. If you like it crispy, don’t butter it. Allow the loaves to cool entirely before cutting into them. Remember: bread continues baking for about 20 to 30 minutes after being removed from the oven, so cutting into it early will interfere with that.

Notes:

I use this bread for French Dip sandwiches. I use it for French toast. And most importantly, I use it to make garlic bread. It’s just generally yummy, though, whether you serve it as a sandwich or with soup or stew. Enjoy!

When I purchased my first 3D printer, it came as a kit. One of the “spider” style.

By this I mean it had three towers with arms that supported a hot-end platform. By moving the base of the arms up and down the towers, the platform would move in 3 space.

It was the fastest type of printer available.

Unfortunately, it was not a good choice. The instructions were not good, and in particular, they got the size of one of the drive wheels wrong.

The printer was designed around 3mm filament at a time when most hotends had moved to 1.75mm. I paid to have a 3D printer dude tune my printer to make it work. It didn’t, but he did upgrade it to 1.75mm filament.

There were three types of filament at the time, PLA, PA, and ABS.

PLA is a starch-based plastic; it has a relatively low melting point but is cheap. It is the standard for most prints.
ABS is the standard plastic you find almost everywhere.
PA is Nylon.

I purchased some ABS and Nylon but never had what I would consider a successful print.

Fast forward to today, and the types of filaments have exploded.

Besides the three listed above, they now have PETG, TPU, PC, ASA, PLA+, PA6, PA12. And many of these are available with CF (carbon fiber) or GF (glass fiber) added.

PETG is stronger than PLA and has a higher melting point. It is commonly used. I use it anywhere I might need something that will withstand a little heat.

TPU is a printable rubber. You can print custom gaskets with it. It is also used for non-slip feet.

PC is polycarbonate; it prints clear and is heat resistant and strong. ASA is a stronger than ABS material.

All of these do a job well. And I’m going a bit bonkers trying to make sure I hit the correct price/performance mark.

The good news, for me, is that I’m starting to come out of the print for the printer and starting to print tools and organizational things for me.

So some of us live in the boonies or in largely “settled American” areas, and the likelihood we’ll see ICE or DHS is pretty low. But let’s look at this as a “what if” scenario. What if ICE arrived in your town? What do you think would happen?

I live in an area that has a lot of Conservative folk, but a lot of Liberals as well. Considering we have a small contingent of people who stand on the corner of what used to be the Rite Aid building every Friday, protesting whatever (I don’t read the signs), I can say we have some people here who would choose to cause problems for ICE. I don’t know what our Chief of Police, our Firemen, or our Sheriff would do. What this means is that there are likely to be armed LEOs in my vicinity, and they will be agitated and possibly there will be people actively obstructing them.

I will tell you that if someone starts that whistle crap in my neighborhood, I’ll end it right quick. No, not with a firearm (I understand the desire, but not the morals of it, if that makes sense), but with a noise ordinance complaint. Or a lot of noise ordinance complaints. That would not fly well in my little bedroom community. Even some of the libs might find it unconscionable.

I would find it disturbing to see armed, armored men walking the streets of my little town. And where I live would set me walking or driving past them every time I wanted to leave home, because of where my home is situated. I would need to make outings something that happened only during down times, when mobs weren’t being active. I have less then zero interest in getting caught up in ICE stuff. I certainly wouldn’t be interfering in their duties. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t somehow end up in the middle of something, unintentionally.

The first and most important thing I would do is continue my life as normal, as much as was safely possible. The moment I allow someone else to make my life change, they win. On the other hand, if I’m stopped by ICE or other LEOs, I will happily provide whatever they ask for that’s within my power. If I’m armed and I’m stopped, I will keep my hands either above my head (if out and about) or at 10 and 2 (if driving). I’ll let LEOs know I’m armed, what the weapon is, where it is, and where any relevant paperwork is. If someone “jackboots” me, I’ll argue about it AFTER the stop, not during. Hard to argue if someone gets rushed and you end up shot dead. My goal is to make it through any such stop with the least problems for LEOs and myself.

For those who don’t like to show ID, I get it. I don’t either. My general position, prior to the current mess, has been to prepare myself to ask, “Am I being detained?” Because if I am not being detained, I am not showing ID (tho of course if driving you have to show a license if asked). If I am being detained, then I will invoke my right to silence, after asking for a lawyer. None of those things are likely to bother a LEO, especially if you’re otherwise polite and non-threatening.

I don’t need to be threatening. It’s not my goal in life to have others afraid of me. On the other hand, I don’t like being questioned unnecessarily. That whole Fourth Amendment thing about being secure in my person, papers, home, etc. is important, after all. But I’m also going to look at the situation in hand. A random traffic stop is not anything like ICE asking for proof of citizenship. ICE is showing up in places where there are dangerous criminal aliens, and dealing with them. I’m pretty sure they’d rather be dealing with picking them up at the local jail, but if they have to, they’ll hunt them down. I want the cops to pick up serial killers, rapists, and the like… and I want ICE to remove criminal aliens when they find them. That requires at least a little cooperation on my part.

Here’s the thing, though, when it comes to these ICE protests and riots. You don’t have to participate. Yes, it’s possible to get dragged into a mob by accident (and it’s terrifying, by the by), but if you keep your wits about you, you get away from it as soon as is possible. You don’t have to celebrate ICE, either, if you’re concerned they’re being a bit over zealous about doing their job. You just don’t interfere. It’s that simple.

Most of us are highly unlikely to ever get caught up in an ICE sweep. We’re not hanging around with illegal aliens or criminals. We’re not protecting them. Therefore, ICE really isn’t that interested in us. So our goal is just to stay out of their way.

That is the best preparation you can have, when it comes to ICE. Don’t play stupid games, and you’re not likely to win stupid prizes. Don’t FA and you probably won’t FO.

The “want” of a 3D printer was to be able to make foundry patterns. This is quickly becoming the standard for small run castings. It is much easier and faster than traditional pattern making, and you don’t require the same set of specialized tools.

The downside is that most 3D printers don’t have a large enough print volume of interesting castings, requiring printing in parts and then assembling the parts to create a whole.

This want was not enough. There had to be something that was a reasonable fit with our household. It isn’t like I’m going to be printing dragons and dice and hoping to pay for the hobby with that. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people doing that.

My son just showed me a site where he has purchased D&D figures. He and I will see what we can do for him.

One of my issues is organization. If something has a place, it goes back to that place. Most of the stuff in my life lives on a flat surface. And it is time sorted. The oldest stuff is on the bottom.

I want organizational tools.

Enter two 3D solutions. One is a system of displaying things in an organized way for quick access. The other is the worlds fanciest peg board.

I plan to use GridFinity for most of the “flat” storage areas. That means draw and shelf organizers.

The more extensive system if Multiboard. This is much more complex than GridFinity.

Here’s a simple example of what sorts of things can be done. The eco-system consists of MultiBoard, the pegboard, hooks, and simple shelves. MultiBin, containers to hold things that can be attached to the MultiBoard. With MultiPoint me the connection system.

Take the time to watch the introduction video, get some ideas.

Pie crusts in the medieval era were rarely the flaky, buttery confection we are used to today. Instead, they were the ancient version of take-out food containers, only sort of edible, and designed to allow you to eat their delicious innards and then throw the crusts away. This recipe is a more edible but just as solid version of those “hot water crusts” as they were known in later periods of history.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 oz lard
• 3 oz butter/margarine
• 8 oz water

To make a standing paste crust, we’re going to ignore the sort of instructions you may be used to while attempting flaky pastry. There is a reason these crusts were sometimes called “coffins” and you’re about to discover it in person!

Add your flour (by weight, please) to a large bowl, then sprinkle the salt over it. Whisk or otherwise mix the dry ingredients well to distribute the salt as evenly as possible.

In a small pot, add the water and heat it up gently. Add in the butter or margarine, and the lard, and heat until they are all melted together. DO NOT BOIL or even simmer this mixture, if at all possible. You just want it warm enough that the ingredients can combine together.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones, and then use a spoon or fork to begin mixing the dough together. You should continue using the spoon or fork until the dough has come mostly together, or it’s cool enough for you to knead by hand without burning yourself. Please be careful, and remember that the water you just poured into your flour mixture is HOT. Knead this until the dough has come completely together. It will be a very stiff dough, and that’s fine. You don’t want to over-work this dough.

If you are making a single pie, split off about 1/4 of your dough (this will be turned into a lid for your pie) and set it aside under some parchment paper or in a plastic baggie. On a Formica counter or granite dough surface, sprinkle some flour and then begin to roll out the dough. You want to have a circle of dough large enough to fill an 8″ spring-form pan, and it should be between 1/4″ and 1/8″ thick when it is ready.

To make the pie crust, you are either going to press the dough into a pie pan, or drape it over the outside of the pie pan, in order to get the shape right. Flour the pan well, regardless! While the dough is still on or in the form, refrigerate it for at least one hour. While the pie crust is chilling, roll out the lid for your pie, which should be about one inch larger in diameter than your pie pan. If you look at the pictures in the header, you can see that the crust for a standing paste pie goes inside the outer crust, not over it as you would for a flaky pie. Let the pie lid sit, sandwiched between two pieces of parchment paper, until it’s ready to be used. If it will be more than an hour, consider covering it with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out. Do NOT put it in the fridge.

If you are making multiple small pies (this recipe should make about 3 individual pies), separate the dough into three equal sized pieces. From each of those, remove about 1/4 of the dough for the lid of that individual pie. To form small pies, flour a glass or mini pie pan and follow the same general directions as for a large pie. Roll out the lids as well, and set aside for use after refrigeration.

When the crusts are well chilled (which allows them to be standing until they bake and become stiff), unmold them from the pie pan or whatever you’re using for a form. Put the pie crust on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (lipped, please), and add in your filling. Please note, fillings can be cooked or raw, as your cooking time will be about 90 minutes, which is enough for most meats to cook. The fillings should be cool when added to the crust, however. Hot fillings would melt the fats in the crust, making them prone to drooping, and you don’t want that! The filling needn’t be cold from the fridge, but make sure it isn’t hot, either. If you can’t stick your finger in it for 30 seconds, it’s too hot.

Once your filling is in, regardless of size of pie, whisk up an egg to use for an egg wash. Brush the edges of the lid and pie with the egg wash, then add the lid to your pie, and crimp the edges closed with your fingers, a pie crimper, or a fork. Cut a small hole in the center of the pie. This is easily achieved by using a sharp knife to cut an X in the center, then peeling back the triangles. Egg wash the entire pie and sprinkle with herbs, if you like.

If you want to decorate your pie, simply use bits of left-over crust rolled out thin to create leaves, vines, or other images. Have some fun with it! Attach them by using egg wash as a “paste”, then egg wash over the decorations as well. You could also press herbs or cracked spices into the lid, if you liked. I would suggest doing that before attaching it to the top of the pie, however.

Bake the pie in a 350°F oven for 80 to 90 minutes. Start checking your pie at the 60 minute mark, and every ten minutes thereafter. When the pie is dark brown and solid when tapped, it’s ready. See the pictures in the header for reference!

Many types of fillings can go into pies like this. In medieval times, they would add chunks of beef, goat, or chicken into standing pastes, and then cook them up. Gravy wouldn’t be added until it was time to serve the pie. The gravy was poured in the hole on the top. Later period pies of this type would have contained ground or minced meats, or mixes of meats and fish. They also had fruit pies made in these types of crusts.

In my opinion, standing paste done this way is much easier than a flaky crust, and more forgiving. It doesn’t require “blind baking” (pre-baking the crust before filling it, in order to keep the crust from being mushy) because it’s so darn solid.

Serve your pies with a side of mashed potatoes or some “bashed neeps and carrots” for an authentic meal that will fill your belly and warm your soul.

The featured image is of one of my very first sandcastings. It came out better than expected given my level of experience. My later castings were much better.

I used Petrabond for this casting, which gives fine details. The item in the front is a Duplo block, and the part in the back is from a wooden bowl with a handle.

Sand Castings

A sand casting starts with a pattern. The pattern needs to create a void in the sand, which will be filled with molten metal. To allow the sand to hold its shape, fine sand is mixed with a binder and a liquid. When the binder and liquid are in the proper ratios and thoroughly mixed, when compacted, the sand will hold its shape after the pattern is removed.

This means that you must be able to remove the pattern from the sand without damaging the void. Any sand that crumbles from the sides will cause an imperfection in the surface of the casting. Or worse, it can cause a void inside the casting.

Because we need to be able to remove the pattern safely, The pattern is created with “draft” or taper. With proper draft, as soon as the pattern releases, it is no longer in contact with the sand at all. If the pattern is undercut, meaning the sand covers the pattern, there is no way to remove the pattern from the sand without disturbing the sand.

For the parts shown, there is only one piece of the pattern. For a pattern that does not have a flat side, we use two patterns that fit together to form a whole, called a split pattern.

The Flask

The flask is a two piece box that is open on the top and bottom. The bottom piece is called the drag because you drag it across the molding board. The top is called the cope.

You start by placing the drag upside down on the molding board. Then you position the pattern inside the drag with the taper pointing up. The molding sand is then added to the flask until the pattern is covered.

The sand is then “rammed” up. This means compacting the sand by ramming it again and again with the end of a stick. This will force the sand to bind together and bind to the edges of the drag. More sand is added and the next layer is rammed up. This is repeated until the drag is overfull of sand.

Once the drag is full, a stick is used to scrape off the excess sand, called striking off. This leaves a flat sand surface.

A second molding board is placed on top of the drag and then the sandwich of the bottom molding board, drag, and upper molding board is flipped over. This leaves the pattern exposed on top side, sitting in a cavity in the sand. The sand is extremely firm if rammed correctly.

Now the cope is put over the drag to complete the flask.

Ramming Up the Cope

With the cope in place, we can put the other half of our split pattern in place. More parting powder is dusted over the pattern and top of the drag. Think of parting powder as non-stick spray for sand casting.

Once the pattern is in place, we can then ram up the cope the same way we rammed up the drag.

When we finish striking off the cope, we cut a sprue for pouring molten metal into the mold.

The cope can now be lifted straight up, and with a little luck, the top pattern will come away in the cope and the bottom pattern will stay in the drag.

To make sure everything goes back together, the cope has alignment pins, and the drag has alignment holes.

Pattern Extraction

This is the most frustrating part of the process for me. The two halves of the split pattern are firmly held in their sand voids. We need to get them out. The surface of the pattern that is facing us is normally very flat.

If you have made the pattern correctly, there should be threaded holes to insert screws into. Once these screws are in place, you tap and rattle them to cause the pattern to shift slightly in its void. If done correctly, this makes a very thin space between the pattern and the sand.

When you think you have done this enough, you carefully lift the pattern straight up. If you don’t, you can destroy some of the void in the sand.

This is why making patterns is such a high skill level job. The pattern must have enough draft, or it won’t release. The surface needs to be very smooth to reduce the friction between the pattern and the sand. There can be no undercuts. And the pattern must be sturdy enough to withstand being rammed up, over and over again.

Once the patterns are drawn out of the sand, gentle air from a squeeze bulb or from a low pressure air hose is used to remove all the stray sand. Sharp lips of the pattern might be gently touched with a soft brush to remove any sand that might separate from the walls when the casting is poured.

Cutting Runners and Gates

Tools are now used to remove sand from the drag to make channels, called runners, from the sprue hole around the different patterns in the drag. Smaller channels are then cut from the runners to the void/patterns. These are called gates.

Cutting runners and gates is a science unto itself. They have to be large enough for the molten metal to reach all the gates before it starts to freeze. It can’t be so large that you waste metal that is needed for the casting. The metal needs to be a laminar flow; turbulence can cause erosion of the sand of the walls of the runners and gates.

In addition, you want a place for sand carried in from the pour to go and settle out without the loose sand entering the casting.

Closing the Flask

Once all the work is completed on the mold, it is time to prepare the mold for the pour.

The mold needs to be transported to the foundry floor. For large castings, the mold is created right there on the foundry floor. I’ve watched videos of them molding and casting drive wheels for steam locomotives, wheels 5 feet or more in diameter.

The process is the same, except the flask is huge and is rammed up on the floor. Overhead cranes or other types of cranes are used to lift and flip the flask. It is remarkable to watch.

If the mold is small, then the cope is put on the drag, the alignment pins bringing the two parts in to perfect alignment with each other. It is important to note that it is not relevant that the cope and drag be in perfect alignment, just that they align repeatably. That is to say, when the alignment is correct, the voids in the two halves of the flask will be perfectly aligned.

Once closed, the mold is transported to the foundry floor for the pour.

Occasionally the mold is too heavy to be closed and moved. In this situation, the drag is first moved to the foundry floor, then the cope is moved and put into place.

If the mold is truly too heavy to move, even in halves, then the mold will be rammed up on the foundry floor. Cranes will lift the cope off and put it back when required.

Pouring

When the mold(s) are in place, ready for the pour, the furnace is started. The metal is brought up to temperature. Additives will be added to create the correct type of iron or steel or aluminum.

When the metal is up to temperature, the crucible will be lifted out of the furnace and transferred into a pouring gizmo; the word escapes me. For large pours, the furnace has a pour spout at the base; the furnace is opened, metal runs out and is caught in a crucible or ladle.

Regardless of the method of getting the molten metal into the pouring crucible or ladle, the metal is carefully carried to the molds and then poured into the feed sprue.

The metal has to be poured at a constant speed into exactly the correct spot on the mold. If the pour is too slow, the metal will freeze, and you will not get a good pour. If you pour too fast, you risk overrunning the sprue, which will get metal to run out over your flask, which can be very dangerous.

You want to continue pouring until you see metal start to come up the risers. If you don’t see this happen, then you have a short pour, meaning that the casting might not be complete because it didn’t get enough metal to completely fill it.

The pour has to be continuous as well. You can’t stop and start. To do so would be to cause chill spots and potential freezing.

The Wait

After pouring, you need to wait for the metal to completely freeze. To cool enough that it can be handled.

Different metals have different wait times, affected by the mass of the castings.

I was able to observe a bronze bust being poured. I asked when they would break open the mold. They laughed at me because it would soak in the mold for at least 24 hours.

Certain metals perform much better if they are allowed to cool slowly.

Luckily for me, the wait time for aluminum castings is about an hour.

Even after 2 or 3 hours, the castings I make are warm or hot to the touch.

Rough Finishing the Casting

Once the casting is cool enough to work with, the casting is cleaned. The means to remove all the sand that is still attached after breaking the casting out of the mold. If there was a core print, the casting might be soaked in water to help remove the core.

After all the sand has been removed, the casting is cut free from the gates and risers.

The flashing is also removed. The flashing is where metal leaks between the two halves of the mold. You can see the parting line in most objects that are cast or molded.

In some foundries, the casting is then processed to clean up any remaining excess metal.

For some metals, the casting needs to be heat-treated before it can be machined. This consists of putting the casting in a heat treat oven and bringing the metal up to temp. Then the casting is held at that temp for a known amount of time. Finally, it is allowed to cool according to the heat treat instructions.

Most metals have internal stress. I’ve watched a piece of 1/8″ steel curve like a banana when I cut it longways due to the internal stress being removed.

Part 2 tomorrow, about lost sand.