My Tool Won't Fit! A Design Lesson From Life.

A typical aircraft brake disk.
There's not much room for a socket!

Hands on experience is often the greatest teacher. 

And, while helping work on a friend's change tires on a light aircraft. 

In looking at the brake disk, bolted to the tire rim, I saw that there was no way one could get a socket, the ideal tool for the job, onto the bolt. 

Fortunately, my friend, having run into this case many times before, had a wrench he'd cut to fit inside the disk. So in the end, it was job that was still very easily accomplished. 

But there lies a lesson for those of who sit behind a desk and design the machines we use every day. 

Just because the fastener fits, doesn't mean the tool will! So when designing, think of ease of maintenance. 

The maintainers, who are sometimes your customers, will thank you for it! 

About the Author:

Jonathan Landeros is a degreed Mechanical Engineer and certified Aircraft Maintenance Techncian. He designs in Autodesk Inventor at work, and Autodesk Fusion 360 for home projects. 

For fun he cycles, snowboards, and turns wrenches on aircraft. 

All PLA Prints the Same, Right? WRONG!

I print a lot of Polylactic Acid (PLA) in the 3D printer at work. I've found it's a great material to work with. It prints easy, and generally gives great results. 

A sample of a different PLA print. 
Usually a great material to work with.
Sorry, the actual print is proprietary.

Almost without exception, I have great results.

At least until all of a sudden I start having problems with it! 

When printing new color, silver from Amazon the PLA started peeling off the bed. 

It didn't matter how much glue I put down on the bed, It would peel up after a few layers. 

So what to do? 

My first step was to try a few troubleshooting steps. 

First, I raised the temperature of the bed from 50 degrees Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius. No luck there. 

Next, a thorough cleaning of the bed with isopropyl alcohol. I definitely had a cleaner bed, but still, the problem persisted.

Finally, I found a trick that solved the problem. Move the nozzle .05mm closer to the bed. Success!

The Z setting adjustment in my slicer.
I moved the nozzle slightly closer to the bed.

What is it about the silver filament? I'm not sure. But during my troubleshooting, I did notice that the gray filament did appear to be laying down a thinner layer. 

My only guess is something with the dye used to color the filament. But that's just a wild guess. 

So what's the takeaway? 

Keep an eye on those layers, and remember that not all filament of the same material prints the same! 

Resources used for this post: 

3D Printer: Fusion3 F400

Filament: Amazon Essentials Silver

Slicer Software: Simplify3D

About the Author:

Jonathan Landeros is a degreed Mechanical Engineer and certified Aircraft Maintenance Techncian. He designs in Autodesk Inventor at work, and Autodesk Fusion 360 for home projects. 

For fun he cycles, snowboards, and turns wrenches on aircraft.