Marco Arment

I've really gotten into 3D printing since our family got an awesome Bambu printer last fall.

I find SO many household problems that can be solved, or projects that can be done better, by quickly making little custom parts like these.

What are they? Doesn't matter!* They printed in 5 minutes and helped me with a project. (And I'm still making all of my custom models in TinkerCAD, a web app designed for children, because it's so fast and easy.)

* installing some custom cove lights in my office

Feb 22 at 8:01pmIvory for Mac
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 22
I previously also made this custom tool to pull up a difficult shower-drain grate… then also made a new drain filter that significantly improved over the performance of the old one.
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 22
And when my rattly office vent cover finally annoyed me enough… I fixed that, too.
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 23
One more 3D-printing win: I made Tiff a tiny pair of earring replicas of our restaurant's famous swinging lights as a Christmas gift.
Show threadGreg PierceFeb 23
@marcoarment What are you doing the modelling in? I’m also enjoying 3D printing, but haven’t settled on a modeling tool.
Show threadChrisFeb 23
@marcoarment This is so adorable.
Show threadMichael B. JohnsonFeb 23
@marcoarment That's very sweet.
Show threadTheEJJ 🇨🇦Feb 23
@marcoarment I’m sorry, this is just the most wholesome, thoughtful thing I’ve seen in maybe a month.
Show threadShane BousloughFeb 23
@marcoarment but do they light up?
Show threadMark OtwayFeb 23
@marcoarment
Friends of ours 3D printed this modular drawer for organising our extensive tea collection in our new kitchen. It took 45+ hours to print!
Show threadPeter N LewisFeb 23
@marcoarment with led and button battery in it?
Show threadSwampYankeeFeb 23
@marcoarment There is a "swing the lights" joke here but it's not my joke to make.
Show threadThe Animal and the MachineFeb 24

@marcoarment
I hope there are pearl lightbulbs under there.

@siracusa would have used Perl.

Show threadDrChrisFeb 22
@marcoarment interesting times we live in where 3D-printers can help us with hyper-personalised tools & LLMs are helping us build hyper-personalised software tools.
Show threadJorge Salvador CaffarenaFeb 22
@DrChris @marcoarment sometimes I wonder if we are heading towards something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age
The Diamond Age - Wikipedia

Show threadmaxFeb 23
@DrChris @marcoarment
You can even use LLMs to build your hyper-personalized models for your 3D printers with OpenSCAD!
Show threadDan Ryan  (he/she/they)Feb 22
@marcoarment atoms > bits! There’s nothing quite like going from need to idea to physical thing in a matter of minutes.
Show threadPedro FernandesFeb 22
@marcoarment is that photo from the 3D printed version? The quality looks amazing
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 22
@pfernandes Yup!
Show threadPedro FernandesFeb 22
@marcoarment which material did you use for printing?
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 22

@pfernandes That's just black Bambu PLA Basic.

I jumped through some support hoops to print it face-up, such that the face you're seeing was the top face during printing, which gives it that smooth finish.

Show threadPedro FernandesFeb 22
@marcoarment nice, that smooth finish was what caught my eye 👌
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 23
@pfernandes Here's a photo right after the print completed. You can see some of the massive support under it. (And I used a support-interface material between them for clean removal.)
Show threadJon CarlestamFeb 22
@marcoarment LLM’s + 3D printing can be a really interesting combo as well. I’m using meshy.ai to create highly detailed figurines based on just a single photograph. Here’s one from our wedding photo. Crazy!
Show threadPete HareFeb 22
@marcoarment inspiring! I’ve never got over the hump of “would I really find it useful”, these examples are really helpful
Show thread_IanOfEarthFeb 23
@marcoarment my guy… talk about this on the show!! What the hell?! 😆
Show threadDaniel SchaeferFeb 22
@marcoarment Awesome!
Did you design these two yourself or adjust an available model to your dimensions?
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 22
@JohnAZoidberg Just designed them myself with TinkerCAD.
Show threadRyan JonesFeb 22
@marcoarment how the hell did you come up with the design for a drain filter! AI?
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 22
@rjj No! I just had an idea to make a bunch of little hooks to catch hair, and made enough structure around them so they wouldn't snap off.
Show threadclokey74Feb 22
@marcoarment your tinkercad skills are phenomenal!! I can’t do anything but the most simple of things.
Show threadChris MarquardtFeb 23
@marcoarment kudos for making all that in tinkercad. Can’t wait for you to discover parametric cad. Whole new world of possibilities.
Show threadJon SchwennFeb 23
@marcoarment you made this in tinkercad??? I was about to recommend Shapr3D (who also has an Apple Vision app) which is a step up in capability but still very accessible with basic skills.
Show threadDarryl RammFeb 23
@marcoarment
Custom tool to pull up a difficult shower-drain grate… 🤷‍♂️
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 23

And this is what those 3D-printed brackets enabled: finally, some soft, indirect cove lighting in my office.

I adhered two parallel LED strips (Waveform dim-to-warm, of course!) to 20mm-wide aluminum strips.

The rectangle pieces perfectly aligned the aluminum strips during assembly.

The long bracket with the triangles rests in the triangular channel created by the moulding, and props up the LEDs at an ideal angle to bounce off the ceiling without being directly visible to people in the room.

Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 23

The triangle brackets are printed in Bambu PC (polycarbonate) for high thermal tolerance, well above the rated temperature that these strips will ever reach.

(I love over-engineering things a little bit. I printed the drain-grate-puller tool in carbon-fiber-reinforced PA6 for more strength than it will ever possibly need.)

Show threadAaronFeb 24
@marcoarment Are you doing anything for ventilation? I keep wanting to move beyond PETG/PLA but keep getting concerned about fumes
Show threadTyler SmithFeb 23
@marcoarment goodness that looks killer
Show threadAdam MasonFeb 23
@marcoarment noob question: which LED strips and what controls those? Inspiring as always!
Show threadMoritz DietzFeb 23
@marcoarment this needs a diffusor on top
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 23
@moritzdietz It really doesn’t. The ceiling diffuses it so well that it looks continuous, and adding one to the strips (even if I could find a 20mm-wide one) would just trap more heat and reduce light output.
Show threadMoritz DietzFeb 23
@marcoarment Ah nice! Yes, I was wondering if the photo did it justice in terms of looking not continuously distributed. At work we have these huge hallways with amazing lighting and I always wished I had these at home too.
Show threadBenLFeb 23
@marcoarment I think this deserves an office tour.
Show threadSteve RigginsFeb 22
@marcoarment I started in TinkerCAD and am now getting better with Fusion thanks to Claude.ai. Sometimes it gives me steps for older versions of the tool but we get there. I made a custom MagSafe adapter for my dash cam in Fusion far easier than the additive/subtractive approach of Tinker but I would have never of figured it out without Claude.
Show threadErik AblesonFeb 22

@marcoarment Happy to see you join the club. It’s both fun and practical.

When/if you reach the limits of Tinkercad, take look at Shapr3D. Pricey, but both accessible for beginners and hugely powerful as you skill up for more sophisticated shapes

Show threadPeter N LewisFeb 23
@erik @marcoarment I used Shaper3D and it's very good, but have mostly moved to Onshape now (which is free but everything is public unless you pay small fortune). Onshape is much better for assemblies, and now I've got used to it I'm finding I can't go back to Shaper3D, which is a shame cuz it is much nicer in many ways.
Show threadJerrod HofferthFeb 22

@marcoarment One of us!

https://makerworld.com/en/@Jerrodh

Show threadVinnie123Feb 22
@marcoarment thanks for the tip on Tinkercad. I don’t have a 3d printer but our local library has a Bambu and a Formlabs printer which i can use and a simple free CAD app might be just the motivation i need to sign up for training to use those.
Show threadLeon CowleFeb 22

@marcoarment This bug has bitten me, too -- also just in TinkerCAD to date. So far, I've (barely) resisted buying a 3D printer -- our local library has ones that cost multi thousands of dollars, and can print much finer than typical household ones can. But it does involve a 10 min drive to the library (twice) for each project.

I've printed:
1. a stand for my NVMe drive enclosure so it can get better air cooling
2. a case for a tiny usb-powered electronic relay switch my son & I built for his external CarPlay unit's 12V plug
3. an airplane clip-to-closed-seatback-tray iphone holder for a recent trip.

Very tempted to buy a Bambu, though!!

Show threadJonathan B ✈️🪄👨🏻‍💻Feb 22
@leoncowle @marcoarment I wish we had such a library service!
Show threadLeon CowleFeb 22

@jmb
Aside from books, our library offers:
self checkout service
self checkin conveyer belt
cds/dvds/bluerays
ebooks
audiobooks
journalism subscriptions (e.g. NYT/WaPo/etc)
3d printing (both filament and resin based ones)
vinyl cutting
laser cutter
makerbot kits(to build/assemble and play with at home, like robots, coding bots, microscope, drones, raspberry pis, snap circuits, vr goggles, midi synths, signal samplers, arduinos, etc)
musical instruments to checkout (my daughter has a ukulele checked out right now)
study rooms
meeting rooms (with electronic whiteboards and video conferencing)
rentable conference space (tax-planning/retirement-planning/will-making seminars, citizenship classes, passport services, etc are held there)
very large teen area (where they study, congregate, socialize)
enclosed toddler play city
reading nooks everywhere

The entire library is a designated "noisy" area, except for a specific, glassed off quiet area (quite large). So it's a very social place.

Ginormous parking lot where it is nearly impossible to find a spot on weekends -- hundreds of people inside the library at any given moment on weekends, and after school on weekdays.

It's a FANTASTIC library.

Show threadVNKRFeb 22
@marcoarment as no one seem to mention yet - OnShape is also a web tool but it's professional grade and is free to use if you don't mind your shower drain puller to be publicly available.
Parametric 3D design is so much easier once you get used to it. Particularly if you need to create a few iterations to get the part done correctly.
Show threadMark FinkleFeb 22
@marcoarment TinkerCad is easy and has more features than people might expect
Show threadSt. ChrisFeb 22
@marcoarment I built a stabilized platform for my Bambu A1 Mini in December and printed presentation boxes for gaming dice as Christmas gifts for my family. Designed them, yes, in Tinkercad — it's basic, but you can do a hell of a lot with the basics when you think architecturally. (I bought the dice.)
Show threadOliverFeb 22
@marcoarment after over 200 models in TinkerCAD I recently switched to Valence 3D as I needed more control on smaller details. #recommended #ipad #pencil
Show threadShadowbottleFeb 23
@marcoarment their filament stock is so in the shitter lately but same
Show threadShadowbottleFeb 23
@marcoarment I resisted a long time but I’m driving headlong into gridfinity now. Maker world has done stupidly great parametric grid box makers
Show threadMark FletcherFeb 23
@marcoarment I’m just starting to look at printers. Which one did you get?
Show threadMarco ArmentFeb 23

@wingedpig Bambu H2S. It's huge, and absolutely amazing.

If it disappeared, I'd replace it with the exact same one.

If I wanted something smaller, I'd get a P2S.