I am making LC Scale Kits & Accessories for mud!

[SharpeCat]

Finally caught up with work from being on vacation and managed to order some drill bits. Should have them tomorrow.

Nice! @Michael B i sent you another box, it wasn't til I saw your photos that I realized I missed some of the red copper kit when doing other shipment.

Also, ABS parts are coming; Not only can they be acetone/vapor smoothed, they will also not melt in your car. Same with ASA parts.

If you haven't already done so, lay out your parts for me so I can figure out what I need to prioritize for you. I meant to ship out gearboxes and forgot them this week so will try again tomorrow.

 

[Michael B]

Second box has been received. Here are the pictures you requested.

 

[SharpeCat]

Second box has been received. Here are the pictures you requested.

View attachment 3155967View attachment 3155969

Perfect, good job setting a good example for others. I will be sending you wheels, small details, extra hinges to wrap up first kit. You also have most of the parts you need for second kit after we get 1 done first.

I am also making a green kit for myself to build alongside you guys/for the build thread.

 

[The Jade Bean]

I’ve posted these before, but here ya go again.

 

[The Jade Bean]

Also this.

 

[The Jade Bean]

I have a question and I don’t wanna be rude, but I do need to ask. What are the odds of us getting all the remaining parts needed to make this work?

I just don’t want this sitting around for a long time and then never getting completed. If you’ve decided to move on and not finish this I’d understand.

I realize I only gave a $100 and I get that this costs you money and time to complete. Maybe I’m the only one wondering and hopefully you understand. Please let me know if this is a dead project. Thank you!

 

[Hiluxforever]

For the 1:16

 

[SharpeCat]

I have a question and I don’t wanna be rude, but I do need to ask. What are the odds of us getting all the remaining parts needed to make this work?

I just don’t want this sitting around for a long time and then never getting completed. If you’ve decided to move on and not finish this I’d understand.

I realize I only gave a $100 and I get that this costs you money and time to complete. Maybe I’m the only one wondering and hopefully you understand. Please let me know if this is a dead project. Thank you!

I'm sorry you feel that way, but the truth is I haven't stopped working on this. Its been on the back of my mind this entire time that this is taking too long; and to be honest my own pace depresses me. I've just been dealing with some things/been depressed and dragging my feet all month, in addition to the fact that this a lot of work. My best friend of 11 years passed away this month last year, and to be honest thats been draining me mentally; I still try my best to get out of bed and stay focused on this so my mind doesn't go in the gutter.

It was never about the money, in fact anyone who wants a refund can get it any time and still will receive your kit. Also, another fact is that the money you guys sent me will onky cover shipping in the end, if that, and that I will end up losing quite a bit of money on this; and again, you can ask for that back any time as this is officially a non profit project. Another thing is, testers who didn't sent me any donation still got their parts and will continue to receive parts. I tell you so you guys understand, not because I want to make it about money; It's not.

With that said, I'm still working on the printers software/firmware/ having to learn how to code in python from zero experience; that alone takes months just to grasp the basics and I'm getting the hang of it. The result of this is very consistent quality prints and faster print time which you guys have not seen yet. This has been my main.project for almost 2 months and I'm still wrapping it up. If anyone can pick up Linux, python klipper and input shaping in less time, then kudos to you but I don't have that many brain cells. That part is very tedious and can look like I'm getting nothing done to those who don't understand what I'm doing; compiling better/more powerful software for printers. Let's just say it usually leaves me mentally exhausted after a long session of learning to code.

I know I'm slow and this is why I have the livestream so you don't worry about these things. Another thing is each kit has an estimated 1 month print time if everything goes perfect, and in 3d printing it rarely ever goes perfect. Not sure if you realize how many parts I sent out between our 7 testers and how long that takes and how much it all costed me; In just filament alone and not counting the failed prints. Every time it rains and I lose power and lose a batch, I cry a little inside and get a little anxiety over the fact that I can't afford UPSs at the moment.

Some days I do feel like giving up, not gonna lie, but at the same time It never occurred to me to bail on this project.

Also, I can only make a trip to the warehouse every once in a while. I lost my license to hand sanitizer/covid (interlock and I quit drinking in 2017), and insurance still hasnt covered my accident from Jan when I was rear ended on the highway on the way home from work (had to change jobs to try and build this home business due to being out my vehicle this year) even though fault was admitted in jan.

affording a trip out of the house is tough, and i have to wait to bundle to save costs on shipping and that's why parts sit here so long; the truth is I can barely afford groceries right now (can't is the correct word but I'm fine) because I spent the entire year building machines and setting up and learning a lot of things needed, and haven't focused on income or any other aspect of my life at all. I'm still working on quality control so that when I begin selling next year, that things will go more smoothly than this project.

Long story short, there is a difference between taking a step back to improve quality and get you guys a better kit, and giving up and leaving you guys witu a bunch of useless parts that I spent the better part of the year working on.

My topmost priority for this has and always will be to put the best kit I can make, into the hands of people who will appreciate it the most.

I think the latter part is taken care of, and the former... well, nothing worthy comes easy. If you just want parts I can ship it out next time I can afford a trip out of the house (this week), but if you want a kit that I am happy to send out and satisfies my quality control standards, that one is a lot more effort than you may realize.

 

[Hiluxforever]

 

[The Jade Bean]

I appreciate your openness and I am truly sorry for your loss of your friend. That is really hard. I do understand this is a lot of work and I am certainly not making light of that. I don’t want any money back and I wouldn’t blame you for bailing. I am certainly willing to wait. For awhile it was a lot of updates so I wasn’t sure if this died due to the amount of work it is.
I will hang tight and wait. Thank you for your work towards quality craftsmanship!

 

[SharpeCat]

With all that said, I also decided to upgrade the motion system on my X axis instead of just the Y/bed direction. Both X and Y are on linear rails now.

I haven't ran an actual batch on the updated motion system as I am still installing the X across the fleet; but I've seen enough to know that the prints coming after the conversion will be worth all the effort.

It also doesn't help that I started volunteering in 3dprinting communities to help others catch up with the more powerful software and tuning techniques for their printers; I don't know why I do this to myself as I am already swamped, but I have a bunch of people waiting on a guide so they can do what I just did on their own printers.

Remember, ideally I'd like to teach you guys how to make you own parts to avoid exactly this in the future. When you need a part, it should not be dependant on how hard life is kicking my ass when it comes to how fast I can get it out. Problem is 3d printers are not super new user friendly at the moment, and that's where a lot of my efforts are going towards. I use your kits to figure things out, then take what I learn to simplify the process for others. I am trying to gain a deeper understanding than most, so that I can teach it to others; quite frankly I think every mudder should have a 3d printer in their home as we are exactly the kind of crowd who would make good use out of it.

And the truth is, I can probably teach someone how to make their own kit faster than my slow ass can make it for them; maybe next year we will do just that. The rest of this year is about wrapping up current projects so I can focus on building my shops/begin selling in Jan.

 

[Hiluxforever]

Thanks for the transparency. Hope you start feeling better soon. I feel that way every year on the anniversary of my Dads death, so i get it.

 

[Hiluxforever]

With all that said, I also decided to upgrade the motion system on my X axis instead of just the Y/bed direction. Both X and Y are on linear rails now.

I haven't ran an actual batch on the updated motion system as I am still installing the X across the fleet; but I've seen enough to know that the prints coming after the conversion will be worth all the effort.

It also doesn't help that I started volunteering in 3dprinting communities to help others catch up with the more powerful software and tuning techniques for their printers; I don't know why I do this to myself as I am already swamped, but I have a bunch of people waiting on a guide so they can do what I just did on their own printers.

Remember, ideally I'd like to teach you guys how to make you own parts to avoid exactly this in the future. When you need a part, it should not be dependant on how hard life is kicking my ass when it comes to how fast I can get it out. Problem is 3d printers are not super new user friendly at the moment, and that's where a lot of my efforts are going towards. I use your kits to figure things out, then take what I learn to simplify the process for others. I am trying to gain a deeper understanding than most, so that I can teach it to others; quite frankly I think every mudder should have a 3d printer in their home as we are exactly the kind of crowd who would make good use out of it.

And the truth is, I can probably teach someone how to make their own kit faster than my slow ass can make it for them; maybe next year we will do just that. The rest of this year is about wrapping up current projects so I can focus on building my shops/begin selling in Jan.

I might be interested in this at some point. I am an instrumentstion engineer and have bot had a chance to play with a 3d printer.

 

[SharpeCat]

I appreciate your openness and I am truly sorry for your loss of your friend. That is really hard. I do understand this is a lot of work and I am certainly not making light of that. I don’t want any money back and I wouldn’t blame you for bailing. I am certainly willing to wait. For awhile it was a lot of updates so I wasn’t sure if this died due to the amount of work it is.
I will hang tight and wait. Thank you for your work towards quality craftsmanship!

And I appreciate you being understanding and just want to reassure you that I have no plans for bailing.

 

[SharpeCat]

I might be interested in this at some point. I am an instrumentstion engineer and have bot had a chance to play with a 3d printer.

I will have some guides coming up to help to fast track new users straight to the good stuff - Klipper is the most powerful firmware and input shaper is the most powerful tuning feature; it's like driving down a bumpy road a knowing how to ease off the gas over bumps, so the result is still a smooth ride. That's input shaper for ya, as in you are shaping/controlling the input by controlling how hard you hit the pedal/easing off the gas at the right times, and those who dont slow down for speed bumps will end up with a bumpier ride over the same bumpy road.

I spent half the year learning other softwares that all ended up being obsolete, wasted a bunch of filament and soaked up over 1000 hours of my time; and that's precisely what I want to save people from; all those heartaches and headaches. I also have a graveyard full of printers that didn't make the cut, and that's also what I want to save you guys from.

 

[SharpeCat]

I should be done with the first 6 today for both X and Y, and if things go well I will have prints started by the time I go to bed.

I appreciate you guys and your patience by the way, i can't stress that enough. I've said it like 10 times and don't plan stopping.

 

[Michael B]

I have found a little time to work on the 40 build. It’s moving along pretty good. I must say the m2x6 screws are a real challenge. Apparently there isn’t much quality control on the heads of these screws. My bit fits all of the other m2 screws very well but those 6’s are not so good.

 

[SharpeCat]

I have found a little time to work on the 40 build. It’s moving along pretty good. I must say the m2x6 screws are a real challenge. Apparently there isn’t much quality control on the heads of these screws. My bit fits all of the other m2 screws very well but those 6’s are not so good.

View attachment 3161335View attachment 3161336View attachment 3161337

That looks pretty good so far, nice job! I am running test prints now/hopefully at the final phases of tuning.

 

[SharpeCat]

I make more of these for the car kits than I do anything else.

They are our calibration parts. Both the bearings and the suspension links/upper and lower arms should fit into these. Not just fit but a "snap fit".

Calibration part printing now, if bearings fit then control arms are next.

If control arms fit then we are good to go.

I'll send you guys some of these as souvenirs before it's all said and done; i have like 100.

Also a glimpse of the new linear rail motion system on Y and X axis. Last photo is the old roller wheels for comparison, it won't take an engineer to figure out why it's not reliable for long term.

 

[SharpeCat]

Yesterday was one of those days that makes you want to throw the printers out the window. I spent a good 15 hours or so setting up and running tests, only to have everything fail on first layer. Nothing I tried work and I conceded to the suspicion that it's humidity, so I threw some rolls into the dryers and ran a cycle before I went to bed.

I woke up and decided to run the same exact prints again and voila, almost perfect first later first try on the same printers and with the same print files.

Working on differentials now, and will begin on lights and other smaller details as well. The lights are very tricky; I've been reading guides for printing transparent items like headlight lens, but haven't actually gotten any successful attempts off. I know the lens doesn't have to be transparent, but it would add a nice touch to the attention to details side of things.