Author Archives: Justin

A 3D printer diary – getting going again

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Justin

Our 3D printer (Dremel 3D20) was a bargain, because bits were missing. After five emails to Dremel support, and various phone calls, I eventually found a supplier who was willing to order the spare parts that I need – mainly … Continue reading →

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AWS Storage capacity

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Justin

I remember when I thought a gigabyte was a lot. I bought an external 1GB hard disk in 1995, and filled it up in no time at all. As geeky things go, it was pretty exciting. Hadoop is designed for … Continue reading →

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Mixing hobbies – Lego train on 16mm Garden Railway (part 2)

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Justin

In my last post, I berated the fact that a inside-frame chassis on 16mm track wasn’t possible in Lego. The gauntlet was picked up by my friends in the adult Lego fan community, and a potential solution looks like this: … Continue reading →

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Mixing hobbies – Lego train on 16mm Garden Railway

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Justin

We have had Lego trains running on our garden railways before, using a chassis made of wood and metal, and bodywork made out of the famous bricks. Around Christmas 2018, someone asked in the forums of the 16mm association if it … Continue reading →

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A 3D printer diary – printing an accuracy test

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Justin

We bought this printer in a sale. It was missing a few important parts, including the SD Card with software on it to control it from a laptop. Without that software, we would be limited to the four models that … Continue reading →

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A 3D printer diary – the first print

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Justin

After clearing some existing filament from the print head and adhering the build tape to the perspex build platform, I levelled the bed using a train ticket (which is approximately 0.3 mm thick according to my Vernier Gauge) instead of … Continue reading →

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A 3D printer diary – Dad’s Visit

Posted on December 23, 2018 by Justin

My Dad has been trying to persuade me to buy a 3D printer for several years. He has four at the moment, and has plenty of good advice, including a library full of things to print off Thingiverse. When he … Continue reading →

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A 3D printer diary – The Purchase

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Justin

My son managed to blag an outrageous deal in a closing down sale, and we got an ex-display 3D printer for an outrageously cheap price. It’s the Dremel 3D20 (not the latest model) and it has a few parts missing: … Continue reading →

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Progress on the other railway

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Justin

In April, Andy blogged about the progress of his railway. Now it’s time for mine. The path is done, complete with the square stepping stones. The concrete blocks that mark the edge of the path and the edge of the … Continue reading →

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Bridging the Bering Strait

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Justin

For centuries, the idea of a tunnel under the English Channel was little more than a dream: it was variously seen as a way of uniting the two countries either side … or as a way to invade. By the … Continue reading →

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