{"id":477,"date":"2015-09-06T13:45:05","date_gmt":"2015-09-06T18:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/makecoolthings.com\/?p=477"},"modified":"2015-09-26T11:44:05","modified_gmt":"2015-09-26T16:44:05","slug":"week-36-2015-september-acquisitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/makecoolthings.com\/?p=477","title":{"rendered":"Week 36, 2015 – September Acquisitions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, let’s see here… \u00a0First of all I got a replacement part for my computer chair, because the bloody thing basically broke in half a week or so prior… I actually found a\u00a0reinforced<\/em> one on Amazon with Prime shipping, and had it overnighted for the extra four bucks! \u00a0But we’re not here to talk about that.<\/em><\/p>\n

I got a whole lot of cool stuff, some of it very important. Details after the jump!\u00a0(Pictures are coming)<\/em><\/p>\n

Simplify3D — (Simplify3D.com $149)<\/h3>\n

I\u00a0bit the bullet. \u00a0It took a huge chunk of my cash for the month– more than I had, in fact; my family pitched in for a third of it –but it simply\u00a0had<\/em> to be done.\u00a0Honor<\/em> demanded it.\u00a0(Also, updates are nice.)<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m not gonna lie, for the last 3-4\u00a0months– out of the seven I’ve had my 3D printer\u00a0–I’ve been using a pirated copy of Simplify3D that I found in the depths of the Russian darknet. \u00a0I mean, it’s their own damn fault for not offering a demo… I knew immediately I had to have it, but holy hell was it going to be hard to afford…it costs like a third what my printer does! \u00a0Anyway, the 3.0 update was the tipping point where I said “Okay, next chance I get, buying a license!” because I needed those features, desperately.<\/p>\n

So now, I have a Simplify3D license in the name “John Pfeiffer, Evil Genius!”– because\u00a0of course I do<\/em> –and I’m finding that not only are all the new features just as amazing as\u00a0they promised and more, but a ton of the little things that annoyed me about 2.1.0 or whatever the hell it was I had were also\u00a0just right<\/em> now!<\/p>\n

I’ll do a full review later, but for those who don’t know, I’ll simply explain; Simplify3D is currently the best software out there for running a 3D printer.\u00a0(And it has a price to match.)<\/em><\/p>\n

iGaging 0-1″ Digital Electronic Micrometer Inch\/Metric — ($39.99 – Amazon)<\/h3>\n

I got this so I could get accurate readings of filament diameters, since Simplify3D can take the ‘actual diameter’ and use that to fine-tune various extrusion settings.<\/p>\n

This is truly a thing of beauty! \u00a0I thought my non-electronic ‘digital’ micrometer from Shars was fantastic, but\u00a0wow<\/em>! \u00a0First of all, unlike my digital calipers, this will keep its zero\u00a0forever<\/em>\u00a0unless I recalibrate it, and so I don’t have to keep zeroing it.\u00a0 Because of that, it has a simple one-touch function to switch between incremental and absolute measurements. \u00a0Can’t say as I like the knobs on the back as much as the graduated metal ones on my other micrometer, but since that thing is just a regular full-analog one with the additional numerical readout and this one is mostly custom-made as an electronic instrument, it’s understandable. \u00a0It also has a serial port that you can get a USB<\/acronym> cable for, which allows capture of measurements to immediately be sent to a spreadsheet or your CAD<\/acronym> application, via keyboard emulation.\u00a0(Of course they want twice as much as I paid for the micrometer for the cable. \u00a0Nope.)<\/em> \u00a0It came\u00a0in a snazzy smoke-gray transparent case with a wrench, battery, and a ‘ball attachment’ which I don’t quite have figured out yet. (At first I thought it was a calibration standard.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Its specs are also pretty amazing, for the price:<\/p>\n