Our New Toy

So over a year ago I helped fund a kickstarter campaign for a 3D printer, Laser Engraver, & CNC Machine. The Snapmaker! It's a tiny but as it turns out so far very good 3D printer.

The Snapmaker with enclosure

Putting the 3D printer part together was very easy but the enclosure was a total nightmare. But I got it together and that's really what matters right!? Anyone at CHS will recognize my favorite test print object the Companion Cube sitting on top:

It's not super fast... that little 1" cube took about 45 min to print but the quiality on normal setting was quite impressive!

Mid print

Hexagon tile on the build plate

A closeup of a 3D printed flower pedal

 This next one is a medallion I printed for mum. It worked out really well and to my surprise even with such a bowl shape the print didn't need any supports underneath.

An intricate, medallion

Sure the bottom is a little messy but not too bad

Right now I'm toying with making custom tiles by making molds but that's for another day... However mum is really excited with the idea about making molds that she can use with her resin jewelry. I haven't had a chance to try out the laser engraver or CNC part but we'll keep you posted on our progress!


In other news we have a been working on sanding the siding of the house. Progress is slow but to our surprise the shingles are actually in good condition and so far there's very few that will actually need to be replaced and once cleaned up they look great! We've decided not to paint them and rather let them weather to their natural blueish colour.

Hard at work

Oooh and one last thing! We spent one day cutting our way through the brush to make it to the ocean.

mum digging her way through the brush

the end is in sight!

360 view from the shoreline

As you can tell mum is the busy bee and I just wander taking pictures 😜

The out side

We have been busy cleaning up the yard and a little test on the siding of the house to see how it would sand and clean up.

First I have to show you a photo of our neighbors yard.  A iconic picture of a fishing way of life.

I loved the contrast of the beautiful cherry tree in full bloom with all the colorful floats pilled underneath. The floats were only there for a few hours before being put away until next season.  The end of lobster season had arrived.

Tyler mowed the lawn and we managed to plant 2 purple rhododendrons in the front yard.  Along with 2 urns on the mudroom steps.  They look great and makes the place finally look like someone lives here.

A little bit of color added

They will look beautiful when filled out

The cats keep an eye on us while we work out side and are so funny following us from window to window making sure we don't go to far.

Carl and Sam making sure we haven't traveled to far.

I'm pretty happy with how well the shingles on the house are sanding up.  After doing a little test on the back of the house I discovered that they were still in pretty good shape and I don't think we will have to replace many of them.  Mostly on the bottom 2 rows.  They seem to be the worst.

My scraping test on the back of the house.

I had to laugh yesterday though...... I had cleaned out a bit more of the RV (getting it ready to sell) and had just been placing the items and baskets on the stairs to take up next trip to the top.  Sam discovered the bags of cat nip in one of the baskets and was in his glory by the time I discovered him.  lol.  He even drooled all over the floor trying to open the small bags.

Very happy kitty.

We ordered a roll of fabric so I could make drapes so last week for a few days I made curtains for the upstairs bedrooms and drapes for the downstairs living room.  We wanted something that blocked out the glare for watching tv or playing video games but that was not dark.  I think this fabric was a great idea.  Simple tab curtains that are about 6" above the heaters.

They should go with just about anything.

And check out the new chairs we ordered for the sitting room.  Perfect for morning coffee watching the ocean fog roll by.

Our new peacock chairs.