DEVLOG #6: the final devlog before i explode (aka the first ship!)

wassup hackers!!! it’s been years (no, just an hour) since my last devlog!!!

i just created the demo video of me playing with the parts of my ultimate writer’s kit! it’s about 8 minutes long, but i had fun! check my ship to watch the project and go onto the GitHub repo to download the files!

i also took finalized photos of all of the physical prototypes. i’ll attach my FAVs here for you to see too!

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

1. the point spline tool is the BEST tool to fluidly draw with in Fusion
2. take advantage of the mirror tool, it seriously speeds up the work process
3. remember to close those lines. or else you can’t extrude…
4. rectangular and circular pattern tools are helpful if you’re doing designs with repetition!
5. KEEP WRITING!

so long, hackers! time to put these STL files to USE!
hopefully i can get the coaster printed eventually

DEVLOG #5: writing this as i stare at my not-working 3D printer in pure devastation

(a broken heart, torn wires, and my lament on the sorrows of lost internet at the end of a vital project)

wassup hackers!!! the internet wires in my house broke, so guess what? i can’t quite print the last part of my ULTIMATE WRITER’S GUIDE prototype 1… so now, we wait. and stare at the sad lonely STL files.

and maybe do the first ship.

on the bright side, we’ve gotten a lot done since the ID holder.

i started off by making a 3-part spinner with two sides: one to roll nonfiction genres and another to roll fiction genres! to flip sides, you just remove the spin indicator from the stand, and flip the wheel.

this piece took a TON (when i say ton, i mean a crap ton) of trial-and-error. first, the wheel was too heavy. then too small. then not small enough. text alignment for even weight distribution was the hardest part! but it ended up OK in the final print.

then i made the pen holder. it was initially supposed to look like an inkwell, but after many redesigns, i went for something that was supposed to look like an ancient battleground / battle ring / temple. :>

the quote at its base is one of my own!!!! can’t wait to show y’all. PLEASE check the README once I’ve shipped

my biggest struggle with this piece was actually learning how to use rectangular alignment in Fusion, but it ended up working out? i should have enabled supports though :( I ended up with a stringy print instead, with drooping filament… ouch.

now, for my grandest tragedy.

i couldn’t print the coaster, when it was one of the most detail-heavy parts. my printer won’t be back up for several days, so i’ll add the STL file to the repo and ship it off. i’ll print the official coaster and add it to the README once i have internet again. but that will take a long, long time…

i’ll be back (soon) for my last devlog (before my first ship) in a century (in like 20 minutes after finishing the README). you guys will see the official printed models then!

goodbye, hackers!

DEVLOG #4: in which i tweak out over my second failed ID holder prototype

(i was sad)

(i really was)

wassup hackers!!! this devlog was certainly a ride. a ride in which i made a NEW detailed ID holder nothing like my old failed prototype… and it still failed anyways.

the steps to making my sad fumbly prototype?

1. measure your ID card (should be default size)
2. make the base holder in Fusion 360
3. cut out a window to actually SEE the card
4. add pretty details to the back

so the ID holder was for writers to use in case they ever went to conferences and needed something swaggy and shiny and sturdy too. sounds chill, but then i pulled out my school ID, and i sorta scratched the hell out of that. oops

i also forgot to make a separate pulling-out-the-card mechanism, in all my excitement to make the back detailing… ouch. hopefully this prints out well enough to push the ID in and out safely.

“at least the back looks nice, though, arisha!” you might say.

but yeah, nope, i put it into my printer’s slicer… and my designs got cut off. so i redesigned for the third time! turns out the initial feather bits were too thin.

i also tried a new print orientation! instead of horizontal, i’m printing vertically, so that should HYPOTHETICALLY work better in reducing print stringiness. so long, stars! time to actually finish this project… eventually.
keep shining :D

DEVLOG 3: the unexpected devlog (in which i fumble to make a single die)

(and then succeed)

(sort of)

wassup hackers!!! wasn’t really planning on doing a devlog after just one hour of work, but this die is so glorious i feel alive again

every writer faces the decision: should i write poetry, a novel, a short story, etc. etc… so why don’t we roll on it!

this one took a bit of trial and error. i started by making 6 side designs for my die, but the designs took a while to decide on. i ended up drafting:

1. gavel: journalism / article
2. mask: play / scriptwriting
3. pages: short story
4. book: novel
5. quotation marks: essay
6. inkwell + quill: poetry

then it was time to Fusion again. once again, extrude, point spline, and line tool were the LOMLs. but i used box for the base shape

my biggest worry with this design was uneven weight distribution + difficulty with small gaps + supports when printing though! we want our writer choices to be unbiased and easy to set up

so instead of going with my initial plan—to extrude the designs outwards—i decided to cut inward. it looks cleaner, prints cleaner, and is overall more even in weight, i find. dunno how that works, but it does?

anyways, peace! onto the next part of the kit…

DEVLOG #2: drafting + creating the Reader’s Bookmark

wassup, hackers! (x2) we just went from ONE bookmark to TWO!!! i mean, my hand is cramped from Fusion 360’s point spline + extrude tools, but we made it!

every writer had to be a reader before they started writing, so i decided to make the reader’s bookmark today, for writer’s to use when reading for inspo or looking through their manuscript!

i started by first drawing out the basic floral design i wanted, in Procreate Pocket—it was meant to be sorta flower-y, fantasy-like, and just elegant to look at and sleek to hold. i refined the drawing, then pushed it into Fusion to build.

in Fusion, i had a crisis trying to maneuver point spline. I swear, that tool has something against me. i redrew the florals + swirls, added a moon-sun-stars window, and extruded the design however my writer/artist heart felt. had to redraw a few lines that were too thin to extrude or overlapped.

(this was my first time using the mirror tool, WHOA!)

we ended up pretty good! meet the reader’s bookmark below

DEVLOG #1: drafting the “Ultimate Writer’s Deck” + creating the Writer’s Bookmark

wassup, hackers! ya girl went from blank desk + blank head, to Fusion 360-built bookmark (albeit after fighting Fusion’s extrude tool for 2 hours).

guess which writer sat down with NO motivation to write! you guessed right, me! so i decided to build a catalog of trinkets for writers to use if they needed inspiration, or items to make work more fun. drafted a list of ~10 items for the “ULTIMATE WRITER’s DECK.”

i then sketched out the first part—the writer’s bookmark—meant to have tabs, corner designs, and line guides that are good for manuscript edits.

then, Fusion 360!!! lwk wrestled against the extrude tool. it took me 20 minutes just to make one fancy corner design… before deleting it entirely. but i learned how to use the “Break” tool and fixed up line issues, then remade all of the designs! came out pretty solid

time to push this into the big Bambu Lab A1, bubs! :0