Month: April 2019

Learning 3D Modeling in Blender

Posted on by LittleChip

I’ve been meaning to learn Blender for awhile, but the interface is so complicated, I just get overwhelmed.  Along came a Udemy course offering to teach how to 3D model in Blender.  I’ve taken a Udemy course before, and it was great.  The instruction is really very good, and the classes always seem to be on sale, so it’s very inexpensive — less than a book would cost.  I’m only a couple of hours in, but already we’ve learned how to create objects with simple primitives, color them, light the scene, and render the image.  Not bad.  I’m looking forward to the next 61 hours of instruction (!).

Camera and Watch in Blender

 

IKEA Racka Endcap

Posted on by LittleChip

We love IKEA.  Creative, durable products at a great price.  We never have trouble with parts missing from our purchases, so we were really surprised to find an endcap missing from a räcka curtain rod.  I could have contacted IKEA.  They have great customer service and probably could have sent me a replacement, but where’s the sport in that?  Much more interesting to design and print my own repair.

The endcap is a simple plug, with a threaded hole for the finial to attach.  The plug has a small bump along the cylinder that helps hold it in place

Of course, I forgot that every rod has two diameter rods — an inner rod nests within the outer rod, so that the total length is adjustable.  I was missing the cap for the larger rod, but the first time through I took measurements of the inside, smaller rod.  So here are the replacement parts for both.  STL files are posted at Thingiverse.  (WordPress doesn’t allow me to upload STL files.)  Next step: design and print some more interesting finials.  Moose antlers, anyone?

IKEA Racka
Missing endcap
Racka rod with simple finial
Replacement endcaps