Welcome to Bob’s Project Notebook
You’ve stumbled onto my stash of project notes.
What is this place?
I’m a firm believer in Rubber Duck Debugging, the process of solving a problem by explaining it. Rather than consulting an expert, try to clearly explain the problem to a fellow human or even an inanimate object (such as a rubber duck). The solution is likely to be obvious once you’ve examined the problem thoroughly.
These notes are my attempts to fully understand a variety of tech-related problems by explaining them. In this case, to a text editor.
Here’s more on the Rubber Duck Troubleshooting methodology.
Who is this guy?
I’m Bob. I’ve been making my way in this world doing computer, programming, network and cyber security work as a designer, integrator, installer, maintainer, trainer and consultant for a very long time. It’s in those last two roles that I’ve found this approach quite useful.
Standard disclaimer applies
Be forewarned that I don’t claim to be a particular expert in any of these topics. I’m not charging for admission, nor am I generating ad revenue from these pages. I do hope that my explanations of these project challenges will be useful. If not, may I suggest explaining your problem to a rubber duck?
- 1. 3D printing intro
- 2. Software
- 3. Prusa i3 Mk3 notes
- 3.1. Troubleshooting extruder and hotend problems
- Clearing filament jams on the Prusa i3 Mk3
- 3.2. Troubleshooting bed adhesion
- 3.3. Cleaning the PEI flex steel print sheet
- 3.4. Live Z calibration
- 3.5. Dialing in printer settings
- 3.6. Changing nozzles
- 3.7. About the PINDA warmup procedure
- 3.8. Why you don't want to use a Rasbperry Pi Zero with OctoPrint on the Prusa i3 Mk3
- 4. Artillery/Evnovo Sidewinder X1 notes
- 5. Troubleshooting printers and prints
- 6. Techniques
- 6.1. The illusion of speed
- 6.2. Maximizing printer output for production of PPE in response the the COVID-19 crisis
- 6.3. Maximizing printer output part 1: Print, filament, and printer settings
- 6.4. Maximizing printer output part 2: Infill settings
- 6.5. Fighting Stringing Part 1: Calibrating filament settings
- 6.6. Fighting Stringing Part 2: Calibrating retraction settings
- 6.7. Reducing 3D printer noise
- 6.8. Using variable layer heights for fine vertical detail
- 6.9. Calibrating hotend maximum volumetric rate
- 6.10. Calibrating linear advance
- 6.11. My experience with the Prusa textured powder-coated spring steel print surface
- 7. Nozzles
- 8. Filament
- 9. Print surfaces
- 10. Tools, parts and supplies
- 1. Raspberry Pi intro
- 2. Customizing Raspbian
- 2.1. Update installed packages
- 2.2. Install preferred packages
- 2.3. Localization
- 2.4. Improve console readability and appearance
- 2.5. Change system-wide default editor
- 2.6. Change hostname
- 2.7. Test changes
- 2.8. Configuring wifi
- 2.9. Configure ssmtp for sending email
- 2.10. Configure uptimed for tracking system uptime
- 2.11. Install versacrypt
- 2.12. Install syncthing
- 2.13. Hardening the system
- 2.14. Contact and feedback
- 3. Configuring the Raspberry Pi as a wifi-wired repeater
- 4. Configuring the Raspberry Pi as a TimeMachine Backup
- 5. Installing VeraCrypt on the Raspberry Pi and other ARM distributions
- 6. Backup SD card to different sized SD card
Contact and feedback
You can find me on Reddit where I lurk in many of the tech subreddits.
Last edited on Aug 29, 2021. Last build on Oct 22, 2021.