Superglue:将三个 3D 打印件融合为一
A project that I once alluded to here (and which needs a real writeup) is an all-in-one workstation PC for my desk. It'll run Plan 9 and hopefully it'll look the part: what the mid-80s thought the mid-90s would look like. A little Memphis, a little Cranbrook.
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/slides.gif
↳ Is SGI still hiring
It’s coming along great:
• Printed all the parts in February
• Decided the weather was too cold to paint so I’d pause until spring
• Forgot about it until September
• Mad rush to get everything done before it’s cold again
Designing a one-off like this is strange territory for me. I like the fantasy that anything I build will be in High Demand from others, so I’m always thinking “how hard would it be to make more of these?”. The workstation though - just one, ever. I can build it however I want. Cast it in wax, carve it from marble. Make a frame and grow it out of vines. Only limit is imagination
Well, actually. The limit is the ([not that] generous) 250mm 2 bed on my Prusa MK3s. An 11” LCD fits comfortably the short way, but not the long way. No matter what I do it’ll have to be done in parts.
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/exploded.png
↳ Kaboom
So many curved surfaces. I want the back to be perfectly round, so it gets printed on its side. It slides into the other two pieces on molded rails, then the whole mess is held together with steel rods.
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/rails.jpg
↳ Up close with the rails
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/rods.jpg
↳ And again with the rods
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/partial.jpg
↳ Mostly together
This method was a total guess (and a way of using up wire coathangers) but it worked great and ended up saving my ass later:
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/gap.gif
↳ Fulda Gap
Turns out PETG warps with the best of them. Thought I left that behind with ABS, but no. Print a quarter kilogram rectangle of PET and see what happens. In my case, the pieces had phat gaps between them - bad on the body, atrocious on the bezel. If I was relying on a flat mating surface - lol. Rods don’t have that problem
Gluing left me with two solid and robust parts, each with a DMZ running along the middle that would make Kim jealous. On the body, it could be filled in with putty, but the bezel - woof. Needs something extra. I decided to try baking soda, which forms a kind of rock when it meets CA glue:
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/messy.jpg
↳ Messy
Bonus: when you’re done you get a little treat 😋
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/lines.jpg
↳ 50% baking soda 50% plaster
Other gaps and layer lines were filled with a thin mix of Durham’s Water Putty which indeed dries “rock hard”. It’s somewhat brittle (and hygroscopic) so it’s not strictly better than Bondo for 3D prints. But - so much easier to use. These pieces are thick and inflexible and it’s all getting painted, who cares? It sands beautifully.
After much work I am left with an only-kind-of-rough piece, with an only-kind-of-deep gap in the middle. Progress
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/sanded.jpg
↳ What an odd looking tablet
Then it graduates to filler primer.
https://lmao.center/blog/superglue-printing/painted.jpg
↳ Just like birdfeeders
I figure I’ll just do coats until I get bored, while I look for a paint shop that’ll match spraypaint to the Rio colorscheme
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home (https://lmao.center/) ~ posted september 30 2025