3D printed Canadian slotted buttons

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Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
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We had a machine visit our local library so I thought I'd get a spork made. It wasn't successful! Shame. I do wonder with all the present need to cut down on plastic if we shouldn't think twice about plastic items not make more. Not a criticism , just a thought. I'm just as guilty tho I do try my best. Recently saw news item about dead whale with tons of plastic inside it. Makes you stop and think twice. Yes I get its fun to play with gadgets and make something useful. But my thinking nowadays is can i get it/make it in something other than plastic. Sorry if it sounds preachy. I have a thing about plastic at the moment and on something of a plastic free mission at any opportunity! Eco warrior mode kicks in.!
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,154
1,546
Cumbria
Yes I wanted a GPS 25 in one cycle sale. They sold out early first day. I got lucky because I asked an employee of there was one out back. He must have been in a good mood because he checked and found one where it shouldn't have been. In other words a colleague was stashing it for a mate or until it got "found" later on after the sale and it could be picked up n discounted further.

BTW 6 months later I bought another one that ended up in the locked glass cabinet heavily marked down. When first sold they went for £79 which best price elsewhere was about £100-119. 6 months later Aldi policy is to discount to clear the stock no matter what it is. So I got another one for £45!!

So if the printer sells out before you get there, be cheeky and ask. You might get lucky and get given one from out back.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,154
1,546
Cumbria
What about the 3D printers that can print chocolate? Nothing wrong with those I reckon. If their output ends up in a whale I doubt there will be an issue. Rotten teeth perhaps. :)
 
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Woody girl

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What about the 3D printers that can print chocolate? Nothing wrong with those I reckon. If their output ends up in a whale I doubt there will be an issue. Rotten teeth perhaps. :)
I doubt any chocolate would get in a whale while I'm around. No choccy waste in this house!
 

Woody girl

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I'm all for 3D chocolate printers. Mmmm chocolate sporks! Chocolate buttons? .... oh wait they've been done. I'm sure there are many 3d choc applications.
 
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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,154
1,546
Cumbria
Chocolate bar with your own name on every piece. For those who don't like to n share .

Perhaps put others on one piece so you don't come across as selfish.

How about a 3D printer, printing a chocolate 3D printer, printing a chocolate 3D printer...

Apparently there's designs for 3D printed guns. Would a chocolate one not be the ultimate assassin's weapon? If it didn't melt on firing of course A potential flaw.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
yes, there are several 'open' designs for printable guns.
The worst is that they can largely be made out of plastic, with very, very few metal parts
So bad visibility on airport detection systems.

I can not say much more about how the designs can be tweaked to become totally undetectable.
( I also do a bit of gun smithing and was consulted by our previous Police Commissioner about this issue)

I like a WMD made of Chocolate idea!
 

spandit

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 6, 2011
5,594
308
East Sussex, UK
The fact that 3D printers are producing more plastic waste is something I have considered. Plastic is an amazing material but needs to be disposed of properly - a correctly constructed landfill should prevent it escaping into the environment if it can't be recycled. I do generally make practical parts rather than toys/trinkets so one could argue there is an offset in delivery costs but I couldn't claim it's entirely environmentally friendly
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
It's a Best Practice here to add biodegradable and UV-sensitive copolymers to plastics intended for outdoor use.
Things such a surveyor's tapes and the 50+ patterns of plastic marking tpes used in the forest industry.
The degredation rate can be controlled = 1 year, 2 years, 5 years? I tell you, the stuff just crumbles in your hand.
Plasic bottles included.

Similar to Dextran "soluble" surgical stitches. I could pick the durability I needed, right off the shelf!

What would those slotted buttons be needed for?
At -25C, I will not be taking off my mittens and gloves to fool with anything like that.
Big YKK brass zipper with a pull tab, velcro wind/snow flap has some advantage.
 
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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,154
1,546
Cumbria
Just out of curiosity, what does the degraded plastics turn into? One thing to break up into smaller plastic particles and another to degrade into something that causes no harm to the environment. Since there's micro plastics found in fauna caught offshore I don't personally think breaking up in a selectable period of time equals being safe. It's what it breaks into and the issues associated with them that matters
 

Woody girl

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Mar 31, 2018
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I like to make my own buttons. So far I've used wood, deer antler,and fabric coverd metal buttons. My next project (when I have time)is Dorset buttons. Got to do more research on those. I also collect mother of pearl buttons from charity shops. No more plastic buttons if I can help it.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Biodegradable means less than microplastic bits lying around. AKA microbial digestion.
For the tree-hugging greenies, so many seem satisfied with "out of sight, out of mind."

Real buttons. American Civil War vintage. Made from sawn and polished slices of very under-ripe walnuts.
Find a grower. Walnuts come in all sorts of sizes far beyond the carefully graded crop in the stores.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
The use of 3 D printers avoids plastic waste.

It enables people to repair things they usually would throw away, because they do not get any longer available parts to repair theyr stuff.
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
We need to get a system of 100% recycling of plastic waste.

That's all.

It is as good as impossible to roll back the development. We simply would get poor, if we would stop using plastic.
 
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