Guides

Practical guides, free to read

Real answers to the questions that come up while running a CNC mill, a 3D printer, or fitting custom hardware to a boat. No sign-up, no gated content.

For CNC shops

Work-holding, tolerancing, and setup, for the one- and two-person shop.

Work-holding for a one- or two-person CNC shop

Vises, clamps, and fixture plates solve different problems. A guide to which one fixes yours.

What a tolerance callout is for

A tolerance callout describes what the part has to do. How to decide what a feature needs.

For 3D-printing shops

Workflow and calibration for a printer doing real work, not just prototypes.

Why wet filament ruins a print

A print that strings, pops or comes out weak may be water the filament absorbed on the shelf. How to spot it, dry it, and keep it dry.

Auto bed leveling: what it fixes and what it can't

ABL compensates for a bed that isn't flat. It can't see a dirty sheet, a loose gantry, a drifting probe or wet filament.

For sailors

Building or replacing hardware for a boat that doesn't match a catalog part number.

CNC or 3D-printed: choosing the right process for a boat part

The consequence of a part failing matters more than which process you happen to have access to.