Em²a Studios

Cross posted from Emacartoon.com’s Blog

Hey, luvs! Long time no see!

What have I been up to? Oh, you know.. Working, fulfilling orders, evicting my uterus, and now 4 Kickstarters.

Yes, 4!

1. You might remember me posting all over the place last year about Jamie Wyman’s 3rd book Etude in C# book, Uninvited, which funded with a little help of our #Satyrthon. Well, the book went out early! And I helped make these gorgeous poker chips (vines by Zach Reddy, goat and lasering by me, and Jamie and I both assembled), some of the buttons, some of the button designs, some of the posters, etc. So that’s on and out.
   

   Check this out. *grins* https://t.co/uUhydhK31s pic.twitter.com/h1L045bsA6

   — Jamie Wyman (@Pajamazon) August 29, 2016

2. After funding successfully, I was recruited to be the Production Ninja for next year’s Men vs Cosplay 365 page-a-day calendar, which just went to the printer this evening. That was a good healthy month of work, mostly invisible.
   

   Men vs. Cosplay calendar delivers a decked-out dude a day to your desk https://t.co/ZK2iMbHsj0 via @nerdvana

   — Men vs Cosplay (@MenVsCosplay) July 4, 2016

3. While I was working on the fulfillment of both of those, I also helped out with the graphics and consulted for Branum Games‘ first Kickstarter – Battle Gnomes which is 75% funded with 22 days left to go.
   

   #BattleGnomes #Kickstarter is 70% funded! Let’s keep up the momentum! Back it here: https://t.co/hyWOU8HthP #bgg #boardgamegeek #tabletop

   — Branum Games (@BranumGames) September 12, 2016

4. And Women vs Cosplay‘s own 365 page-a-day calendar Kickstarter just went live this evening! Of which, I am even listed on the page and officially the Production Ninja. 😀
   

   Brand new on @Kickstarter: Women vs Cosplay: 2017 Page-A-Day Calendar by Anabel Martinez https://t.co/CVJQHHx3UX

   — womenvscosplay (@womenvscosplay) September 14, 2016

I also can’t forget that I 3d printed the VIP Enabler badges designed by Chris Impink for Intervention Con 7, which is THIS weekend in Rockville, MD and features some pretty high-profile awesome people like Alex Kingston, Gigi Edgley, René Auberjonois, Rachel Talalay, and so on.

Yes! @EmaCartoon finished this year’s badge holders! Enablers get these limited-edition beauties! pic.twitter.com/roJrXBg7yo

— Intervention (@interventioncon) September 8, 2016

Hope all is well with y’all!

I almost can’t apologize enough for not posting this sooner.

I peruse Kickstarter often whenever I’m looking for the latest in technology. Sometimes I get lucky, but more often than not I find something after the campaign ended, with no update from the creator for years afterwords. This time, I had an idea, hoping to find a desktop laser engraver with the head interchangeable with a 3D printer extruder. I didn’t find one. (Side note: If you happen to know of one, please tell me about it! If you’re an engineer and think you could make one, also let me know! Free idea, just let me play with it.)

Instead, back in January, I found this: Full Spectrum Laser launched this Kickstarter to help fund their new Pegasus Touch Laser 3D Printer.  One of their perks included their 5th Gen CO2 Hobby Laser (that they had successfully funded their upgrade via Kickstarter in September, 2012) at a combined discount. After much high pitched rejoicing, you can bet that I jumped on that. Fast.

The laser engraver shipped as soon as the project funded. I got it less than a week later. My husband and I watched their incredibly helpful unboxing video, where we went through all the steps, placed it on the workbench, and it’s been sitting there ever since. (The cats love it as a bed.)

But no more! I finally buckled down today and decided that my laser engraver makes better use as intended than a paper weight! Keep posted for updates about how well it works and how nice it is to not have to travel 30+ minutes every time I need to engrave something.

What’s this? What’s this?! A cutter set at home.. What’s this? There’s vapors in the air. What’s this? I can’t believe my eyes, I must be dreaming, wake up, Em, this isn’t fair. What’s this?

A video posted by Emma (@emacartoon) on Nov 11, 2014 at 3:19pm PST

I also received that 3d printer. It’s next…

Hawt. #FSLaser A photo posted by Emma (@emacartoon) on May 5, 2014 at 6:39pm PDT

Way cool new news!

Solidoodle has announced their Solidoodle 3 with their 8 inch^3 print space for $799!

“What about Makerbot’s new Replicator 2? How does it compare?”
I guess it depends on how big you need to print. Rep2’s print space is a whopping 11.2 inch x 6 inch x 6.1 inch. However, Rep2’s price tag of $2,999 is enough to make me still turn back to Solidoodle with my wallet whimpering at my side begging the bad man to go away.

As for printing quality, they both are an effective horizontal layer of 0.10 mm. Makerbot prefers PLA filament, Solidoodle prefers ABS. They’re both ready to go right out of the box.

I know the saying is “You get what you pay for,” but my momma also taught me to not buy Dolce & Gabbana when I can buy the same thing for 1/8th the price in the outlet mall.

So what do you think? Is this a game changer?

For my previous blog post on 3D printers, click here: http://www.em2astudios.com/2012/11/3d-printing-cheaper-options/

What do I know about 3D Printing? Do you have a comprehensive list of what’s out there and cheap?

Well, I’m no expert, but I can definitely share some of the research and news I’ve got!

First and foremost, I follow this directory right here: http://www.3dprinter.net/directory/personal-3d-printers That’s the one that is kept pretty up to date on who’s still making what, and at what price range, and who’s the best, who’s emerging, etc. Sometimes there’s a couple month lag, but it’s a good place to go for the latest info.

I’m sure you’re probably all “Dude, Makerbot‘s just so easy and cheap, why not start there?” Because them and all their Thingiverse cronies are, well, I’m not going to say super villain, but, it’s like Lex Luthor was suddenly Superman, you know?

There’s also the RepRap which is OpenSource (yay! OpenSource!), but I’m not really familiar with robotics/engineering, and would really hate to mess it up. Once I experiment a bit, I might be willing to go that route, but, meanwhile, I’m going to be a lazy designer and go for pre-fabs.

The one I originally invested in was Makibox’sMakible A6. A powerful little guy shipping for $350 from Hong Kong by a guy who wants to revolutionize the 3D printing world. The major downside right now is that he’s still making “tweaks” and has long since missed his August launch date – which is the only reason I don’t have one of these guys in my hands waving around like a madwoman. The tweaks look awesome, don’t get me wrong – pellet feed, small compact design, printing space of 6 inches cubed – but, it’s a lot to invest in to get nothing in return for an unspecified amount of time. Me = small business owner -> needs quick turnaround to have gadgets to pay for themselves. (*sad face*)

Printxel was the other one going for $250. It was my runner up until he sold out of all kits and hasn’t announced plans to further production.  I watch it like a hawk. A very lazy hawk. He also is in the Thingiverse forums here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:29558

The runner up, and my current purchase project, is the Solidoodle. Running for $499, you’ll need another $100 to upgrade to the heated bed, and there’s an additional $100 to that if you want a outer cover.

Or, if you’re in a hurry, you can always design something and ship it off to Sculpteo. They were pretty expensive when I was digging around, but I haven’t heard anything outwardly negative about them.

I’m also currently watching FormLabs, who just succeeded their Kickstarter on Oct 26. I’m suspecting it to be among the more expensive ranges, but I may go that route later on in life. It uses a laser, which is always more awesome, to solidify heated resin into a cleaner representation of your 3D object. Before I spend that kind of cash, I want to get a laser engraver… But I would not be opposed to a dual-purpose product that laser cuts and prints should they decide to go that route in the future! Mmm… Laser…

So, anyway, what have you found out? Which direction do you think you’re going to go printer-wise?

Hooray for new equipment!

We, I mean, I have acquired a Silhouette Cameo capable of vinyl cutting. My history of working with vinyl plotters has been reactivated, and viola! I present to you the very first Em2a Cartoon vinyl decal:

For the record, I don’t remember tiny letters being that big of a pain in the patooty.

Now I just need a laser engraver and I can officially retire and open up shop full time. Hooray!

I’ve been crafting. I’ve also been selling said crafts to make room for new crafts. Yay!

I call him Scraps.

I made him last night with scraps and inspiration from Grichels.

Gypsy Textiles.

Zen Garden replanted.

We live on Avenue Q.