The Meltzone

In this episode of the Meltone Podcast, Tom and Stefan dive into their recent experiences at the Open Source Maker event in San Francisco. They discuss the latest in 3D printing technology, including the acquisition of Micronics by Formlabs and a revolutionary FDM filament that boasts strength beyond aluminum. The episode also covers the disheartening news of stat manipulation in the Octoprint community and concludes on a high note with Tom's latest project—a homemade robot arm.

In Episode 74 of the Meltzone Podcast, Tom and Stefan revisit E3D's extruder testing, debate the pros and cons of AC versus DC power for 3D printer heating elements, and discuss the contentious issue of patents in the 3D printing industry. They explore the challenges and implications of patents that may hinder innovation and affect content creators. The episode also touches on their upcoming travel plans, highlighting the importance of maker events and community engagement.

This episode kicks off with Stefan sharing his recent trip to Cologne, aimed at discovering new products for his online store. They briefly discuss Tom's video on threaded inserts, including testing methodologies and Stefan shares his story about tackling a TikTok impostor. A significant portion of the episode features an in-depth discussion with engineers from E3D, shedding light on extruder testing, product development, and the nuances of testing methodologies. They discuss the challenges and strategies in developing new products, focusing on extruder efficiency, the impact of design choices on performance, and the balance between speed, quality, and reliability.

In this episode, the hosts start with a PSA about backing up data and Stefan's SSD failing. Later, Tom shares his plans for SMRRF and Stefan reveals his intention to be present at both Formnext and SMMRF in 2023. The conversation then shifts towards 3D-printed salmon meat, the Hangprinter project's challenge to the ORNL SkyBAAM patent, and Bambu's new A1 Mini, which might impact the 3D printing industry. They discuss a proposed bill in NY that would require background checks for 3D printer owners due to the perceived risk of creating firearms and the concerning case of 3D Printing Generals channel being deleted without notice. Lastly, they talk about the disappearance of @Naomi-Wu from social media after getting into trouble with Chinese authorities.

Stefan has just returned from OpenSauce, a recent Makerfair/Vidcon event held in San Francisco. He shares his thoughts about the event, including what he saw and missed out on. Tom and Stefan also chat about their six-week experience driving their new Tesla EV, and touch on the topic of solar charging. The duo then discuss the Ankermake M5C, which is a more affordable version of Anker's first 3D printer, the M5. They also ponder how long it's reasonable to hold a grudge against a company over a controversy. Later, they share their personal experiences with the Prusa MK4, and mention that Prusa has requested Tom's machine back for an inspection. Finally, they explore some current applications of 3D printing in the industry, and attempt to explain why Marlin Firmware is referred to as "Marlin."

Join Tom and Stefan in this episode as they chat with Scott Lahteine, the mastermind behind the Marlin 3D Printer firmware. They delve into the workings of an open-source project, covering topics such as Scott's role, time commitment, funding sources, and common challenges he faces.

On this Podcast episode, Stefan asks Tom about his experience about dubbing his 3D Printing videos with a German audio track and why uploading to a new channel might be a better option. The episode is also well-filled with discussions about intellectual property, both in video and in software form, as rebranding open source projects as your own work is a concerning trend. 3D model sites are now introducing subscription services to combat some of this.

On this Podcast episode, Stefan shares his latest acquisition, the Vectorfinesse's 3D-printed headphones. The discussion then shifts to his recent trip to Loveland, Colorado, where he attended the Rocky Mountain RepRap Festival. Stefan shares some of the projects he witnessed and highlights the differences between this new event and MRRF and ERRF. The conversation moves on to the upcoming REVO high flow and their experience with Prusa's new MK4. Stefan also recounts his exciting experience driving a Tesla 3 rental in LA and collaborating with William Osman for a video. Lastly, the hosts tackle a listener's question about how to dispose of a solar battery and give pointers on building one.

After a skipped episode due to a COVID break, Tom and Stefan are back talking about PV systems, irrigation systems, and electric snail fences. Tom started posting a couple of shorts, and Stefan is doing his first step in delegating work and will have an intern. Then they talk about the sweetest 3D printer, the Cocoa Press, and how the Kickstarter campaign of the DIY EDM machine blew up. After that, Tom discusses his findings from trying out FreeCAD. Next, there is a bit of Prusa talk with the Prusa Link integration in Home Assistant, news that the XL finally starts shipping, and their new Tungsten Filament. Lastly, Stefan explains why his recent experiences with ordering on Aliexpress were so good. The episode is closed with an answer to why everyone praises Prusa Organic supports, and nobody talks about CURAs tree supports anymore.

Tom and Stefan are finally back with a new episode. They talk about why they were gone and what projects Tom recently enjoyed working on, like the NERF he used as an intro in his last video and rotary machining on the Snapmaker. Then they discuss all of the recent developments in Slicers with PrusaSlicer 2.6 and, believe it or not, Simplify V5. To top that off, the formerly known resin slicer Lychee now also supports FDM printers. Finally, Stefan tells Tom his plans about attending the RMRRF in Denver, CO, and hints that he heard rumors about an upcoming maker event in San Francisco.

This episode starts with a quick chat about solar batteries because Stefan was faced with a power outage on the morning of the recording. After that Tom and Stefan switch over to a discussion about new ways of 3D scanning and AI image and video generation. Then they talk about Bambulabs' next budget printer, the P1P, and also touch on why there might not be a ton of coverage on Ankers Ankermake M5. Next, there is a quick discussion on the 3D Printing Industry Award and how they recently nuked themselves with very questionable behavior. After that, Stefan shares his impressions on Formnext 2022, and they discuss an incident where Creality used they open-style laser engraver on the event without any safety precautions. Finally, Tom presents his new coffee equipment, and Stefan answers a question about his plywood CNC router.

Thanks to Bekonix for sponsoring this episode! Check them out at https://bekonix.com and use code MELTZONE for 3 months of Pro access for free. In this episode, Tom and Stefan talk about the reasons why this Podcast was postponed for so long which covers, ERRF, new/old studio, and taxes. Then they talk about Formnext 2022 that's right around the corner and where to maybe find an affordable room. This leads to a tangent about EVs and fully suspended baby trailers. Next, there is q quick chat about Twitter being bought up by Elon Musk. Tom explains why he changed his review policy and will accept Kickstarter products in the future. After that, they talk about the similarities between coffee brewing and 3D printing and Makerbot's new Sketch Large printer. The questions cover "Gridfinity", criss-cross layers for better part strength, merging channels, and opening a maker space.

This episode is not only about chatting and chicken but also a little update on Tom's move back to his new old studio and his plans to completely move in before he flies out to ERRF2022. After a bit of rambling, Tom and Stefan talk about a 3D printed robot arm, Fusions360s implementation of lattice structures, and an open-source high-temperature 3D printer. After Tom got his loaf of bread out of the oven and shared his recipe, both continue talking about pathogens on 3D prints and the newly unveiled name of the Ultimaker and Makerbot merger. The question section covers cherry-picked or modified review machines, Voron vs. Ratrig, more stringing on longer nozzles, LDO vs. Formbot Voron kits, and a brief chat about alternative part cooling systems.

This episode starts with a short and frustrating story on why Tom might have to leave his new studio again. Next, Stefan and Tom talk about Corridor Crews YouTube channels once again, which recently was hacked. Stefan gives a quick insight into his new home automation setup that sends him notifications once a print is finished. Then there is a quick ramble about the "influencer playbook" that was published by a marketing agency that explains how to annoy influencers to promote a product with little to no pay. The question section covers the difference between sandpaper grids in Europe and the US, a quick comparison of the BambulabX1, a Voron 2.4, and the upcoming Prusa XL. Finally, Tom and Stefan answer whether small nozzles can be used for significantly wider extrusions and if they plan to build the upside-down Positron V3 printer.

Thanks to Siraya Tech for sponsoring this episode! Check them out at https://siraya.tech/products/build-resin-high-resolution-engineering-resin or on Amazon at http://go.toms3d.org/Siraya In this episode, Stefan talks about what recently put him out of order for almost 4 weeks but how he used the time to discover some amazing new channels. Tom talks about his experience of redeeming his Prusameters and his recent CF lamination projects. Both quickly discuss their most recent videos on obsolete 0.4 mm nozzles and obsolete Volcano hotends. Next, they go through Prusa's recent blog post in which the latest developments regarding the Prusa XL are discussed. Finally, Tom and Stefan talk about their plans with the upcoming ObXidian nozzle and the scam comments they were both victims of.

Thanks to Private Internet Access for sponsoring this episode! Check them out at https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/TheMeltzone This episode starts with a discussion about the longevity of common 3D printing materials and why sometimes filament snaps on its own in the Bowden tube. Next, Tom and Stefan take a look at Formlabs' new FUSE 1+ 3D printer that claims to be able to do wasteless SLS printing, which would be an amazing step forward for that technology! Then there is a quick update on the BambuStudio source code that just was recently released. After that, Tom shares his interest in building a robot arm for filming, and 3D printing using DUET hardware and rambles about the ongoing E3D ObXidian teases that he's fed up with. Then they talk about an STL subscription service and if that's an alternative to buying files separately or by being a Patreon of designers. Finally, they have a talk about new PHA filaments that were just released to the market and claim to be really home-compostable.

This episode is slightly different because Stefan records it straight from Covid isolation which he caught, as many others, at this year's Midwest Reprap Festival in Goshen, IN. After a short status check and some stories from MRRF, Tom and Stefan discuss the recent merger of Ultimaker and Makerbot and what this will mean for the two brands as well as Thingiverse. Staying on the topic of Ultimaker, both talk about CURAs new Arachne slicing engine that dynamically adjusts extrusion width for more detailed and denser parts. Since CURA is open source, Prusa also implemented that feature in their new 2.5 alpha version of Prusa Slicer. Talking about open source, Tom and Stefan discuss the recent issues of Bambulab and QIDI not releasing the source code of their modified PrusaSlicer and CURA builds. The final section covers the question of what happened to PlyBot?

This episode starts with a quick update on Tom's new studio as well as the office space Stefan has an eye on. Next, Stefan quickly tells the story of how All3D has been using content from a ton of creators without their permission over the last years and how they want to change their business practice now. BCN3D formally known for their dual-head FDM machines are getting into the market of resin 3D printing but with a real twist, which will allow using higher performance resins and even multi-material printing. Prusa has done a lifecycle analysis of their new recycled materials they are offering and Tom and Stefan talk about "real" recycled 3D printing filaments from the German Start-Ups RecyclingFabrik and QiTech. Then there is an update on the Prusa XL which will stick to regular and open-source nozzles in stark contrast to E3Ds REVO. The last topic covers the just-started Kickstarter of the Anker make M5 and if it might be worth the $759 MSRP. In the question section, Martin asks if Copper would have advantages over a Brass volcano adapter.

alk about an advertised 3D printing quiz which they think is rather used to create classification data for an AI. In the questions section, Tom and Stefan discuss why most 3D printers use thermistors and not thermocouples.

substantial news is that Anker, the power bank and electronics accessories maker, will get into the 3D printer market and will launch their first machine on Kickstarter soon. Next, Tom and Stefan cover 3D printable accessories for a new Ford truck and the Steam Deck, for which Valve recently released the CAD files. Next Stefan talks about an issue he recently had with his E3D REVO review unit and Tom discusses his Form 3 review machine that turned out to be an unreleased Form 3+ which he didn't know about. Stefan quickly gives an update about the "killed" stepper driver. Questions cover 3D printer recommendations, especially pre-built core XY, and what happens to additives and pigments when you compost plastics.

This episode starts with the question of whether content creators should have to license 3D printable models that others released under a non-commercial license or if the exposure alone is enough "payment". If you would license your creation how would you even do that? Then there are rumors that Anet, the infamous maker of the Anet A8 is gone from the market. Next Tom and Stefan talk about the recently announced date for ERRF and if they consider going. Stefan asks himself if he killed his first stepper driver and Tom explains how that even is possible. Stefan talks about his plans on launching a German channel and if this might be worth the effort. Staying on the topic of running a channel, both discuss if video sponsors are good or bad for creators and content. Questions cover adding a pattern into a nozzle and if PLA really biodegrades in a home compost.

experiences running an e-commerce business and what options for selling products online are. After that, they discuss the dangerous practice of smoothing FDM prints by spraying on printing resin. Printed Solid is yet becoming another company that switches to cardboard spools for their filaments and will also be contributing to the Foundation E3D will set up in Sanjay Mortimer's name who recently passed away. Fuslab claims that the recent community-developed Rolling Screw Extruder is infringing on their patent even though prior art was discussed and built years before they filed their patent. Staying on the topic of patents, both shortly talk about a high-flow hotend patent that E3D applied for. The questions cover topics on the compatibility of E3D Revo on the Prusa MK3 as well as converting an old Prusa printer into a CNC router and preheating filament for higher flow rates.

This podcast episode covers the physics behind Stefans recently reviewed CHT nozzle and his DIY version of it. Both discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this design and how it compares to a Volcano hotend. Stefan briefly talks about how he got kicked from AMAZON with his threaded inserts. The big topic is the Prusa XL and its new, smart features. This new design includes an extrusion force sensor that another company is using to print fully dense FDM parts so Tom and Stefan analyze whether this might also be something that could be implemented on the Prusa. The last topic covers the CoPrint which is an MMU project that Creality seems to endorse, though also comes at a steep price tag. Questions cover a novel 3D laminating technique, the question of why thermal fuses are rarely used in 3D printers, and how much Tom and Stefan earn with this podcast.

Stefan talk about the recent Thingiverse Data Breach, how it was handled, and that this is just another nail in the coffin. This is followed by a discussion about Thingiverse alternatives and Prusa's plans of re-branding PrusaPrinters. On the topic of Prusa, they talk about a recent incident where a heater block of an original Prusa melted away and what the reasons might have been. Next, they switch to resin topics including a double vat Elegoo printer and a Rotating Vat machine for high-speed printing.

The first episode after the summer break covers E3Ds new Revo extrusion system and Prusa Automated Farm System that they are currently demonstrating in Dubai. Stefan quickly talks about his line-up of threaded inserts that he recently launched and Tom gives his impression about the SL1S Upgrade that he installed on a live stream. Both discuss a controversial topic because Thingiverse seems to be automatically replacing the affiliate links from creators with their own ones. The questions cover the hotend of the upside-down 3D printer that uses a 90° bent for compactness.

Thank you to Druckwege for sponsoring this episode! Check out their resins at https://shop.druckwege.de/ and use code "TOM2021" for 15% off! Stefan joins this Podcast from his holiday in South Tyrol. Topics are not only how to properly relax but they also cover a Stop-Motion Benchy animation, an update on the Chitubox lockdown of the Mars 3 firmware, an upside-down 3D printer, and a simple way of multicolor 3D printing. They discuss the question if they should start selling plans for their creations. Questions cover more information around the licensing of the STL to Solid conversion in Fusion360.

clones with little to no innovation. After this ramble, they talk about an artistic lamp Kickstarter campaign that uses orange peel filament which unfortunately seems to be only questionable marketing. Though during their research they've still stumbled upon a way how orange peels might really be transformed into a polymer. Next, they discuss 3D printer modifications to soldering robots and pen plotters. There is a short section about a new tool in Fusion 360 that can convert stls into nice, solid bodies. Finally, they answer a question on why there is no über-material that satisfies all our 3D printing needs.

Thanks to JLCPCB for sponsoring this episode! Get custom PCBs from $2 with free SMT assembly at https://jlcpcb.com/RHS This episode covers a ton of recycling topics starting from Stefan's adventures into 3D print recycling over the PETBOT that allows direct recycling of PET bottles, to the number of wasted plastics in filament spools all the way to reinforcing PLA with shredded turbine blades. Tom and Stefan further discuss MRRF that happened the weekend before the recording and ERRF that was canceled. At MRRF Lulzbot presented their new 3D printer model that starts at a quite steep price tag. Then there is some discussion on the recent Chitubox Pro launch where many fear that their MSLA printers might in the future only work if they subscribe to the service (UPDATE: https://twitter.com/UncleJessy4Real/status/1411765198730448899?s=19). Questions cover what printer or method might be suitable for highly accurate parts.

Tom finished his VORON 2.4 build live streaming marathon and talks about his experience and the choices he made, for example using a DUET 3 with Reprap firmware instead of the usually used Klipper configuration. Stefan shows the latest Make magazine Germany in which this Podcast got featured. Both discuss the “Jugend Forscht” winning entry where ultrasonic modules are used to heat and disperse resin for better prints. Then there is a talk about the suspension of the Torshn Kickstarter and a still on-going crowd funding campaign on a 3D printed bike helmet. The questions cover topics on how to make 3D prints watertight, Siraya Tech resin availability in Europe and RRF on other boards besides Duet.

In this episode, Stefan proudly presents the trademark certificate that he registered for his channel name and talks a bit about the process involved in applying for it. Tom discusses his plans on re-branding his channel. The following topics cover procedural G-Code generation and the FullControl GCode Designer. After that, Tom and Stefan briefly talk about a recent controversy surrounding Make Anythings Astrolabicon Design that popped up by another company on Kickstarter. Next, Tom introduces his plans for the VORON 2.4 Live build and talks about 3D printed solid-state batteries. Finally both answer questions on how to test the speed of a 3D printer in a review and what to do with filament leftovers.

This episode is full of weird 3D printers, starting with a 3D printing simulation from Spee3D. Tom and Stefan further talk about a new dynamic build platform concept to reduce the support amount and a Japanese project that converts a 3D printer into a production line plus the Thermorph concept that allows automatically folding 3D prints using a smart combination of PLA and TPU. Then they discuss the morality of selling a community firmware as their own and that the popular Dragon Hotends that seems to be wiped from the market as a result of SliceEngineerings patent on it. The Q&A section covers the question of when slicers will finally support real CAD data in the form of STEP or IGES files.

In this episode, Tom and Stefan present their new logo and talk about a semi open-source approach to electric driving vehicles, Lulzbot's new “as low as $750” printer, Stratasys' last heated build chamber finally expiring and a slicer integration to finally print 90° overhangs without support. The main topic is about the question if we are genii since so many reach out to us as their last hope for support and why we often have to refuse direct assistance. Questions cover "why PLA doesn't get soft in hot tea water".

Freebooting everything! Tom's whole website got copied and translated to French by an Affiliate Portal. One of Stefan's videos was re-uploaded by an Instagram channel as well as shots from his videos were taken to advertise threaded inserts on Amazon. Both talk about their way to appeal and defend themselves against those cases and correct a couple of things from a recent episode. They further discuss the eco-friendliness of PLA and a recent news article where the German website Heise found a trojan in the SD card files that can be downloaded on Crealitys website. Questions cover SLS printing with PLA and PETG powder, thermo-mechanical simulation of FDM 3D prints, and a set of rules for the 10 minutes 3D Benchy challenge.

In this episode, Stefan talks about his VORON 0 build he started right after the last podcast episode on his hunt for a 10 minutes Benchy. The news cover a lot of recent 3D printers and printing technologies including the current Plybot Kickstarter, Formlabs finally releasing the Fuse 1, electrochemical metal 3D printing, and a 4th axis for the Prusa that tries to save on support structure. Both shortly discuss the things that recently happened around Gamestonks and also the Bernie Sanders meme. The questions cover how deep UV light penetrates resin, closed-loop stepper drivers, and our new Podcast setup.

First, Tom and Stefan talk about the recent Corona situation and how it's affecting them. They quickly change the topic and discuss their latest experience with the CR-30 belt printer they have for testing. The news topics cover yet another Kickstarter where Ulendo is claiming that we can print 2x faster with their cloud service. Then XOLO announced their first volumetric 3D printer and a new patent was granted for an interesting fluorescence switch SLA printing method. Tom talks about his recent work with the new WhamBam Mutant quick-change system and other ones that are on the market. The last big topic is an uprising 3D printing channel called marsgizmo with roots at TikTok, which is bigger than any other 3D printing YouTube channel, and both didn't even know about it before! The questions cover Stefans recent trimmer line video and printing fume safety.

After a bit of a break, Tom and Stefan are back talking about their responsibility as "influencers" and the new hype around Belt 3D Printers that are currently on Kickstarter. Belt 3D printing doesn't only require suitable hardware, but also software that supports this uncommon kinematic. Both talk about the importance of hardware and software upgrades and how they are necessary to improve the technology over time.

This week, Stefan and Tom have a guest on the podcast - Gine Häußge, main developer of OctoPrint! They talk about what it's like creating and maintaining open-source software, what her learnings mean for other projects like FreeCAD and what it's like to be a solo entrepreneur.

With Stefan's last day on parental leave, he and Tom get together once more to talk about the developments in the 3D printer scene. It seems like Belt printers are making a comeback, Fusion360 is again making drastic changes and E3D have somewhat quietly released their hybrid manufacturing toolhead for the toolchanger.

After another short break due to Stefan becoming a father, both talk about recent projects involving 3D scanners & sublimating 3D scanning spray. News cover KFC planning to print with lab meat in Russia, 3D printing gunpowder, a Standard for Open Hardware and Open Source Computer Vision Algorithms for print correction. Due to recent events, both rant about an allegedly "fully" 3D printed motorcycle, 3D printed houses, and how Kickstarters rarely are used anymore for what they should. Questions cover, exotic material printing, printing services, and testing out your designs for different printing technologies.

3D Printed "meat" is the hot topic right now! Stefan and Tom cover two approaches that aim to print texture into vegan "steak" and "salmon". Both look promising, but like with most 3D printed food, the hard challenges remain to be solved. Can a huge show like Formnext happen in the current pandemic? Apparently the answer is "yes", as TCT Asia has just finished. Staying with Asia, Creality is reporting record shipments for the month of march - but might be infringing on a patent with their latest model!

After thinking about buying a lathe for ages, Stefan finally bought himself a new machining tool for the workshop. Tom shares his own experience with his Mini Lathe. Tom recently received a Prusa Mini and talks about his first impressions as well as some plans for it in his upcoming 3D Printing Beginners Series on YouTube. Both discuss the recent theft of fellow YouTuber Heliox' channel and a new "Ultra Fast" printing process that slightly resembles an old CRT television as well as locally pre-heating a print for better layer adhesion. Miele released some printable upgrades for their appliances, so Tom and Stefan discuss the feasibility of these parts and what we could see in the future. Topic of the week is the maintenance of 3D printer - how much is necessary and what to regularly check? Questions cover automatic bed change and the applicability of a filament-width sensor.

Lots of interesting topics this time! Tesla is apparently using last-minute 3D printed parts in the first Model Ys they delivered; Adrian Bowyer is proposing a novel print removal system; and the US Army has been working on a non-homogeneous 3D printing filament. But Stefan and Tom haven't been idle, either and have been working on the Toolchanger and on finally getting an old CNC working. All that and more in this episode of The Meltzone Podcast! Notes and timestamps: 3:50 Getting married in special times 13:42 Tom's Sienci CNC adventures 21:24 Stefan's experience with the E3D toolchanger & discussion on the Creality CR-6 SE https://e3d-online.com/tc-ms https://creality.com/cr-6-se-3d-printer-crowdfunding-on-6th-may-p00296p1.html 33:17 Correction on SeeMeCNC's efforts of injection molding faceshield frames https://twitter.com/SeeMeCNC/status/1244760010514739200?s=19 35:10 Adrian Bowyer's print ejector concept https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/adrian-bowyer-releases-proposal-for-continuous-unattended-3d-printing-system-171135/ 46:20 Tesla is patching production Model Y with FDM 3D printed parts https://insideevs.com/news/410927/tesla-3d-printing-fix-model-y-hvac/amp/ https://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2020/4/21/the-very-good-reason-3d-printed-parts-were-found-in-the-tesla-model-y 51:00 FabLab Munich's open-source metal 3D printer (FabMX) https://www.heise.de/make/meldung/FabMX-Open-Source-Projekt-will-einen-Metall-3D-Drucker-entwickeln-4700614.html 58:08 US Army's reinforced 3D printing filament https://newatlas.com/multi-polymer-3d-printer-filament/ Full paper: █████████████████████████████████████████ 1:04:10 Brook Drumm is back on his feet https://www.patreon.com/posts/bankruptcy-new-36365339 1:08:52 PTFE 3D printing by 3M https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/design-and-specialty-materials-us/3d-printing/ 1:19:40 Questions

It's The Meltzone Lockdown edition! Tom is running out of home improvement store goods while Stefan is holding himself over with VR and finally building his E3D Toolchanger. We're also talking about printing faceshields and other PPE and how getting organized is really important right now. Also, Makerbot is supposedly opening up their Method 3D printer to filaments from other manufacturers. In the questions, we cover filament diameter conversions, building a new printed CNC and Autodesk's patent on non-planar slicing.

On this content packed episode, Tom and Stefan talk about their recent live streaming efforts, VR, the newly added FFF slicer in Fusion360 and why Stefan thinks it's a challenge to add gears to his new plastics shredder. There are currently a lot of efforts being done to use 3D printing for medical equipment due to the current Corona pandemic. Both discuss the positive and negative sides of those and why there also can be a danger in printing medical supplies. There is a "new Thingiverse" but is it better than the old one? Tom and Stefan try to answer viewer/listener questions on high power lasers in SLA printers, the right material for 3D printed CNCs, if E3D really performs quality control, if Fusion360 might implement non-planar slicing, trouble with white filament, under-water curing and their favorite thread profiles for 3D printed parts.

Update: After the blanket travel ban from Europe, MRRF has officially been canceled / postponed. In this episode, we talk about Stefan's new Toolchanger, more use cases for LW-PLA and our (back then still relevant) plans for MRRF 2020!

Tom and Stefan talk about the upcoming events that they'll attend including Malta Maker Fair and MRRF2020. Both recently released a material testing video and discuss if resin prints are really isotropic and why lattice or porous structures performs the way they do. Tom got kicked from the Amazon.com affiliate program and explains how that happened. Stefan got a new Pellet Extruder and expresses his first experience with it. Both talk about the impact of the Chorona Virus on the China and the 3D printing industry. The Makerbot Classroom Sketch was unveiled recently - is it worth $1800? Questions cover copyright on Thingiverse uploads, ceramic hotend liners, dimensional issues of high prints an the Dragon Hotend.

Flashforge first cloned Makerbot - and now it looks like Makerbot are selling Flashforge's machines? That and a discussion on the (non) availability of the Elegoo Mars Pro, our take on Linus' "I've been thinking about retiring" stream and our pros and cons to using "servos" on 3D printers in this episode of The Meltzone!

Tom and Stefan are back from their holiday break and meet up in the "real" CNC Kitchen. They talk about current projects like Stefans work on Colorfabbs Light Weight PLA (LW-PLA). Both discuss the recent problems with the Hermera Extruder and how E3D is handling it. The topic of the week covers the differences between Teflon-lined hotends and full metal hotends, where the differences are and that the latter isn't always the best choice. Questions cover the differences between PETG and ABS as well as printer advice and it's better to buy a machine or to build one from scratch. At last both talk about the harmful fumes of additive manufacturing and how to pre-vent them.

Is Prusa turning on the open-source community by requiring you to physically damaging the Mini's board to run custom firmware? That's our big topic of the week! Well, technically, topic of the bi-week? Stefan has been working on a surprisingly simple and universal variable infill algorithm while Tom has been trying to combine the advantages of filament and resin printing. In other new, Marlin 2.0 has finally come out of beta and the E3D "not a Hermes" has started shipping! We talk about our experiences with both of them. And we also got some good info from you all in the comments from the last episode - there's lots of interest and some corrections on metal 3D printing.

Tom and Stefan have been at Formnext 2019 the week before and talk about their impressions.The news cover the current state of Lulzbot and also that Generative Design for Fusion360 is currently available for free. Podimo, a German startup wants to be the Netflix of Podcasts. Both discuss if they like their business model and if the even want to be listen in the Podimo app. Tom got into RC flying, talks about his first experiences and both discuss 3D printed airplanes and also Colorfabbs new Light Weight PLA. Listener questions cover bulletproof 3D prints, home metal 3D printing and why Youtubers only review Chinese printers.

It's finally a normal episode with Stefan & Tom again! We talk about our experiences with travelling to shows and what we enjoy doing when our calendars are not stuffed with events. Tom uses an E3D Supervolcano for the first time and gets different findings to what Stefan has seen in other high-speed printing setups. Also, there's been a lot of stuff going wrong lately: Lulzbot seems to be going out of business, the UK is creating even more uncertainty by delaying Brexit and impacting UK manufacturers like E3D, NordVPN is screwing up and an Original Prusa MK3 has caught on fire. Good times!