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Field notes

Notes from
the shop
& the water.

Materials, fabrication, sailing, and the occasional honest opinion about printers. 26 posts from the bench and the boat — written for people who actually make things, not for search engines.

Topics

  • Community 5
  • Materials 5
  • Sailing 3
  • Fabrication 2
  • Automotive 2
  • Services 2
  • 3D Printers 1
  • Manufacturing 1
  • 3D Printing 1
  • Case Study 1
  • People 1
  • Guides 1
  • Story 1

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These posts are written for the community, not the algorithm. Free files, honest answers, field notes from the bench. If that's been useful, a coffee keeps it going.

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What are we writing about?

Fabrication 4 min The Winch Cup Holder, and Other Parts That Make Crews Happy Small quality-of-life prints that earn their place aboard. 3D Printers 10 min The 10 Best 3D Printers to Buy in March 2026 Current Canadian prices, honest assessments, and printer setup that gets you working on day one. Manufacturing 8 min Stop Buying 3D Prints from Amazon, Etsy, and Temu Why buying local manufacturing is an economic infrastructure decision. Community 4 min Why Distributed Manufacturing Works Local production, shared designs, and parts made near where they're needed. Community 5 min How 3D Printing Helps People Who Have Nothing Disaster relief, remote communities, open-source designs, and humanitarian manufacturing. 3D Printing 6 min The 3D Printing Breakthroughs of Early 2026 New printers, new materials, industry shifts, and what actually changed. Community 4 min Makers Across Atlantic Canada From Moncton to Halifax, St. John's to Charlottetown: the regional making community and where we fit. Materials 7 min Material Guide: PLA vs PETG vs TPU PLA for precision, PETG for durability, TPU for flex, and when to use each. Automotive 5 min 3D Printing for Classic Car Restoration Bringing back parts that don't exist anymore: knobs, brackets, trim pieces, and functional components. Case Study 6 min Case Study: Custom Winch Components for Offshore Sailing The problem, material selection, design process, and result for a real marine fabrication job. Community 4 min Why Ko-fi and How Support Gets Used Full transparency on materials, boat prep, and operating costs. Sailing 5 min Two Days Solo on the Saint John River Solo sailing on the Saint John River: what it proved and what it taught. People 5 min Christopher Stanmore-Major: The Captain Behind It All Who CSM is, the sailing partnership, and why he's the reason 3D3D ever touched a boat. Materials 6 min Carbon Fibre Filaments: What They Actually Do PETG-CF, PA-CF, PPA-CF: expectations vs. reality, and when CF compounds are worth it. Guides 5 min How to Ship a 3D Printer Without Destroying It Practical packaging, crating, and shipping notes for printer relocation or deployment. Materials 6 min PEEK and PPS: The Materials That Change Everything Aerospace-grade, chemical-resistant, 250 C capable materials and what actually matters. Community 5 min The Files Are Open. Here Is Why. Open-source philosophy, free downloads, shared knowledge, and why giving away files can still build trust. Services 4 min Fly-In Printer Setup and Training On-site printer setup, training, and configuration for people who need the machine working on day one. Sailing 6 min What We Learned at the Rolex Fastnet Race The centenary edition of one of the world's premier offshore races: what breaks, what holds, and how it shapes the work. Materials 5 min ASA: The Filament Nobody Talks About UV-stable, weather-resistant, outdoor-capable. ASA is the quiet workhorse. Services 4 min Fly Us to Your Problem Field capability: bringing fabrication to your location, your event, your boat. Fabrication 5 min The Part Doesn't Exist Anymore. We Make It Exist. Reverse-engineering discontinued components and bringing dead parts back to life. Automotive 5 min From Drag Cars to 3D Printers: Why Mechanics Make Better Fabricators Years of turning wrenches teach what breaks, what holds, and what matters in a functional part. Materials 6 min What Actually Survives Saltwater: A Material Reality Check Not all filaments are created equal. ASA, PETG-CF, TPU: what works offshore and what fails by August. Sailing 7 min Our Founder's First Sail Was a Category-One Storm Lunenburg to Antigua, two-man crew, 75-knot sustained winds. What it taught us about fabrication. Story 6 min We Started a Fabrication Company in an RV Printers, a generator, $30 a day in gas, 35-degree heat. The origin story of 3D3D.

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