u/AlternativeHorse3047 — reddlx

Industrial designers, which 3D printer would you buy for prototyping and hobby projects?

Hey folks, I'm a beginner industrial designer (1 year of experience) planning to buy a 3D printer for prototypes and my own projects outside work.

My shortlist, and why:

A1: budget friendly and saves space
A2L: cutting and plotting tools I think I'd really use
P1S: enclosure for ABS and nylon

I'm leaning A2L right now, but I'm not sure whether the enclosure and material range should matter more. If you own any of these, which would you pick again and why? Anything you wish you'd known before buying?

If you were in my place, which one would you pick? Does ABS/nylon actually matter for design work, or would the extra tools be more useful?

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u/AlternativeHorse3047 — 13 days ago

▲ 1 r/brokenbones

Did your walking boot quietly flatten your foot?

One of the patients I interviewed during my research noticed her arch had visibly flattened after weeks in a CAM walker boot. She hadn't connected it to the boot until we were talking. It genuinely surprised her.

I brought this to an orthopaedic doctor - and he was clear: 3 - 6 weeks in a boot will not flatten your arch. But what about 8 weeks? 12 weeks? What happens to a foot that isn't loading naturally for months?

Has anyone here noticed changes in their foot arch, sole stiffness, or the way their foot loads after a long stint in a walking boot? Or is this temporary?

I'm Nithin, an Industrial Design student at NID, redesigning the CAM walker boot for my graduation project. If you've worn one, 8 minutes of your experience would mean a lot.

👉 [ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSewGq-2JVD4RfYx0usTg4hAE1msQKbK1lVglEtUYJyBamPJEQ/viewform ]

Drop your answer in the comments too - every response helps.

u/AlternativeHorse3047 — 5 months ago

▲ 4 r/AchillesRupture

I'm a design student trying to redesign the CAM walker boot for my graduation project — and I need people who've actually worn one to tell me what I got wrong.

I've been researching this for months. I know the boot is basically your entire life for 6–12 weeks post-rupture. I know about the heat, the limp, the leg-height difference, the shower logistics, the way the rocker sole turns every kerb into a near-death experience. I know that by week 8 you're unscrewing the ROM hinge yourself because your physio's timeline and your sanity's timeline stopped matching at week 4.

But I don't know YOUR specific version of it.

Mine is a small survey (takes about 12–15 min) and it asks things your surgeon never did:

- Which part of your leg did the air bladder actually compress? (Spoiler: probably not where your injury was)

- What did you use to level your other shoe?

- What did you modify, improvise, or outright ignore?

- What did recovery feel like the first week the boot came off?

Every answered question is a design requirement I'd otherwise miss. If you wore a CAM boot as part of your Achilles recovery — conservative or post-surgical — I'd genuinely love your responses.

👉 [https://forms.gle/VZwRS2qifAxN2REb6\]

If you don't want to fill the form: drop your single worst memory of wearing it in the comments. That's useful too.

And if you think a question is missing — tell me that too. I want to know what I haven't thought to ask yet.

(Happy to share findings back here when the project is done.)

u/AlternativeHorse3047 — 6 months ago