u/MedvedTrader

... and I wish someone would have told me earlier.

I have been fighting with my jigs for a while. I cut them with the laser, out of wood, assembled them together, they fit well etc. And still every engraving is slightly off and I need to adjust it, sometimes a lot sometimes less. Frustrating.

I went and ordered them made from aluminum.

It is like heaven. Every engraving is EXACTLY the same place.

I spent months fighting this when a simple switch in materials solved the problem.

I always see, when people discuss F1 (not F1Ultra) marking on aluminum, to use blue diode on a marking spray.

I tried - OMTech marking spray using blue, 100% power, speed 2. Yes, even at that slow speed when I wash it off, everything washes off, leaving pristine aluminum.

When I use IR it marks. Not really well - at certain angles the marking looks gray instead of black, but does. With Blue - nothing.

Fedexed a small 6x4 mailer.

Customer: it says delivered but was not.

I go to Fedex tracking. It says "Duplicate tracking numbers". One is marked as delivered. The other is marked in transit.

Customer: On our camera it shows a Fedex truck stopping, fedex guy getting out with no package in hand, approaching our porch, then leaving.

I call Fedex. They try to figure it out for 20 minutes or so. Then assure me it will be delivered the next day.

Next day: nothing. I call. They promise to "escalate the issue" and to keep me informed.

I get nothing from Fedex. Third day - today. I look and it says could not be delivered and being returned to sender. I call and ask what the hell. After another 20 minutes here is the response:

"I see it on my screen that after attempt to deliver 3 times it is being returned to you"

Me: Huh? What was the reason?

Fedex: I see the reason on my screen here but I am not authorized to tell you what it is.

Me: So what the hell can I do about this?

Fedex: file a complaint.

Fedexed a small 6x4 mailer.

Customer: it says delivered but was not.

I go to Fedex tracking. It says "Duplicate tracking numbers". One is marked as delivered. The other is marked in transit.

Customer: On our camera it shows a Fedex truck stopping, fedex guy getting out with no package in hand, approaching our porch, then leaving.

I call Fedex. They try to figure it out for 20 minutes or so. Then assure me it will be delivered the next day.

Next day: nothing. I call. They promise to "escalate the issue" and to keep me informed.

I get nothing from Fedex. Third day - today. I look and it says could not be delivered and being returned to sender. I call and ask what the hell. After another 20 minutes here is the response:

"I see it on my screen that after attempt to deliver 3 times it is being returned to you"

Me: Huh? What was the reason?

Fedex: I see the reason on my screen here but I am not authorized to tell you what it is.

Me: So what the hell can I do about this?

Fedex: file a complaint.

I saw on Etsy someone selling name plates for $3.10 or so. Nice brass customized, 1x4" or so. With (and I emphasize) free shipping.

I bought one. Sent off the text I wanted, they sent the name plate promptly. No drop shipping from China. Looked perfect.

They sent it USPS Ground Advantage. Now - I sell stuff myself, I know that USPS Ground Advantage is at least $5 and change. And that is with the Etsy/Ebay/Amazon discount (the label on the package was Etsy's).

I am baffled. How?

When I hook it up to the exhaust port on the back of X1, will it spin the built-in fan faster and cause problems?

I am trying to get black on aluminum. I use OMTech Spray with IR at 100%, speed 10, lines 300.

It marks, I wash off the spray, the letters are indeed black. But as soon as I clean up the plate the black washes a bit off so the letters at 90° look black, but at an acute angle start looking gray.

Is there ANY way to get them "black black" without this effect - on F1?

My XTool F1 sits in my garage. Air temps right now about 100. Is it ok to run the thing at that temp?

I mean - in a recent interview on TV the DSA co-chair bluntly stated that their goal is:

• Abolishing the Senate, presidency, & Supreme Court
• Abolishing ICE, borders, & prisons
• Defunding the Pentagon
• Mass amnesty for illegal aliens

Since Democrats embraced the DSA, and have many DSA members elected as Democrats, isn't it a slam dunk for Republicans to just run that interview (with bullet points as she says them) as a commercial?

Do you think they will do it?

This is a fun listing

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/oleg-zhivetin-original-drawing-gift-of-love-754-c-088ceff910

"An original Oleg Zhivetin". With a COA from Fine Art Showcase (heh) claiming that this is an original Victor Spahn.

(and of course the painting is just sloppy compared to Zhivetin's work)

Just how reputable/disreputable is Robinhood Auctions?

This is a custom nameplate designer for my Etsy listing. The user would come here from the Etsy item listing, design the nameplate himself, then paste the result into "personalization" box at Etsy and order.

The backend that creates the nameplates is not AI. It is my own software that I wrote over the last half a year or so to make and engrave the nameplates. The front end was modeled on the front end software I wrote and is the result of a week or so sessions with Claude Code.

The same exact designer will be used on the web site for retail customers but this particular page is for Etsy users who look at my items.

I think it is a bit too busy and I am sure there are UI details that I got wrong (I am a programmer, not a Web designer).

Criticism/suggestions are welcome

https://brassery.net/designer?etsy

https://preview.redd.it/r2ol0c10jedh1.png?width=1246&format=png&auto=webp&s=88cc4385b34c46c5374ef651eaed895ca8907724

This is a custom nameplate designer for my Etsy listing. The user would come here from the Etsy item listing, design the nameplate himself, then paste the result into "personalization" box at Etsy and order.

The backend that creates the nameplates is not AI. It is my own software that I wrote over the last half a year or so to make and engrave the nameplates. The front end was modeled on the front end software I wrote and is the result of a week or so sessions with Claude Code.

The same exact designer will be used on the web site for retail customers but this particular page is for Etsy users who look at my items.

I think it is a bit too busy and I am sure there are UI details that I got wrong (I am a programmer, not a Web designer).

Criticism/suggestions are welcome

https://brassery.net/designer?etsy

This is a post service available from Easyship. For small packages it is significantly cheaper than USPS ($3.91 vs $6.38 for a 6x4 rigid mailer). Apparently can be dropped off and scanned at USPS locations and supposedly is tracked.

Seems like a slam dunk for small packages - why have I not heard about them before? Has anyone used them? Review?

On edit: the "free tier" is limited to 50 packages a month. So I guess it works only if you're sending less than 50 or (considering the monthly cost of non-free tiers) more than 200 or so.

I mean - ok, he's at the hospital for almost a month. His wife flew to China 3 days after he was admitted. Fine, who knows what the family dynamics are over there. But: she is meeting with high level Chinese Communist Party officials, who then issue statements like:

> Chao said maintaining stable U.S.-China relations serves the interests of all parties, and expressed the willingness to continue making efforts to promote practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the United States and China.

Like - huh? Chao is a private citizen. Why is she meeting with people like the President of Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) and the Chinese Vice President? And why it was so urgent for her to do it while her husband is in serious condition in the hospital - for 3 weeks already?

When there is a flashing yellow arrow to turn left, why do so many people refuse to move into the intersection and wait there and, even if it turns red, then turn?

So many times I see people just sit at the line for a flashing yellow and then it turns red and they have to wait for it to change again.

Is that not taught in drivers' ed here in Texas?