u/No_Square236

Finished this big fella up today. BCA-9 16” upper, Foaps HK Sights, MM Sauerkraut V2 Stock. I’m still wiping oil off that upper from the factory, dem boys like it lubed.

Snappy and adorable. Printed in HT-PLA-Pro. Now I just need more .380 ammo.

Last year I began to shift my focus from OEM guns and got into 3D printed versions. After many rolls and man hours spent dialing in my printer, I finally feel confident enough to share some builds outside of the 3D2A sub.

It’s been a fun year, and I’m hoping that maybe this will encourage some of you to come and join us over there. There’s a lot of amazing designs out there, and the more I’ve printed, the more I’ve come to realize just how endless the intersection of these two hobbies is.

The designs range from the loud and ridiculous, to more oem+ classic designs, some of which are indistinguishable from your lgs.

Want a new grip for your AR, but the style/color you want is out of stock? Print it and it’s done in hours. Don’t want to spend the money on a new handguard? Check. Or start from scratch and print damn near all of it.

My second Sphynx of the week, this time in OD Green to match the cerakote on the barrel.

This frame is destined to be a 22lr once my conversion slide comes in, so I slapped the 9mm slide on it for the time being. I’m printing the 9mm frame now in OD green to match the barrel. Fun build and killer design.

Ruger SR45 printed in HT-PLA-Pro, takes Glock 21 mags. Hell yeahhhhhhh.

Well, sort of lol. Intermittent feeding and extraction issues but that could be down to my crappy printed snapcaps. I didn’t want to mess around with live ammo at home. It’ll be off to the range next week for the real test. Excuse the mess in the background and the awkward angle of the video.

Coming together nicely, just waiting on a few more parts, but everything seems to function well. Frame and slide were printed in HT-PLA Pro.

Assembled my XD-M today after I finished up my DB-22, printed in HT-PLA Pro Army Beige. Fun little build. Slide could use a scrub or fresh coat of paint, but it functions well.

I shamelessly stole FL-Eggs DB-22 build, u/Ssggeellff, with some minor changes. I’m still figuring out the brace situation, but it’s 99% done and I’m over the moon with how it turned out. Can’t wait to take this beauty to the range.

Of course, props to DB for the original DB-9 Alloy.

Printed in Polymaker The General PLA+ FDE, Gray, and a smidge of Sunlu 2.0 black. 8” threaded Proto Barrel for a can down the line, and the curved Sten mags.

A great way to start the morning, happy printing.

Just printed the XD-M DB Mod compact frame and test fitted the slide, looking forward to building this little beauty. Printed rails down in PLA+.

I reprinted the compensator for the Plasticcatto G17 Wormhole frame since I kind of marred it a bit when installing it. It was just cosmetic, but it was bothering me and I wanted to make it nicer. Got it all reassembled this morning after 200+ rounds through it. Huge shoutout to u/M-P-M-S for the design and build guide, I love this thing. Bonus DB-22 preview pics at the end as well, I’ll have a full post for that once it’s finished soon. Happy printing, y’all.

Waiting on a slide lock spring and the compensator plate from SendCutSend, but it’s just about finished minus that and the optics. In love with the build already and can’t wait to take it to the range. Happy printing everyone…

Your eyes do not deceive you, this is a real blast from the past. A brand new Comptech Icebox CAI for the 2003 CL Type-S, 6-Speed manual. It came with all of the original parts, hardware, installation instructions, and decals, including the 50 state CARB legal one. 

First, a brief explanation. On occasion, I purchase abandoned storage units at auction, and my most recent win was a real dud, or so I thought at first. The unit was in a temperature controlled facility (those units tend to have the better loot), and the auction went a little higher than I planned to spend, but I went for it and hoped or the best. I was disappointed when there wasn't much to find in there, until I opened the box in the back corner of the unit. I could not believe what I found. Still in the original shipping box, a brand new CT Icebox CAI. I double and triple checked the contents to make sure that nothing was missing. Everything was in there for the installation. I'm still a bit stunned. It seems that it has been sitting in the box since it was first delivered. Everything was still wrapped in the original packaging, and albeit a bit dusty with some cobwebs, it is in excellent condition. The only mark is a scuff on the outside of the main filter housing. Otherwise, a quick wipe and it cleaned up really nice. 

This is the only CAI that was proven to be effective for these cars, and has been discontinued for a few decades now.

I have a custom intake setup on my 03 CL Type-S, so I’m offering it up on Acurazine if anyone is interested. But mostly, I just wanted to show it off a bit.

Pulled out of the water this morning, absolutely incredible quality. I’m usually not the biggest crab fan, which I know is blasphemous as a Maryland resident, but these are unbelievably good. With my luck, Saint Peter will be a crab, or a lobster.

Howdy y’all. This post is going to read as a product endorsement or paid advertisement, but I can promise you (when has a cook ever lied about anything?) that this is entirely organic (pun fully intended). Our kitchen has been utilizing these square containers from the Berlin Packaging Co. for forever now. I’m not sure how many others out there are doing the same, as I know that the industry standard is the classic round cup, pint, and quart deli containers. I’m here to proselytize you all into the ways of the future.

For the lurkers, and for a brief refresher for us all, here is a truncated history of the deli container that is totally not made up in any way, shape, or form.

The original deli container is the brain child of Reginald J.R. Deliton, circa 1849. As plastic manufacturing technology was rather undeveloped at the time, the original containers were a bit rustic and rudimentary. As the technology evolved over the years, the containers became what we know and love, and love to hate, these days.

Now, onto the meat and po-tay-toes of the post. Why should you buy and use these prohibitively expensive containers? For one, they are square, which allows you to more properly and securely stack and organize your storage areas. Secondly, they are far sturdier. They last roughly ten times longer than the standard version. They don’t crack as easily, especially when cold, sending your hard gotten mise en place all over the floor. They also have small holes in the lips of the container, allowing dishwater to drain out of them more easily (although not entirely) when removing them from the dish pit.

Yes, they are very expensive in comparison. They range from roughly $0.50 cents a piece, to around $1.00 a piece. However, I believe that their longevity, coupled with the better organization is well worth it.

I love the original deli containers. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, yearning for the days of my youth when I first got into professional kitchens, and was stealing several containers a week to take home and use. But the time has come to move on.

You should buy them. Or don’t. I’m not your boss and can’t tell you what to do. Join us, though. It’s more fun here.

Hello everyone. In my last post, which sparked some spirited discussion, I mentioned that the restaurant I work at uses our wood fired oven’s ashes to nixtamalized corn that we use for our cornbread. It’s a long post, but the end product is worth it.
As I’ve never seen nixtamalized cornbread anywhere else before, I thought I’d share my process and the recipe in case anyone wishes to make it on their own, or if they’d like to try their hand at making fresh tortillas from scratch. For the uninitiated, nixtamalization is the process of cooking dried corn in an alkaline solution, so that the hulls can be removed for further processing, and allows the nutrients to be absorbed properly when eaten.

Below is a truncated-ish process for nixtamalization.

First, remove the ashes from your oven the morning after, or once they have thoroughly cooled. Then, take a tamis or a sieve, it doesn’t have to be super fine, and sift out the larger chunks. You want to remove as many larger pieces as possible. I’d recommend wearing gloves, and a respirator or mask. This can be done in large batches and stored for the future.

Next, you’ll measure out the quantity you want to use. Generally, it’s 1:1:3, ash to corn, to water. Adjust your quantities as necessary. This batch here was roughly 5 quarts of sifted ash, 15 quarts of water, and 5 quarts of dried, Oaxaca Green corn.

Place your ashes in a very large pot, making sure to give the mixture room to expand, as it certainly will, when it boils. Add your water slowly, whisk to combine, and begin bringing it up to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat to a gentle simmer, and allow it to cook for one hour. After that hour is up, turn the heat off and allow it to sit, undisturbed, for a minimum of three hours. The sediment will settle to the bottom of the pot. Skim the water off the top and strain through a chinois lined with cheesecloth. Do your best not to disturb the sediment at the bottom.

Reserve in the fridge overnight, then strain the mixture using the same method as before into a new vessel, cambro, etc.

Place your dried corn in a large stockpot, and cover with water, about 2” worth. Bring this up to a boil while stirring occasionally. While it is cooking, using either a pH meter, or testing strips, confirm the pH of the solution is 13+. I cannot stress enough to do this with gloves on, as the mixture is very caustic to skin. When you’ve confined the solution is ready to use, pour over the corn that has been brought up to a boil, and cook at a simmer for a minimum of one hour, stirring every so often. The corn will turn yellow as it cooks, and you should start to see the hulls slip off on their own when you stir. You can continue cooking at a simmer for a few more hours, or if you’re processing for tortillas, leave them to sit overnight. For Pozole, or stews, I opt to cook for a long time to soften. You can also attempt making Masa Ball Soup, absolutely delicious.

The next step is to remove the hulls, which can be done by running the kernels under cool water to aid their removal. At this point, the kernels can be ground into masa, or dried and ground later for masa harina.

Now, onto the cornbread. The recipe is below, and is as simple as it gets.

350g Cornmeal
200g Nixtamalized Corn
60g Ghee or Clarified Butter
10g Salt
3g Baking Soda
3g Baking Powder
350g Full Fat Buttermilk
2 EA Eggs

Blend the corn on high with a bit of the buttermilk until mostly smooth, don’t go crazy with it. Then, blend your dry ingredients together, gently whisk in the buttermilk, clarified butter, eggs, and fold in your corn mixture. Bake in a preheated cast iron pan in a wood fired oven at 600F for 25 minutes. The first 6 minutes should be uncovered, turned once halfway through. Then, cover with tin foil or a second cast iron pan of the same size, and finish cooking, turning halfway through the cooking process. Remove, allow to cool briefly, turn out onto a wired rack and allow to cool until you can easily handle it by hand. Cut, and serve with butter and honey on the side.

We serve ours with a local butter and honey, alongside some of our house made charcuterie and some Col. Newsom’s cured ham. Hope you all enjoyed the post, and have a great weekend.

Continuing the series of our arrangements for the dining room at our small restaurant, this week’s display has lots of wild and foraged flowers from the area, including day lilies, trumpet creeper, and Persian silk tree blooms. Hope you all enjoy.

I received 2k of extra Sunlu PLA+ 2.0 so I decided to throw this down on the printer. Absolutely in love with this frame already.
Slide, rails, and scs plate on the way.