3D printing is an exciting developing technology which makes prototyping parts much simpler. Where the parts are going to be used in low stress aplications, the printed part itself can be strong enough for the application.

I originally started with a cheap ($150) prusa DIY which while it worked, was quite rickety so the parts weren’t the neatest. Last year I upgraded to a Flashforge Inventor II which, while it is only rated for PLA filament, is capable of producing much finer and professional looking parts. I have been using it to rebuild the original printer and printing various bits of pointless knick knacks while I learnt its use:

I am now turning its capabilities to producing parts for the telescope gear to solve problems which don’t have readily available solutions.