←back to thread

Ask HN: What cool skill or project interests you, but feels out of reach?

124 points akktor | 1 comments | 09 Jun 25 12:41 UTC | HN request time: 0.375s | source

This question's for all those cool projects or skills you're secretly fascinated by, but haven't quite jumped into. Maybe you feel like you just don't have the right "brain" for it, or you're not smart enough to figure it out, or even worse, you simply have no clue how or where to even start.

The idea here is to shine a light on these hidden interests and the little (or big!) mental blocks that come with them. If you're already rocking in those specific areas – or you've been there and figured out how to get past similar hurdles – please chime in! Share some helpful resources, dish out general advice, or just give a nudge of encouragement on how to take that intimidating first step.

Let's help each other get unstuck!

Show context
crmd ◴[11 Jun 25 01:50 UTC] No.44243452[source]▶
CAD, all aspects of machining, tool and die stuff, injection molding, and similar manufacturing techniques.
replies(3): >>44243512 #>>44243727 #>>44253825 #
1. WillAdams ◴[11 Jun 25 02:50 UTC] No.44243727[source]▶
I've been trying to make this sort of thing more tractable by modeling the movement of tooling in a CNC machine so as to make 3D parts using Python in OpenSCAD (https://pythonscad.org/):

https://github.com/WillAdams/gcodepreview

That said, the only 3D CAD tool where I was able to follow the tutorial (after a fashion) was Dune 3D: https://dune3d.org/ --- if you haven't tried that, I'd highly recommend it.

The usual way to get started w/ molding is to make a vacuum molding machine:

https://makezine.com/projects/diy-injection-molding

(I remember one such plan page where the first project was to make a handle to make the machine more comfortable to use...)