Ahardyfellow

That's sounds rad! You should post some pics on here if you do end up doing it! Totally understandable if you didn't want the trouble tho!

The picture is of the 'finished' pin, I'd still like to refine the process a bit.

The general process I follow is:

• print the pin
• use a casting sand like petrobond and fill a metal container
• talcum power the printed pin
• press the pin into the casting sand to make the void for casting
• heat up the bismuth until it is liquid
• heat up the actual pin (looks like a thumbtack)
• pour the molten bismuth into the void, and quickly put the actual pin piece in the molten bismuth, if it's not hot enough the bismuth will cool and the pin won't sink in
• wait for it to cool (about a minute) then pull the pin out with some pliers (it's still hot so you don't want to touch it at that point)
• take a dremel to any flashing that occurred
• paint as required (I'm just using nail polish right now since it's pretty durable)

Hopefully that helps! If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer them :)

I've been using bismuth because of the low melting point (no need for a furnace) . I just picked up some used kitchenware so I could melt it on the stove top.

Pewter apparently has a pretty low melting point too, so that could be an option as well.

That looks awesome, way to go! I just want to squish them, they look so soft!

I've been designing and printing 'enameled' pins on my 3d printer for a bit and recently picked up the stuff to actually cast them out of metal. So far I've casted one, and it actually turned out, so I'll probably be making some more this week!

I just created a new tool for my company, and I opted to leave out jQuery as I wanted to see how it would be without it.

After going through the process I don't think I'll use jQuery again unless it is already a dependancy. Vanilla pretty much has everything covered that jQuery made easier, just need to be a bit more verbose in some cases, but I've found that typically makes the code easier to read and modify.

No hate if jQuery is your thing though, just if you're on the fence I'd give vanilla a go and see if it fits your needs!

Thanks for taking us along on that nostalgia ride, you did an amazing job of painting the picture of the setting to the point I was feeling a lot of the same emotions you described.

Thanks for sharing :)

One day I'll learn flex and be able to make nice responsive displays, but until then Bootstrap it is.

Please don't smoke and drive!

Stories like these are why I love the internet. Just a wholesome little memory, made me smile thanks for sharing :)

I wish my friends would tell me about the little things. It actually helps me deal with things as well, since odds are its something we all struggle with one way or another and talking through it with them helps me sort it out too.

Too bad we are all so worried about making things other people's problems when we could tackle this stuff together

Hope you don't mind if I take my time, I always like to savour my presents ;)