It's been a longgggg time since I posted anything and one of the reasons was that I've been in the process of moving home.
Now that doesn't take like 2yrs, you're saying! Well in this case it has.
We moved into a new property only to find the developer was not all he claimed to be, so we got out unscathed financially but scarred mentally!
We are in a rented house at present with most of our stuff in storage. this means I have had little time to kite fly or buggy for that matter.
We continue to search for our new home but who knows when?
Yes! there are worse things in life, but this is a pain in the bum.
So hopefully, by the end of this year, I'll write to you all again!
regards Walt

We miss you, Walt!

I miss you all too Phil! Interesting watching how your son is doing with the robot contests at school. I know you like crafting kite parts from wood, like your control bars, but is he any use to you in creating 3-D printed kite parts?
I find it's harder now than it was in the 1990s, to buy basic kite parts. So I had been thinking about a 3-d printer instead of handcrafting from nylon blocks and such like.

Walt,

The rules for the league Thomas is in don't allow high school students to 3-D printing robot parts. He did a little 3d printing for a class project, but has not done much with it otherwise.

As for kite parts, yes, I stopped carving and started printing. Andrew Beattie started me down this path some years back. I now have a library of parts at https://github.com/pbchase/kite_bar_parts. I've had the last two commercially printed and loved the result.

Philip

I've had a look at your library and very impressive it is too. I'm just starting to tinker with CAD. I've downloaded FreeCAD and I'm only just beginning to play with it. I might try your software depending on which is easiest for a CAD illiterate bloke like me!

Thomas has the potential to develop his AI / Robotic skills, which will be required in the near future. Just hope he continues to enjoy this field, as there is nothing worse than having to spend your life doing something you don't like!

Wishing you well,

Walt

OpenScad isn't for everyone. It requires a software developer's mindset and good spatial skills. I enjoy being able to create parameterized models with it, but but some of my engineering friends think I'm nuts. :-)