Blog
Notes from the workshop behind the generators.
basics 12behind-the-scenes 7bug-reports 2cad 4editor 3enclosure 2gears 1geometry 18gifts 1gridfinity 3hose 1models 2rugged-box 3site 6vase 1
- Out of memory, on purpose5 September 2026
Three generators have now been killed mid-request by their own memory limits. The limits are working as designed, and every kill handed me the exact number to raise them by.
- I can model. That is not the point.1 September 2026
People assume the generators exist because I cannot use CAD. It is the other way around, I counted the hours CAD was costing me and quit doing it for boring parts.
- What 10,000 preview requests taught me1 September 2026
Eleven days of production logs, 9,109 live previews and one person who reshaped a vase 234 times. What the numbers say about how people actually use parametric generators.
- Every coffee is a feature request31 August 2026
A supporter left three sentences with their donation. By the evening the rugged box had scoops, printer presets and a Max size button, and I had learned something about reading requests.
- Supports are a design smell30 August 2026
The 45 degree rule, bridges, chamfers and teardrops: most support material exists because the model asked for it. Here is how to design it away.
- Generator 35 is gears29 August 2026
The newest generator makes real involute gears, spur, helical or herringbone, with a matching pinion. Here is why gear teeth are not just bumps on a circle.
- How the clip latch stays shut26 August 2026
The rugged box closes with a printed clip that snaps onto four bumps. Getting it to stay shut, open on purpose and not fall in the grass took more versions than I want to admit.
- The vents that never were26 August 2026
Someone reported that the enclosure generator was not adding vents. They were right in a bigger way than they knew, and the fix shipped the same afternoon.
- Gridfinity, or building someone else's standard24 August 2026
Most generators on this site invent their own dimensions. The Gridfinity one is not allowed to, and matching a community standard to a tenth of a millimetre turned out to be its own kind of work.
- A vase that cannot fail in vase mode24 August 2026
How the vase generator builds its shapes, why it promises one closed contour per layer, and what drainage holes taught me about that promise.