Sometime after Bob K2OID gave us a presentation on 3-D printing last spring, I ordered a 3-D printer. I got the same one as Bob, a Creality Ender-3 V2. It sat in the box for many months, until I finally got around to putting it together last week.

Sometime in between the purchase and assembly, there was a YouTube channel that I was already subscribed to, Paul McWhorter, who has instructional videos on various tech topics. I can’t remember why or how I found him, maybe Raspberry Pi or Arduino related. Anyway, he started a series of videos on Fusion 360, the program Bob recommended for creating 3-D CAD files, and he also mixed in lessons on the Creality Ender-3 V2 as well.

I didn’t start watching them but took note. So once I assembled it, I started to watch his video series. So far so good, I printed a project box just for practice using the slicer and printer. Then my wife asked me if I could make a couple of shapes for her to use as templates in a sewing project. I used Fusion 360, and got it done, though probably not very efficiently. But it got me using Fusion 360. Now I made it through about 10 video lessons and feel like I am ready for a real project.

Last year I built a Versa-TR switch. A circuit on a PC board that was a QST article a few years back, and made into a kit by Hayseed Hamfest. It handles TR switching between my old homebrew CW transmitter and my HQ-100 (or HQ-145). It would be better in some kind of a box, rather than hanging between a bunch of interconnecting cables.

So I want to design a box for it to go it, with standoffs, a removeable cover, holes for connectors, adjustments, etc. Wish me luck.

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