Photogrammetry scan turned into a 3D print Photogrammetry scan turned into a 3D print

Phone scan to 3D print: photogrammetry, a watertight mesh, and Bambu

TL;DR Phone scanners (Polycam, KIRI Engine, RealityScan) export raw geometry that’s sparse, has holes, and is non-manifold—not printable. First critical step: normalize scale. Scans export in meters and import at the wrong size. Fix this before anything else or Blender’s voxel remesh produces nothing. Blender’s voxel remesh rebuilds the mesh into a guaranteed watertight, manifold shell. Then decimate down to a slicer-friendly polygon budget. Export as both STL (geometry) and 3MF (units + compression). Slice in Bambu Studio and print. Watch for: voxel size mismatch, color loss after remesh, holes bigger than the voxel size, and X1C build plate limits (256×256mm). The Photogrammetry Gap There’s a seductive lie in 3D printing: buy a phone, scan something, print it. In reality, there’s a canyon between a photogrammetry scan and a printable model. ...

July 7, 2026 · 6 min · zolty
Vintage cassette deck repair bench Vintage cassette deck repair bench

Recapping a dead cassette deck: a vintage-audio repair triage

TL;DR “Dead” can mean anything from a sticky play button to catastrophic power supply failure. Map the symptoms first before you commit to a $40 parts order. Electrolytic capacitors dry out over 30–40 years. The tell is ESR (equivalent series resistance), which you can’t measure with a multimeter—you need a dedicated ESR meter. Mechanical failures (belts, pinch rollers, switches) cause 50% of what looks like electronics trouble. Try contact cleaner and spin the reels manually before you touch a soldering iron. Replace the power supply filter caps first. If hum persists after disconnecting the mains input, you’ve got a trace issue, not a capacitor issue. Full recap economics: ~$15–40 in parts + 2–6 hours of work. Only worth your time if the restored unit will fetch ~60% of that total cost on resale. What “Dead” Really Means A cassette deck doesn’t come with an error code. It just stops. And the failure modes are a taxonomy you need to parse before you spend an evening at the bench. ...

July 3, 2026 · 8 min · zolty

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