Microwave piracy (and a little bit of self-introduction)

[Tomas]

Yup, you read that right
I started using Blender on-and-off back in 2010 (v 2.49b was my first), not really more than just fiddling around. Very overwhelming interface!

Anyway, a couple years later, May 2012, the microwave oven in the flat I rented back then broke. Door wouldn’t stay shut.
I did some surgery on it, and found that a small plastic hook had broken off. Then I had a marvellous idea: what if I made a new part in some 3D tool and sent it to Shapeways to get 3D printed?
Of course, Blender was my CAD choice (= I didn’t have anything else ).

After a couple of hours of measuring and messing around in Blender (I learned a great deal out of pure necessity!), here is the 3D result:

Yes I was super proud of myself!

So, off it went to Shapeways, and a bit later I got back the finished result:

Black part = original
White part = new one

You can see there is a small hook missing at the bottom of the black one. And yes those hollowed out areas saved me money (because of less material used), but I got lazy and didn’t bother with the smaller ones (+ a bit scared it would break). Total price (excluding shipping) was ~10 €!

Time to mount it in place:

And yay, microwave oven now worked again And I probably pirated a microwave oven for the first time in human history, if that’s even possible

So, that’s how I really started using Blender. As a CAD program…oh well. I eventually got my act together and now use it for actual 3D graphics

[Sam_Hamsord]

That is real nice story, and you done it all real good.
Making 3D models of parts and printing them is very useful method of fixing things, or even making new ones.
Although from a practical point of view, that would make sense if you had one of them big hooks broken. If that little hook in the bottom is the only problem - I pretty sure I would fix it with just a knife in few minutes. Just cut out hooklike shape from what is left of it and stretch the spring if necessary. Or make a hole in it and tie the spring to it with some thread or wire. I can probably come up with a few more ways of solving the problem right away with what you got under hand.

Very overwhelming interface!

3D modelling is complicated stuff, you can get used to it in a while, then customize interface completely if you know what you’re doing.

[FedPete]

I did something like this, for my toilet.
For me, it is a very recognizable story.
3D models should be part of the hardware package. Manual, 3D models and your microwave. In one buy!
Thanks for sharing.

[Tomas]

I absolutely agree! All stuff you buy should come with 3D models so you can make your own spare parts when necessary