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Reposting some writing I did a while back on the subject of how additive manufacturing is necessarily a destructive process.
over a year ago

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More from Blog - Mac Pierce

And around we go... Making We're So Over, We're So Back

The process of making an single purpose art PC that uses an aluminum casting as the radiator for a water-cooling loop.

2 weeks ago 26 votes
The void will consume us and it'll be dank - Minionotics at Weatherproof

A review of the group show Minionotics (March 13th - April 13th, 2025) at Weatherproof Gallery in Chicago.

3 months ago 33 votes
NCCCIAP 2025 - Photos +

A photo gallery showcasing images taken at the 2025 National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices.

3 months ago 42 votes
Fort Emplacements and FDM: making Castle Doctrine

How I made Castle Doctrine, a 1:1 scale fully 3D-Printed American Revolutionary War era cannon.

over a year ago 93 votes
Back into the FE-AL: Iron Pour at Sculpture Trails Indiana

In which I detail the process of making a cannonball by participating at a very unique iron casting event.

over a year ago 62 votes

More in creative

The ghost in the machine

When a system becomes complex and our knowledge peters out, we’re tempted to assert, in the words of Gilbert Ryle, that there’s a ‘ghost in the machine.’ “How does the stoplight work?” “Well, it knows that there’s a break in the traffic so it switches from green to red.” Actually, it doesn’t ‘know’ anything. Professionals […]

13 hours ago 2 votes
Hundreds of Medieval Medical Manuscripts with Strange Cures Get Digitized & Put Online: From Leeches to Crushed Weasel Testicles

If any discussion of medieval medicine gets going, it’s only a matter of time before someone brings up leeches. And it turns out that the centrality of those squirming blood-suckers to the treatment of disease in the Middle Ages isn’t much overstated, at least judging by a look through Curious Cures. A Wellcome Research Resources […]

yesterday 3 votes
In theory…

Anything that works in practice can work in theory. When a theory tells us something that is working is impossible, we’ve either measured wrong or the theory needs updating. Theories exist to explain, predict and understand. They are supposed to help us see and improve the world around us, and they’re never finished, just ever […]

2 days ago 5 votes
Hear the Pieces Mozart Composed When He Was Only 5 Years Old

A preternaturally talented, precocious child, barely out of toddlerhood, in powdered wig and knee-breeches, capering around the great houses of 18th century Europe between virtuoso performances on the harpsichord. A young boy who can play any piece anyone puts in front of him, and compose symphonies extemporaneously with ease…. Few scenes better capture the mythos […]

2 days ago 5 votes
Mostly unreasonable

It’s tempting to go to an extreme. Unreasonable design standards, quality or hospitality are an effective way to gain share, delight customers and spread the word. To be unreasonable in service of your customers is a practice and a commitment. Along the way, though, reality sets in. The boss has multiple priorities. The uncompromising edges […]

3 days ago 6 votes