ChatGPT: A 3D Printing Christmas Story

December 19, 2024

I was texting with my brother late one night and he started rhyming his responses. I asked him the next day why he was rhyming late at night just before he went to bed and he responded "Idk. Twas the mood".

I responded with a quick parody of the classic poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas:

"Twas the mood before unconsciousness and all through the house, only the printer was stirring, printing a mouse"

He thought that was hilarious and challenged me to send the "rest of the poem". Never one to miss out on the opportunity for a joke, I immediately fired up ChatGPT and asked it to spit out a parody of the classical poem starting with the stanza I had made up off the cuff.

Out came this poem. On close inspection it doesn't exactly make sense, but it does achieve my primary goal which was always comedy. I considered making tasteful edits to the text to make it actually make sense, but decided against it. Something tickled my funny bone about having an AI generate a script that was read by a human. So many videos I come across are an AI voice reading a script written by a human (although to be fair I think some of those scripts are also auto-generated).

So I decided to leave it entirely alone and go about making a video of it in a cozy bedtime story vibe and fuzzy video reminiscent of a classical movie. I hope you find it as funny as my wife has.

Video

A 3D Printing Christmas Tale

‘Twas the mood before unconsciousness, and all through the house,
Only the printer was stirring, printing a mouse.
The filament was loaded with meticulous care,
In hopes that no spaghetti would soon fill the air.

The makers were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of layers danced in their heads.
And I in my hoodie, with PETG to extrude,
Had just hit "Start Print" in a tinkering mood.

When out from the nozzle there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to the screen to see what was the matter.
Away to the bed, I flew in a snap,
Paused the print quickly to fix the mishap.

The glow of the hotend, a warm orange hue,
Gave luster to prints both old and new.
When what to my tired eyes did appear,
But a failed first layer—and a tangle of fear.

With a tiny scraper, so lively and quick,
I leveled the bed with my go-to trick.
More rapid than firmware, adjustments they came,
And I whistled and muttered each nozzle's name.

"Now Ender! Now Prusa! Now Voron and Creality!
On Cura! On Blender! On slicing mentality!
To the top of the gantry, to the edge of the plate,
Lay filament down! Let’s recalibrate!"

As warped prints before a heated bed fly,
When they meet with a draft, and begin to defy,
So up to the extruder, the filament flew,
With a spool full of dreams—and a benchy, too.

And then, in a whirring, I heard on the floor,
The patter of cats sneaking in through the door.
As I drew in my hand and was turning around,
A tail flicked the reset button—it made not a sound.

The printer went silent, its nozzle held high,
I let out a groan and a small, muffled cry.
But my heart grew soft as I scratched their small head,
For a curious cat is what 3D printers dread.

I restarted the print, with a grin and a sigh,
Watching as layers stacked higher and high.
Though failure had struck, the joy wouldn’t diminish,
For a true maker knows: it’s all in the finish.

And I heard it extrude, as it purred in the light,
“Happy printing to all, and to all a good night!”

Christmas Lighting Tips for 3D Printers

In addition to this comedy, I posted a couple of shorts with tips for ways that folks with 3D printers can take advantage of their tools when it comes to Christmas decoration.

Reusing Filament Spools

If you print a lot you have lots of leftover spools. No matter how much I prefer the "spooless" option it's not always available. I found that they make a great way to wind up your Christmas lights and prevent them from tangling.

I always install my lights starting with the plug (or male) side and end at the socket (or female) side where I plug in the next string of lights and continue. I find that using a medium sized binder clip (normally used for organizing papers) works great for attaching the socket (female) end to the side of the spool. If you then wind the lights around the spool it will be set up so that you can plug in the male side and easily unwind the lights as you install them. In order to keep the string from unrolling I like to take one of the "wings" of the binder clip off and run the very end of the light string by the plug through the clip and then clip it back on and plug the male end into the socket. This also protects the metal prongs on the male plug from being damaged. I hope you find this tip helpful.