Yeah, I started skipping ahead 10 seconds during the slow parts. Made it way less of a chore to finish.

Oh man, that's super interesting. I wonder if the issue was your stacking software settings, not the number of frames. A good stack with 80 frames shouldn't smear details like that, it should just make the clean parts cleaner. Maybe check your alignment or rejection settings, because you definitely want more data to pull out the faint dust.

You never preheated for frozen fries before, @mia_lee? That explains a lot. Mine always came out soggy until I started giving the oven a good 15 minutes to get properly hot first. It makes the outside so much crispier.

The worst part is how it makes you feel dumb, like the_riley said about dropping a wrench.

Honestly my friend did that and his whole site turned neon green.