Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: Ramesis on December 26, 2019, 02:29:59 PM
Please... when its complete... attach a photo :cheers:
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: avionix on December 27, 2019, 08:11:47 AM
14 hours later and it is done. Have some tweaking to do, but for the first long print, not too bad. Next version will involve some sanding, priming and maybe some basic paint. Dont want to go too crazy on it. :grin:
What were the costs? Printer? Consumables? Design/pattern?
We got the Creality Ender 3 Pro which runs about $300. This comes tested from a US company. Filament runs about $20 for a roll that weighs a kilo. Depending on the print, you could use several meters, getting you quite a bit off of one roll. So far I have printed 3 Nerf mods, the aircraft, baby Yoda and a couple of test prints. Still have most of the first roll left. Each print so far has cost less than a dollar in materials. You can download files of all types in Thingiverse and MyMiniFactory. Those are the two that I have used so far.
Now, time spent doing this is something else. The airplane model had a total of 14 print hours and the baby Yoda was 17. If you can deal with that, not too bad.
Already considering how I can sneak another past the wife. Would allow me to print what I want and what my son wants at the same time. :devil
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: FLS on December 29, 2019, 06:38:16 PM
Next printer should be bigger. :devil
Did you see this? Guy 3D printed a Lamborghini kit car. Lamborghini was so impressed they gave him a real one.
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: avionix on December 29, 2019, 07:05:15 PM
Did you see this? Guy 3D printed a Lamborghini kit car. Lamborghini was so impressed they gave him a real one.
I did see that and thought it was pretty cool. Seriously considering one of the RC aircraft though. Only had this since Christmas day, so have alot of work to do on figuring this and the software out. Going to be fun though.
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: BoilerDown on December 30, 2019, 08:15:01 AM
I want to do one of those!!! However, I have a 9-year old in "need" of "Nerf mods". LOL
Hey those are fun! I even have a nerf mod (sorta) named after me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZq1z84EGZY
Should be a really nice hobby for a 9 year old that bleeds over skills to things that pay money later in life. Assuming your 9-year-old likes modding as much as playing.
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: MiloMorai on December 30, 2019, 09:00:40 AM
What is the size of the impressive T-33?
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: avionix on December 30, 2019, 12:02:02 PM
Hey those are fun! I even have a nerf mod (sorta) named after me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZq1z84EGZY
Should be a really nice hobby for a 9 year old that bleeds over skills to things that pay money later in life. Assuming your 9-year-old likes modding as much as playing.
That is cool!!! He loves to mod and we had to paint some items yesterday. Think he will be wanting a Star Wars mod done to one of them. LOL Kid loves to build things, so I am indulging this a bit and will see where it goes. If he loses interest, at least daddy has a new toy. :devil
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: avionix on December 30, 2019, 12:02:41 PM
Wingspan is about 8-10". Don't have it with me at work to measure.
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: save on January 02, 2020, 04:26:17 PM
A friend of mine bought a Prusa3d, he use it to replace damaged parts for cars with ABS filament.
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: tmetal on January 22, 2020, 09:05:25 AM
I've got almost 7 years experience with 3D printers from home/hobby grade printers on up to industrial grade printers. A few suggestions or advice if you want them.
If you do get another printer I would highly recommend getting one that has a duel extrusion print head. One extruder set up for your model material and the second extruder set up for a water soluble support material. You can print much more delicate or smaller items without the fear of breaking them during the support removal post print process. Submerge the item in a bucket of water over night then just rinse it off in the morning; no potentially damaging manual picking away of the support structures.
PLA material works great on most models, is easier to print with, is generally cheaper, leaves a semigloss surface finish, and comes in many more colors than ABS; but because it is a plant based material it doesn't hold up to weather exposure as well as ABS does. So if it is something that will be outside during much of its life go with ABS or if you're stuck with PLA then hit the finished print with at least a few coats of paint to help seal it up.
The FDM method of 3d printing (the 3d printing method your printer and 90% of all printers use) almost always causes inner dimensions of features in the models to be slightly undersized and outer dimensions to be slightly oversized; for example if you have a .25" diameter printed rod that is meant to fit in a .25" diameter printed hole they wont fit together without some post print sanding. The rod will come out somewhere around .252" diameter and the hole will come out around .248" diameter.
The layer to layer adhesion will almost always be the weakest part of any print that you do so sometimes you will need to change the print orientation of an object in order to minimize this weakness in your finished print.
Good luck and welcome to the hobby!
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: SysError on January 24, 2020, 04:29:16 AM
I've got almost 7 years experience with 3D printers from home/hobby grade printers on up to industrial grade printers. A few suggestions or advice if you want them.
If you do get another printer I would highly recommend getting one that has a duel extrusion print head. One extruder set up for your model material and the second extruder set up for a water soluble support material. You can print much more delicate or smaller items without the fear of breaking them during the support removal post print process. Submerge the item in a bucket of water over night then just rinse it off in the morning; no potentially damaging manual picking away of the support structures.
PLA material works great on most models, is easier to print with, is generally cheaper, leaves a semigloss surface finish, and comes in many more colors than ABS; but because it is a plant based material it doesn't hold up to weather exposure as well as ABS does. So if it is something that will be outside during much of its life go with ABS or if you're stuck with PLA then hit the finished print with at least a few coats of paint to help seal it up.
The FDM method of 3d printing (the 3d printing method your printer and 90% of all printers use) almost always causes inner dimensions of features in the models to be slightly undersized and outer dimensions to be slightly oversized; for example if you have a .25" diameter printed rod that is meant to fit in a .25" diameter printed hole they wont fit together without some post print sanding. The rod will come out somewhere around .252" diameter and the hole will come out around .248" diameter.
The layer to layer adhesion will almost always be the weakest part of any print that you do so sometimes you will need to change the print orientation of an object in order to minimize this weakness in your finished print.
Good luck and welcome to the hobby!
Do you have any specific brand/model printer(s) that you would recommend?
P.S. Is there anything that you would stay away from?
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: tmetal on January 24, 2020, 04:32:32 PM
Do you have any specific brand/model printer(s) that you would recommend?
P.S. Is there anything that you would stay away from?
Like many things, you get what you pay for. There are hobby grade printers that are very cheap and you can get some "good" deals where they include a few spools of material with the purchase but many of these printers can be easily thrown out of calibration and a lot of times the customer service after purchase is little to none; but for many people who don't expect to do a lot of printing these kind of printers can be a good way to "dip a toe" into 3D printing without making the bank account beg for mercy.
Ultimaker makes a good printer along with handy printer accessories and material management systems but they are somewhere in between home/hobby grade printers and industrial printers in both print quality and price (around $3 to $7k if I remember correctly) 3DGence is another company who has a printer (the Double p255) that falls into that same category as Ultimaker.
Unfortunately I have the least personal experience with home/hobby grade printers because i have free access to more capable printers through my work; but if I had to list what I would look for in a home printer it would go like this (in order of priority for me):
Duel extruder print head print bed movement that is controlled with long worm gears rather than belts print area size reviews of customer service/ tech support after the initial purchase period material sensors (printer senses when it runs out of material and pauses the print until more material is added) ease of use of the slicing software UI print head tips/nozzles that are easy to change/replace heated print bed enclose-able print area enclosed/climate controlled material bays
I have heard almost nothing good about the Makerbot line of printers as well as the Prusa line of printers. Part of Pursa's marketing is that many of the parts on their printers are 3D printed so the customer can print out their own replacement parts as they wear out. Problem is that several of these parts are the drive gears for the movement of the print head and if those start to wear out you are going to have a hard time printing out a replacement that is clean and accurate enough to not still give you problems (i would rather have parts made out of metal or molded plastic that aren't going to wear out anytime soon). Makerbot has a reputation of poor manufacturing quality control and even worse customer/tech support.
There are companies out there that deal in used 3D printers as well, so you might be able to get a very capable printer for close to the price of a new yet less capable printer.
FDM printing is the most common type of printing right now and is tried and true, but SLA printers are really starting to get affordable and the quality of the finished product is several orders of magnitude better than anything a FDM printer can manage.
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: SysError on January 26, 2020, 06:34:16 PM
ty
Title: Re: 3D Printer
Post by: tmetal on January 27, 2020, 08:06:46 AM