Anyone have a 3d printer?

cowman

cowman

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Cowman
I've been curious about these things for a long time but never seen one in action. Keep coming up with little things that they'd be useful for... like a stratux case or now some super hard to find/expensive door clips and some custom ideas for interior parts on a car project I'm working on.

I'm aware there are services that will print an object for you and mail it for a fee... but I like to tinker and I may need a few tries on some of the things I think up to get them right.

Can anyone point me to a good one? It would be nice if the software/drivers were cross platform as I hop from mac to linux and occasionally windows all the time. Flexibility as far as types of plastics it can use and object size would also be nice- I want to be able to create some useful objects. Some toys too I'm sure but that's not the primary mission.
 
I'm on my 3rd. Had a couple of reprap ones that you spend more time maintaining than actually using.

Switched to a Lulzbot Taz5 a couple of years ago. GREAT printer. Definitely a workhorse. I've printed out 100s of weight bearing parts on it without so much as a calibration. Only thing is - it requires your room to be above 40 F to work properly, but I think most printers do.
 
Where I plan to keep/use it above 40 won't be a problem most of the year... and if it is I'll fire up the furnace. One thing that might be a concern with some of these exposed type printers might be dust though.... there's quite a bit in there.
 
I have the Monoprice Maker Select v2. It's nice enough but takes some tweaking to get fully functional, but for the price trade-off it's pretty good. I'm finishing up an enclosure for it using a $10 Ikea LACK table and some acrylic sheets, that should let it self warm for as cold as my garage is ever likely to get, and worst case I could probably heat it if I needed to. ABS likes a draft free environment so if you want ABS an enclosure is really helpful.

The other thing that the printers deal poorly with is high humidity and letting the filament absorb water. I run a dehumidifier continuously in my garage to deal with that, but it's also good for all the other tools. Alternatively you do a print and then immediately remove the filament and put it back in a storage bag with desiccant to keep it dry.

Of course, right now all I've printed is a couple boxes for the various small computers I use and a couple conduit locknuts where I stole the design off the internet and printed them instead of spending the $0.69 and waiting for my next trip to the store.
 
I think that with all the little plastic parts and doo dads that are in an airplane, one could do very well printing them out instead of paying out the nose. Example, the Piper two-piece air vents. ($70 a pop times 4) I'm all about "owner fabricated parts."
 
Mtns2Skies said:
This was voted by maker magazine as the best bang for the buck:
http://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-print...b3cuvNip4ZeHxmEQtL7p7peIeyRCrwqXycBoCPD3w_wcB
I definitely have to agree.
Lulzbot is local to me but they're twice the price for the same capability as that one.
@jesse has a 3D printer IIRC.
Click to expand...

I have a similar one, and a previous version to this one:
http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers...l?vip=768786&gclid=CPPY3YzVztMCFdyLswodNoUEXQ

Its worked well, i did print a stratux case with it with no calibration.

For the humidity issue, i bought a rubbermaid container and keep a large jar of desiccant <sp?> in it along with the filament when not in use.
 
I built the Prusa i3 a few years ago with my daughter. Bought most of the parts as a collection on ebay and sourced the rest. A fun experience to assemble, and we've got some good use out of it. The only thing I have printed for the plane is the stratux case, though.

As for software, the open source projects seem reasonably platform independent. I've been going back and forth between Cura and Repetier.
 
We have one where I work. It works pretty well now but it required a bit of tinkering to make it run properly. I don't know the make, but it isn't a "hobbyist" machine. Some of the tinkering included adding a fan to the print head to better improve the temperature control. Engineering uses it for rapid prototyping.

They also found the need to spray something on the table to facilitate removal of the part. I don't think it is cooking spray.
When someone mentions filaments above, ask what they mean....filaments are made of PLA, ABS, PET, and PETG and other materials and each one runs somewhat differently (temperature setting, how fast can the head move). The materials have different strength, solubility, and appearance.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
We have one where I work. It works pretty well now but it required a bit of tinkering to make it run properly. I don't know the make, but it isn't a "hobbyist" machine. Some of the tinkering included adding a fan to the print head to better improve the temperature control. Engineering uses it for rapid prototyping.

They also found the need to spray something on the table to facilitate removal of the part. I don't think it is cooking spray.
When someone mentions filaments above, ask what they mean....filaments are made of PLA, ABS, PET, and PETG and other materials and each one runs somewhat differently (temperature setting, how fast can the head move). The materials have different strength, solubility, and appearance.
Click to expand...

it might be hair spray, and not so much removal of the part but of adhering the first layer. One of the more common issues is the bed not getting hot enough for the first layer, and then the corners / edges start to peal up during the process. Another poster above mentioned creating a box to put around the printer as this helps with the issue.
 
I'm looking at several, one thing that seems to stand out is some people seem to have trouble with ABS on certain printers and Nylon seems to be quite difficult due to temperature requirements. Anyone got experience with that?

I want to print useful items and I'm worried PLA may not hold up to real world use but I've never worked with any of this stuff so maybe I'm worried over nothing.
 
I use ABS primarily. It is more sensitive to the right temperature calibration, and definitely needs a good hairspray to hold down the first layer.

Using Cura, it prints a single layer "raft" around the print to hold the edges down as the lower layer cools, to avoid it curling up at the edges.

You may have to play with some temperatures and test prints to get it right first, though.
 
This is one of the first items I'm hoping to print, they're plastic inserts that go into a door. Screw goes through the plastic insert to secure door panels... these are no longer in production, I need 26 of them, and they're $3.50/ea. There are some similar universal square inserts out there but these have a spacer ring that sticks out. If nothing else I can make the spacer rings and epoxy them to the generic style I think. I think these are made of nylon but not totally sure.


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Then I want to design and build a panel to replace my back seat ashtrays with a panel that has a 12v socket and USB charge ports.... from there who knows but UV resistance is important for that so I'm thinking ABS... or maybe just a good coat of paint? If I get ambitions I might try to print some knobs to replace the old headlight and wiper knobs too.
 
cowman said:
This is one of the first items I'm hoping to print, they're plastic inserts that go into a door. Screw goes through the plastic insert to secure door panels... these are no longer in production, I need 26 of them, and they're $3.50/ea. There are some similar universal square inserts out there but these have a spacer ring that sticks out. If nothing else I can make the spacer rings and epoxy them to the generic style I think. I think these are made of nylon but not totally sure.
Click to expand...

Do you already have an STL for those or are you thinking of designing them yourself in a CAD program?
 
I'll have to design it myself. I had some CAD classes in high school and college, did very well in them. Hopefully I can find some tools that are similar to autocad or figure out sketchup or something.
 
Autodesk has Fusion 360 for free for personal use. It is cloud based so it can be a bit annoying and I have no idea how much it's like Autocad but it might be a cheap start. Also if you have an EAA membership you can get a free copy of personal use Solidworks although the licensing appears to sometimes be problematic.
 
Something you might look at: the library downtown has a couple printers you can use for the cost of materials. You might be able to find something similar close to you.
 
Trying to build an object in Sketchup.... I have to say I'm really not thrilled with this application. In autocad... at least the versions I used years ago you could select things and explicitly specify what point on the object... like centerpoint, edge, endpoint, etc you wanted to select and what specific corresponding point you wanted to move it to.

With sketchup I find myself constantly wiggling the mouse around trying to get it to find the type of point I want it to snap to and having to spend five or ten minutes just moving the perspective around until I manage to get the software to let me select the thing I want to select. Come on... just give me a hotkey, a button, something instead of this "intuitive" crap interpreting where I put my 2d mouse in a 3d space!
 
cowman said:
Trying to build an object in Sketchup.... I have to say I'm really not thrilled with this application. In autocad... at least the versions I used years ago you could select things and explicitly specify what point on the object... like centerpoint, edge, endpoint, etc you wanted to select and what specific corresponding point you wanted to move it to.

With sketchup I find myself constantly wiggling the mouse around trying to get it to find the type of point I want it to snap to and having to spend five or ten minutes just moving the perspective around until I manage to get the software to let me select the thing I want to select. Come on... just give me a hotkey, a button, something instead of this "intuitive" crap interpreting where I put my 2d mouse in a 3d space!
Click to expand...
Solidworks or Creo Parametric. I think you can get Creo for free.
 
We have 3 Makerbots and 3 Gigabots in my department at school.

If you are making parts, the big problem will be that the parts are weak across the layers - kind of like a grainy wood. A heated bed helps with warping of big parts. You may or may not find the need for tape / sprays on the bed depending on the bed material and if it is or isn't heated.

PLA vs ABS - usually not enough difference to get excited about.

I use slic3r for slicing.
 
cowman said:
Trying to build an object in Sketchup.... I have to say I'm really not thrilled with this application. In autocad... at least the versions I used years ago you could select things and explicitly specify what point on the object... like centerpoint, edge, endpoint, etc you wanted to select and what specific corresponding point you wanted to move it to.

With sketchup I find myself constantly wiggling the mouse around trying to get it to find the type of point I want it to snap to and having to spend five or ten minutes just moving the perspective around until I manage to get the software to let me select the thing I want to select. Come on... just give me a hotkey, a button, something instead of this "intuitive" crap interpreting where I put my 2d mouse in a 3d space!
Click to expand...

I agree Sketchup is horrible. I don't see why anybody would use it to model any physical object in real world space. If you don't care what the dimensions are, maybe, but otherwise hard no.

Since you said you're already familiar with 3D CAD constructs, I would recommend openscad (free from http://www.openscad.org/). For me it's 10 times easier and faster to use than any mouse-based CAD.

You're probably sitting with a caliper in your left hand anyway and just trying to get current measurements down to diagram, so this may be your simplest route. Takes about a day to learn openscad, but totally worth it.

Second to that if you want one level up from that, RhinoCAD may be your next best option - it has a nice combination of mouse/keyboard interaction. I used to use it all the time, but now I find openscad easier.
 
More than you want to know about the strength of 3d printed parts using the common extrusion methods...
 

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  • Optimizing Fused Filament Fabrication 3D printing for durability. Frans Johansson 2016-06-13.pdf
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Been using Solidworks forever, but for personal use I can't tout Shapeways enough.
 
One great way to get into this with minimal expense is to join a Makerspace near you. I'm a member of the Milwaukee Makerspace, and for $40/month I have access to about a half dozen different 3D printers, as well as a few laser cutters, CNC machines, vacuum former, circuit board printer, welding and anodizing equipment; wood, metal, and electronics labs... Tons of stuff. And awesome people who know how to use it and are willing to help a noob.

Find one near you here: http://hackerspaces.org/
 
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