Author Topic: Which 3D printer?  (Read 9257 times)

Offline AdeV

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #25 on: July 17, 2019, 02:34:05 AM »
Hi Eric -

I did a test print of an assembly I designed in CAD last night - it worked surprisingly well (too well! I need to add a little "sliding fit" tolerance in  :Doh: ). Of the four parts of the assembly, the wheel was almost too firmly glued to the bed! However, I'll definitely give the glass one a go. As I'd originally planned these parts to be metal, I need to beef them up a bit... I'll post that little exercise (with pics) in due course.

I see what you're getting at with the stock mainboard - adding the BLTouch auto-bed levelling system looks like it pretty much maxes out the firmware.... however, at this moment in time, I don't plan any firmware/electronics upgrades. I'm sure that'll change in time, but I've got plenty of printing I can do before I get to that stage. Right now, I'm still enjoying the "Ooooooooh!" factor of seeing impossible parts appear (very slowly!) before my eyes.
Cheers!
Ade.
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Offline nickle

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #26 on: July 17, 2019, 07:09:59 AM »
Glad it worked out for you. It’s an amazing machine for the price.

The supplied spatula thing wasn’t much use for removing stubborn prints but I have had good success with what my father in law calls a small tool which is a nice little Flexi spatula thing for putty and plasterwork.

Cura is pretty straight forward when compared to cam for mulling processes and the Info for the process is both prolific and pretty easy to comprehend.

Part orientation on the bed is worth thinking about. Flat side down is not always the best option. I ended up printing some model planes standing on their tail. Very little surface areas for support and nice shallow tapers that didn’t need support due to the streamlined shape.

Definitely interesting to use and requires different thinking to conventional cnc milling ops

Online Brass_Machine

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #27 on: July 17, 2019, 05:48:10 PM »
Ade...

With the glass bed, just let the part cool for a few minutes and it will pop right off. No spatula needed!  :D Just have to let the bed cool.

I have the BLtouch on mine right now. Got to say... Love it. Only check the level of the bed every few weeks.

Now I am considering a resin based printer or building a dual extruder one. I have been printing miniatures with the ender 3 and while they come out really nice, I am frustrated with the "supports" and removing them. With a dual extruder, I can pint the supports in High Impact Polystyrene and then dissolve them after the print completes.

OFC, I could just mod the Ender 3 to use a dual extruder too... Since I have the 32bit mainboard waiting to go in. Just worried I might lose some build area doing it.

3D printing becomes addicting. I think mine has been running non stop over the last few weeks.

Eric
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Offline hanermo

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #28 on: July 17, 2019, 09:17:30 PM »
Pls help a sceptic.

What has actually been really cool or truly useful with the printer, actual use ?
Anything is fine, ultra geek or artistic included.

I am not anti 3dp, I just struggle to see actual results.

Online Brass_Machine

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #29 on: July 17, 2019, 09:56:17 PM »
Pls help a sceptic.

...

We have a few members on here that can answer that better than I. I have seen some outstanding work done...

For me? Well, right now it is a toy store. I have been primarily printing tabletop game pieces with great success. Fat Dragon uses the same printer that I have bought and he gets amazing results. As far as that use goes? Can't really get much better.

I eventually will use it to prototype stuff. Have plans for some Rasberry Pi cases. LED mounts (ie, LED ring for the CNC Mill). However, the printer will pay for itself shortly. I had planned on buying some end covers for my stepper motors I have on my mill. The ones I wanted are about $45 each. I found a similar model out on the web and will print those instead (@ about $0.10 each).

Eric
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Online Brass_Machine

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #30 on: July 17, 2019, 10:12:21 PM »
Pls help a sceptic.

What has actually been really cool or truly useful with the printer, actual use ?
Anything is fine, ultra geek or artistic included.

I am not anti 3dp, I just struggle to see actual results.

Check some posts from Joules. He does some really cool stuff with a 3D printer.

A Useful 3D Print

3D Printed Solar Shield

3D Printed Myforod Way Wiper

Take a look at a few posts from him on this thread HERE.

Hope that helps. I felt a bit like that too early on. Seeing Joules posts is one of the things that pushed me over the edge.

Eric

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Offline AdeV

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #31 on: July 18, 2019, 01:41:14 AM »
What has actually been really cool or truly useful with the printer, actual use ?
Anything is fine, ultra geek or artistic included.

I'm working on a "device" (too posh a word for it, really) which holds a wheel into a slot to guide a sliding glass wardrobe door. The bottom wheels are folded metal, and I was going to do that for the top wheels... but I can instead 3D print most of the thing, much more easily and accurately. It'll still need a bit of non-printable hardware - a long bolt and a spring, and I'll probably turn the wheel out of nylon with a bearing in it as originally planned rather than 3d print that too; but it's nice to be able to set a print off, and check it out in the morning (it's a 6 1/2 hour print at the moment), and since it only cost pennies in plastic, I don't mind binning a few.
Cheers!
Ade.
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Offline ddmckee54

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #32 on: July 18, 2019, 02:45:39 PM »
What can you actually use your 3D printer for?  That question really becomes what do you want to use your 3D printer for?

I print parts for my RC projects, though that probably falls into the toys category of things that are 3D printed.

Two nights ago I printed a holder for my T6 thru T10 Torx drivers.  No pictures, but it actually did happen.

I liked the way design worked out, so last night I started work a similar version to hold the interchangeable bits for my hex driver set.  There's 6 bits in the set with the un-used bits storing in the handle of the driver; 1.5mm thru 3.0mm Allen bits, a straight screw-driver bit and about a #00 Phillip's bit.  It's a hassle every time I want to change the bit to take the handle apart to get to the bit, especially finding the correct bit.

The printed items are rather light so I've been adding 1/2-13 nuts that I press into the base for weight.  They sell these nuts and bolts by the pound at a nearby farm supply store for a ridiculously low price.  They are just a couple of dollars per pound for the grade 5 stuff, and a one pound bag of nuts will probably last me for years.

I have an adjustable desk light, the parallelogram type, that I've had for close to 20 years.   One of the plastic brackets broke so the light became junk.   It was a Sunday afternoon's work to draw the bracket in 3D CAD and print replacement brackets, that was about a year ago and the light is still in service.

If you've got your printer properly tuned you can turn out parts dimensionally accurate to at least 0.1mm.  My parts are good to about +/- 0.02mm, and if I worked at it I could probably get closer. (But  that close enough for me right now.)

My hands have a tremor, makes it hard to crimp itty-bitty wires and terminals together and impossible to solder electronics.  For a year or so I have been working on 3D printing jigs that will help me to do this.  They are just about usable, and I've got a bunch of printed parts sitting on my desk waiting for me to take that project off the back-burner and get back to work on it again.

It's more of a matter of - 'What do you want to print with your 3D printer?'

Don
Too many irons, not enough fire.

Offline AdeV

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #33 on: July 18, 2019, 05:45:11 PM »
Eric - what temperature do you run your glass bed at for PLA? I tried the default 60 degrees, and the part peeled off before it got more than 1mm high. Went up to 70 degrees and it pulled away at less than half that... should I be running it cooler? Maybe 50 degrees? I'd experiment more, but I've got another 5:30am start, and already it's nearly 11pm... gonna be cranky in the morning...
Cheers!
Ade.
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Location: Wallasey, Merseyside. A long way from anywhere.
Occasionally: Zhengzhou, China. An even longer way from anywhere...

Online Brass_Machine

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #34 on: July 18, 2019, 11:08:59 PM »
Eric - what temperature do you run your glass bed at for PLA? I tried the default 60 degrees, and the part peeled off before it got more than 1mm high. Went up to 70 degrees and it pulled away at less than half that... should I be running it cooler? Maybe 50 degrees? I'd experiment more, but I've got another 5:30am start, and already it's nearly 11pm... gonna be cranky in the morning...

Hiya Ade,

I run the bed @60. But, I have changed a few other settings.... What are you using for a slicer? I use Cura.

Print speed @ 45 mm/s and infill @75 mm/s
Initial layer Speed 22.5 mm/s
Print temp is 200c
Initial Print temp is 185c
Initial layer flow 103%
Initial fan speed 0%

BUT first clean the plate with rubbing alcohol. Use the good stuff! I had adhesion issues until i did that.

Also... change your retraction distance to 10mm, Helps with stringing.

Eric



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Offline efrench

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #35 on: July 19, 2019, 01:42:28 AM »
I've printed quite a few timing belt pulleys for several rose engines.  The largest ones are 180 tooth GT2-3mm (about 170mm diameter).

My hands have a tremor, makes it hard to crimp itty-bitty wires and terminals together and impossible to solder electronics.  For a year or so I have been working on 3D printing jigs that will help me to do this.  They are just about usable, and I've got a bunch of printed parts sitting on my desk waiting for me to take that project off the back-burner and get back to work on it again.


I'd be interested in seeing these jigs.  What software are you creating your models with?


Offline Country Bubba

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #36 on: July 19, 2019, 07:50:10 AM »
Eric - what temperature do you run your glass bed at for PLA? I tried the default 60 degrees, and the part peeled off before it got more than 1mm high. Went up to 70 degrees and it pulled away at less than half that... should I be running it cooler? Maybe 50 degrees? I'd experiment more, but I've got another 5:30am start, and already it's nearly 11pm... gonna be cranky in the morning...
I'm not Eric, but I run my glass bed at 80°C (from testing, I also know there is a 5° thermal lag due to the glass) and I find my prints are firmly attached until the temp cools down to about 30° or less.  Also, I clean the glass on occasion with hot soapy water in the sink using dish washing soap being sure not to touch the surface. All of this was based on a video that I watched on youtube. <
>

HTH

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Art
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Offline Muzzerboy

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #37 on: July 19, 2019, 09:26:38 AM »
When I try to post a reply here, it tells me I have already posted when it's pretty clear I haven't. The preview button doesn't do anything. Is this a known issue with a fix?

It seems to be when I try to attach a photo. Firstly it says Madmodder can't process the request, then it claims the post has already been made when I repeat the request. The photo is about 800k, so not too big surely?

Offline ddmckee54

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Re: Which 3D printer?
« Reply #38 on: July 19, 2019, 11:49:12 AM »
I'd be interested in seeing these jigs.  What software are you creating your models with?
efrench:

I've got a thread over on MEM, under Additive Machining, called "A fix for the shakes".  That one's been on the back-burner for a few months.  It started as a soldering jig, morphed into a terminal crimper, and it's next iteration is looking like it'll be a combination of both.  It's probably about time I dust that thread off and take it to the next level.

The software I use for the models is DesignSpark3D, version 4.1.  That's a dumbed down version of Space Claim, but the price was right - free.  Unfortunately that software is rather limited in what file formats it can output, its' got a proprietary RSDOC format, it does a dandy job on STL's, it does 3D PDF's, and I think it can output a wireframe 3D DXF.  I've been threatening to devote the time to learn Fusion 360 but haven't been able to find enough time to get up to speed with that software yet, so DesignSpark is still my go to software. 

I use Simplify3D for my slicer.  I used to use the Prusa version of Slic3r, I found through simulation that Slic3r did a better job putting supports where they were needed than Cura did.  The Prusa version of Slic3r worked better on my original Prusa clone printer than the standard version of Slic3r.  Once I bit the bullet and bought Simplify3D I found that it does a much better job of not leaving gaps in narrow perimeters like Cura and Slicer did.  If your perimeter wall thickness is more than one filament wide, and less than less than an even number of filament widths Slic3r and Cura will leave a gap in the perimeter wall.  Simplify will go back and either lay an extra thick single filament in the gap or do a solid fill whichever you tell it to do.  You haven't seen a 3D printer go spastic until you watch one do a solid fill at 60mm/sec, when the fill is 90° to a 0.5mm gap.  I think it defaults to the single filament setting, but I just had to see what it would do.

Don
Too many irons, not enough fire.