World Domination, I just got my self a 3d Printer!!!

[nechaus]

If any one was thinking about buying a plastic printer, i am more than happy to send you some stuff i made,
just so you know what your going to get at the end of the print...

sometimes its hard to tell by pictures unless its beside an object to give it some perspective.



Something id prefer over ABS or PLA would be high quality nylon,
Id love to print using that instead,
it possible to use line trimmer nylon, but you have to know exactly what you are doing, and im sure it will get clogged with a standard sort of nozzle

 

[Alan B]

One thing I worry about is the strength of the plastic. Is it strong and solid enough to hold compressed air?

 

[jussumguy]

But in saying that, you can almost do the same thing with a cnc machine

Let's see...

CNC - $2000.00
3D printer - $600.00

Have you looked into Blender? A powerful 3d editor. Lotsa folks are raving about it. And it's free.

http://www.blender.org/



-

 

[nechaus]

well you can buy a $1300 cnc a 3020 that will do plastic and wood.. but i think iv i got a cnc machine the min i would want is yeah that 6040... has the water pump tooo
But im still a noob with cnc machines, iv never operated one myself, so its going to be another steep learning curve i think..
im glad i started on the plastic printer



I dont think PLA could hold compressed air unless its super thick walling...

ABS.. im not to sure... its much stronger tho but will let off more toxic fumes when you print... has to be in a vented area
PLA honestly smell like pancakes/waffles or something... But all the same i do have it vented. not as toxic!


ATM im making a electric line trimmer out of PLA, iv been trying different motor mounts for my rotormax 1.2
I also am going to have a Tilt of the motor mount controlled by dual servos or a small stepper motor...
Id like a gyro function as well so you could always get a level cut of grass

but its all in progress atm, no where near completed as im trying different types of motor mounts..
at first i started with a big 2cm block at the bottom,
now my design has changed into a x kind of shape...
and im thinking of using the plastic gears for the tilt action, im just not sure yet as i only have x2 small 15 kg servos, i think i might need 50kg servos... not to sure..

 

[nechaus]

But in saying that, you can almost do the same thing with a cnc machine

Let's see...

CNC - $2000.00
3D printer - $600.00

Have you looked into Blender? A powerful 3d editor. Lotsa folks are raving about it. And it's free.

http://www.blender.org/



-

I have just been using sketchup because its so easy for me to use, still new to cad programs, and easy to convert the sketchup files to the .stl format the printer uses
im going to have a look at blender now!

 

[nechaus]

This is something im about to print,
its part of the battery bay for my top bar of my bmx,
its wide and long enough to fit x2 5s8 ah lipos side by side,
im going to print one for the bottom bar also, Plus brackets and side walls for each plate... all printed
Just not sure how im going to put it all together, need to get it right so my knees can fit nicely



So i can tell you guys if this plastic is going to be good enough to hold lipos for abusive ebike riding, Jumps, hard lands ect..
id say it should be if i make it thick enough, the lipo bricks are about 1000 grams each, not much,

Once its built, it will be much lighter than aluminium which is what i was going to use originally
I dont mind in the rare moment that i crash or drop the bike and something breaks because i can easily print another part off.

 

[nechaus]

the side walls and brackets are basically just L shapes with the space for the steel tube.

and i can make a clip on cover for the top, with spaces for cell monitoring


Super simple, cost me hardly anything, and about 20 mins of my time to measure the sizes of everything then design it in sketchup...



For all you guys that are awesome with cad programs, i can just imagine a 3d printer would be even better.

Im just a noob, i have been using sketch up for about 6 months, and only using it everyweek/day for the past 4 weeks

 

[Kin]

It depends also what density you print that at. I'm just looking at the image; didn't open up the file (sorry, I honestly don't know how to say if it's "enough.") If you can afford the space, I think an easy way to make a good container would be printing with thick dimensions and low density (so you get the crosshatch pattern internally). Or you could be more deliberate in your structure, in order to make crumple-zone kind of structure. In general, I don't think that case will do much for catastrophic crash, but if it can keep it on the bike and ding-free for minor scratches, that's good (?It's late, sorry my sentences are so roundabout. I'm saying "maybe my suggestions are not too essential". One thing to consider is the value of slight cushioning. So you can leave a bit of space to fit some foam in there.

Legos are ABS. A box made of brick-lain 2x4 legos is actually quite robust. Especially if you glue them together. Or fuse them. I believe reading that injection molded will be stronger than printed, but they're comparable.


Also, I'd slightly round those edges everywhere.





________________

One thing I worry about is the strength of the plastic. Is it strong and solid enough to hold compressed air?

What are you considered to do DIY compress air? As in, just asking why you asked. Maybe you could make a good fiberglass container. Steel and Alu containers are designed to have their crack potential and fracture potential in balance so it will crack and leak before it explodes. That is a delicate balance for DIY production.

________________

"You can do everything on a CNC machine that you could do with a 3D printer"

One thing that interests me a lot that you can't easily do, is void spaces. So I can easily make a sealed box with empty space in it. Also, you can make intricate patterns, like anything at this link: http://www.thingiverse.com/tag:vase, that you'd never think about doing with a CNC machine. Moreover, you don't wait for stock and can do things for the hell of it more easily. 3D printer is overally a less useful manufactoring, that much I admit. But has a niche of uses that I do not think a CNC machine can easily replace. Milling and Printing are fundamentally pretty different.

 

[nechaus]

im pretty sure it would crack from pla if i just dropped the bike, but i have made it a tight fit for just a small layer of anti fire material from cheap lipos bags.
I normally just tape them up with that for adding protection from being to physically damaged.

I can afford to lose a few lipos in a bicycle crash ( its so rare for my to stack it these days, i go pretty easy), i have so many of them, they are such a consumable item to me. But i do like to get about 200 cycles out of them.



in about 2 months ill have a heated print plate and another print nozzle, the new nozzle comes with a new thermistor.. im just getting it from the guys who i got the printer from.
Ill also be getting a smaller print nozzle that .2 mm, the one i have now is .4 mm

im really keen to use ABS, lego is pretty damm strong!

 

[Harold in CR]

Here's one you can try to make.

LINK

 

[nechaus]

Here's one you can try to make.

LINK

I might just try that!

 

[Dauntless]

If you want to use Nylon, you want to find a supplier of Nylon Filament. Just keep in mind Nylon might not behave itself well in your 3D printer.

http://www.taihingnylon.hk/index.php?&lang=en

Weed wackers use Nylon, as well as fishing line, right?

 

[nechaus]

yep, it would require a printer with parts that i dont have,

i would need to mod my printer a fair bit,

I dont want to do that for awhile yet, im just keen to get a heater print plate and start using abs


3dstuffmaker.com are now testing different nozzle sizes with abs and pla, to get super fine prints,


Once they have got it right, ill prob buy the stuff from them because it will be easy, its pretty cheap plastic printing stuff.


The most expensive part is $130,

 

[chuckufarley]

I WANT ONE!!! This is the third coolest thing I've ever seen.....The 1&2 being BOOBS AND THE VAGINA! I gotta go take that 3D modeling class..... I got autocad 1/2/3 already.

 

[chuckufarley]

You know ....you can use a Microsoft xbox 360 kinnect sensor to model 3 dimensional objects with the right software and save the models to your printer. I saw it done on youtube....

 

[nechaus]

you should get one!

 

[nechaus]

list of things i have to do to ensure a good print, things i have to do often

- measure pla in different areas to get the best average of thickness
- check print board to make sure its calibrated to the correct distance from the nozzle @ the home position, can be a real pain in the ass to do
-make sure pla does not get any moisture, it will be a bubbly print, sometimes you need to heat it up at low temps, so it does not melt or bend to all weird shapes, just to remove moisture, the sun is a good way to do it.
- check flow before every print
- extruder bolt needs to be cleaned regularly, once every 5 -10 prints
-tension on extruder needs to be pretty spot on, it can be annoying to get right sometimes
- pla can get messy, as in it can look like a birds nest unless its purchased on a role. ( think iv untangled some of my pla over 10 times, which can cause small bends and cause exturder to jam at points leaving you with some messed up print layers. But i guess it depends on your machine and what type of extruder you have.
-runners oiled

my printer wont extrude 50% of the pla iv purchased atm, I can try again with higher temps, iv been using 230-240c. the max i can go atm is 250c..
need an upgrade later when i get abs so i can go all the way up to 300 c if i wanted to

 

[Hillhater]

These 3D printers seem very interesting.

I'm tempted, but I wonder if CNC'ing a mill would be a more useful project:
.

Interesting ..yes
Useful ... not if you need to make something practical and strong. ! ( IE Metal !)

Even a "CNC" mill is totally unnecessary for hobby or even small workshop use.
A CNC tool is in its element when 100's or more duplicate parts ( or batches of parts ) are required.
when only one off or few parts are needed, then the set up time for CNC work is not justifiable ( even if it is interesting)
A manual mill/drill is the tool for 90+% of small workshop use.
The biggest limitation of the 3D printer is the material restriction ( plastics) .. that really does restrict them to "modeling" type applications.

 

[Alan B]

CNC's and 3D printers are like ebikes, "totally unnecessary"...

 

[nechaus]

Yes...

I don't need any of it really.. But i want it and like having it haha...

 

[heathyoung]

I agree about a CNC being somewhat overkill, I was thinking of using a compound slide on a pedestel drill, would probably be enough, its a bastard doing large round holes with a manual mill though.

 

[Hyena]

Yeah I sent some stuff to Jason to print for me, it literally took me hours to design and draw out all properly in sketchup. And then it still didn't come out right! I could have done the same job in 20 minutes with a drill / mill. But yeah, it's the 'cool factor' that's the drawcard :lol:

Mind you you can't do this on a mill in a few minutes

 

[nechaus]

Here are some things iv printed off,

Using my 3d printer is more of a hobby in itself, and can be really useful.
its a bit of a pain to keep it all calibrated perfectly, im sure a cnc machine would be a hell of alot more reliable.

sometimes prints look great, first 5 layers, i walk away, and i come back to a messy pile of shit.


3d printers can be a good damm nightmare but they can also be a joy to use.
I have not been using mine lately have been busy with other things..


So by looking at the pics, you will see some good and bad prints,

 

[nechaus]

My prints are examples of a noob bare in mind, looking at other peoples prints on the 3d printing forums, I have a long way to go.


I need upgrades so my printer does not muck around.

 

[Hillhater]

... its a bastard doing large round holes with a manual mill though.

Thats a job for a Rotary Table !

There is always a job / m/c op' that is too big or too complex for the equipment at hand.
Even the biggest fab shops have their limitations and have to resort to "outsourcing" some work.