3d printing- anyone else into/getting into it?

[Ken07AOVette]

I have had one for about a month, and have been having a blast printing things that I never knew were possible to do at home. I have ordered a bunch of PLA, ABS, PETG filament, am waiting for my wood and cf filaments to get here. I bought it originally for drone parts that I could not order, and actually 2 of them might make me money, you can not buy the parts that I can print without buying a complete replacement kit.
Cool things, can't imagine why I did not get into them earlier? \

I can put up some pics if there is any interest.

If you have one and cool prints, please put them up.

[GoFlames]

Can you post some pics?

[Zip]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

I have had one for about a month, and have been having a blast printing things that I never knew were possible to do at home. I have ordered a bunch of PLA, ABS, PETG filament, am waiting for my wood and cf filaments to get here. I bought it originally for drone parts that I could not order, and actually 2 of them might make me money, you can not buy the parts that I can print without buying a complete replacement kit.
Cool things, can't imagine why I did not get into them earlier? \

I can put up some pics if there is any interest.

If you have one and cool prints, please put them up.

I would like to see some of those Ken..Thanks!

[Red Bullets]

I have a friend met through AO that has a large 3D printer. I think he can make things up to 14"x14". He tells me he is losing sleep because some larger pieces can take 3 or 4 days to print. Amazing tool/toy. He is looking to make the printer pay for itself too.

Ken07AOVette... This fellow is also a AO member but hasn't been on the site in a little while. If you want to talk shop about printing PM me for his handle. This guy is also a CNC programmer so he seems to know what he's doing.

Would love to see some pics of creations Ken. I used to machine one-off prototypes and enjoy seeing what can be made.

[Ken07AOVette]

This is my first printer; Flashforge Creator Dual. I bought it used from a guy in Edmonton that had no interest. Funny thing, and I don't understand this one, but you can buy this one in the States for $1000 or pay another $100 and get a fully enclosed one with metal cabinet. Why anyone would not spend the other $100 I don't know, but am glad he went this route.



This is how it looks today, I mocked up a fully enclosed cabinet with old plexiglass and tape, tomorrow I will make the real one with new material and either aluminum L channel or wood frame. I added a light and WIFI camera so I can monitor it from in the house.



spool cover on the rear



Just a few things, not the parts I am going to sell

Terminator small scale test print




Fish keyholder


USB cord holder


Large cord organizer being printed


hobby anvil for 'helping hands' while soldering




printed corners for holding glass on build plate



Ford V6. Even made with ABS it is better than Dodge



Micro SD card holder with threads, and what they call the Torture Test. The little tugboat has details that show if your printer is up to standards.

[Zip]

Whoa... This printer is way above my pay grade in knowing how it works and it's capabilities, thanks for showing some of what you can do.. Love it, I'll have to do some reading up I think!
Zip

[RandyBoBandy]

FIRST..where do you get your manicures done ??
SECOND..outstanding

[Ken07AOVette]

I have this one coming for 30 day trial, can NOT wait. It prints 12x12x18 and the detail is amazing. Trouble is, it is $8800.00. A friend of mine wants it in his store, but they can not bring one in for display unless it is returned by a customer, so....



and yes, the first thing I am printing is the T-rex skull!

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by MrLeahy

FIRST..where do you get your manicures done ??
SECOND..outstanding

In the garage, generally with a grinder

thanks!

Now I have a 7 hour print happening, which is ok because I just started a 9,5 lb 12 hour brisket in the smoker I have to babysit!

[bessiedog]

I've been using a MakerBot Replicator 2 in my highschool CTS classes for 3 years.

Makerbot may actually have a class action lawsuit against them due to a lot of their peripheral tools (extruded) wore out a little too quickly.

I had to jury rig a couple of failed extruded together just to finish teaching my kids last year. Real pain in the but.

On the neat side, we're having a fishing lure design contest with the class soon.

It's pretty neat stuff.

Check out the Thingiverse for a lot of preprint able stuff.

[Ken07AOVette]

Thanks Bessiedog, actually almost everything I have made so far has been from Thingiverse, awesome resource. I am still trying to figure out the differences when printing with PLA, ABS, PETG, and am anxiously waiting for my wood and carbon fibre filaments to arrive.

Chances are that 31 days after I get the big printer you are going to see a whole bunch of over under shotguns and a few other pieces up for sale, it may be very tough giving that big printer back. I hope the reviews from '15 and '16 are better than '14, they were not flattering.

[bessiedog]

We've been trying to use the type of plastic that you can make those flexy wrist bands with.

When using different materials you have custom adjust the extruder temperatures and the extruder 'drawing gap' distances.

We've had a heck of a time getting it to print with this stuff. We'll get it right someday.

You also have to clean the insides of your extruder after use.

That damn machine takes up a huge amount of my time. Be careful you don't clog up your extruder.

[Weedy1]

Don't know anything about these printers. How are you designing the replacement parts for the drones? Any particular software? What is the relationship the software and the printer?

[bessiedog]

You can use google Sketchup to design 3D stuff.
Sketchup is free, but rather limited.

I start kids on that, then they graduate to SolidWorks which is a designing software common in many industries.

These programs can save their files into printable formats. I generally save the files as an .stl file.

Upload to the printer, inspect it for 'solidness' of design.... Load up the plastic, level the print platform..... Press print

Walk away for several hours and hope the machine dosent screw up.

Proper leveling calibration is important.

There are companies that will actually print stuff for you in pretty much any material.... Metals, gold, ceramic, glass.

We've sent files to them to print in metal... And they have shipped it back in great time. Pretty cool considering they're from New York I think.

Company's called Shapeways. My kids have designed rare skidoo parts. Our German exchange student printed off a custom prop for his host family's 12hp outboard motor.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qJuTM0Y7U1k

The sky is the limit eh?

Pretty darned cool stuff.

[cotang]

I bought a mini kossel (the one that has the three tower) iinteresting, built it in 3 days and still calibrating it.... Might give up on it and buy a different one...

[Red Bullets]

AO members should make bets now.... How many new whirlygigs are in Ken07AOvette's front yard by November?

[32-40win]

Seems like a fascinating process. Inspired me to check out some info on it. For the most part from what I see, it seems to be more of a hobby/artistic oriented endeavour at the moment, with many people working on trying to get it developed into a working production tool. Has a whole bunch of possibilities yet to be realized.
British Gov't published a study of sorts, interesting reading;

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...46/Study-2.pdf

[Kawibunga]

Very interested in playing with the technology. Can think of all sorts of fun cosmetic and functional motorcycle and firearm giblets I could make. Even fix kids toys. Use Solidworks daily in the downhole tool world. There's actually a few companies (machine shops) in town that use them to help you rapid prototype downhole tools and other parts. Awesome technology that will only get better with time. Maybe next year

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

Now I have a 7 hour print happening, which is ok because I just started a 9,5 lb 12 hour brisket in the smoker I have to babysit!

Whoa, that gives me 12 hours to get there. Good to know!

You know, I have to *ahem* drop off that 5.8l oil pan gasket personally, since I uh, think the postal service is broken... *cough* *cough*

[Tyangelo]

Hey guys, I'm the guy RedBullets mentioned. I 3D print full time, with every material available for FDM printing, including bio-materials. I also do laser engraving.

My print capacity is 17" x 17" by 29", and can run 4 heads simultaneously. I custom build my printers, and offer builds for substantially less money than many of these commercial ones.

Check out my current site at hyperprint3d.com. Just currently migrating everything to the Shopify format, so there might be a handful of errors.

Will be retailing a lot of parts out of Edmonton on the near future also.

[Ken07AOVette]

Wow that is HUGE!!!

Here I sit with my 6"x9" lol!

I am hoping to get a couple lessons in 123d design in the next day or so, and use Simplify to run the printer. I am real new to all this, so for now I am just playing.

It is truly interesting stuff!

On another note, Stinky buffalo, dinner came out great!

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

AO members should make bets now.... How many new whirlygigs are in Ken07AOvette's front yard by November?

No, everyone else's yard. I found a drop mechanism for my new drone, which is BIG! lol

[bessiedog]

I wonder how many viewers of this thread now think you can print a smoked brisket....?

[rugatika]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObzNdyRTBs

3d printed homes.

[Ken07AOVette]

Back at it again, printer has been running non-stop with Halloween just past and Christmas coming up.

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

Back at it again, printer has been running non-stop with Halloween just past and Christmas coming up.

Are you making christmas ornaments maybe? Or maybe you are making the whole xmas tree to your design.

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

Are you making christmas ornaments maybe? Or maybe you are making the whole xmas tree to your design.

The odd Christmas thing for my daughter, there are actually some very cool things like 3d folding Christmas cards.


Is it ok still to say Christmas? With Christmas coming, as much as I get tired of the commercial crap in the stores and the Christmas music, it is still and will always be Christmas

[Ken07AOVette]

I am back into it fairly heavy now, doing more and more designing and custom orders. 3 years in I am getting a fairly good handle on design and fabrication.
I just took the stereo out of my boat, which left a hole between the steering station outside and the cuddy inside right over the bed. I designed a cell holder that goes under the steering wheel to fill the hole outside, and a remote/cell holder that goes inside right above the bed. Fixed 3 problems with 1 project, and it turned out great!

I am still not doing real complex stuff, but today I designed and printed a replacement fish scale battery door that broke. I could not find parts to buy and without a door the ocean air would turn it to a pile of rust very fast. I have a printer, so why use tape lol.

Anyone else working on them?

[aulrich]

I go one just before Christmas, at this point I have printed mostly D&D stuff, All I got was a cheap Ender 3 and it is surprisingly good.

Though I have printed a jaw jacker for ice fishing and started on lures.

My Big issue right now is learning fusion 360 or finding the time to learn.

[Trochu]

The quote on your picture on the wall was what I used for my graduation quote in the yearbook.