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3D Printing

Marvello

Marvello

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Joined
Oct 6, 2015
Messages
3,586
Location
Oldham, Greater Manchester
Alias
Marv
After reading the recent thread on Mod prices it's a question I've been meaning to ask for a while, are there any 3D printer owners/users on here? I've casually looked into 3D printing before but got a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of available devices (on Amazon).

So for any owners some general questions, what model did you buy? How much? Are there any 'must have' features or things to definitely avoid? Do they require much maintenance?

I can't say I've got anything particular in mind I want to print, but if it doesn't turn out too expensive I may want to dip my toe in.
 
Objet connex 500. 250k. Unleas you can create the models its all for nothing really so before you look at a machine look at 3d modelling
Otherwise you're stuck with iffy models made by others.
 
To be Fair, Phil does do things like this professionally... :D I hesitate at paying $150 for a slicer software.... :D

I have a cheap and cheerful Wanhao Duplicator i3 Plus Mk2... All 3d printers for home and hobby require a lot of tweaking/upgrading etc to make them reliable... some will be ok out of the box... however require upgrades later... others require upgrades straight out of the box to make them reliable. Just think of them as low grade tinker machines that will give you a decent quality output every now and again, with a following wind and when there's a z in the day of the week ;)

Once you have them tuned in with Z braces, Hot end upgrades etc etc, they can be ok... it;s like a pinball table though.. they can be time consuming and expensive... (£30 here, £40 there)... however you can get some nice results :)

My next stage is to design a couple of bits - Till now i have as Phil says, just been printing other peoples designs... @Sven Normansson - Any suggestions for Free/very cheap offline/online Creation packages??
 
I have one. Started with an ikky one from ebay for £130 (because I had the same reservations as you). It sorta work..sometimes.
Frustrated with the unreliability of it I bit the bullet and bought a Creality CR-10. (And bought Simplfy 3d which is software - although Cura, which is free is also meant to be pretty decent. Simplyfy was £150 - but I dont think thats crazy - Ive seen how much other software of this nature is - adobe, 3ds max etc.)
It was like going from an old skoda estelle to a Lexus :)

I still get the occasional print failure this is true but id say for the most part its just print and come back in a few hours when its done. (Although I have done some somewhat longer prints.. around 2-3 days in some case)

I have no regrets at all - ive probably gone through around 20KG of print filament in the last year or so.

WRT to a source for models would recommend you take a look at thingiverse dot com.. Theres a mountain of them on there. Theres also decent selection of s/w to make your own if you wanted to. Ive had the odd duff model from thingiverse but ive had way more good ones.
 
HomerRamone said:
Ive seen how much other software of this nature is - adobe, 3ds max etc
Click to expand...

Lol - Fortunately my son has a student account with Adobe, so i can get access to their tools when i am at his (Fusion 360 etc).. I was hoping for a Black Friday deal on Simplify, however apparently they have never done one in the past, so i dont see why they would now :(
 
ebay Tronxy X5 3D Printing Kits

I would recommend these over the other ''i3'' stile machines as there a much quieter and you get the same results and even better after adding another stepper to the ''z'' up down direction

this machine can also print quite quickly too without shakeing the machine creating its own wobble!

it has a heated bed witch you want!
free silicer softwere is easy to find!
and after a few weeks you will want to be modding and fine tuneing printing parts for it ect.. to make your prints even finer.
as for nozzles you will want to buy an aftermarket one after a month anyway so I wouldn't worry too much about them lol

look on YouTube for the differences in each of the machines your interested in as there's bound to be loads of people who have bought one already for you to see what they think

my money is on a cheap £140 Tronxy X5 3D Printing Kit off ebay
a great starting point :thumbs:
 
Moonbus said:
This looks interesting for home use due to the other heads available...(typical promo video)

Click to expand...

I can think of several reason why this is Crap.. the first being you are stuck with their parts.... then the fact it is made from alloy, which compared to standard 3D printing parts is HEAVY... I wont go on..

Yes the interchangeable heads may be useful, however you can pick up cheap laser engravers for under £60 from China as a stand alone...
 
Behold - an random assortment of useless plastic nick knacks :) (Excuse the shabby painting.. not my forte :) )



IMG_20181119_071423.jpg
 
HomerRamone ha ha those models are pretty nice!

I also have a Wanhao Duplicator i3 Plus, I actually brought it for my Dad but I've ended up taking custody of it while I get it "dialed in". It did work fine out of the box, but you quickly realise from doing a bit of investigation that it can be improved. So far I've done the following.

Replace the stock Y axis (print bed) bearings with Igus Drylin.
Replace the Y axis bed carrier plate with one made from thicker aluminum, this massively helps you level the bed correctly it doesn't warp like the stock unit.
Replace the the Y belt idler wheel mount with a more substantial design to improve the belt alignment.
Fit an improved belt tensioner to the Y axis belt.
Fit Z axis braces.
Replace the bed leveling thumb wheels with nyloc nut fitted wheels.
Tweak the firmware settings to lower the acceleration, jerk and maximum speed.

I think the printer is now setup pretty well and it didn't cost a great deal to do all of the above as most of it can be printed out yourself :)

I also invested in Simpify3D which is really easy to use and I've had no failures with anything I've printed so far. I've not designed anything myself yet though, I've only printed stuff downloaded from ThingVerse.

Overall I would recommend the Wanhao i3 Plus, if anyone wants any more details on the mods I've done just let me know :)
 
I printed an adapter deely to accommodate the various spool sizes.
Printed a tweaked scoop deely that better directs the cooling air over the nozzle.
Bought a metal extruder top thing.
That's about it - oh, Iive changed the hotend because I had an overnight print go wrong - which resulted in converting a spool of filament into a large blob of plastic that got moved around the bed all night. I concluded it be easier to just replace that than try and rescue the result. (Ive considered getting a "spangly" hotend too - but not bothered).
Wouldnt hesitate to recommened the CR10 - infact I did just that to a guy at work - he crumbled and is printing a "life size" BB8 on his :)
 
Is anyone with a 3D printer willing to help me print a simple/small mod for Metallica?

I have the files, but not the printer (and it's not on my Christmas list either).

Happy to cover materials and postage.

PM me if so ?
 
Monkeyboypaul said:
Is anyone with a 3D printer willing to help me print a simple/small mod for Metallica?

I have the files, but not the printer (and it's not on my Christmas list either).

Happy to cover materials and postage.

PM me if so ?
Click to expand...

Fire em over Paul :)

On a side note.... Anyone got one of the Safecracker Coil covers?? If so i would like some dimensions please, since this seems like a VERY easy mod to produce... :) Failing that i'll have to rip mine apart....

http://www.pinnovators.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=72

The killer on this isnt the cost itself... it;s the shipping on top!!
 
Monkeyboypaul said:
Is anyone with a 3D printer willing to help me print a simple/small mod for Metallica?

I have the files, but not the printer (and it's not on my Christmas list either).

Happy to cover materials and postage.

PM me if so ?
Click to expand...

Just the one? This isn’t something we all need? ?
 
Charliemouse said:
Just the one? This isn’t something we all need? ?
Click to expand...

It might be, but the creator asked me to keep it for personal use only, so I’m checking with them if that means local distribution within UK pinball community for cost and no profit. It’s all on Pinside! If you also ask I’m sure he’ll also send it to you, but give us a few days...

He used to sell them, from the US, and I bought a set, but they went with my Pro.
 
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