Any other 3D printers out there?

[Geonovast]

I've been printing for about a year now, and currently have 4 printers.  Had a 5th, but it was bought as a gift and has since been given.

Is it difficult / allowed to export models from KSP for printing?  No interest in selling them or anything, just want to litter my house with KSP rockets.

 

[Bill Phil]

I want to get into 3D printing, but I'm still trying to pick one. Any recommendations for newbies? 

I'd like to print out some rockets and stuff.

[Geonovast]

My first printer was a Monoprice Select Mini.  Got it just over a year ago.  I also have the Mini V2, the Maker Select V2, and the Monoprice Mini Delta.

The Monoprice Select Mini is a fantastic starter printer, and just a hair over $200.

[Bill Phil]

What are your thoughts on the Mini Delta?

[Geonovast]

I can't speak to the production units as mine is a Beta one, but I love it.  Just a pretty small build area.  If you're doing it primarily to build round rockety things, it'd be awesome.

 

[Guest]

We are the 3D printers.

[Slam_Jones]

I've got a business idea involving 3d printing, but it'll be a while til I can save up the $1,000 for the model I am looking at... unless anyone here knows of a cheaper printer that has a heated bed as well as a minimum printing area of 12"x12"x12"?

Supposing the business idea falls through, I'll probably get a lot more involved in 3d modelling and printing other products... possible tabletop miniatures (for D&D and such).

[Spaceception]

I don't, but I want to someday, they'd be really fun to mess with.

[StupidAndy]

your a 3-D printer? well if you want to find more of your kind you could search Ebay and Amazon

oh wait, you mean people who 3-D print...no, I had a "friend" who had one (I never saw it, mostly because I stay inside every single day, the internet is so much better that the outdoors ) but I would like one, that way I could make the Kerbal stuff that used to be on E(3?)uclid and such, I joined Kerbal too late to get a 3-D printed ship , would be fun to have one

[qzgy]

I have 3-d printers at school and do know how to use them. I'd like to make one, but I'm poor, and have no income source

 

Personally prefer a laser cutter though. MUCH faster

Edited August 12, 2017 by qzgy

[Elthy]

I have a cheap Anet A8 which i hate with passion. Im currently planning to build my own printer, but not sure if i should choose SLA or just build a classic FDM CoreXY printer. I need it mainly for D&D miniatures (so SLA would be the obvious choice) but also want to print usefull stuff, where the bigger build volume and better structural integrity of FDM would matter...

[qzgy]

2 hours ago, Elthy said:

I have a cheap Anet A8 which i hate with passion. Im currently planning to build my own printer, but not sure if i should choose SLA or just build a classic FDM CoreXY printer. I need it mainly for D&D miniatures (so SLA would be the obvious choice) but also want to print usefull stuff, where the bigger build volume and better structural integrity of FDM would matter...

Build 2? One SLA and another FDM

Edited August 12, 2017 by qzgy

[Elthy]

9 minutes ago, qzgy said:

Build 2? One SLA and another FDM

If money wouldnt be an issue i would sure do. But currently im struggeling to keep the CoreXY costs at bay, i try to stay below 800€ which is hard when you want to use quality material, not some chinesium...

[qzgy]

Just now, Elthy said:

If money wouldnt be an issue i would sure do. But currently im struggeling to keep the CoreXY costs at bay, i try to stay below 800€ which is hard when you want to use quality material, not some chinesium...

Fair point. Money is always an issue.

[NSEP]

I don't have one. My school has one though and its really cool. I really don't see a point in having one either, i like doing things by hand and feelings, a 3D printer is not my type of gadget.

[Bill Phil]

26 minutes ago, NSEP said:

I don't have one. My school has one though and its really cool. I really don't see a point in having one either, i like doing things by hand and feelings, a 3D printer is not my type of gadget.

Oh, trust me, you still have to do many things by hand. Sanding, painting, putting it together (if it's in multiple parts), and much, much more.

[Geonovast]

On 8/12/2017 at 5:26 AM, Elthy said:

I have a cheap Anet A8 which i hate with passion. Im currently planning to build my own printer, but not sure if i should choose SLA or just build a classic FDM CoreXY printer. I need it mainly for D&D miniatures (so SLA would be the obvious choice) but also want to print usefull stuff, where the bigger build volume and better structural integrity of FDM would matter...

Check out the new Monoprice Delta Mini.  Should be available on their website soon, and it can do incredible detail.  ~$160.  One of the other beta testers was experimenting with 0.01mm, which is insanely small for FDM.  Did get better results at 0.05mm.  I did this at 0.025mm https://www.thingiverse.com/make:359120

If you're patient enough to get it to print in ABS, you can then smooth the parts with acetone vapor and make them look injected.  From what I understand the SLA material is quite pricey.

 

On 8/12/2017 at 0:09 AM, qzgy said:

I have 3-d printers at school and do know how to use them. I'd like to make one, but I'm poor, and have no income source

 

Personally prefer a laser cutter though. MUCH faster

I wouldn't consider them comparable machines though, they don't do the same thing.  Comparing speed doesn't make sense to me.  Using a 3D printer to create 2D objects kinda defeats the purpose of the third D, so it really depends on what you intend on making.

[qzgy]

Just now, Geonovast said:

I wouldn't consider them comparable machines though, they don't do the same thing.  Comparing speed doesn't make sense to me.  Using a 3D printer to create 2D objects kinda defeats the purpose of the third D, so it really depends on what you intend on making.

No they aren't comparable at all.

For me, when I have access to both a laser and a 3d printer, but am on a time constraint as with school projects requiring those devices, I prefer to use the laser. I can still make 3d things (with some thought) and have a  product out pretty soon.

[Bill Phil]

The only thing that badges me is that filament costs less than ink... although you will need more filament...

[Kerbinchaser]

I'm planning on getting one.... In a long time. 

However, my local library offers a free 3D printer for public use. All you need is some training.  "mind BLOWN"

[Geonovast]

17 hours ago, Bill Phil said:

The only thing that badges me is that filament costs less than ink... although you will need more filament...

It is, and if you shop around you can get good stuff for cheap.  Lowest I paid was $12/kg for Makergeeks, which is actually made ~2 miles from where I work.  They have a grabbag where you get get it for $15/kg (you just can't pick color), and I had a 20% off code, which there's almost always a code.
 

Filament won't suddenly "go bad" because the printer has decided it's time for you to buy more, either.  I've got stuff I bought with my first printer over a year ago that still prints fine, and I'm not even storing it properly.

[Gargamel]

On 8/11/2017 at 5:45 PM, Slam_Jones said:

I've got a business idea involving 3d printing, but it'll be a while til I can save up the $1,000 for the model I am looking at... unless anyone here knows of a cheaper printer that has a heated bed as well as a minimum printing area of 12"x12"x12"?

Supposing the business idea falls through, I'll probably get a lot more involved in 3d modelling and printing other products... possible tabletop miniatures (for D&D and such).

Having been 3d printing for a few years now, I can almost guarantee you 3d printing used for production will fail.  I have a product line that I print, but they are one off custom deals for racing boats.  If I had to make a business out of it, I would find another form of manufacturing for production.  The time involved with mass production of 3d objects is extremely high.  It may take me 6-8 hours to print off a boat part, but if I went to a glass reinforced injected plastic, I could make a few hundred a day with a machine in my garage, and a proper injection shop might be able to do a 1000 a day (but they usually have minimum orders of like 10,000 units before they'll even consider a product).  I maybe sell a few a month, and easily cover my costs for materials and time, with a significant profit margin on each, but If tried to turn it into a full time business, no way would printing keep up.  Not to mention there isn't a market for that many.  

I'm assuming given the required specs for your machine, you have a specific product or model in mind you want to print.  But if it is a bespoke 3d printing based business, I'd suggest you do  little research.  There are many companies that already do on demand printing, Shapeways for example.  They take a model from the customer, print it, and ship it back to you.  Depending on the model, that can take a week or so, and are quite expensive.  I don't know exactly, but to keep up with their demand, they probably have 100's of printers running full time.  There are also printing services, like 3d Hubs, that allow private owners of printers make them available to the public.  The customer would send the file to the printer, and they would print it out for them, and then deliver it to the customer.  Turnaround is down to a couple days now.  But business is sporadic at best for most members of the service. 

If you'd like, we can PM to discuss this further if you would like more input without publicly revealing your ideas. 

EDIT:  But the best way to get a 12"^3  printer is to make your own.  Get yourself a smaller (6"-8") printer, and learn how it works.  3d printing is a rabbit hole of different ideas and approaches.  Learn what you like best, and then design and build your own exactly to your specs.  There are multitudes of open source based designs available.  Then use the printer you do have to print the parts you need for the bigger one.  This way, if you realize your idea won't work, or you just don't want to pursue it, you'll have spent half the money, and still have a printer to play with.  If you think it will work, you can then have exactly the printer you need for your product. 

11 hours ago, Geonovast said:

It is, and if you shop around you can get good stuff for cheap.  Lowest I paid was $12/kg for Makergeeks, which is actually made ~2 miles from where I work.  They have a grabbag where you get get it for $15/kg (you just can't pick color), and I had a 20% off code, which there's almost always a code.
 

Filament won't suddenly "go bad" because the printer has decided it's time for you to buy more, either.  I've got stuff I bought with my first printer over a year ago that still prints fine, and I'm not even storing it properly.

But it can go bad due to moisture or humidity.  But with careful storage and/or dehumidifying, you can restore filament to it's proper content. 

Edited August 17, 2017 by Gargamel

[Geonovast]

6 minutes ago, Gargamel said:

But it can go bad due to moisture or humidity.  But with careful storage and/or dehumidifying, you can restore filament to it's proper content. 

Oh I know.  Luckily it hasn't been an issue yet, but I'm not using any of the super absorbent stuff, like Nylon.  I used to worry about my PLA, but after a year and 4/5 printers, I've yet to have any issues.  The filament I keep at work is kept in a pretty well climate controlled office, and the stuff at home is in drawers inside a cabinet with two of the printers, so the heat keeps it fairly dry in there.

I should at least keep my ABS in bags... even though I never use it because ABS is such a pain.

[Gargamel]

2 minutes ago, Geonovast said:

Oh I know.  Luckily it hasn't been an issue yet, but I'm not using any of the super absorbent stuff, like Nylon.  I used to worry about my PLA, but after a year and 4/5 printers, I've yet to have any issues.  The filament I keep at work is kept in a pretty well climate controlled office, and the stuff at home is in drawers inside a cabinet with two of the printers, so the heat keeps it fairly dry in there.

I should at least keep my ABS in bags... even though I never use it because ABS is such a pain.

I've really only used ABS, but I keep mine in a rubber maid bin, with reusable dehumidifier packs in it.  If you want, you can mount an axle in one of these boxes, and drill a small hole in it. Line the hole snugly with foam, and run your filament out through there and into the printer.  That way only a meter or less of the filament is exposed to humidity.  And most of that will get used up in the test print and brim if you use on. 

[Geonovast]

I've got roughly 40 rolls of filament.  Only 3 are ABS, and those were sort of on accident since I mistakenly believed they were a good idea when I got my first printer... which is not enclosed and the bed can barely reach 80.  So I don't use them.

I've got one roll of PETG which I've yet to use, and I'm actually running my first Raptor PLA print right now.  Most of what I print is just find in regular PLA.