Any other 3D printers out there?

[Slam_Jones]

2 hours ago, Gargamel said:

Having been 3d printing for a few years now,[...]

That is an incredibly huge amount of information, thank you!  Saved me a few hundred dollars to say the least

I do indeed a specific product in mind, but I'll shoot you a PM if I have any specifics I'd like to discuss.

Thanks again!

[PaperAviator]

I have a 3d printer that I only got this year. It's a "Creality CR-10". I really want to print rockets/planes from KSP, but kspblender isn't working so... any other suggestions?

[Nuke]

ive been enjoying my printrbot play for a couple years. it was about $400 plus another $100 for the upgrades. not much for build volume, even with the y axis upgrade, but its pretty reliable. ive considered printing a bigger printer but it probibly wouldn't be as good and would require a high dollar amount of unprintables, like stepper controllers, motors rods and bearings. im mostly printing project boxes for my electronics hobby, as well as various mechanical assemblies. usually breaking projects down to sub assemblies and joining them with ye olde bottomless box of screws. there are probibly better printers out there now at better price points. if i was going to buy a new printer id just go with a larger printrbot.

Edited September 20, 2017 by Nuke

[Ben J. Kerman]

On 7/26/2017 at 10:45 AM, Geonovast said:

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.

Really? I would buy a reasonably priced 3d printed KSP rocket in a second! (I would buy a reasonably-ish priced 3D printed Liebherr crane in less than a millisecond!)

I want a 3D printer, but they are so expensive, I have no real use or need for them, and I haven't learned how to use Solidworks yet (Wait, can you export Solidworks files to a 3D printer? I don't even know!)

[tater]

 I have an ender 3 v2. Seems OK. I honestly haven't doneenough with it. I need to find a good Starship model to print.

[Burning Kan]

3 hours ago, tater said:

I need to find a good Starship model to print

https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=starship&type=things&sort=relevant

Thinieverse is a good place 4 models any kind, 4 free of course.

or https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/print-your-ships-from-kerbal-space-program

8 hours ago, Ben J. Kerman said:

I want a 3D printer, but they are so expensive

Ibought a flashforge finder(not this lite* ver) for 180 Euros(sec hand) 3 years ago and Iam still happy with it.out of a heated bed the have all i need(not laud,easy to make a closed chamber out of it,adisplay where u see the models,buildvolume 14cm x3 ,directextruder(its good for harder print materials like TPU and carbon fiber filled PLAs),easy to fix clogged nozzels,super easy software to use,removeable two sided bed one with glass an one with this blue cover dosnt know the name right now,WIFI i dont use,USB port,A.S.O,  After 3 years and 1000 models only haved 7 clogged nozzels and this with special materials like aluminium PLA, and first time TPU(TPU needs slower printspeed and no retraction on FFF)on 0.4mm brazzed nozzle.

link to actuall price on amzn:*https://www.amazon.com/Flashforge-Printers-Removable-Platform-Enclosed/dp/B07SNSQZBD

happy printing

 

[Shpaget]

12 hours ago, Ben J. Kerman said:

Wait, can you export Solidworks files to a 3D printer? I don't even know!)

Solidworks can produce variety of file formats, including STL, which is quite common for 3D printing, but will require additional software to slice up the model for a specific printer.

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by Shpaget

[cubinator]

13 hours ago, Ben J. Kerman said:

(Wait, can you export Solidworks files to a 3D printer? I don't even know!)

You'd export your SolidWorks model as an STL, then use a slicer program like Cura to turn it into a GCODE which is what the 3D printer reads.

I have a Prusa i3 that I've used to print spaceship and planet models, and some functional parts as well.

[Geonovast]

8 hours ago, tater said:

 I have an ender 3 v2. Seems OK. I honestly haven't doneenough with it. I need to find a good Starship model to print.

I'm waiting for a nice model of SN15, which I'm sure will show up eventually, but this one's not bad.

https://www.thingiverse.com/make:934094

14 hours ago, Ben J. Kerman said:

I want a 3D printer, but they are so expensive, I have no real use or need for them, and I haven't learned how to use Solidworks yet (Wait, can you export Solidworks files to a 3D printer? I don't even know!)

You can get printers for under $200 USD, and decent filament for ~$15 a kg.  I don't know what kind of budget you have, so I suppose that could still be too much, but if it's been quite awhile since you've looked, they're not nearly as pricey as they used to be.

Yes, there are still super expensive ones out there, but I think everyone should start with a cheap one.  There's quite a learning curve and it's definitely not for everyone.   There are literally thousands of slicer settings and the machines need constant tweaking to keep going, especially if you switch material types often.

[StrandedonEarth]

Yeah, 3D printer has been on my wish list for a long time, but without a practical use for it, I haven’t been able to convince myself to even do the research on what to buy. 

[MaxxQ]

I have a modded Ender 3, a modded Ender 5 Plus, a Creality CR6 SE, and a Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K (still in the box).  The two Enders and the Creality are filament printers, whereas the Phrozen is a resin printer.  I haven't been doing much with them lately, but over last fall and part of the winter, I made these:

 

Both the HMS Fearless and the Titanic are 1/700 scale.  Except for the gravitic sensor blades on the broadsides, the entire model is 3D printed.  The blades are made from the Evergreen styrene you can see in the tool caddy.

I also made a 1/350 scale Fearless:

 

 

The smaller one is 75cm long.  The bigger one is 1.5 meters (or about 59 inches).  I'm currently in the process of printing a 1/200 scale Fearless, which will end up being a bit over 8 feet long.  It's on hold for a bit as I need to set up a model-building area out in the garage.  All these printers, as well as the normal plastic model building I've picked up again after not doing it for almost 40 years, tales up a lot of space, and can be messy.  The smaller detail parts were a bit messy being printed on a filament printer, even with a 0.2mm nozzle, which is why I bought the Phrozen Mini 4K.  Those detail bits will look MUCH better once I start printing them.

In case anyone was wondering, the Fearless is from David Weber's Honor Harrington book series (military sci-fi space opera).  This is just a heavy cruiser - the superdreadnoughts are a LOT bigger.

[Spaceman.Spiff]

I just started printing!

these were my first two. Now I’m going on vacation for the 4th so I can’t print more stuff. (For now obviously)

[Spaceman.Spiff]

Very happy with how well Hubble turned out!

[Dientus]

Very nice!

 

For many years I have been curious about the plastics used in 3d printing but the price at the time (over 3000 USD) for just a 'small' printer was out of my range for experimentation. I have seen a few that print large enough items in my range recently and I had a question @Gargamel :

Are the items created sturdy enough for everyday use? For example, as a knob on a radio in an automobile? Or as a bumper retainer clip?

 

[munlander1]

How does PLA hold up to hot car temperatures over the course of a day? It seems like a great material but the temperature rating seems very low.

[Gargamel]

27 minutes ago, Dientus said:

For example, as a knob on a radio in an automobile?

Easily.   This type of application is what they excel at, no stress along any single axis.  

27 minutes ago, Dientus said:

Or as a bumper retainer clip?

Sure, as long as the item is printed in the correct orientation.  In an FDM (as opposed to SLA) printer, the layers of plastic are the usual weak point, as they tend to fail in delamination before they reach the plastic point.  As long as the stresses are oriented so they aren't pulling the clip apart, then a clip should work fine. 

Yes, with the right design, material, and manufacturing considerations, 3d printed items can survive just fine.

31 minutes ago, munlander1 said:

How does PLA hold up to hot car temperatures over the course of a day? It seems like a great material but the temperature rating seems very low.

IIRC ABS is better for higher temps, there are plenty of other materials that are designed for higher temps. 

[cubinator]

15 hours ago, Dientus said:

Are the items created sturdy enough for everyday use? For example, as a knob on a radio in an automobile? Or as a bumper retainer clip?

The toaster handles we printed have lasted years longer than the original injection molded ones.

[linuxgurugamer]

13 hours ago, munlander1 said:

How does PLA hold up to hot car temperatures over the course of a day? It seems like a great material but the temperature rating seems very low.

Well, PLA is printed at 180C or higher.  A car, when sitting in the sun, gets to about 70 degrees C.  Not ideal, but it won't melt

[Gargamel]

11 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Well, PLA is printed at 180C or higher.  A car, when sitting in the sun, gets to about 70 degrees C.  Not ideal, but it won't melt

It’s glass transition point is 50-60c though.    That’s where it gets soft and can deform, by not melt.

So no, PLA is really not suitable for any temperature you couldn’t tolerate yourself.  

[Dientus]

2 hours ago, Gargamel said:

So no, PLA is really not suitable for any temperature you couldn’t tolerate yourself.  

So my question now is, PLA, ABS, TPU, PETG, (and did I see that correctly? Carbon fiber? As in REAL carbon fiber?) all appear to be available to use. What would be sturdy enough and not become pliable in 70-80c environment? 

 

Initial reaction is carbon fiber btw but something seems fishy to me about using a standard 3d printer for that....

 

[Gargamel]

3 hours ago, Dientus said:

Initial reaction is carbon fiber btw but something seems fishy to me about using a standard 3d printer for that....

Ahhh The devil is in the details as they say.

No, you're not going to print a carbon fiber tube.     What you are going to print is with a carbon fiber infused filament.   IIRC these materials have shown increased strength along all axes, even between layers, as some of the fiber does tend to span layers somewhat. 

If you need a CF tube or spar or sheet, you're better off just buying said material from a place like McMaster-Carr and cutting it to your need.  But if you have a custom shape that needs to be in CF.... well.... they make CF molding kits, you just have to provide the mold..... which 3d printing excels at.   Make a mold of the item you want in CF, print it in PLA, finish the mold to perfection, and then mold the CF to that mold.   Boom.    And that's repeatable, relatively cheap, and fast compared to what you'd get from FDM printing.

You shouldn't treat 3d printing as the end-all of home manufacturing, but merely a cog in the bigger picture.   Yeah, for the average person, a FDM 3d printer will cover 98% of their needs, but if you're looking to move into a finished commercial product, you might have to consider other methods used along with a 3d printer to make your product repeatable, consistent and of a high enough quality while keeping costs down. 

There are many many many different materials available for 3d printing, each with their own properties.   You Tuber CNC Kitchen  did some really good research into the various properties of common printing materials, doing actual practical experiments to compare them.   3D Printing Nerd has a really good episode where he walks through all the "common" 3d printing filaments (Common as in you probably don't need specialized purchase orders to obtain them, but some might be harder to find) and their advertised properties. 

If you're looking at really high temp, or even moderately high, SLA 3d printers (where the object is printed using a liquid resin rather than melted filament) might be what you should be investigating.   They are cheap enough now that they are comparable to FDM printers, but the resins do tend to run somewhat expensive.   YouTuber Integza (who is an absolute genius nutcase, he makes Colin Furze look like an OSHA safety officer) has been working on making pulse jet and turbo jet engines from 3d printed ceramics, all done with desktop printers and not much of a budget.  

I'd recommend looking at those channels, plus other resources, before deciding on anything. 

[Dientus]

1 hour ago, Gargamel said:

I'd recommend looking at those channels, plus other resources, before deciding on anything

Great info!!! Thank you very much Mr. @Gargamel

[Zacspace]

10 hours ago, Dientus said:

So my question now is, PLA, ABS, TPU, PETG, (and did I see that correctly? Carbon fiber? As in REAL carbon fiber?) all appear to be available to use. What would be sturdy enough and not become pliable in 70-80c environment? 

if you're starting out, start with PLA. High quality stuff too. Printers can be finnicky enough without having to control you the extra variables of low quality or exotic materials

Carbon fiber, metals, and wood filaments exist, but they're just plastic with those things in it. They don't typically confer any structural benefit.

The strongest filament you'll commonly find for an FDM printer is ABS. It also holds up best to high temperatures like you described. The drawback is that it requires your printer (and its power supply) to be able to produce and handle the high temps involved in printing it. You'll also want an enclosure for the printer to keep the entire print volume at a consistent temperature, and finally, printing ABS produces toxic fumes, so a workshop or something to put it in is a good idea.

PETG is a middle ground if I recall correctly between PLA and ABS, basically a slightly stronger PLA with slightly higher/more precise temperature requirements. TPU is used for flexible prints.

If you're just doing model making, I'd recommend a resin (SLA) printer, if it's something functional/mechanical I recommend regular old wood or metal.

[Dientus]

3 hours ago, Zacspace said:

Carbon fiber, metals, and wood filaments exist, but they're just plastic with those things in it. They don't typically confer any structural benefit.

That was my assumption and why I was skeptical when I heard carbon fiber. Being in the automotive industry I work with carbon fiber and working with it in this manner I have never heard of.

 

Just like the so-called Tesla autopilot. The names are there just to make a sale, they don't describe what they really are or do. Thank you for the additional information, I am definitely going to have to research everything before I make a final decision.

 

To better illustrate what I am attempting to do I should probably state what I am using it for. For personal and business use in the automotive field, to replace and improve upon OEM plastic components in an automobile. I know I would not be able to replace the bumper covers for example, but some of the interior trim, exterior trim, and even the plastic fasteners which hold everything together I would like to be able to replace and improve upon. The biggest problem would be the dash, anything on the dash would be exposed to extremely high temperatures as well as ultraviolet light. Most everything else would depend more on strength. Maybe that helps illustrate what my end game is.

 

[Mishalk1]

I would advise you to seek up reviews. Also, I would advise it for the user-friendly setup and troubleshooting because you claimed you do not know much about printers. The best choice is probably to use Quora for cutting, and a few attempts to correct the parameters will be required. Many resources and videos are available to help!

Edited August 25, 2021 by Mishalk1