3D Printer Discussion

[MegademiC]

Wow, $160?

I haven't been keeping up, but, I may need to buy.

Can you use metals or plastics only?

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

I might be projecting on the Ultimaker , though that dual nozzle integration seems the best thought out. With the rest, I just think it is features, (heated bed, extruded and hot end) and the support you'll get when things go wrong. Look at the RepRap Prusa printers for ones that need assembly and don't have factory support to Ultimaker on the extreme other end. Printrbots fit my comfort and feature levels. I really haven't looked at printers in over 24 months

[TAZ]

I do a little printing. Myself and 2 friends have an Anet A8. It can be had for about 160 bucks. And it works. It is the cheapest printer out there, but requires assembly. None of us have complaints, although it works best with PLA plastic. It's a great gateway printer. I'm a buy once cry once kind of dude, but in general 3d printers are getting better and cheaper year by year. No sense in spending 1k on one right now for hobby use.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

That Anet 8 looks like a good little father - son project. What CAD/Design software do you use to generate the 3D data to be printed?

[P2000]

That Anet 8 looks like a good little father - son project. What CAD/Design software do you use to generate the 3D data to be printed?

It would be. It takes several hours to assemble and is fun. Designspark for CAD, then Cura to turn the file into the gcode toolpath file which the printer uses. There are lots of cad programs out there.

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[P2000]

Wow, $160?

I haven't been keeping up, but, I may need to buy.

Can you use metals or plastics only?

Yeah, it was too cheap to pass up. Gearbest dot com has the cheapest price, and they have sales. I haven't explored all the various filaments, not sure what works and what doesn't. PLA is going well for me.

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[FromMyColdDeadHand]

If you go past PLA resins, you will need a heated bed. Until you get to the Ultimaker or Makerbot level I would plan on having to do repairs and tweaks. Building your on will give you the confidence to tear it apart and repair and rebuild it. Replacing hot ends, tweaking extruders, replacing broken end stops, replacing bad bearings are all part of the game.

I'm more interested in materials and functionality of the final part then the printer. To be the printer is the means to the ends, and the least interesting part of the whole chain.

[P2000]

If you go past PLA resins, you will need a heated bed. Until you get to the Ultimaker or Makerbot level I would plan on having to do repairs and tweaks. Building your on will give you the confidence to tear it apart and repair and rebuild it. Replacing hot ends, tweaking extruders, replacing broken end stops, replacing bad bearings are all part of the game.

I'm more interested in materials and functionality of the final part then the printer. To be the printer is the means to the ends, and the least interesting part of the whole chain.

My anet has a heated bed. If I remember right, it is set to 50 degrees C for pla printing. I have heard if much higher bed temps for other plastics are needed, it can struggle to keep up though.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

[MegademiC]

If you go past PLA resins, you will need a heated bed. Until you get to the Ultimaker or Makerbot level I would plan on having to do repairs and tweaks. Building your on will give you the confidence to tear it apart and repair and rebuild it. Replacing hot ends, tweaking extruders, replacing broken end stops, replacing bad bearings are all part of the game.

I'm more interested in materials and functionality of the final part then the printer. To be the printer is the means to the ends, and the least interesting part of the whole chain.

Same here, maybe I'll find someone to print stuff for now. I don't have time for all that.

[kwelz]

I do have one.

Posted here a while back about possibly printing gun parts and got some opinions. Decided to just go ahead and do it.

Best damn decision I have made in a long time.

I ended up getting a Powerspec Ultra 3D. It is produced by Flashforge for Microcenter. Duel extruder, Heated bed, the works. And it is only 500 bucks or so.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4...tra_3D_Printer

I figured I would use it for a few big things. Frankly I find that I use it almost every day. All the little things you always say to yourself "Hey I need something to do X" . Well guess what. You can probably find a design for it, and if not you can use easy free design software to build it.

I have also found that https://www.thingiverse.com/ is probably the single best source for designs. You can find just about anything you need on there. Even some gun parts like AFGs and rail sections.

Stand for my laptop when using it on my desk? Done.

Under desk mount for some computer equipment? Done.

Specific sized picatinny rail for my KRISS? Done.

The list goes on.

How about a Flash drive/SD card organizer?




Or a baby Groot that my wife has wanted for her desk?




Honestly it isn't even the big things I thought it would be useful for. Oh yeah it is great for that. But it is the little things. The "It would be great if I could do this" things.

I will say this. A lot of the generic software is kind of Meh... I ended up spending the money to buy Simplify 3D for prepping and slicing models. And I use 123D Design for custom Design work. Although I haven't had to do much of that at all.

[P2000]

Problem: Precision Armament washers do not have a chamfer. Some muzzle threads are cut without clearance for such washers. As seen in this photo, the gap between the washer and shoulder.



Solution: fire up CAD and 3D printer, to turn drill into a lathe, to make a fixture which holds the washer in the drill to rotate it and make a nice chamfer.







Sure there are other ways to solve this problem, but I had fun doing it this way. This is part of the fun of 3D printing. Design things and make them. Learn. My dream is to take an idea, prototype it and perfect it with some help from the 3d printer, then start a business. I already have an idea, but it is going to take a while.