3D printing (2 Viewers)

[Jaws]

Any one in to 3D printing ?
I keep coming up with things I could do with ( mods, design changes something entirely new ) and THINK I might benefit from owning a 3D printer
Not overly worried about the printer its self or the mechanics of using one, but what I am concerned with is how easy or hard the software involved in making parts is.
As far as I can gather the software is essentially in three parts
CAD
CAD to slicer
Slicer

As a total beginner is there a CAD program that is reasonable easy to use ? I admit that I am proly gonna get totally baffled ( esp as some of the intended parts are quite complex )

Once past the CAD I can proly work the rest out

Oh.. After a bit of research I have discovered that the prefered processor for the machine is still 8bit.
32 bit are getting common place but the consensus seems to be they can be glitchy
With that in mind, I have an old 486 or P1 PC in the loft..
Thoughts on what PC to use would be useful ( I do not want to tie up the main machine for long periods )

 

[Revolvor]

Duplicate.

 

[Revolvor]

My sons both use this for their 3D printed models

https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/fusion-360/personal

 

[Jaws]

My sons both use this for their 3D printed models

https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/fusion-360/personal

Looks good

 

[Two on Tour]

Jaws John, I have not used this program myself, but it might be worth a look at as and introduction to CAD design. There are quite a few tutorial videos on YouTube for the program and using it to 3D print.

FreeCAD: Your own 3D parametric modeler

FreeCAD, the open source 3D parametric modeler

www.freecadweb.org

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[Jaws]

Jaws John, I have not used this program myself, but it might be worth a look at as and introduction to CAD design. There are quite a few tutorial videos on YouTube for the program and using it to 3D print.

FreeCAD: Your own 3D parametric modeler

FreeCAD, the open source 3D parametric modeler

www.freecadweb.org

Cheers.. I shall download it and have a play tomorrow ( Got my hands full updating a web site tonight ! )

 

[the1andonly]

If you are an rs customer (radio spares) they have a free 3d software for download.

 

[dabhand]

I have a man that will make me anything I want in titanium with his £2 mill CNC machines, I cant think of anything I need as I’ve got the formula 1 steering rack , what do you want to make John, do let me know when you have researched everything as I do fancy one but for the life of me apart from a broken part off my tenon machine which I fixed with epoxy, I can’t think of anything I want, but I know I need one though!

 

[Revolvor]

My sons both use this for their 3D printed models

https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/fusion-360/personal

Another one is "Blender" for more free-form models, rather than Engineering models.

This article compares Fusion 360 with Blender - sorry, but a few adverts!

 

[ukdw]

3d printing is great fun and very good for creating little accessories or repairing things. I initially started off with Tinkercad for modelling which is quite easy to use to create basic models, but does have quite a few limitations- all browser based so simple to try out.

More recently have been using Fusion360 which is more complicated, but much more powerful.

Really fascinating seeing the 3d models then become real 3d objects.

Re the 8 bit vs 32 bit question, this relates to the 3d printer itself, not the pc running the cad software. Any reasonably recent pc, Mac or laptop should be sufficient to run the CAD software.

You then usually export an stl file from the Cad software into the slicer software, which then exports a gcode file which the 3d printer uses to do the print.

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[Jaws]

3d printing is great fun and very good for creating little accessories or repairing things. I initially started off with Tinkercad for modelling which is quite easy to use to create basic models, but does have quite a few limitations- all browser based so simple to try out.

More recently have been using Fusion360 which is more complicated, but much more powerful.

Really fascinating seeing the 3d models then become real 3d objects.

Re the 8 bit vs 32 bit question, this relates to the 3d printer itself, not the pc running the cad software. Any reasonably recent pc, Mac or laptop should be sufficient to run the CAD software.

You then usually export an stl file from the Cad software into the slicer software, which then exports a gcode file which the 3d printer uses to do the print.

Hopefully some time over the weekend I will have time to have a play..

I only mentioned the printer processor to see how low spec wise I could go with a pc and still drive it ok.. I have some ham radio related gadgetry that will not talk to a late PC no matter what !
I have a laptop running win10 and not a lot else so I will use that to play with

 

[Revolvor]

............. Really fascinating seeing the 3d models then become real 3d objects............

I agree. I worked as a Design Engineer, for a Sub-Sea Valve manufacturer, using Autocad Inventor. I used to love going into the machine shop and seeing lots of metal components, that had been pixels on my screen a few weeks earlier, and knowing that months later they could be on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[Vic. Parsons.]

I started 3D printing back in May.
A freind recommended using Design spark mechanical produced by RS components.
It's free and relatively intuitive and didn't take long to get designing fairly complex objects.
Then I started using Ultimaker Cura slicing software which was ok after a while but took a fair bit of head scratching and trial and error but I got there in the end and managed some decent prints.
I bought a BIBO touch 2 twin extruder printer with a modest 203 x 180 x 180 build volume which proved to be more than adequate as a starting point. Not a bad printer with a few mods later on once I got the hang of it.

A couple of major pointers are:
Get the build plate properly and accurately levelled. I started using the paper supplied as a feeler for distance of extruder nozzles to build plate. usually 0.2mm. I gave up with the paper and started using a 0.203mm feeler guage instead and had far more accurate results.
Adhesion of the model to the print bed is crucial, if it comes unstuck or lifts on a corner or side, the print is toast.........ask me how I know. I did a fair bit of printing with ABS which is tricky because of shrinkage so a good adhesive like 3D lac sprayed on the print bed is a good move.

Good luck if you set out to do 3D printing because it's a fairly steep learning curve to start with but very rewarding if you persevere and accept that you'll have many failures as well as successes.

This is a picture of an ABS print in progress back in June:

It's being printed with a brim (the thin layer of stuff surrounding the objects) which help with adhesion by increasing surface area.
All designed with DS mechanical to produce a fine quality STL file and then sliced with cura.

 

[Vic. Parsons.]

I should probably have mentioned that the design stage needs to account for the limitations of the printer regarding support structures.
Any overhang greater than 45° or bridge greater than 5mm will require support which needs trimming away afterwards unless you use a twin extruder printer with a special water soluble fillament from the second extruder.
The designs can often be tweaked to print entirely without support, so it's worth bearing this in mind in the CAD stage.

 

[olley]

Chrome is not happy downloading Design Spark and MS didn't want to run the install.

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[Vic. Parsons.]

Chrome is not happy downloading Design Spark and MS didn't want to run the install.

My download worked fine on windows 8.1 using Firefox but I chose an older version of DS than the current one which requires you to be online while using it I believe. (Not great if you're travelling in a motorhome)
You do need to go online to launch the older software but if you leave your pc on standby if you go offline, it'll be useable until you do a shutdown.
When travelling I just use my mobile phone plugged into the laptop to launch DS mechanical then once it's up, unplug the phone.

Below is an example of DS cad drawing and is a shot of the screen rather than a screen shot.
It's a design for a fillament spool holder with bearings to give a nice frictionless feed.
One spool holder needs four of the top image as two pairs and the two parts of each work as a rotation to make one side. It's adjustable for different width spools with threaded bar through the inner holes.

This single piece laid in the slicing software with the near side in the picture facing up is printable without support.

The two halves joined to make one side.

If the bottom image was printed as a single piece it would require a lot of support no matter which way it was oriented in the slicer.
So this gives an idea of how to design for minimal or zero support.

This design went through a few iterations before finally printing this in PLA without support, the angled lattice is steeper than 45° so although quite delicate during printing, will print fine:

 

[dabhand]

Uh hu

 

[olley]

Bought a Ender 3 yesterday on banggood £140 inc delivery, comes as a kit so should have some fun putting it together.

 

[Lenny HB]

We have a cheap Geeetech for the money it's not bad.
I found the quickest way to get started is to go to:

Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects

Download files and build them with your 3D printer, laser cutter, or CNC.

www.thingiverse.com

Where people upload designs and a lot of them allow you to customise them which is how I made the adaptors for my roof vent SOG install.

Well worth looking at this guys videos, he looks a bit young but teaches 3D printing seems to know what he is talking about.

 

[John Barrett]

I've owned a Prusa Mk3i for about a year now. Bought as a kit for £700: worth every cent! This was one of the first jobs: an embossed sign for a sandwich board that I made. I went on to more sophisticated bits...

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[Insider]

Bought a Ender 3 yesterday on banggood £140 inc delivery, comes as a kit so should have some fun putting it together.

building as a kit is really good as pretty much any home 3D printer will need maintenance and once you've spent the time dialing in a 3D printer you've built up a good knowledge of what the major sticking points are. I've a Prusa MK2.5S and I must say it is a fantastic piece of kit. Auto leveling. Removable print bed etc. Creality is making some cracking kit as well.

One point to help the OP - I use a raspbery pi to control the printer. It runs OctoPi and allows me to send the job directly from the slicer to the PI and then start, stop and monitor the printer from any web browser. Thingivrse.com is a great resource to get printing before you start down the design route.

 

[Lenny HB]

One thing the software to control the printer I have to use Win 10 a right pain as if I haven't fired it up for a month it takes hours to sort out its updates.
So far I've failed to get the software to run in Linux.

 

[olley]

Thanks guys just joined Tinkercad that looks about my level.

 

[foxy]

Hi if your looking for a project how about as spiders web design to hold diesel pump for Chinese heater in a square surround to fix .Tried the usual tiewraps but dont like it under van looks a bit of a bodge would look more professional in a purpose made spiders web design mounting may be a sales opportunity

 

[St3v3]

Coming from a job around CNC machines it took me a while to get my head working the right way to draw stuff. In production you would take a big block of metal and take material away until you got what you want. Mostly the other way around when drawing.... Once that clicked it became a lot easier!

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[Revolvor]

My sons both use this for their 3D printed models

https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/fusion-360/personal

Since making this recommendation in October, I have been learning AutoDesk Fusion 360 myself. It means that I can send models to my two sons, for them to make me things, without having a 3D printer.

For anyone learning Fusion 360, I can recommend a series of tutorials on YouTube by Brad Tallis. He is an Autodesk employee and has been doing an hourly live tutorial session once a week for over a year. He has a great teaching style, and is very methodical and thorough. This is a LINK to his first Tutorial in the series (#1 of 77!!)

I'm up to #9, and learning a lot. In another life, I used Autodesk Inventor, but that was a long time ago.

 

[dabhand]

So, show me a picture of something that’s actually worth making as I fancy one, or, are they just big boys toys and not worth the effort?

 

[jockaneezer]

So, show me a picture of something that’s actually worth making as I fancy one, or, are they just big boys toys and not worth the effort?

How about this ?

 

[stevec]

I bought an Ender 3 over the summer. I've just finished printing a pendulum clock which took several dozen hours to print (3D printing is not quick!). I've also made a replacement roller bracket to fix the shower door (replacements are not available), plastic bits for my ancient Workmate, a reinforcement for my MH TV aerial. I've just printed 24 numbers for the advent calendar my wife is making for our grandkids (many brownie points scored) and am now printing the names to go onto said calendars.

I've used Fusion 360 for the little design work I've done. Otherwise Thingiverse as a good source of designs. I have yet to seriously get into Fusion 360 but am grateful that there are plenty of videos online.

I got my printer from Technology Outlet who are in the UK and very helpful. Latest version now under £200.

 

[dabhand]

How about this ?
View attachment 441669

Actually that’s pretty cool, is it full size and is it playable?

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