3D Printing
 

Making a thread about 3D printing because

1) The most recent one seems to be a couple of years old
2) Tegra_Devil tried to start one and somehow broke RS


Most consumer 3d printers come in two basic types; filament and resin.

Filament printers can be used for small objects or large ones. You can have a reasonably good level of detail that can look great if you spend time polishing and finishing them (bondo, paint, etc) or really functional prints that can be used as part of equipment that has a reasonable amount of stress and strain.

If you see folks making cosplay costumes, statues, or home made Roombas, its probably going to be done on a 3D printer. This is what you would probably print an RC car body, frame, or wheels with. They even have an open source RC car project out there but I'd imagine if you're asking this question, you're probably beyond that by now.

Filament itself is kind of like a hot glue gun shooting its load into a heated surface, cooling down that load, and running it over again and again until you have a 3d printed object. It creates an object a layer at a time until it is finished. It comes in two diameter sizes, 1.75mm or 2.85. This refers to the thiccness of the plastic cord wrapped around a spool and fed into your printer.

Most home printers use 1.75mm. It is usually enough for anybody's needs. I've used an $8000 2.85mm printer which was the size of a fridge and it was great, but its not what I'd want for my home.

There is a deep rabbit hole to go down about different TYPES of filament-based printers like type of movement, type of filament feed, etc, but thats the basic info you need right there.

Resin printers are a little different. They're about the size of a coffee maker and feature a tub of liquid that has a laser fired into it at different points in order to make incredibly small, incredibly detailed prints. People who are into tabletop gaming love this type. I have zero experience with it and right now have no interest or need for one as it wouldn't print anything I would want or use. It would be unrealistic for you to try to print RC car bodies, parts, or wheels on a resin printer but to each their own.

I'm using a Creality Ender 3 Pro. Its the Honda Civic of 3d printers. Its cheap. reliable, and has a TON of aftermarket support.

I buy filament online and occasionally in the store. I try to average no more than $20-25 per spool of filament. There is a store near me (none in Washington State unfortunately :() that sells filament for about $16 a spool and its "okay" stuff. My go-to filament is Hatchbox brand but I am always trying new stuff.


With respect to filament, you can get a bunch of different types. You can get different results from them, depending on your needs.

PLA -

This is the most common, easiest to work with type of filament. You don't have to do anything special to work with it, and its pretty forgiving. Its cheap and plentiful and will work with most of the projects you need to use it for. You can't soak the prints in water, though, as the type of plastic it is soaks up water and can be damaged by it. If you get them wet, you're fine, but you can't print kitchen things like spoons or ladles.

Don't use this on something that will be outside for its entire lifecycle. After enough time the plastic will degrade and fall apart.

PETG -

Like PLA on steroids. Its food safe, water resistant, and you can get shiny or even translucent types. It won't warp or shrink when exposed to to reasonable heat, and its about the same price as PLA. Its can be VERY particular to print with though. You can't have fluctuating temperatures in your room, and needs to be a bit warmer in order to print with. You should print this with an enclosure around it to avoid a draft ruining your print.


ABS -

This is the ABS they make water pipes and car parts and even Legos from. Its UV resistant, tough, and will work like a professionally made product. This is the kind of material you'll probably want to print impact-ready parts from, or ones that will receive excessive wear. You WILL need to ventilate your printer though because the fumes are toxic and you'll need to have an enclosure to keep the heat in because it needs to be very hot when printing.

Nylon -

Nylon. We know what it is. We make tents and and clothes and load-bearing surfaces out of it. This is ABS on steroids. Its all of the above PLUS it goes extra for the temperature requirements. I recommend ABS over it only because I know ABS is cheaper than nylon.

TPE/TPU -

Flexible filament. Its squishy. People make phone cases and shoes and other rubbery stuff from this. I've never used it but I've heard of this being used for hobby racing. This is similar to PLA in that it will degrade when exposed to too much water, so don't make a Speedo out of it because it may fall apart on you.

There are a bunch of other types including wood, metallic, glow in the dark, and even carbon fiber :nyan:. Most of them have printing requirements similar to the ones I've mentioned above.



If you're looking to get into 3d printing, walk before you run. Print a bunch of stuff with PLA. until you get the printer calibrated/tuned up properly. And unlike the Burquitlam kids driving around in their mom's old Corollas, slower is better.

I hope this helps a little bit but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I am part of a makerspace and have been printing for years and just bought my first printer. The one to get for hobbyists is the Creality Ender 3 pro. I got mine on sale for $296. A number of members at my makerspace have one or more. There is a big ender Comunity online and a ton of mods for it but the ender prints good out of the box.

Good thread on RFD.

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/amaz...r-319-2396961/

I ordered mine from here ships from a local warehouse I think Richmond.

https://www.creality3dofficial.com/c...31705333760073

Great site for things you can download and print for free.

https://www.thingiverse.com/

I want to get a SLA printer for the accuracy. I already have a Ender, Trinus and a Monoprice select for larger footprint prints but I mostly make small camera accessories so a SLA printer should be sufficient. Any recommendations? Are those cheap ones on Amazon any good?

I just make grips and hoods.
https://i.imgur.com/l7pzX9f.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/4341/3...5d254964_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/4336/3...e72678ca_b.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/o6la6lx.jpg

We have a ANYCUBIC Photon SLA printer at the makerspace. It's good but takes time to level the bed. It also smells so you need good ventalation.

That is some great info. Thanks for putting it all together for me. I'm really excited to get into printing, could be an addicting wormhole.

From what I have researched the ender 3v2 and pro are very good printers for entry. So I will probably get one of those hopefully there is a decent price for black friday. I'll keep my Eye on aliexpress as well

Also, I was wondering why when I clicked on my on thread, my phone browser was going into limp mode pretty much haha

https://www.amazon.ca/Creality-Flexi...828011&sr=8-31
Good deal for primeday for a Ender 3 Pro

So I just picked up the Creality SLA printer and its a dream to work with. Easy leveling and really accurate prints. You definitely need to work in a ventilated area though, it stinks.

Post print cleaning and curing is a bit more involved than FDM printers though, IPA or acetone baths to clean off the resins and then curing.

I designed a quick phone holder for the car to fit in the blank aux switches:

https://i.imgur.com/CypU27S.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/UL576iZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VQW0NB1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fjRDxTg.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/90cTu3u.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rtjgWjj.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/L4rHVyO.jpg

Im looking forward to not having to unclog nozzles anymore.

How is the smell?

Terrible. Burning plastics smell with a hint of sourness.

Anycubic photon zero resin printer $99 US.

https://www.anycubic.com/collections...32179052347523

So if I wanted to make my own toy models I'd get a resin printer?

After the items you make harden, are they fragile? Squishy? Rock hard? Spongy?

Seems like it'd make a neat Christmas present, or neat to make presents with one :lol

They are hard.

My ender 3 v2 just showed up at my house last night. I cant wait to assemble it today, dial it in, and get some prints going.

I already want to buy an SLA printer as well. Are the fumes toxic and need to be vetilated?or is it just a gross smell?

Creality the best bang for buck with SLA as well?

I have a work shop in my basement, but dont really have ventilation besides my bathroom fan downstairs. No windows open :P

I wouldn't keep the SLA printer anywhere near living spaces. If you can keep it in the garage or a separate workshop room, it would be best. Same if you're gonna print with ABS with the ender.
As for bang for buck? I just bought they one manic posted as well so I'll be able to compare the two. 99 bucks is too good of a deal for me lol.

Ya, only planning on printing PLA, TPU, and PETG with the ender.

I guess I could put it in my garage, if I get a SLA.

bump.
I just got into 3D printing too....

I'm thinking of getting the Voxelab Aquila.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08KZDQVVM/

Reviews have said it worked great and it's basically an Ender 3 v2 clone. At $260, that seems like a good deal.

Picking up a used Anycubic Mega S tonight to try dabbling in 3D printing.

Anyone have filament recommendations for brands?

Hatchbox and Overture seem popular. Overture is on Amazon as well as eSUN, AMZ3D, and a few other brands.

For PLA what ever is cheap. $20 or less is a good price point when on sale.

I'm having pretty good luck with Overture filament, though like Manic! says whatever comes at a good price at around $20.

I picked up a Bambulab X1 (not carbon) and the thing is leaps and bounds better than the Ender 3 V2 it replaced. Not having to tinker with the machine itself and spending more time finding and printing useless trinkets is worth the price tag :lol

Is there any specific reason why any PLA brand filament is fine? Something to do with its properties?

The recipe for PLA is pretty standard. It's like buying bottled water. No mater what brand you buy they all do the same thing.

Ended up buying some PLA from Canada Computers. Creality matte PLA for $25.99 for 1KG. Hopefully there's a sale by the time I finish both spools.

Currently running the calibration print included on the SD card. I think it's printing a cube.

It's so cool, lol.

You fool. You are suppose to print a Benchy first!!!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:763622

Printed a few things so far.

A faceplate for my printer, a picture stand, and a bracket for the Ikea Besta to make it more rigid.

https://imgur.com/a/wFCSg8W

Noticing a lot of nubs on curved surfaces. Any ideas on what could be causing this? Rest of the print where the surface is flat is pretty good.

The motherboard in my unit is a 8-bit one. I read a 32-bit one might help with curves since the nubs might be appearing because my printer is taking too long to move onto the next line of code.

Also noticing some stringing/oozing. It always happens on the top left corner of the bottom right square (last square) of this bed leveling square STL - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2789086. It happens right after the square is finished printing and the carriage moves back to default position. Not sure if the retraction amount is too low and speed is too slow.. my profile is set to 4mm and 30mm/s. PLA filament is rated for 190-220 and I'm using 200.

Ok, so my previous question was probably related to z-seams. I've been paying more attention to the preview tab of Cura now, checking on how it prints per layer, infill patterns on lower density, seams, supports, etc.

Spent 10 hours printing a tilted stand for my coffee grinder. Came out very well, but needed some minor cleaning afterwards.

Watched some videos on the Bambu P1P and now I want one.

Fuuuuuuuuuu