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Post by curtis on Sept 3, 2023 23:03:21 GMT
My interest is definitely there but am very hesitant.
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Post by Adam on Sept 3, 2023 23:04:17 GMT
My interest is definitely there but am very hesitant. You can do it Curtis!
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Post by steveoncattailcreek on Sept 6, 2023 18:35:03 GMT
My interest is definitely there but am very hesitant. I agree with Adam -- it's doable, even by an old duffer like me! I recently bought a cheap ($74 or so!) "beginner" 3D printer from an overseas on-line retailer, and have been having a lot of fun with it. I set it up in my workspace, and have been able to do a lot of basic stuff, once I noodled my way through the instructions. Here's my printing workspace, with a few printing efforts next to the printer: Attachments:
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Post by curtis on Sept 7, 2023 7:52:04 GMT
So if you wanted to make something how hard is it to design it? Are there pre-made programs you just put into the printer or do you need a cad program to design something and then load it into the printer?
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Post by Adam on Sept 8, 2023 11:16:01 GMT
Curtis, there are options for obtaining the files for the objects you want to print. The easiest way is to download them. Check out www.thingiverse.com/. its free to use (you don't need an account to download). On this site many people upload what they designed. You can download the .STL or .OBJ file which would then be loaded into your printers software for conversion (called slicing) into a format you printer can read. There is some learning curve but nothing a little reading and YouTube video watching can help overcome. The harder way is to design it yourself. For this we use CAD or Computer Aided Design software. A free one and the one I use is www.tinkercad.com/. You do need to create an account but you can also use your Google account to login. This takes some practice but can be fun to create something. Once done, you just download the .ATL or .OBJ and do the same as above. |
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Post by quietman on Oct 5, 2023 14:10:01 GMT
My interest is definitely there but am very hesitant. It's much easier now than it used to be. Depending on the size of the build plate you want there are some great options. Resin prints give you the best results, but you need a large print surface and that escalates the price of a resin printer. Plus there is a steeper learning curve. If you want to try a FDM printer (lays down filament from a spool), there have been some great releases in the last 3 months for beginners. Go to youtube, type in the models I mention and watch some reviews. All of these are newer high speed printers. This will cut you print time to 1/3 to 1/4 of previous printers. Bambu Lab just released the A1 mini for $249 OR $459 with the ability to print in 4 colors. If you use their filament, which is reasonably priced, it's as close to plug and play as you can get. Build area is 7" x7" x7" Then there is the Elegoo Neptune 4 series. You'd want to look at the Pro, Plus or Max. Fairly easy for beginners, but a bit af a learning curve for dialing in your filaments. Pro $299 build volume- 8.8" x 8.8" x 8.8" Plus $350- 12.5" x 12.5" x 15" Max $470- 16.5" x 16.5" x 18.8 You'd need a lot of surface space for this one. The other new printers are the Anycubic Kobra 2 series. Unfortunately, the bigger size printers are all on pre-order The current model is $259- 9.8" x x8.7" x 8.7" There are many fans of the Prusa printers, but if you jusy want to give it a try, they are way more expensive than the Anycubic , Bambu Lab, and Elegoo. There are other options but the price goes up. I recently upgraded to a Bambu Lab P1S with the intent of making prints to sell. It was $699 w/o the multicolor option. One print job for industrial parts paid for half the price of the printer. If you get a good printer like the ones mentioned, it's actually fun. If you buy an older model, then you'll have a much steeper learning curve, and want to upgrade whatever parts you can. Plus you'll wait a LOT longer for your prints and success rates will drop because of the surface of the print bed.
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Post by quietman on Oct 5, 2023 14:19:54 GMT
So if you wanted to make something how hard is it to design it? Are there pre-made programs you just put into the printer or do you need a cad program to design something and then load it into the printer? What Adam said. Plus there's a site that's basically a search engine of the 3D model sites. Check out Thangs.com There are HO scale models you can easily scale up in the printer, O scale models and a few architectural models on many sites. Many are free, some you need to pay for. If you want to design something, then you'll need a 3D CAD program. There are free versions of Onshape and Plasticity. You're models get stored on their sites as publicly available as part of the free agreement. Then there's FreeCAD, extremely powerful, which means there is a LOT to learn, but there are lot's of tutorials for it. There are also a lot of free tutorials for the others too. For more organic modeling you'd want Blender. Free, open source, but again, so powerful there is a learning curve to it.
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Post by firewood on Nov 27, 2023 0:38:06 GMT
I'm not a 3D printer owner, but saw a cool idea from Dan Gory over on the Canadian Toy Train Assoc. FB page.
He "paints" filament-printed items with ACC / superglue. When dry it has a cast steel / diecast model appearance and the layered look is gone.
Dave
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