3D Printing, Anyone Else On Here??

[kb0nly]

I added a 3d printer to my bag of tricks this month, been busy with it a few weeks now. Just about everything black you see on it in the picture i made on the printer, some of it was downloaded from Thingiverse and some of it was made by me in Tinkercad or 123D Design.

Anyone else here in the 3d printer crowd??

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[yaegerb]

Suwheet! I didn't even realize the public could by these?? Two questions....what do you mean by everything in black you made? Second question is can you make small 3 wheeler part re-creations or would you need a more advanced cad software?

Very trick setup! I want one!

[kb0nly]

If you look at the picture all the parts on the printer that are black are plastic parts that i made on it to upgrade the printer. Like those tool bins on the side, the adjustable leveling feet on the bottom corners, the filler pieces in the top corners, the piece that holds the LCD display and spare SD Cards on the front. All those parts were printed on the printer to upgrade itself. LOL

There is also a few other parts you can't see, i made some new extruder filament feeders for it and some better spool holders on the back. I spent like a week upgrading the printer with stuff that it needed or i wanted. Of course i spent a lot of time printing little trinkets for the kids and various other tidbits, just to familiarize myself with the printer and the software.

I have designed a few electronics project boxes and some other things, nothing fancy yet, but cool to just make a part when you want it! This one is a Makerbot Replicator Dual, it has two extruders and it can make two color parts by modeling the item to print two different colors. They have been available for a while now, this is the first gen replicator, they have the second gen and the 2x for sale now.

They are not cheap new but there is cheaper knockoffs available made by a few companies if you look on eBay. They are not too bad either i know someone with a CTC from China, works pretty good, and there is one called a FlashForge that is made by another Chinese company. They both look like the Replicator, like rip off close. You could get one for $700-$900. I got this Makerbot used with a ton of filament and supplies, got a really good deal on it and it had really low hours when i got it, only about 8 hours of lifetime use and i got it for less than half of new!

Anything that you could 3d model that could be converted into one of the many file formats i can deal with in Cura or Tinkercad could then be sliced and put on the sd card for the printer. Its a pretty easy process to go from 3d model to printed object.

[Ghostv2]

Likewise, i didnt know the general public was part of the market for these. I thought it was still fairly new and would be big $$$.

Remember the little plastic LEGO trikes and other small plastic trikes? I wonder how hard it would be to make something like that. Just a cool little nick knack, probably wouldnt be functional. Like wheels move and all. Just a cool idea, being this is 3WW. :)

[aldochina]

guy riverrat on the board has one i believe. look up his thread about short track tank production, he was trying to print one. made some fork caps to , info is here somewhere. very cool stuff for sure, have fun with it!!

[oile]

I bought one of those tanks from river rat they are pretty bada$$

[briano]

Time to start making your own AR lowers. Hehehe

[Dirtcrasher]

Those are awesome!! And the price is getting more achievable for the average guy.

Just think, Lego's forever!!

[maxdallasfan]

Can you print me a right fender for a Big Red please :)

[Stonewall]

Wow that's awesome! I didn't realize they could be had for under $1000. How hard is the software to use? The only CAD I've ever tried to use is Solidworks, and I can do absolutely nothing with it lol.


Can you print me a right fender for a Big Red please :)

As soon as I saw this thread I was thinking side covers lol. :D

[kb0nly]

Why print a plastic AR lower when you can buy an aluminum forging and drill it... LOL

I have printed some legos for the kids, they work right along with store bought legos no problem. You could make custom lego parts that are hard to find or don't exist very easily. Wish i could print fenders, that would be pretty slick, but its definitely not that level with these machines.

The software isn't hard to use at all, but the software that you really use with the printer, for example Cura and Makerware, is really to just pull up the 3d model and slice it to gcode for the printer. Designing has to be done in other software. I have played with solidworks, its good but a little complicated for basic use honestly. I have been using TinkerCad, its a web based 3d designing tool that runs in your web browser. It looks really basic i will admit but i have seen guys replicate some really extensive parts on it.

The build platform is just 9 inches long by 5 7/8" wide and it can build up to 6 inches tall. Anything beyond that in size you would have to cut it up into pieces. But i have been able to make some really cool stuff on it! Its not just trinkets either, yesterday the shelf brackets in the bathroom medicine cabinet broke, looked on thingiverse first so i wouldnt have to reinvent the wheel and sure enough someone designed some. Downloaded and printed a set in about fifteen minutes and fixed it.

[CRAZY70MAN]

Ya...I have been into 3d printing for a few years......in the stock market:lock: Still do not have one though. I have preached to many for those few years to get involved.....they missed the boat...... Cool stuff ya got there. Have you seen the large scale ones they print in aluminum and other materials??? Unreal..........gonna change the world those printers......I tell ya. http://3dprintingindustry.com/2012/11/30/objet1000-connex-platform-launched-at-euromold/ This will reinvent the world of restoration on cars,trucks,atvs and everything else as we know it. Gonna be a flurry of legal issues to come as well I am sure.

[OTAlucard]

I Am Waiting for the price to come down to buy a bigger one that can print Short track shrouds and fenders and stuff that you just can't find sometimes for engines and stuff

[Billy Golightly]

Old thread I know - but there is a great documentary on netflix right now, "Print the Legend" that I found to be a remarkable take of the industry, really, really interesting hour and 45 minutes watching that.

[Airmapper]

Interesting, I'll have to check that out.

I got lucky to work in a design dept. and have a cool boss who throws a new Makerbot Rep2X box at me and says, figure out how this works. That machine is a lot of fun to tinker with. If I had more space I'd get one for home, but as few projects as I've had, the boss doesn't mind if I use the company machine. After all I got to keep it tuned up, don't want it boogering up a company part you know. Last week I made a new gas tank vibration bumper on it for Dad's 250SX.

[250rAL]

On Big Bang Theory they printed a whistle. A whistle has a ball in it. Could you actually print a whistle with a ball in it?

[Airmapper]

On Big Bang Theory they printed a whistle. A whistle has a ball in it. Could you actually print a whistle with a ball in it?

Yes, quite possible.

I haven't had an opportunity to try it yet, but the machine I use is compatible with dissolve-able filament. You use this material to support the ball , suspending it inside the hollow cavity. After the print is done, you soak it in a substance that dissolves the supports, leaving the ball free inside the cavity.

[kaymo]

luckily you can still get the lego three wheelers. i have on came with my lego island game!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xlego+ three+wheeler&_nkw=lego+three+wheeler&_sacat=0

[czac]

Suwheet! I didn't even realize the public could by these?? Two questions....what do you mean by everything in black you made? Second question is can you make small 3 wheeler part re-creations or would you need a more advanced cad software?

Very trick setup! I want one!

Pretty cool but can you make a wife who doesn't complain?? once you figure out how, let me know! lol

[kb0nly]

Pretty cool but can you make a wife who doesn't complain?? once you figure out how, let me know! lol

I don't think even the best 3d printer could achieve that....

Man have i really been away from the forums most of the summer? Glad to see winters return and more time to enjoy the computer and my hobbies. First snow storm of the season is rolling into the midwest, put the plow back on the 200ES Saturday and got everything ready to push snow again!

The 3d printer has been more then a hobby this summer, started designing and selling various stuff on eBay, not big bucks being made but hey every little bit to the fun budget helps. I just bought a second 3d printer, a CTC which is a chinese knockoff of the Replicator 1 Dual. Can't wait to have two of them running when i have one tied up on a 10+ hour print.

[honda200x1987]

https://youtu.be/l3TgmvV2ElQ

[leevarnado]

i was at lowes yesterday and seen the dremel brand 3d printer.price is around $1000

[kb0nly]

The Dremel printer is quite the gimmick... The Davinci is nearly the same. The biggest problem is its pretty much a PLA machine only, it doesn't have a heated build platform, and most guys that bought them spent a lot of time and effort improving the filament feed on them since its designed to take the special Dremel branded filament spools that sit inside the machine. Most that have them made an external feed so that larger unbranded, and significantly cheaper, spools of filament can be used!

I don't know what else to say about it other then its really gimmicky, like hey we sell one to, it doesn't do as much as a printer that costs half as much but its cool colors and it says Dremel on it!

You can grab a cheap CTC brand printer off eBay now days for under $500, sure they have their weird oddities because they are a cheap knockoff, but after having one for some time now, and rebuilding and repairing a few of them to resell, about the only major issue i ever had with them is really crappy wiring problems that can be solved in an afternoon of tweaking. 3d printing has become more then a hobby for me, its literally paying its way here. I sell a lot of little odds and ends stuff that people are looking for, custom design little parts and pieces, and i think i keep my local post office in business with the bins full of packages going out every day!

221649

Its been great to make a little money on the side to enjoy other hobbies with. And every time something breaks around the house i can print a replacement! LOL... I always see youtube videos talking about whether someone is using their printer for a practical application or just printing widgets from thingiverse, i definitely print the practical applications. Just the other day i made a case for a cheap little digital audio player with built in headphone amp that i got, its getting good reviews in the audiophile community, Xduoo X2, i just wanted to get rid of that darn iTunes once and for all, but nobody had a case for it. So i designed and printed a case and made a belt clip for it, now it comes with me all day while i'm out doing landscaping jobs.

Change the world for sure!

[Billy Golightly]

The thing that has stopped me from really getting into these so far is the modeling aspect and making the build files - how easy is to actually design something like a phone case like you mentioned you made?