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??

[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.

[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 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/2012/1...d-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.