Anyone into 3d printing?

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KnightRid
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Anyone into 3d printing?

Post by KnightRid »

I would love to get in to it but the hardware seems to be really expensive unless you know a lot about engineering/building them. Does anyone mess around with them? Curious as to first hand knowledge of user experience rather than watching videos or reading reviews online. There are so many out there it is daunting right now.

I looked into getting an idea I had printed but holy crap, it would be cheaper to spend $300 or so on a printer than get a simple thing printed! I dont get it.

Do they use a lot of electricity? Loud? Smelly? Better to get a bigger one like the Creality cr-10 (or s) or to stick with something smaller? The design I came up with needs 6" to print properly too.

Might be neat to see some 3d printer reviews on Legit Reviews main site! Maybe if I get one I can do a noobie video series or something. Might not be till next year till I can get one though....
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bubba
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Re: Anyone into 3d printing?

Post by bubba »

yup. I have a PowerSpec 3D Pro2. Groot I printed playing with time lapse https://youtu.be/-eiTMtirOZ8

There are 2 types of 3D printers. Your Chinese clones, and your prosumer levels.

Chinese FDM imports like the Creality CR-10, Micro Center rebrand Power Spec, Anet, Monoprice Maker Selects... these are your sub $700 range printers. AVOID SUB $200 Printers. Stand a high chance of burning your house down.

Prosumer FDM Prusa i3 (gold standard sub $1000), Flashforge, Lulzbot, Ultimaker, Raise3D...

SLA.. Formlabs. Not cheap, nasty chemicals, crazy resolution though.


Noise, yeah. Cheaper the louder. The stepper motors are what is loud.
Smell, depends on what you're printing. PLA and PETG not so much, ABS yes. Either way, dont want it in the same room you're setting anyway. You're melting plastic. Best to have it in a enclosure.

ABS is fickle, PLA and PETG are easier to print. Avoid Nylons until you have gotten a good footing on printing.

Never really measured the power draw. Basically a glorified computer controlled glue gun. Most are 12/24v, run power supplies similar to PCs. The hot end gets to 190~250*C depending on what you are printing. The bed if heated, up to 100*C.

Bigger the item, longer the print. My longest print so far 19 hours.


If you want to have a lot of space, I would look at a Creality CR10-4S. Massive print volume, can get them sub $400 on amazon, but if I was to get one I would go to https://tiny-machines-3d.myshopify.com/ and get it there. Its a bit more, but they test the machine first. Creality is China based, QC on packing is not the greatest.

If I had the cash, I would get a Prusa i3 Mk3. Bit of a wait, but has loads of nice features. Auto bed leveling, and SUPER quiet. Or a Utilimaker 3.

Middle of the road, Mono Price Maker Select Plus or a Micro Center Duplicator i3 Plus (basically same printer)

The slicing software (what makes the code from the models) there are many out there. Most popular is Cura (free). I use a paid program called Simplify 3D when I got into printing it was the only one that let me do custom supports and variable infill.
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KnightRid
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Re: Anyone into 3d printing?

Post by KnightRid »

Thanx Bubba :)

I have Cura installed and used it to do my idea to get a general idea how long it would take to print and just to see if I could get it right.
bubba wrote:Basically a glorified computer controlled glue gun.


LOL - I never thought of it like that but it is the perfect description!

The Prusa is amazing with quality, just wish the pricing would come down a bit (a good bit)

Monoprice seems to be hit or miss from what I read. Some people have no problems but the ones that do say the tech support/customer support is absolutely horrible. I have been looking at the Plus as a top contender since I can get it through amazon and use some gift cards I have on there. Although if you look back I know I posted about 3d printing before and I still havent gotten one :oops:

SLA is amazing. Period. But yea, I dont want to mess with the nasty chemicals and stuff.

How much waste do you get from bad prints, failed prints, etc? Is it something that drives the cost up by needing a lot of extra filament?

Do you think a kit would be more beneficial in the long run compared to an assembled (or mostly assembled) machine?
Remember, I am opinionated and nothing I say or do reflects on anyone or anything else but me :finga:
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bubba
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Re: Anyone into 3d printing?

Post by bubba »

KnightRid wrote: I have Cura installed and used it to do my idea to get a general idea how long it would take to print and just to see if I could get it right.
Generating the GCODE and it printing can be two different things lol, but 99% of the time the projected time is off by the slicers. The longer the print, more off it is.
KnightRid wrote: How much waste do you get from bad prints, failed prints, etc? Is it something that drives the cost up by needing a lot of extra filament?
Almost every print will have waste due to supports unless it was designed/cut up to print without supports. Check out this Optimus Prime head up I printed last night https://imgur.com/a/0svEeKC you can see the supports as printed. Need a little more cleanup for paint, but you get the drift.

The better the model, and how its sliced up for printing, the less likely for misprints or failure. Crap in, crap out. Sites like My Mini Factory have quality files. I think they require a proof print to even be listed on the site. Unlike Thingiverse where people can upload anything printable or not.

Every printer is ever so slightly different. So even though a slicer has a printer profile, it will need tweaking for your environment. The learning curve can be a bitch, cheaper the printer, more hurtles you may encounter. Thats where picking a printer with a large community behind it will make your life a little easier.
https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CR10/
https://www.reddit.com/r/wanhaoi3/

Also, just like the printers there are cheap filament and expensive filament. Cheap like Micro Centers Inland or Hatchbox that can be had for $14ish/1kg roll of PLA to something like a 500g roll from Proto Pasta for $50. I would pickup a couple rolls of hatchbox off amazon to cut your teeth with, then look at getting some nicer material. I'm pretty much using PETG only now and get it from https://coexllc.com/

I don't even want to get into the crap for flexible filament lol
KnightRid wrote: Do you think a kit would be more beneficial in the long run compared to an assembled (or mostly assembled) machine?
If you are handy and have some mechanical skill a kit would be fine. If you want to be up and running in under an hour vs a weekend, look an almost ready to run or assembled setup. The Maker Select Plus is almost ready to run, you have to put the base and the upright together, connect a couple cables. Same for a CR-10. Printers like my PowerSpec are pretty much unpack, setup, and print.


Some YouTube channels I like for good info

3D Printing Nerd https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_7aK9 ... 8ERh1MewlQ
Makers Muse https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxQbYG ... 2ND-AfIybg
Thomas Sanladerer https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb8Rde ... ROUVg46h1A
CHEP Filament Friday https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsdc_0 ... FEn2dRDJhg


Finishing/painting
Punished Props https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC27YZd ... PgjztxanEQ
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KnightRid
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Re: Anyone into 3d printing?

Post by KnightRid »

I bought Maker's Muse 50 3d printing tips book last year :)

Your powerspec looks just like the qidi printers http://www.qd3dprinter.com/ ....hmmm No Micro Centers around me though. Only one in PA doesnt carry them either.

I got a geekgasm looking at how nice that print looks. TMI? lol
Remember, I am opinionated and nothing I say or do reflects on anyone or anything else but me :finga:
AdrianG001
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Re: Anyone into 3d printing?

Post by AdrianG001 »

KnightRid wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 2:52 pm I would love to get in to it but the hardware seems to be really expensive unless you know a lot about engineering/building them. Does anyone mess around with them? Curious as to first hand knowledge of user experience rather than watching videos or reading reviews online. There are so many out there it is daunting right now.

I looked into getting an idea I had printed but holy crap, it would be cheaper to spend $300 or so on a printer than get a simple thing printed! I dont get it.

Do they use a lot of electricity? Loud? Smelly? Better to get a bigger one like the Creality cr-10 (or s) or to stick with something smaller? The design I came up with needs 6" to print properly too.

Might be neat to see some 3d printer reviews on Legit Reviews main site! Maybe if I get one I can do a noobie video series or something. Might not be till next year till I can get one though....
Been into this for some time now. Started from scratch by assembling my own printer, now we try to do a living by selling , designing and repairing other 3D printers as well.

The over all experience is always great , but the learning curves are seep slope.

you are most welcome to get connected we can tell you more info about our company 3D prototyperz and more into 3 printing .


Regards,
Adrian
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