3D Printing

[byke]

I assume there's a decent group of 3D printing barfers out there? What machines and material are you folks using?

I've had a Qidi for a while and printed a few silly things with PLA, but mostly it's been a dust collector. Now I have some stuff to make that requires something stronger than PLA, so I think I'm going to order some PETG from Matterhackers. Any settings or hardware recommendations for PETG? Nickel nozzle? Lots of retraction?

 

[R3DS!X]

I've got a knock off markerbot. never really got the hang of any creation software so i usually just print stuff from thingiverse. I think I'm using PLA, I honestly forgot. Its the stuff that acetone can melt.

Been really tempted to get this software https://www.simplify3d.com/ but haven't pulled the trigger because of infrequent use. It's supposed to make a big difference in how well and quickly things print.

 

[byke]

Yeah it's one of those things where it seems neat at first, but gets complex very quickly when you want to take that first step beyond Thingiverse and PLA with a slicer that has your machine profile built in. At first I thought of it like a toy, but now I see there's a whole world to it just as complicated as any other manufacturing process.

I use Simplify3D and love it for the noob aspect, plus all the advanced settings are right there. Figuring out supports with their software take one minute and is super easy, mirroring parts is easy, the basic stuff seems very intuitive. I did have one issue with Simplify3D and one part from Thingiverse. For whatever reason it screws up one little area. Ran it through the Qidi slicer and that cleared it right up.

I think it's best to have a couple/few slicers that you're familiar with in case one isn't handling the part well. I installed MatterControl and haven't really played with it, but it looks like it has Tinkercad built in, so you can design some basic parts pretty easily, so that's cool.

Look for .scad files on Thingiverse, then you can open them with OpenSCAD and it's really easy to adjust dimensions. They're commented out too, so you know when dimension you're adjusting.

Also thinking about ordering a Creality Ender 3 just because they're stupid cheap and it seems like it might be fun to build and setup.

 

[wilit]

I've got a Monoprice Ultimate. I print pretty much only PLA, even though I upgraded the extruder to a Bondtech so I could do some more exotic stuff. I've used it for all different sorts of stuff. Made an antweight battlebot, a cutaway Subaru EJ20 motor, just random trinkets.

For the slicer, I was using Cura for a long time and it was good, but I ended up spending the cash on Simplify3D and love it. It is SOOO much better than all of the other slicers I've used.

 

[byke]

Looks like a cool printer that could print PETG bone stock. Any pics of the battlebot, or anything neat?

I ordered the Creality Ender 3 Pro and some PLA, a roll of PLA tough and some PETG. Should be interesting. I have a little ROV project in mind and the thruster housings and props should be big money savers if they can be sorted out. Need to get some little 28mm size brushless motors and speed controllers at some point and test them out.

 

[Sharxfan]

Ew, Ew Ew, I am totally in on this thread.

I got myself a Prusa research i3 MK3 for Black Friday. I know it is on the more expensive side but after looking at cheaper ones then the upgrades you do I figured buy once cry once. So far I have just been printing in PLA using Thingiverse files. I did have a bad print one a dinosaur for the grandson but I was able to figure out the issue so I was pretty stoked. My PCs are pretty anemic so I haven't gotten into much 3D design but I am upgrading soon so I will be doing my own 3D design. I got some PLA from Amazon, some TPU and black PETG(I have some ideas for gun parts and accessories) that I am going to test out soon.

Glad to have a BARF hive mind thread for this.

Also, am totally amazed at the items that are created using 3D printers. I look at a problem and think of ways to fix it with wood or metal as that has been my go-to for so long and now this comes along and is going to take a major mindset shift to think can I fix that with a 3D printed something....

 

[scotinexcile]

Calling Dito Milan to the BARF telephone

 

[Biga]

Friend of mine got one with the carbon fiber strings and he's making cool stuff like the front brake guard, levers, covers and etc.
it's a bit messy when things don't go accordingly but besides that, it's real cool stuff.

 

[Sharxfan]

From what I have found online you have to use the hardened steel nozzles to print otherwise your nozzle wears out fast.

 

[PhoS]

Been here, done that. I have an ender3 pro at home, I play with professional level machines at work.

PETG is stringy, gotta have the nozzle temp dialed, faster travels, normal retraction but YMMV.

Friend of mine got one with the carbon fiber strings and he's making cool stuff like the front brake guard, levers, covers and etc.
it's a bit messy when things don't go accordingly but besides that, it's real cool stuff.

Mark forged? Super nice machines, I hate their bullshits cloud software though.

 

[byke]

Been really struggling with PETG, so much so that I haven't even been able to finish a print. Howeverrrr, last night I came across a site that listed a whole bunch of settings for Simplify3D that actually got me a pretty decent benchy. It was a huge step in the right direction, but still needs a little tweaking.

https://www.xyzfabs.com/forums/topic/63/print-settings-for-petg-esun-solid-black-filament/

 

[Sharxfan]

I finally got a computer with some horsepower and downloaded Fusion360 to try and edit some Thingiverse files. What a PITA to use. I haven't really done any lot of 3D creation but good god how hard does it have to be to just delete some parts and then fill them in with a solid. Will probably try again tonight. May have to turn in my man card and read some instructions and watch some videos.

I haven't done PETG yet.

Does anyone have any experience with TPU?

 

[byke]

Modeling is the worst for me and I'm super fussy about the work space. The only thing that looks tolerable to me is Autocad, but I think they went to an annual license deal, which is bogus.

 

[wilit]

I finally got a computer with some horsepower and downloaded Fusion360 to try and edit some Thingiverse files. What a PITA to use. I haven't really done any lot of 3D creation but good god how hard does it have to be to just delete some parts and then fill them in with a solid. Will probably try again tonight. May have to turn in my man card and read some instructions and watch some videos.

I haven't done PETG yet.

Does anyone have any experience with TPU?

It's a pain because converting an STL to a solid so you can edit it in Fusion sucks. The trick is to minimize the number of polygons when you convert it and try and delete some after conversion. It makes editing the solid a bit easier. Check out Lars Christensen on Youtube. He has a couple of good vids on editing STLs in Fusion.

 

[PhoS]

It's a pain because converting an STL to a solid so you can edit it in Fusion sucks. The trick is to minimize the number of polygons when you convert it and try and delete some after conversion. It makes editing the solid a bit easier. Check out Lars Christensen on Youtube. He has a couple of good vids on editing STLs in Fusion.

Use meshmixer to convert STL to mesh and export that to Fusion. :thumbup

 

[Sharxfan]

Hmm will have to see about meshmixer. Does anyone have any recommendations about any other 3D modeling software? I tried to do Sketchup but they went to a cloud-based model for their free version and it is a PITA also. I could not figure out how to import an STL and all the article Google found were for an older free version that could be downloaded.

 

[TylerW]

Hmm will have to see about meshmixer. Does anyone have any recommendations about any other 3D modeling software? I tried to do Sketchup but they went to a cloud-based model for their free version and it is a PITA also. I could not figure out how to import an STL and all the article Google found were for an older free version that could be downloaded.

Few folks have mentioned Fusion 360 around here, and that's what I generally recommend. It's relatively easy to use, really powerful, and it's free once you register for a hobbyist account or have a .edu email address to get a student license. There's plenty of other good free stuff out there - OnShape and Tinkercad are both browser based and you can get a lot done with them.

You seemed like you wanted to avoid cloud software, and I think your only free options are either OpenSCAD or Blender. OpenSCAD is great if you like writing code to generate your models. Blender is great if you hate yourself and like steep learning curves. Both are open source if that matters to you.

For the most part I'm still printing PLA most of the time. I prefer it partially because I'm lazy, but I really like when my printed part matches the dimensions I design for it. It can be plenty strong depending on how you design your parts, it's just bad at surviving shock and high temperatures. I've designed and printed some parts in PETG but I'm never happy with the print quality.

Dead thread I know, but I just found it. Fite me.

 

[Sharxfan]

Not a problem. I did wind up going to Fusion360. I haven't played with my printer for a while and need to dust it off and make some prints.

Right now I am fighting with my water filter faucet the design on these things suck and the way my sink is setup I can't get to it to tighten it down with a wrench so it comes loose after a while. I am going to 3D print something to go around the nut and then flare out so you can get a good grip on it and then you can hand tighten it better. I will post up the design here once I get it finalized.

 

[R3DS!X]

Got a CR10 recently after ages of failed prints on my old printer. Although things are not perfect it is a huge difference and I'm actually getting good prints on a pretty consistent basis. I switch to PLA which I think helped a lot in and of itself since my main issue was layer warping.

I though my old printer was just shitty but maybe it would be fine if I had just switched to PLA on it.

Anywho it's rejuvenated my interest in 3D printing and I've been designing parts and things in TinkerCAD Cause im too dumb to use the big boy CAD programs. It was really satisfying to print out something I had in my mind and then see it function.

 

[Sharxfan]

Congrats. you could also make a laser cutter out of the old printer if you still have it. Check HackADay they may have a project write up on it already I have seen it mentioned there.

I moved my office around and haven't gotten back to hooking up the printer. I need to get a bigger UPS so that I can plug more stuff into it. I have a project I need to print but have to start designing it and get the printer plugged in and going again. may have to make sure that the filament is still good and the head is clean enough......