3-D Print General - Feeding Printers Filament

Just Some Other Guy said:
For technical parts, as long as you didn't need tight fits it would work. Though for big, technical parts FDM is usually a lot more practical anyways.
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this, resin cost alone would probably make it unfeasible.

if you wanna go big might as well go full SLS or jet fusion.
 
I printed the kiwi from the sites svg file. I am quite proud of myself
20201129_224517.jpg
 
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Distant Stare said:
I want a large format SLA machine. I am impressed with the quality, but I am disappointed with the size of most machines. A while ago, someone tried making a really large format machine using a TV screen. The problem was the weight of the resin distorting the screen.
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I think at this point the Peopoly Phenom is kind of the sweet spot for large SLA. Got real close to pulling the trigger on one of those but all the post processing on resin just isn't something I want to deal with right now.
 
Distant Stare said:
The state of the art is relatively excellent. To get a high end machine for home use you can spend about 700 dollars or so on a Prusa MK2. This printer runs its self and in many years I have never heard a single complaint about it. For 200 dollars you can get an Ender 3, which is perfect for everyday use. It can print PETG (a strong material) really well.

Over the last few years what has really caused machines to increase in quality is

1) Better software (slicers and Marlin firmware)
2) Decreased price from more manufacturers entering the market

The Ender 3 comes with an all aluminium body. A few years ago that would have been rare.

There are also resin printers for 200 dollars that create prints so detailed that they are measured in a few microns. These printers are perfect for making miniatures, models, and other small things.


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Resin printing is amazing, but super messy, and really needs PPE for handling uncured parts
 
Just Some Other Guy said:
Eh, it's not nearly as bad as Reddit makes it out to be. Some yellow kitchen gloves are all I use to dunk prints in acetone for cleaning. Super easy, super cheap.
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That's all that's required, but nonetheless it's not the best thing in the world to get on your skin since the chemicals leech in through it, or dumping uncured resin down the drain.

Elegoo Resin MSDS
 
Many of the same kinds of 3D printing materials actually work very similarly. I claim much, but both the poor and the good end of the spectrum always have exceptions.

For Budget: PLA's Esun. There is also Esun PLA+, which is not as delicate, but more Ivory is their 'White'.

Hobbyking PLA for even more budget and general crap prints: I don't think you should be cheaper than that. Here are some more reviews (https://printerhow.com/led-vs-laser-printer/)

I have not checked many colors of Esun, but I have learned that some are not as vivid or saturated as they ought to be (Whites varied in shade, but those were from different batches 2 years apart so maybe just a coincidence, and black are quite nice). Since you're in the UK, I bought the colors and the plastic is good for my filaments (Filaprint brand). If you buy more, you can also get free UK delivery and free samples.
 
It's p exciting that we now how resins that are remeltable, increasing shear and tensile strength to near-virgin polymer levels...

Next is 3d powderprints...
 
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So I have read through the thread and was wondering how up to date the OP still is. I ask because I am looking to get into 3-D plastics but have no idea where to start for the home machinist.

I have an extensive background in machining, both manual and CNC, along with some tangential experience with SLM in an industrial setting. How much cross over is there in the G-code, both reading and writing?

ETA: I am mostly looking for a way to make casting cores as I want to get into sandcasting
 
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SmokeyMcRunFast said:
So I have read through the thread and was wondering how up to date the OP still is. I ask because I am looking to get into 3-D plastics but have no idea where to start for the home machinist.

I have an extensive background in machining, both manual and CNC, along with some tangential experience with SLM in an industrial setting. How much cross over is there in the G-code, both reading and writing?

ETA: I am mostly looking for a way to make casting cores as I want to get into sandcasting
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Up to date how? I guess the printer recommendations hold up. I've got an Ender 3 Pro which I got on the cheap. It's a structurally sturdier version of the regular 3 with a MeanWell PSU with a few other improvements. There's also the Ender 3 V2 to make things more needlessly confusing, a field which Creality excels at.

The Enders are chinesium chinkshit:
  • Assembly instructions are shit: watch at least one good assembly video.
  • The boltheads are too shallow and if you use the rounded end of the hex keys it may strip somewhat and become stuck.
  • There are different versions of mainboards marked as the same version/revision, 8-bit or 32-bit.
  • Creality claims that you can upgrade firmware by sticking the bin file on the SD-card and boot up, this is not true for my machine and neither can I do the upgrade through Cura. It's probably lacking a bootloader, but I'm not buying the extra hardware to try and flash that shit.
  • I learned yesterday that the mainboard cooling fan is tied to the parts cooling; if you shut off the parts cooling for printing ABS or PETG the stepper drivers will overheat and lose steps, ruining your prints and eventually frying the drivers. This is easily rewired but utterly retarded.
  • The filament will rub against the threaded rod for the Y-axis, potentially getting greasy which is not ideal. Best to put a little shield in between.
  • The cooling for the hotend will push hot air down onto your print. This can be remedied by printing a better fan shroud and put the fan into a pull configuration.
  • As the PSU is 24V you'll likely need buck converters to step the voltage down to 12V if you want to put in better fans that are not Boeing 747 loud, or if you want to power a Raspberry Pi from the PSU.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot, but ultimately I would recommend the Ender 3 Pro as it works well despite it flaws and most issues are solvable fairly easy. Buyers should expect to swear at the Chinese quite a lot.
 
SmokeyMcRunFast said:
I have an extensive background in machining, both manual and CNC, along with some tangential experience with SLM in an industrial setting. How much cross over is there in the G-code, both reading and writing?
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In 3d printing, generating the tool path is more or less a one-button operation. There's no need to fuck around with CAM software - you just load a mesh exported from your CAD program of choice into your slicer and it does the rest. The resulting G-Code is dead simple and just a series of linear movements - here's a command reference for the most common 3d printer firmware.
Most of the work is just fine-tuning the tool parameters, like printing temperature.

The best 3d printer to buy depends on how much you're looking to spend and how much you're willing to fuck around with it. On the bottom you have the Anet A8 Plus, which is mind-bogglingly cheap at around 140€ delivered for a larger volume printer and a great choice for people who like to tinker because they follow the open-source i3 design pretty closely. Following that you got the Ender which has better community support and is easier to put together for around 180€.
Then you get to the higher quality "just works" Chinese 3d printers like the Qidi X-One for around 300€ which don't need any modding to work well and reliable.
The Chinesium printers actually work pretty well but if you want Western QA you can get the Prusa i3 for 770€ (1000€ pre-assembled).
 
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Why don't 3d printers have sensors (i.e. ir distance sensors) to determine the exact position of the nozzle with respect to the print bed? Then you could adjust the nozzle very precisely, without having to calibrate beforehand.
 
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hundredpercent said:
Why don't 3d printers have sensors (i.e. ir distance sensors) to determine the exact position of the nozzle with respect to the print bed? Then you could adjust the nozzle very precisely, without having to calibrate beforehand.
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They do, but not the really inexpensive ones. The newest Prusa i3 does, I know for sure.
 
hundredpercent said:
Why don't 3d printers have sensors (i.e. ir distance sensors) to determine the exact position of the nozzle with respect to the print bed? Then you could adjust the nozzle very precisely, without having to calibrate beforehand.
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You can get a mechanical sensor such as a bltouch for around $40 or a chinese knock off such as the 3dtouch for $15. I use one on my shitty ender 3.
 
Vecr said:
They do, but not the really inexpensive ones. The newest Prusa i3 does, I know for sure.
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clsk11 said:
You can get a mechanical sensor such as a bltouch for around $40 or a chinese knock off such as the 3dtouch for $15. I use one on my shitty ender 3.
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Those are just for the Z-axis. I mean something that gives you absolute X, Y, Z coordinates of the print head. Wouldn't this mostly fix inter-layer shift?
 
hundredpercent said:
Those are just for the Z-axis. I mean something that gives you absolute X, Y, Z coordinates of the print head. Wouldn't this mostly fix inter-layer shift?
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Is there really that much variance in the XY axis? Z is a big deal because printing surfaces are almost never flat and level. The printer should know the XY by distance traveled, assuming the hardware is actually working properly.

Or am I thinking about this wrong? It's been a couple years since I've messed around with filament printing.
 
Just Some Other Guy said:
Is there really that much variance in the XY axis? Z is a big deal because printing surfaces are almost never flat and level. The printer should know the XY by distance traveled, assuming the hardware is actually working properly.

Or am I thinking about this wrong? It's been a couple years since I've messed around with filament printing.
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Yeah, the layers aren't totally accurate with respect to one another. Bed level calibration already exists.
 
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