http://makezine.com/2014/09/17/dreme...-idea-builder/

Dremel announces they are manufacturing a 3D Printer for $1,000.00!


Perfect for all those little detail parts we need!




Jeff

You can get twin extruder ones with a hotbed for under $1000.

Once you start printing there's no going back-

Beautiful Work!

Every so often I spend way too much time looking at them but I never pull the trigger. I applaud anyone who does, it just seems like there's a lot to learn before you start getting results and the last thing I need at the moment is one more distraction.

I'll eventually try to mess around with some programs and use Shapeways to test.

I had no CAD experience so a friend told me to try OPENSCAD (CAD for dummies). I managed to design a tiger track link within a few hours of downloading it.

Good to know. My fear is the time it will take to get me up to speed to print a part. I have darn near pulled the trigger a couple of times, but the fear of it becoming an expensive paper weight has always stopped the impulse.


It is really quite exciting to see where this technology is going. Purchase a set of plans for a Sherman, and then build as many different variations as you want. I think the tank market will evolve to a point where we need quality electronics, and quality mechanics to put in the tanks we build with our printers on our work bench. For the cost of a Tamiya kit, you can now purchase a 3 D Printer.

I plan on getting one as well. With Dremel you know you have a lot of support., and they seemed to have focused on the interface which is key. They understand the changing technology. They have positioned this to be everyone's FIRST 3D printer, knowing full well that as peoples skills and abilities advance they will be looking for something more later. Great strategy. KISS to start.

Initial setup can be a pain but there's plenty of help online. I was printing things within a few hours of unboxing the printer.

They look and sound complicated but it's really just a glorified hot glue gun with motors and pulleys.

Woz

LOL , I like the analogy.

You should sell these files. I think the money is in the printer files not the parts.


Cheers

Hey YHR you should check out grabcad.com and search for tank. You will be surprised at the results You can just scale them up to what you need, cut it into sections, and design a way to bolt/attach them together. In theory it is easy, but I have yet to see anyone make a fully printed RC (besides quads/tricopters etc) besides the OpenRC project.
It really isn't too hard to get into, my favorite part was setting up a webcam and remote commands to control the printer from work. It was always great to just log into a webpage and pull up a live stream of my printer bed. I can't wait until we get a new printer for work

Oh great !!! Just when I was starting to get the hang of the Hammer and Hacksaw method of model building, somebody comes out with a new gizmo to do that for me. I would love to have a 3D printer, but I have a problem. Is that building a model ---- or manufacturing a model? I started to scratch build because I got tired of taking plastic parts out of a box and gluing them together. I really enjoy scratch building a tank .... no matter how crappy it turns out! I hate machines that are smarter (and better) than I am.

Does anyone know of a cure for being a hard core Old Coot who is set in his ways and resistant to change ?
Rex

REX, I cannot offer a cure but I can suggest a mildly drastic alternative, Where ever you see "HIGH TECH" you simply smash it to pieces, there was a group in England used to do it, they were called "LUDDITES" and their punishment was transportation to Australia, well with Winter coming I could put up with a period of time in that fine country shaun

WHAT? And you're on the Internet?


Of course this is the starting point gentlemen, you must find out if it's your niche or not. If you start out on a more complex, expensive machine and find out it's not for you?

Of course, 2 machines are always better than one! LOL




Jeff

I want the machine that can take relatively simple CAD drawings and print an entire upper hull in once piece.

Suggestions?

Try this one:

http://www.micromark.com/3d-printer-kit,11656.html

I work in this industry and I'm a 3D Systems reseller. The fist thing you want is a temp controlled build chamber. While the open units are able to print some pretty cool stuff you'll have greater success if you can maintain the build environment temp.

ABS and PLA have their pros and cons. So does a dual or triple extruder machine. But please be aware some multi extruder units can accidentally contact the model and cause layer separation.

Another option is to just contract out the parts you want made. That way you don't need to keep up with the changing tech.

However if you want a 18 micron job done in your own home I'll gladly sell you an 85k printer. Or you can buy my used demo unit for 65K. LOL

I could handle being exiled to Australia, or New Zealand, or Canada ..... no worries mate

Woz, do you have your own printer or do you send your files to a third party, I see on your Priest that you have made a few parts apart from the transmission cover .

The other good point is that I can take my modelling away with me. When I'm stuck in a hotel room I can still be designing stuff on my laptop so when I get home I can print them off.

I bought my own - This one.

Most of the top half of the Priest is printed - Here's the build

Super nice Warren!

So tell me, seeing the link I put up... what are the differences between the 2 machines? Obviously you are doing this in some kind of sections or steps. Does the Dremel brand have limitations your machine doesn't?

This is what I am most interested in and maybe some commission work as well but mainly for ME.


I like your link and I am most interested in this, especially for making things like the Ersatz M10 Panther.





Jeff

Troy

Does the PLA take paint well?? I see PLA or ABS are the two materials talked about now. With ABS I hear you need to have a heated base plate for sure, PLA not so much so.

The main difference is that mine

A- has an heated bed which is vital when printing with ABS.
B- can print up to 0.5mm layers which is good for printing large objects fast (they both go down to 0.1mm).
C- has the filament spools on the back so you can use different width spools, (the Dremel is inside and it looks like you're restricted toa certain width of the spool)
D- has two extruders which is good for many reasons. I can have two different materials loaded or two different colours of the same material. I can set it to print two objects at the same time (within limitations). The main reason I wanted twin extruders is so I can put a finer nozzel on one (0.2mm) so I can do smaller more detailed parts and use the normal nozzle for the big parts*. There's no mention of the Dremmels nozzle size but they're usually 0.4mm


The Dremmels build plate is slightly bigger
Dremmel-230mm x 150mm x 140mm
Mine- 225mm x 145mm x 150mm
and it looks like it's been put together better (mines made in china).


*The nozzle size is also one of the limiting factors of this type of printing. Most printers can print layers of 0.1mm in height but the width is dependent on the nozzle. The image below shows a 1mm cube with a 0.1mm x 0.4mm (standard nozzle) and a 0.1mm x 0.2mm nozzle. (The coding at the side is how you build things in OPENSCAD).

*

Still the new guy here, learning as I go, outstanding work very nice.

Thanks for taking the time pointing out these details. I'm learning and maybe this is the 'boost' I need in my RC tanking.


And I like your priest build VERY much!




Jeff

Now that's Cool great job i would love to get one of these now how thick and how strong were your parts mainly the hull