Star Trek is here...
 

A little over $300 and some fooling' around and the future is on my bench.

Less than ten minutes after I had the idea to make a gear, I had it in my hand.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2158680http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2158681

So how about self center levers? Like for the turnigy TGY-i6, maybe? :cool:

Nice!

I have a crapload of things lined up to do with, from animation armatures to water tight servo housings for my Subs, not to mention making a 1/16 RC Goliath. :)

That said, if you design the part you want (I assume it's just a flat arm type) and send it to me in STL, I'll print it. Google SketchUP is free and takes a few minutes to learn. That gear was designed in seconds using it. It's a functioning gear that is harder than nylon (it glows in the dark too). I have ABS filament in the way.

Gary, honestly, you're the perfect target for this type of thing. It's less than the cost of your next tank and you of all people have a thousand things you could make with it for your tank village. One of the Sketchup tutorials shows how to make window and door frames.

I thought I'd be using this for rough things, testing out prints before sending them off to Shapeways. But I'm printing at 100 microns. My first clean print was a 20mm ring. The resolution is so good, you can easily see the arcs SU uses to define a circle. I didn't smooth it out in design since I didn't expect it to show up, we're talking about a ring the diameter of a penny. In terms of strength, I can barely distort it by squeezing. I bet I could stand on it if it was a little wider (it's 2mm). If this was styrene it would snap with almost no pressure.

Buckets, ammo crates, etc...you could be a 1/16 accessory factory.

Jeff, this is something I've been thinking about for quite a while, but this is the first printer that seemed decent for less than about 800 bucks. I have to say that I'm very pleased that you bought one, and if you still love it in a few weeks I may well follow suit. I'd appreciate it if you would kind of pay attention to operating costs (like I have to ask, eh?) so you can give us an idea of what it costs for supplies. You buy the plastic in rolls, right? Looks kinda like the stuff you put in a weedeater? You definitely got my attention when you said window and door frames. :cool:

I am I missing something, what printer is this?

Well, a 2 lbs roll was $24 shipped (that's the best company and glow in the dark) and in two days of printing I used about a foot of it. The spool is 8" across with a 3" core so I'm guessing there's a whole lotta feet on it. ;)

There's almost no waste and the filament is 1.75mm. So if you made a 1/16 fuel drum hollow with a 1.75mm wall thickness, it would take as much filament as you could wrap around one. I thought it would be an issue too, but I don't see it being one.

I expected the spools to be the size of a weed wacker too, but they're more like an air cleaner for a Holly (terms you can understand :) )

Wow!!! Jeff that is to cool. Really only $300 who makes it?

It's a compilation of parts offered as a kit from RepRapGuru on Amazon. You may be able to get the parts separately cheaper or through Alibaba, etc, but they support the purchase and offer all the parts as well. Every single part is replaceable, I'm glad I went this route over just spending $350 on a prebuilt that left you high and dry if it failed.

They give you everything in one box, manuals online, wasn't hard at all.

Pretty sweet Jeff! 3D printing is really coming along to help out scratch builders save a bunch of time and headache on things such as turret rings, hatches, accessories, etc. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with in your lab.

Theres going to be no stopping you now. The technology scares a lot of people but once they try it and find out how easy it is then there's no looking back.

Woz

Thanks Jeff I will check RepRapGuru on the Amazon!!! This may pay for my membership!!!

Does the replicator run on matter anti-matter collsion stimulated by dilythium crystals?

cool stuff man. The options for you are now endless.
is it possible to print im styrene? Just curious.

Not styrene, but ABS, so you can glue styrene to it...

3d printing for the win! I can help you out with any issues, I built 3 of my own design epic printers.

Thanks!

I'll take you up on that. My only issues so far have been with bed height. When I get that tweaked right, it's a dream.

I tried ABS last night for the first time, it was a bit more tricky than PLA and honestly, I'm not sure the trade off is worth it. I thought I'd go ABS for gears, underwater servo housings, etc for strength, but it seems more flexible than PLA. Plus the smell is a bit off-putting compared to PLA. Sitting next to a that for 8 hrs may get old quick.

I had to jerry-rig my hot end thermistor (waiting on replacements) by shortening and soldering the leads so I don't know if it's entirely accurate. For PLA I run it straight on glass at 235C for the first layers, bed at 80C, then 230 and 70 and it works like a charm, perfect pieces, no lifting, skipping, beautiful perimeters.

For ABS, I had to go to 265C with the bed at 95. Printed nicely, but the first layer took a few aborts before I got it solid and had to use tape.

I'm going to make some PLA cylinders with ends to test water tightness over time (although I'd be sealing the real housings with resin), if it works well, I'll really keep the ABS for projects where I have to glue things together or to styrene. My 'big project' is to make functional ballast tanks for a 1/72 type VII U -boat. It'll have to be done in a series of cross sections glued together, so I may have to go ABS.

It looks a little like this one: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._US_Plug_.html

I still have issues with getting the bed height right on mine, I just use a piece of paper under the nozzle while adjusting the bed screws (Mine has a 3 point suspension of the bed, probably different from yours)

I would recommend using exclusively ABS. While technically PLA is "harder" its also much more brittle, it will snap and crack. ABS is soft so it allows much greater functional part strength. Only down side of ABS is you need everything to be very hot. I print 250C, 265 might be a bit too high. I also have my printers fully enclosed and bed temperature of 110C. Without an enclosure larger parts will warp.

One of the best needed things is buy a very thin sheet of Ultem PEI like: http://www.mcmaster.com/#8685k41/=1263sb2 (Too thick will warp up) and get yourself some high temperature 3M double sided sticky tape to apply it. ABS printed on PEI self-releases when the bed cools down, also produces a very good bottom surface finish. PEI is like magic and you never need to replace it, just clean between prints with rubbing alcohol. I think PLA works with this also.

The smell of ABS is defiantly toxic for sure. I have all my printers in their own separate room with a fan sucking the air out a window.

I would go with ABS for RC sub parts they would be allowed to flex under the water pressures. PLA would probably crack. I use ABS to make the RC snow blowers I sell, they hold up very well in very cold temperatures.

Attached a couple pics of my printers.

Urethane casting has gone the way of the dodo...

It is a trade-off I think. Casting/molding produces far better quality and once you actually have the molds its much faster if your trying to produce many of the same piece. 3D printing is super fast and a lot less effort, easy to make changes or simply test a part. Not nearly as good quality though, strength yes, finish no.

3D printing also has the advantage of making things that you simply can't mold, like under cuts and overhangs etc. I print my 1/16th tracks for my Scorpion kits and they come off the printer "pre-drilled" and ready to pin. Can't really do that without a insane complex multi-part mold.

Thats an impressive setup. I'll give ABS another try with a hotter bed.

I have a sizable booth for airbrushing and the resin casting gear (vacuum and pressure chambers), I could always add on an enclosure for the printer if I go full ABS.

In terms of casting, 3D printing is amazing for prototyping, but it doesn't gain an advantage over production since making 50 parts will take 50 times longer than one, while a mold of 50 pieces will get you 50 as fast as one.

But it certainly has it's advantages as well described by Moo. Yesterday I needed a small long clamp. I went into Sketchup, went to the printer and within about 15 minutes I had a working clamp 50mm long with 3mm X 3mm jaws extended 40mm from the pivot (I used an existing mini clothespin spring). A working tool that didn't exist previously, in my hand and now in the drawer ready for it's next use.

Two weeks ago if I needed a figure base I had to find a cylinder the right size, cast it in resin then shape it to my needs. Yesterday, I opened SU, used the circle and follow me tool, exported a STL, sliced, g coded and printed a perfect base in under 10 minutes total.

It really is ridiculous. ;)

Fine!!

It's bad enough to want all kinds of additional tanks (etc.) and modifications, now we got 3D hardware to consider....;)

You did a great unintentional marketing job here and in your review at Amazon Jeff... it only took two days to break down the resistance. My box should be arriving Monday or Tuesday...lol!!!

It's not really your fault, I had been thinking about this off and on for a couple of years. You were just the catalyst :D and RepRap does a good job according to the reviewers.

(Actually, the kit sells itself pretty well too!!).

So, thanks for sharing and how are you liking the glow in the dark?? - I am kinda of liking all those florescent colored filaments:cool:

Regards,

Terry

Good deal Terry. I've been using the thing pretty much daily since I built it and have already used it exactly as I hoped, RC parts as well as armatures for figures.

Unless you already have a background in CAD, I'd grab SketchUP Make before you get your kit and play around with it. I grabbed a bunch of books from the library on it and 3D printing in general, but I figured out most of the pitfalls/solutions by then.

Just this morning I needed a part to make a turntable. 63.56mm across, with multiple depths for a gear and a center pin. In about 5 minutes on the computer and 20 minutes print time I had the precise part in my hand.

If there's any questions once you get the kit, fire away. The online manual is a bit different than the kit I got (simple things that they've improved, you'll see), so don't get put off, especially by the hardware bags. Everything is in there, even though it seems like you're a bolt or two short.

I leveled the table before I set it up, but I also needed to secure it to the table. I built it on a flat surface (this will all make more sense when you get it), but must have tweaked it when I moved it to the table because I had a hard time leveling the bed consistently. Instead of rebuilding the frame, I squared it by securing it to the bench, but if you're careful, you shouldn't need to. Once I had that set, it was smooth sailing.

Two things that gave me trouble post assembly, both with the Z axis. Easy fixes, but easier if you do it during assembly. The nuts that the Z drives push are supposed to get pushed into the housings. One of mine popped out no matter how what, it's best to glue them in. Second, theres a fine adjust screw for setting the Z end stop. Don't use it, there's enough play in it that it won't 'home' consistently. Just set the stop like the others, on the motor or frame. You're printing at 100 microns, so a tiny bit off the home setting is enough and the screw movement is enough.

One thing I didn't understand at first was the end stops just set the home position, not meant as a safety stop. Home position and temperature is everything. Once both are set to the bed and material, you're golden.

This probably all sounds scary, but it isn't. It's all stuff I figured out just playing around, you'll find out a bunch as you go along too. The software works very well, you setup the file as a STL, then Slic3r preps it and generates the g code, the Repetier runs it. It'll turn on the bed, once it heats, it'll turn on the extruder, once it's at the temp away it goes.

Mine has almost paid for itself already. I've printed end caps for water tight chambers for my subs. Completely set up to my specs with O ring grooves and tapers, soon to have servo mounts, etc.

The Glow in the Dark stuff is cool, almost transparent, but I haven't really looked into how bright or long it glows yet. The Hatchbox filament on Amazon is great so far, I bought both PLA and ABS. You'll need some to get started. The Gurus will send you a roll of their stuff once you're up and running and happy.

I would recommend using ESUN, cheapest but best filament I've found. Hatchbox is good too though. Black ESUN from HobbyKing is as low as $15 for 1kg spool.

About bed leveling - I do it before every single print, and I do it while everything is at temperature. The bed heating up and cooling down will change the surface and the nozzle itself will change length while at temp.. I print really long prints so for me its critical every single prints 100% flat and set right.

I still need to try and setup some kind of auto leveling system cause it really is a pain to level them. Your first layer is critically important for the entire print. Too low and parts could come loose, top layers could have gaps, lower strength, too high and all layers will be over extruding and change all the dimensions, and top layers will look badd.

Also getting your extruder steps fine tuned is really important too. Same issues listed above can happen if your not extruding the right steps per mm.

Thanks Jeff, good things to know on the setup.

I had already downloaded SU to go with the other printer software (newer versions available there too - which the setup guide said there may be). I had used Turbo Cad for a few years, but was last century (LOL!!).

I ordered the basic black filament to start, but that wood seems interesting to mess with ;) - it's another money pit!!!

Got two books for the library - one on SU and 3d printing.

Have you tried changing extruder yet to see if there is a better outcome than what you are getting (or is it a future task or...)? Only ask as I spent 1 of those 2 days of delay researching what others had done/said and that was one topic involving the final finish on the printed piece.

You had mentioned filament use in an earlier post, now that you've done a few (read ton) more jobs:) how is the usage?

I know what you mean about the potential uses, I have been awake in the early hours thinking about this or that and how it'll work out.


Moo - thanks for the "growing pains"