OT: 3D Printing18555
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I just got a 3D Printer on Friday and I spent the rest of the weekend playing around with it! Does anyone here have a 3D printer or have any thoughts or questions about it? I had been getting things 3D printed via mail in services for years but they were often pretty expensive since I’m not ordering parts in bulk. This saucer for my USS Cerritos model was nearly $100 and that’s by ordering it from the cheapest place I could find in China. Other places stateside could be twice as much or more!  My USS Discovery model was about $150 printed at a local 3D Print shop  I decided to check out how much it would cost to buy a printer and do them myself. It ended up not being as expensive as it was just a few years ago and the print quality with resin printers is amazing with far less obvious layers than the filament-based FDM printers. It ended up costing about $200 for a lightly used higher-end smaller machine, another $180 for the cleaning and curing station, not entirely necessary but helpful. I bought 2 kg of liquid resin, about $70, and $50-$100 in additional small accessories and equipment. I started with some test prints and I’ve made loads of beginner mistakes already! From spills and unattached bases. I even forgot to screw down my vat once lol. I’ve been playing around with the support settings and have been getting more successful prints. Not quite ready to offer my services but I’m getting there! Here are some of my first few prints. Roberto and Hedonismbot had some failed parts, which is why he’s missing an arm. I started a print last night with a bunch of Star Trek model parts. I printed it with even smaller layer heights than my test prints just to pad out the print time so that it is done around the time I get home from work today!     I bought these models that I’m hoping to print soon, once I get more used to supporting and printing models. I’ve also got another Trek ship to print and surely more in the near future!   |
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dfoster43 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by dielinfinite that is damn cool! Well done!! |
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Josh7945 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Very cool. Thanks for the information. What do you think the cost savings are per print/piece? | ||
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Josh7945 What’s neat is that the programs you use to setup your files for 3D printing try to calculate the amount of resin you use as well as the approximate cost (based on the price you input for the type of resin you bought). So far everything I’ve printed as well as the failed prints, reprinted parts, and the resin I spilled, has been less than 1 $34 bottle of resin (and there are cheaper resin options available). The current print in my machine right now (which I’d already tried and failed to print before) has about 2 and a half Star Trek ships which would cost about $60 to print and ship using the cheapest option on Craftcloud. Granted you then don’t have to worry about reprinting failed prints but hopefully those will be reduced as I get more familiar with the machine and the process. That said, the large saucer I ordered above is actually too big to print as one piece on my machine so I would have to split it into several pieces for reassembly. Not sure I’d want to do that so I might just order that from a print shop if I needed another copy |
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 Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
That is epic levels of cool.  |
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 Whenever you have a monkey riding a horse, I'm in.
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Tom74152 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| This is very interesting. Can you show pictures of the equipment? | ||
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Byrdibyrd Thank you! @Tom74152 I don’t have pictures of my equipment but here’s the product images of the same equipment. The printer is an Elegoo Mars 3  And the Elegoo Mars XS Wash and Cure station. This is optional but convenient. Essentially, one machine agitates the isopropyl alcohol to rinse excess resin from the fresh prints. The other is a rotating platform with an array of UV lights for curing the uv-sensitive resin. Alternatively, you could just leave your prints out in the sun for a while  |
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GanaSoth private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Before I worked with HP, I worked for a company called 3D Systems for about 3 and a half years. I was in the repair department and rebuilt the printers that field service couldn't repair in the field. So I got to print on many multiple different 3D Printers to "test" them out after I repaired them. Haha. Here's a few pics of the things I printed off during my time with this company. Wife's  Mine  Colored Skull  Cthulhu Statue  Life Size Crystal Skull  |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @GanaSoth The colored skull has that grainy texture to it so I’m guessing it was one of those powder bed 3D printers. I think the first thing I ever 3D printed was a figure for a friend on one of those because it can print in any color. The crystal skull is especially impressive for the clarity. I’ve been looking into transparent resins for my printer but yellowing during the curing process seems to be a big issue and it requires extra processing after the print in order to get a nice glass-like look. The skull you have looks great. I’m guessing it’s been buffed and polished after the print or the printer/material combo is just amazing |
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GanaSoth private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @dielinfinite Yep, that colored skull was made in a powdered base one. The Huge Crystal Skull, that came out of a printer I would never be able to afford. Haha. The cost for that amount of resin (we used expired resins to test with) would have cost around $700. That particular piece is solid, and weighs about 8 pounds. It is cured, and has not yellowed. But you can also spray these clear resins with a top clear coat that is UV protected if desired. Here is a small crystal skull made from cheaper resin (and a cheaper 3D Printer) than the Crystal one above. This one was in like a wax based block so when heated, it would drip out/off that were not the actual print. You can still see some of the crystallized wax in the eye sockets that I didn't entirely clean out. A hot heat gun or hair dryer will met it out.   |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Both skulls came out really nice! Did you achieve the color transition by adding ink to the resin partway through the printing process? | ||
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Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I do NOT need a 3D printer... I do NOT need a 3D printer... I do NOT need a 3D printer... | ||
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dfoster43 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Byrdibyrd LOL Right? LOL  |
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 Suck it up, buttercup!!
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KatKomics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| My library has free 3d printing!! there is a time limit of like 2hrs but if you go to the desk they will extend it for you -basically as long as it is done printing before the library closes (cause they will turn the printer off!) you are fine | ||
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Suck it up, buttercup!!
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KatKomics private msg quote post Address this user | |
So far I've been printing travel shave stuff  |
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GanaSoth private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @dielinfinite There are many different types of 3D printers. Some solid color resins, some heat up plastics that look like a weed eater trimmer cord, some use powder, like a sandstone with normal printheads that drop the ink colors where they need to be as its making the layers (hence the grainy look in the color skull above). Metal printers use the metal powder and welds where the printed piece is using lasers. PS: Interesting fact: 3D Systems used HP ink cartridges in their 3D printers to achieve color prints. |
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Whenever you have a monkey riding a horse, I'm in.
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Tom74152 private msg quote post Address this user | |
I think they’re really cool. I don’t think I can justify one now. I will upgrade my wishlist from….. |
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @KatKomics That's super cool! Some libraries in my county have free 3D printing. I mainly use their online ordering where you submit the model online and then you get an email when it's ready to pick up. Was that a random tin and you just made the insert? It's a cool way to repurpose something! | ||
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Suck it up, buttercup!!
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KatKomics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @dielinfinite sadly I had to order the tin...same dimensions as an altoids tin! I've just been finding stuff on thingiverse to print. Need to figure out how to make my own stuff some day (or modify the things I've found!) |
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GanaSoth private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @KatKomics Thingiverse is a great site for 3D files. | ||
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 CBCS Boomhauer
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HeinzDad private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Work has a couple 12” prusa’s and a couple 24” raide3d’s. | ||
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Okay, just got a few new prints out. Not the best and there were a few failures but the results were still promising. Unfortunately I had anti-aliasing turned on which washed out a lot of the minuscule surface details. First is the Intrepid from Star Trek: Enterprise  The nacelles got a bit of a bend in them, probably because they were printed vertically and rather precariously. The saucer I think pulled away early in the printing causing the stretched beak-like front. Otherwise, the details look really nice and the fit of the interlocking pieces, particularly where the nacelle pylons meet the hull. I purchased this mold-cast resin kit of the same ship. It has the surface details that the anti-aliasing washed out but the mold was nearing the end of its life so it has a lot of rough areas and lost detail     Seeing how thin the fin at the end of the nacelle is, I’m understanding now why they decided to fill in the area on the purchased model. It’s just too thin, more like a plastic film that I probably won’t be able to properly print but I’m going to try one more time.  The other ship I did was the USS Franklin from Star Trek beyond. This one I had actually had printed via a service a few years ago and I was curious to see how I could replicate it. Unlike the Intrepid, these two were printed from the same source file. My print is on the right and the one done via the service on the left. I think mine came out with nicer, sharper details.   Unfortunately, the nacelles didn’t print successfully on mine but the nacelles I got from the service actually fit my print much better than on the service-printed saucer!   |
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Where's his Bat-package?
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Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @dielinfinite This may be one of the coolest hobbies ever...  |
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 I'd like to say I still turned out alright, but that would be a lie.
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flanders private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by dielinfinite The first thing that came to mind is the movie In the Line of Fire. I'm glad the members here are sticking to making toys and shaving kits  . |
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 Johnny, where are your buccaneers?Johnny: Under my buccan hat. |
Gotlift private msg quote post Address this user | |
here's a few things I made for the grand kids.. the main use of this printer was to make proto-types for my sons business.. But in my spare time..  The helmet and gun for a Halloween costume I also made a Captain Marvel helmet with light up rooster tail for my grand daughter    And Hulk Yoda and Wonder Woman getting ready for sealing and painting..  |
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dfoster43 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by flanders Speak for yourself! I have like 800MB of 3D files for all sorts of cray cray ephemera I just don't have a printer yet |
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dfoster43 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Gotlift I LOVE Hulk Yoda! LOL!! I would read that book in a second. Gamma metachlorians FTW!! Did Wonder Woman come with the camel toe or was that a printing artifact?  |
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Johnny, where are your buccaneers? Johnny: Under my buccan hat. |
Gotlift private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @dfoster43 Wow I'm getting old (75) I never noticed that.. I will have to check the finished model and see if it's actually there |
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Johnny, where are your buccaneers? Johnny: Under my buccan hat. |
Gotlift private msg quote post Address this user | |
| check this site it's loaded with stuff to print.. https://www.thingiverse.com/ | ||
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Johnny, where are your buccaneers? Johnny: Under my buccan hat. |
Gotlift private msg quote post Address this user | |
Use this to seal before painting.. regular bondo works as a filler.. it's available on amazon  |
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