3D Printer? Now or in the near future? Let's discuss all types and levels of 3D Printing!

[Kilrah]

No not at all, the whole point is it cuts filament to the required length itself as it runs, you just feed 2-4 spools and let it go, it will generate the filament as it feeds. The benchy has like 300+ cut/splices...
Yeah they had some issues with the original one but they fixed that in the "+" model that ships since this summer or so.



Yup, actually ordered a laser head a couple of days ago to give a try at mounting on the cnc. Will need some tinkering.

 

[Kilrah]

I've taken to even printing my own fasteners.
[...]
Then it dawned on me: Duh, I can print my own. Took some trial and error to get them sized to push in just right, but now they're a perfect fit, and look great too.

Heh, it does take some time for the "but I can actually make my own!" reflex to sink in - had the same problem at first... dang, need to go to the shop, they likely won't have the size I need, meh... oh but wait

 

[RolandW]

Have I got a deal for you! Two Haas vertical machining centers for sale: VF-2 and VF-4. Buy both and I'll throw in my automatic-feed bandsaw!

 

[Kilrah]

Forgot the spliced filament pic above...

Lathe is a Proxxon PD250, very nice little one for the kind of stuff I do.


That's called a fablab/makerspace/whateveryoucallit and you might aleready have one close to you... I guess if you want to combine what people have on here someone will need to invent a teleporter first

 

[RolandW]

I used the same white PLA as the main components of the assembly. Didn't have too much trouble getting the barbs right, but I did have to play with the size of the split between the halves. At first I had too large a gap, which made the sides too fragile, not stiff enough to hold well. Too small a gap would not allow the barbed end to collapse enough to fit through the hole. Had to fiddle with the grip length a little too to get it to hold tightly. Not sure if I'm explaining this very well...

 

[msinger]

Ever try PolyMaker PolyMax PLA? It doesn't come in many colors (and it's a bit expensive), but it's much stronger than other PLA products I've tried.

 

[RolandW]

Asking $38k for all three. Haven't heard of Craft max. I've owned Haases since 1992. They're a great value, and super easy to set up.

 

[Kilrah]

Have I got a deal for you! Two Haas vertical machining centers for sale: VF-2 and VF-4. Buy both and I'll throw in my automatic-feed bandsaw!

I'd LOVE to play with a "real" sturdy CNC, but obviously lack all of the space, $ and actual need

 

[pauls1265]

If you are going to get a Monoprice printer signup to their website so you get notices from them. They drop the prices drastically every so often. The Maker Select Pro Ultimate is frequently $250 off. I see it like that at least once a month. Their cheapest tiny one is about $200 and I hear good things on that too. I am happy with mine. It would be nice if it had a self-leveling bed but for the money, it seems to be an amazing deal.
I haven't tried ABS yet but I have good luck with PETG and PLA.

I use the Ultimaker2 ABS printer, and the results are spot on.
You get the rigidity from the ABS and it prints nicely.
Haven’t had any failures to,speak of, setup is easy. With a cad program the possibilities are endless for customization.

 

[RolandW]

I'd LOVE to play with a "real" sturdy CNC, but obviously lack all of the space, $ and actual need

FedExing those puppies to Switzerland would set you back a few bucks too!

 

[RolandW]

The first video is a Mini-Mill, and the second one is a VM-2, which is the "mold" version of the VF-2. Mine are both standard VF series. The biggest problem with keeping one of these for hobby purposes is the coolant. It gets nasty in a hurry when you don't have the machine running every day.

 

[RolandW]

Yep, that's sort of like my VF-2. Both of my machines are older, but look a lot better. Obviously, they grabbed a program at random to run for the video. They're doing a rigid tapping cycle with an indexable milling cutter, lol. Rapid rate override is also turned down. These machines will move a lot faster than this. I have a guy coming from Indiana to look at mine next week, so keeping my fingers crossed.
Modern manufacturing is fascinating. Before retirement I ran a Mazak 5-axis machining center that was fed by a pallet system, making aircraft structural parts. The machine had roughly the same footprint as my house. Before CNC, it probably would have taken a year to make the parts that I could make in one afternoon, and some of the complex geometry wouldn't have been possible at all.
That said, I expect "subtractive" manufacturing to all but disappear. We'd start with a block of aluminum 10"x16"x12' that you had to lift into the machine with a crane, and end up with a component so light you could pick it up with one hand. Most of the material would go back out the door in the form of chips to the recycler. What a waste. Additive manufacturing, where you only use as much material as is in the finished part, is certain to be the future.

 

[RolandW]

While still a little steep for hobby purposes, $4k for stereolithography is crazy dirt cheap compared to what these things cost in the 1990s.

 

[Kilrah]

SLA makes precise and good looking parts, but there is little choice in resin types and the parts are usually too brittle to be actually used for a mechanical purpose. Great for decorations and precise part dimensional validation, but for hobby purposes FDM is usually much more useful. Sure it doesn't look awesome, but it makes parts that are usable for real and with quite a large number of materials with different characteristics being available to choose from.

Most of the material would go back out the door in the form of chips to the recycler. What a waste

Well not really a waste, that material gets melted back into a block and comes back "to you" for your next part
Additive manufacturing also wastes material and that can't be put back into the cycle so easily...

SLS is very impressive though even if a pain to handle.

 

[RolandW]

Coincidentally, I'm watching a webinar right now by Markforged. The case study in the video involves a robot gripper jaw made from 17-4 stainless. The metal powder is embedded in a plastic filament, so the printing is much like what we're used to with hobbyist printers. It takes a couple of hours to print, but then the part has to be washed for nine hours. The washing removes about half of the plastic, and leaves a fragile part that then has to be sintered for 16 hours, during which time it shrinks 20 percent (software compensates for the shrinkage). Accuracy is said to be similar to casting ("near net"), so finish machining would be required in many cases.

 

[TheLightSpeed!]

Don't waste your time with the mini, I have it . then I bought the maker select. It's a great machine. The biggest problem with the mini is size. Go big or go home. You can find some great mods for the maker select to make it even better.

I got my son a Mini MP for Christmas! Black Friday on Amazon had them for $153.

For the money it’s truly unbelievable.

Heated build plate is awesome. It’s a little finicky but works amazingly.