3d printing. I need advice, which printer? Child friendly? Easy for non Computer guy to use?

[HBARleatherneck]

The price range I am looking at is $500 +/-.

I have looked alot at the Creality CR-10S, Tevo Tornado, Wanhao duplicator I3 plus, and a ton of others. I had thought I had decided on the Tevo Tornado, then I heard there was a posibility of shock hazard with their 110 volt heated bed, most of the others run 12v beds. I dont buy the cheapest or smallest of anything usually, so I am looking at a decent sized machine at a low mid range price.

Thanks

[newracer]

I was considering getting a MOOZ. The bed is kind of small though.

[DFBrews]

I have a robo 3d plus and it is dirt simple setup and to use

[bradbn4]

No such thing as adult friendly let alone child....simple to play with - depends on the size of print, consider one from Monoprice if you don't want to assemble everything.

The kit style does provide a very interesting education on what makes the printer tick.

Design software will be fusion 360 (student / tinker /under 100k business) is free.
Cura as a slicer
or was that http://slic3r.org/

The best "low end" kit that busts your budget prsua MK I3 IIs
The best assembled "low end" setup: https://www.lulzbot.com/about-lulzbot-3d-printers
what you should get if going "pro" MakerBot Replicator+

The Tevo style printers are a good kit; lots of mods are required to make it work better and become safe(r).

The first thing you end up doing with the lower end kits is to print parts out to make the kit less low end. You do know that some of the local libraries do have 3d printers that can be used? I know Colorado Springs provides access with support I think from Maker space. You do need to take the safety class, and they might require adult supervision.


To kick the tires to see if it is worth your time? https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=21711
The big disadvantage to the above printer is what materials you can print....
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13860 does provide better options for printing materials and the size of the object.

Join the facebook groups for 3d printers that you are interested. I does provide some good info that might direct you which way to go.

[Brian]

Interested to see the feedback here. I just bought a maker 3d v2 over black friday. Figured if I actually find a use for one or get into it, I can always upgrade.
Been so busy that I haven't even unboxed the thing yet though.

[Irving]

That's pretty cool. Knock out a bunch of those, paint them, then you can sell them at Tanner!

[buffalobo]

What is the capacity hbar? How long to print the cat? Looks about three inches tall.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim

[Irving]

Can it integrate different colors into the same object? That seems like it may be way more complex. Either way, the detail on that cat is pretty impressive. It looks like the sky is your limit when it comes to creativity.

It'd be interesting to see if you could build some sort of plastic buckle or clasp, and test the strength vs a store bought one. I'm thinking like the plastic components of what are on back packs.

[buffalobo]

Thanks. Been thinking about this for projects for the minions and I since you started thread.

Keep posting updates and experiences.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim

[Circuits]

12" x 12" x 16" capacity
the cat is 3" tall and was 3 hours 17 minutes.
I dont yet know if you can speed it up since I just got it. Its quiet though so you can just go on about your day and let it do its thing.

That's an amazingly large build volume for a hobbyist class machine.

You can usually up print speed quite a bit, depending on the capacity of your extruder, by increasing the feed rate, but you will have to experiment to find a sweet spot. You can parse your slicer files to determine how long any print should take, based on total linear head movement down divided by your head speed.

[bradbn4]

Very good work getting your first print job to work without too much issues.

My Prusa I3, Mk2s seems to work a bit more reliable than the new Mk 3. Both printers are quite new, so I am in the early stages of figuring out things.

Once I dialed in the temp settings and z-axis offset the Mk2S seem to work about 95% of the time.

I am still in the process of dialing in the Mk3, and my hit to miss ratio is abut 50%.

The one thing that helped a lot for me was to find a good profile for the printers and make sure I use them.

[bradbn4]

To speed printing up you can change the quality of the print, the fill level, and a few other tweaks within the slicer type program.

[added]
[they went out of business and I most of the filament turned out for me to be too poor to use]
www.makergeeks.com (http://www.makergeeks.com)

has a grab bag of filaments that you can use to help dial in the printer with a specific type of filament. Only used this material on a few items that seemed to work ok.
Freq sales, and I think free shipping. The grab bag you request the size of the filament and the style (PLA, etc), and they pick an over stocked color.

[Eric P]

But can you print a gun yet?

[y4m4]

I agree with bradbn4: a 3D printer is more or less an expensive toy without the desire/ability to 3D model and Fusion 360 is a great way to do it. There is a large library of models out there, but the learning experience available from downloading-and-printing them is limited.

I have a tevo tarantula and it's a good printer, but also a project. It took me about 6 hours to assemble and another day to get it printing right between tweaking settings and adjusting the printer. A bonus of a kit is that you become very familiar with the machine if you ever finish assembling it... Mine sat for 3 months before I had the motivation to put it together. A friend has a Monoprice printer and I'd say that's a great place to start for a casual user.

As for materials, PLA is awesome. ABS can be a huge pain in the butt to print.

[Irving]

If you can get them to print a primer catcher for my 550B and RCBS turret head Rock Chucker, I'll gladly buy them.

[Erni]

Ok folks, my turn for a printer. I am thinking about getting the Folgertch FT-5. Anyone have experiance with it? The CR10 is potentially anothwr option. Cant find much detail on comparisons.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

I have two Printrbot Plus, one a dual head and the other with a 0.8 nozzle on it. That 0.8mm nozzle is the bomb for printing out hand size or larger things 0.6 layers and 1.0mm traces for walls...

I only print in PETG (T-Glase) now. Little glue stick on the bed and no more adhesion issues, or far less than with ABS. PET-G is pretty tough too.

Machine wise, I'm looking at the Prusa i3 Mk3 with a multi material head. I might hold off until one of current ones die. They are based on the ceramic hit ends and they don't make them anymore. I'm converting the single head to a new E3D Titan Aero. The dual looks like too much of a PITA to convert the way the z-carriage is rigged. The Prusa seems pretty good, and the multimaterial looks like an interesting option.

I'm looking more for multimaterial ability than size. I'm still scared by ABS prints being knocked off the bed due to bad adhesion- and the larger the print, the more likely that is to happen- and ruin a long print.

The real issue is learning CAD software to make what you want. I'm still a CAD idiot- and I use TinkerCAD to cover my limited abilities.

[Erni]

Well, I pulled the triger on an FT-5. Will be here on Monday so no fun this weekend.
Stay tuned for fun in the coming weeks.

[mattiooo]

If you can get them to print a primer catcher for my 550B and RCBS turret head Rock Chucker, I'll gladly buy them.

There are several guys in the different Dillon Groups on FB. This is one example:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/928962933789215/files/
The top PDF from Karl Bibb is his catalog.

(I tried attaching the PDF catalog but the upload kept failing)

That one has a primer catcher with and without tube. Not the rock chucker though.

I know they are all selling things that are out there for download, so someone with a printer should be able to get the original files.

ETA: I uploaded the PDF to my site. You can see it here: https://suburbangunowner.com/images/3d-items.pdf

[bradbn4]

I have managed to print out a few useful (non-toy) items with my printer. While PLA is down right easy to work with; the more useful PETG can give ABS a run for the money in strength; without having to drop the printer in an enclosure.

Simple search on Dillon from Thingiverse shows a few items you can download and print.

https://www.thingiverse.com/tag:Dillon

the link still works; even with the smiley face

[Irving]

Thanks

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Yep. To me PET-G, specifically T-Glase is the way to go. I had all kinds of bed adhesion issues with ABS ruining prints- and even if it stuck the warping was a PITA. Never really took to PLA, don't consider it a 'duty' plastic.

T-Glase is tough. Build-tak surface on a heated bed at 60C with a glue stick. Very little problems. Made some new retaining plates for my MP 15-22 mags because I was sick of the followers springing off when I cleaned them. Made it so that are captured on the spring. A new spigot mount for my Sinclair tripod and a Labradar aiming device from a thread on The Hide. Barricade stops for my AR gamer gun. All kinds of do-dads for around the house.

Sprinkler knob broke, to lazy to go to Home Depot, Printed a new one. A Caboose for my wife's families 'One Scale' german electric train- boom.

Makes me wish I had taken more CAD classes. That is the real limit for me. From minds eyes to STL file is bad for me.

[Irving]

How difficult is CAD to learn for people without that background?

[Erni]

Some learning curve on CAD because you have to figure out the concepts of the tool. A block with a hole, sketch square and circle and extrude. Or extrude square and do a hole feature. Etc..
To me easy, but I do CAD for a living.

[Irving]

Sounds like there are people who learn the basics, then level two is expanding possibilities with creative engineering thinking outside the box?

[Irving]

Is anyone making plastic cans (suppressors) for low powered applications yet? Are the operating temps for cans outside what the available materials can handle?

[Wulf202]

Is anyone making plastic cans (suppressors) for low powered applications yet? Are the operating temps for cans outside what the available materials can handle?

There have been atleast 1 plastic and 1 metal 3d printed can that I know of. If you bum around arf you can find the details

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

I think the CAD thing comes down to how much time you use it. I go in spurts where I get a bug and I start doing three different prints of things. I use TinkerCad online. It is amazing what you can do when you spend a couple of hours with it on something. The problem is that I then go three months with nothing done and I get rusty.

Tinkercad is the simple draw things easily and then subtract from them. It has basic and some complex shapes in it- and you can get some pretty complex models out of it. My main issue is that it is more qualitative than quantitative. If the whole thing I'm working on is in Tinkercad, I can get everything to line up. If it engages in something in the real world and needs precise dimensions and placement of things like holes- that is an issue, at least for me.

I will say, that the first time you have a problem and you get out your calipers and CAD something up, print it and it works- that is a pretty sweet feeling.

[bradbn4]

That is neat - I started to look at tinker cad tonight....was thinking of making a 1" npt to 3/4" SH adapter. After a bit of puttering and you tube watching I bought said parts from Amazon.

That sort of part would be perfect to make on a 3d-printer - petg material would work fine. So when the part comes in; I will mic it to and start playing again in the cad software.

[Erni]

Big box of parts arrived. A few items "bruised". Sorting and counting done and assembly has started. If none of the bruised parts hold me back it will be running soonish...

[Erni]

Printer is up and running. Printed some PLA cubes, cows and dial indicator brackets.
Figured out that without a fan PLA is no bueno. So need to print and figure out a fan.
Adjusting the steps per mm using a dial gage, and then need to dial in the extruder. Dial gage is not a popular for setup, but I think it's the right way to go.
Dealing with some under voltage on y axis, but it is working.
Once I dial it in and learn how to print right I will work on some other upgrades.

A lot of fun, but man it's a steep learning curve.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

It is a brutal learning curve because of all the ways things can go wrong. It is amazing how a whole evening can evaporate working out a problem.

PLA is often a place to start. I really like PET-G, like T-glase from Taulmann. Great inter-layer adhesion, good platform adhesion and cool look. I get usable parts out of it.

Wellcome to the affliction!

[Irving]

Anyone see or hear anything about this yet? Scroll past the buy it now part for more info.

https://bgr.com/2018/07/27/3d-drawing-pen-discounted-on-amazon/

[O2HeN2]

Necropost, but this topic is already established here.

Today, and today only Prusa is having a special on their brand new MK4 printer (https://www.prusa3d.com/product/original-prusa-mk4-2/) and MK4 printer kit (https://www.prusa3d.com/product/original-prusa-mk4-kit-2/). At $799 the kit slips in exactly $1 short of having to pay duty on it (so don't order ANYTHING else along with it!). The kits aren't hard to build, but you do have to take your time to assure you do everything right.

I can't recommend Prusa's printer's enough. Unlike cheaper 3D printers they make the user experience (and ease of use) MUCH better than a cheap printer - making the cost difference is really worth it.

Their Mini+ (https://www.prusa3d.com/product/original-prusa-mini-semi-assembled-3d-printer-4/) is a good printer, but there's much better value in the MK4. If you're thinking about getting into printing take the leap - today.

Only if you need a LOT of volume should you look at the Prusa XL (https://www.prusa3d.com/product/original-prusa-xl-2/), though its huge advantage is that the printed object isn't moved (accelerated and decelerated) like on the MK4. It costs a pretty penny, though!

O2

[brutal]

Your first link is broken/wrong.

[O2HeN2]

Your first link is broken/wrong.

Fixed