3D printers - advice needed (1 Viewer)

[Puddleduck]

We are thinking of getting a 3D printer. I am not sure if it will actually do what I'd like it to do or if the quality / accuracy would be good enough. I want to use it to make craft templates, Martin wants to make scale stuff for his model railway.

Does anyone have one of the cheaper 3D printers (or any 3D printer for that matter) and what do you think of it? Easy to build and use? Quality of output? Cost of running (filament etc). Anything else I should be keeping in mind?

This was the one we were looking at:

Amazon product ASIN B01MQGK7QM

 

[chatteris]

there is one in the Aldi online offers leaflet this week more money though

 

[Puddleduck]

there is one in the Aldi online offers leaflet this week more money though

Thanks for that, it is more expensive but looks like a better machine.... maybe too advanced for what we want / need? I'll discuss it with himself and see what he thinks.

I'm also going to check out the software as that will also be new to me


EDIT: And order placed. That will be our Christmas treat

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[hilldweller]

Have a good look on YouTube, I've come across quite a few people making boxes for electronic projects giving a lot of detail of their use.

I take my hat off to anyone who can do the CAD programming for a complex 3D shape, I suspect most impulse buys print the odd demo file then quickly confine it to the under stairs cupboard.

 

[Linda and Steph]

3D printers can be very temperamental and the software can be daunting.

There are 'maker spaces' popping up all around the Country, the people at these will be able to advise on the various options and some even have a selection of printers for you to try.

 

[Langtoftlad]

I was just about to say similar to Brian... I think the quality of the printer output will mainly be driven by the quality of the input.
How are the designs one imagines, transferred onto a pc in a way the printer can understand & produce a 3D model?

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[Puddleduck]

I've used a company to print out my designs and that has worked quite well. I send the file, they load it directly into the machine, make it, post back to me. The printing cost was very reasonable but the carriage cost more than the printing! This wasn't "mark up" by the printing company, I checked that! £6.00 for printing and almost £9 for posting. I have tried a local company but they are very slow. I took my data card in 3 weeks ago and they still haven't done it. I did ask if they were busy and he said they were looking for business and needed to utilise the machine more..... I don't want to wait that length of time as I forget too much of the design and tweaks I want to check and have to look it all up in my notes.

The designs I want are fairly simple A laser cutter would probably do the job (but one that is hefty enough cut rather than engrave is expensive) and a printer is going to be better for the surface detail that Martin wants on his model stuff.

Aldi give a 60 day guarantee so we can return it if doesn't do the job.

 

[Jagtazman]

my son has the wanhao i3 duplicator v2. very good for the money. he creates alerts.

 

[Puddleduck]

I take my hat off to anyone who can do the CAD programming for a complex 3D shape, I suspect most impulse buys print the odd demo file then quickly confine it to the under stairs cupboard.

I was just about to say similar to Brian... I think the quality of the printer output will mainly be driven by the quality of the input.
How are the designs one imagines, transferred onto a pc in a way the printer can understand & produce a 3D model?

It's a different way of looking at a shape. I loved 3D geometry at school and have always been able to think in slices and cross sections The software is included with the printer so we will see how we get on with it. I'm more worried about the rigidity of the finished article but have now seen a piece that has been 3D printed and it looks okay. The Aldi printer handles far more types of raw material than the one I had been looking at

The shapes I want are not complex. The ones Martin wants are more complex but it's a question of looking at the slices and deciding which is the best way to orientate the model before printing so as to have a stable footprint and be able to make the slices as simple as possible.

As I will be laid up for another 4 weeks learning the software will keep my mind busy I do have a friend who is very skilled at 3D printing so I can pick his brains if I need to. Pity he lives so far away.

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[hilldweller]

he creates alerts.

Go on, what was that before the spell checker intervened.

 

[Anthea M]

It's a different way of looking at a shape. I loved 3D geometry at school and have always been able to think in slices and cross sections The software is included with the printer so we will see how we get on with it. I'm more worried about the rigidity of the finished article but have now seen a piece that has been 3D printed and it looks okay. The Aldi printer handles far more types of raw material than the one I had been looking at

The shapes I want are not complex. The ones Martin wants are more complex but it's a question of looking at the slices and deciding which is the best way to orientate the model before printing so as to have a stable footprint and be able to make the slices as simple as possible.

As I will be laid up for another 4 weeks learning the software will keep my mind busy I do have a friend who is very skilled at 3D printing so I can pick his brains if I need to. Pity he lives so far away.

Hope you are getting better Helen how are you?!PPP for you!

 

[Jagtazman]

Go on, what was that before the spell checker intervened.

lol damn phone. it was "loads"

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[magicsurfbus]

I wonder how long it will be before we can 3D print our own 3D printers?

 

[Puddleduck]

I wonder how long it will be before we can 3D print our own 3D printers?

Well people do print parts to modify them!!

 

[Linda and Steph]

Go on, what was that before the spell checker intervened.

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[Puddleduck]

I've been playing with a free 3D program called "SketchUp Make". You do need to watch a few of the instruction videos on YouTube to start with but once you know the basics it is very powerful and intuitive. There is a full (paid for) version called Pro but the free version does all I need it to

I am also thinking of all sorts of other things I can make - like big poppies for the memorial garden For me the secret of 3D design is to think in shapes rather than lines and then to visualise the reference points to transform the shape. Easy to demonstrate but not so easy to explain........ a cube is not lines enclosing an volume, it is a volume bounded by lines!

 

[Ivory55]

You may already know this. My son has and uses a 3 d printer , when doing some shapes you have to think about supporting them when it’s being made and may have to include sacrificing parts to support the bit being made. That concludes the limit of my knowledge, haha.

 

[Puddleduck]

lol yes, you can't print into thin air! Luckily the stuff I want to do is all really simple shapes, think thick 2D if that makes sense - I've had some prototypes laser cut but it is both slow and expensive as my low volume stuff gets pushed to the end of the priority queue and the setup and postage costs mount up.

I did think about getting a laser cutter rather than the printer but a laser cutter is much more expensive and needs fume extraction.

There are free designs available for "droop" things such as flowers where printing is done into air (no support) and I may have a look at that at some point but at the moment I'll be sorting out my own stuff.

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[Ivory55]

What he does is all very interesting, way above my pay grade. I know he sets stuff out on his computer before it’s made , all looks good.

 

[hilldweller]

but a laser cutter is much more expensive and needs fume extraction..

They frighten me. One bit of reflective metal and a dose of bad luck and you could be blind in an instant. I know there are loads of safety measures but it can be easy to get complacent after a while. I was amazed how often fingers and hands get cut off in woodworking factories.

 

[Puddleduck]

They frighten me. One bit of reflective metal and a dose of bad luck and you could be blind in an instant. I know there are loads of safety measures but it can be easy to get complacent after a while. I was amazed how often fingers and hands get cut off in woodworking factories.

Very good points and another reason for not going that route. The DIY cutters look downright dangerous!

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[Puddleduck]

Update on the printer!

Still very happy with it and we have made some interesting stuff, some useful stuff and some that is both!

Latest thing is a bracket to hold a strip of battery operated LED lights for the motorhome. When the front seats are swiveled it can be a bit dark for reading, especially at night so these brackets will hold a couple of light strips and lift off when travelling.

I've also made cookie cutters in the shape of dinosaur feet (for the grandson who is dino crazy), and for cutting out dog biscuits for Nade of @pigginchilli. Plus a dinosaur that opens it's mouth when you waggle it's tail. That one was from a 3D print library and not my own design.

What else? Quite a few quilting accessories as gifts to send to people I correspond with and I have others designed ready to try at some point. One will take almost 30 hours to print in total but is in several sections that are manageable time wise.

The printing is slow but you don't have to stand over the printer when it is working, just have to make sure the adhesion layer is correct and then check the print from time to time.

New filament is on order so we will see what that is like Luckily the PLA filament is relatively cheap and biodegrades under the right circumstances. It's made from waste material of the sugar and maize industries so I am not feeling guilty about plastic waste.

 

[hilldweller]

Update on the printer!

Pictures, we want pictures.

No I don't need a printer.
No I don't want a printer.
No.
NO.

 

[Lenny HB]

Just ordered a cheap one for the Boss for Christmas went for a Geeetech as they appear to have good suport and a good forum. She is a dab hand with Sketchup so shouldn't take her too long to get going.

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[Puddleduck]

Biscuit cutters

Guide to make sure roller blind goes behind skirting board (clean up from fitting still needed - can't get the staff you know!)

Sewing machine foot guide


Photo of bracket for light to come once printed and in place

 

[Puddleduck]

Just ordered a cheap one for the Boss for Christmas went for a Geeetech as they appear to have good suport and a good forum. She is a dab hand with Sketchup so shouldn't take her too long to get going.

Worth getting the book "3D Printing with SketchUp", a second hand copy perhaps - nothing that isn't on the forums but in the book it's all in one place Only thing is that the book is written for SkethUp2014 (I think) so some of the stuff is out of date. I had to hunt for various things that had been moved in my 2017 version. Also I am using the Make version not the Pro and some of the conversions and imports only work in Pro.

EDIT: Looks like a nice printer (the Geeetech) Same size print area as ours.

 

[Puddleduck]

Brackets for light

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[hilldweller]

Impressive.

Bet you could do a nice line in 3D FUNster badges, complete with MH.

 

[Puddleduck]

Bet you could do a nice line in 3D FUNster badges, complete with MH.

But only in one colour as our machine is a single print head. Could do a "paint it yourself" kit I suppose.

Or maybe a FUNster badge / coaster with holes for the eyes and mouth - that would be very easy, or a motorhome shape biscuit cutter. All ideas for the fund raising at the Kelso meet!!!!


I got some wood effect filament delivered today so will play with that when it is my turn to use the printer.

 

[bubble63]

EDIT: And order placed. That will be our Christmas treat

Ditto
ALDI printer sat waiting for Santa to deliver
Also bought a banggood kit printer for £100 to keep the other teenager distracted

@Puddleduck keep the tips coming

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