Timex, doesn’t the DaVinci have a scanner in it, too? That seems like it would be fun. Those prints are cool – love the mech! I may have to break out my model painting skills that have been dormant since the early 80s. :)
I just got a Monoprice Maker Select V2 for Christmas! Super anxious to play around with it but first I have to clear out a spot in my office to set it up. Which will take longer than setting it up. :)
Any tips for a 3D printing noob?
Ah, the Mini W, which is what I have, does not have a scanner. I think the DaVinci Jr. does though.
In terms of tips, I’m still a 3D printer noob myself. I’ve learned a lot about my particular printer, and managed to do a bunch of hacks to improve things, but they are kind of specific to my printer.
What I’ve found can maybe be summarized into a few points:
Getting stuff to adhere to the print bed is key. My printer doesn’t have a heated bed, which can make this a problem, but I’ve found that some blue painter’s tape, with a few swipes of an elmer’s glue stick, fix any adherance problems.
I was having some issues with certain prints failing, and layers not adhering (not to the bed but to each other). I tracked the problem down to the fact that they were failing at night, when the temperature dropped into the 60’s. Ambient temperature can have an impact, especially on open printers that don’t have enclosed print areas. When you think about it, it makes sense… extruder tech is all about temperature. So, my solution was to set up a little cheapo spaceheater on the desk, blowing on the wall behind the printer, which had the effect of warming up the area immediately around the printer into the 70’s, which resulted in much cleaner prints.
Oh, if you want a fun place when you set up your printer, I recommend this:
They got essentially infinite 3d models that you can download and print… basically anything you could imagine. That’s where I found the MadCat.
I am so close to buying a 3d printer, I think…
Bear in mind, even something like the DaVinci mini that I got is still not at the point where it “just works” like a normal printer does, yet. It’s getting close, but it’s still a hobbyists toy.
This, however, I’ve found to be fun. Figuring out the best settings for Print, creating sort structures using something like mesh mixer, is kind of fun in and of itself.
The actual utility is, for me at least, limited. I couldn’t possibly justify getting one of the higher end printers which cost thousands yet. But I’m confident their price is going to come down quickly in the next few years.
At this point, most of the stuff I’ve printed has been cool little pieces of junk, fractal patterns, toys, etc. Little fidgets that sit on my desk. But then there are also a few useful things, like the box to hold all the parts for betrayal at house on the hill, which inexplicably has like 1400 cardboard parts, and nothing in the box to hold them.
In the past couple of years I’ve found (to my delight) that I’ve printed some widgets to repair the odd appliance or tool. This has allowed me to extend the lives of a vacuum cleaner or (in one case) a recliner, where the only other choice would be to call in an expensive repairman or simply to buy a new appliance.
Sadly, the soft plastic that the 3D printer uses is not typically as durable as the original piece it’s replacing, but that hasn’t become an issue just yet.
But man I wish that they had these things around back in the 90s when I was big into tabletop wargaming (WH40K, etc.). Obviously the idea of being able to crank out cheap versions of the figures would’ve been nice, but the cool terrain and props available from thingiverse would have been even nicer to print out.
Anyone have any cool print ideas? I’ve got pretty much carte blanche with the work 3d printer as we’re making some prints to show it off.
Sea urchin.
Thingiverse is chock full o’ inspiration.
Yeah, I’ve just been printing whatever catches my eye from Thingiverse as I work on calibrating and getting a feel for the capabilities of the printer. I like the fractal someone posted earlier, I’ll try that on a high resolution print.
I just joined the hobby last night with the launch of the Prusa Mini.
https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/994-original-prusa-mini.html#
It actually coincided with the East Coast Rep Rap Festival (ERRF).
http://eastcoastreprapfestival.com/
Which was held at the local community college where I take cooking classes and other fun stuff.
My buddy is a huge expert in the field and I told him I’d join up when the price got more reasonable. Well $350 is my price point! I spent about $100 on materials and accessories at the show today and got to speak for a bit with the owner Joeseph Prusa. My unit should ship end of November or early December, will be looking at Thingiverse daily now =)
Sometimes it’s also hot?
Yeah, I stopped using my 3D printer a while ago because I read about the fire dangers. (Because most prints take more time than I am in the house during waking hours.) The spool of plastic is basically fuel if something catches fire. Once I get my garage cleaned out, I’ll set up an isolated spot for it – cement floor, metal table, away from the wall – to minimize risk.
Are 3D printed objects pixelated? (Voxelated?) Or are their surfaces very smooth?
They are printed in layers, so the 3d object is ‘sliced’ and the printer lays down the slices, one after another. The printing ‘resolution’ is the thickness of the slices, which varies by printers - the Prusa Mini above rated at layer thicknesses of 0.05-0.35 mm, for example.
The net result, is that objects are printed like this (this one was printed laying on it’s back, so you can see the individual print layers running vertically when it is stood up):
Print resolution on that was pretty decent, but I can’t remember what it was. Essentially, however, if you are after really nice smooth finishes, you need some post-work to achieve - sanding, filing, filling, some solvent treatments, etc.
Came out better next time. Model is open source from a 200 year old sculpture at the Thorvaldsen museum.
My make-space just got a really nice resin printer. If you’re not familiar with those, they basically submerge a platform in liquid resin and then fire a laser at a point that they want to harden. The platform raises a tiny fraction and then they fire again. Your build comes out of the resin bath upside-down, sticking to the bottom of the platform.
The advantage to the resin printers is that rather than laying down a tube of filament, the laser is basically solidifying a “pixel” of resin, which can give an absolutely amazing resolution without the “lines” that you get from SLA-type printing. The other advantage is that you are using lasers, which despite their near ubiquity these days are still quantifiably awesome.
The disadvantage to the resin is that you have a fair amount of “post-processing” to do after the print: you mush wash the print in rubbing alcohol to clean off the excess resin, then you have to bathe the print in some UV light to cure it. The curing can be done by just exposing the object to sunlight, but a small UV light chamber is more efficient and faster.
The printer that we have at the maker-space has some incredible resin options too. There are several options for hard plastic – various colors and transparencies, just like an SLA-type printer. But one resin is nearly rubber-like and can be used to make seals or caps. Another has a very low vaporization temperature, so you can use it like a wax for “lost wax” casting – you print the object, encase it in a mold material (with appropriate “vents” built in), and then you can pour molten metal (brass, etc.) into the mold and the resin will vaporize, leaving a cavity for the metal to fill. I’ve got some plans to make a brass hilt and hand-guard for a sabre next year.
Uh the serious downside to resin is that it’s toxic skin eating chemicals, no? That’s why I have avoided them despite only wanting to print minis…
