General 3D Printing Thread


 
I finally have time to start working on a printer myself. From reading this thread and some at reprap forums here is what I'm looking at. Please let me know what changes you would make if you had to do it again.

http://gadgets3d.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=73&product_id=92
should I buy the PLA here as well?

For the plastic parts I think I found them here:
http://www.busybotz.com/collections/all
The x-ends, extruder and the 1.5 kit.

Anything else I'm missing? I'd also be open to sourcing the plastic parts from the guys here if anyone is interested in making them.

thanks
dave
 
D Peart said:
I finally have time to start working on a printer myself. From reading this thread and some at reprap forums here is what I'm looking at. Please let me know what changes you would make if you had to do it again.

http://gadgets3d.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=73&product_id=92
should I buy the PLA here as well?

For the plastic parts I think I found them here:
http://www.busybotz.com/collections/all
The x-ends, extruder and the 1.5 kit.

Anything else I'm missing? I'd also be open to sourcing the plastic parts from the guys here if anyone is interested in making them.

thanks
dave
Click to expand...

Dave, I think that machine looks solid and have recommended it to others. In fact, I printed the parts for another member on this forum. It comes with a g3d hotend which is a replica of the lulzbot budaschnozzle and is a very reliable hotend. When I was printing the parts, I didn't like the extruder design they included in the files so I replaced it with a greg wade's reloaded that is modded for that particular hotend. It's been about a month or so since I made the parts for the other forum member and I haven't heard from him so I'm not sure how his build went or is going. The link that you posted for the parts seems fine but is obviously expensive. I can print a set for you if you would like for just the cost of the plastic if you tell me what color you want.

If you plan on having a dedicated PC for the printer I would say forget about the LCD module. As far as plastic, I've never used theirs so I can't comment on the quality but I highly recommend this company:

http://www.protoparadigm.com/

By far the highest quality and most consistent filament that I have printed with and I have tried them all.
 
Tom,
I'm more than willing to pay for plastic and such. Especially if you have a better part to put in the kit. I wanted orange because I like the contrast to the black rails.

I do have a dedicated PC so I won't add the LCD kit.

Suggestions on a hot bed?

thanks,
dave

Tom Kole said:
Dave, I think that machine looks solid and have recommended it to others. In fact, I printed the parts for another member on this forum. It comes with a g3d hotend which is a replica of the lulzbot budaschnozzle and is a very reliable hotend. When I was printing the parts, I didn't like the extruder design they included in the files so I replaced it with a greg wade's reloaded that is modded for that particular hotend. It's been about a month or so since I made the parts for the other forum member and I haven't heard from him so I'm not sure how his build went or is going. The link that you posted for the parts seems fine but is obviously expensive. I can print a set for you if you would like for just the cost of the plastic if you tell me what color you want.

If you plan on having a dedicated PC for the printer I would say forget about the LCD module. As far as plastic, I've never used theirs so I can't comment on the quality but I highly recommend this company:

http://www.protoparadigm.com/

By far the highest quality and most consistent filament that I have printed with and I have tried them all.
Click to expand...
 
Your printer comes with a heated bed. Just send me a PM if you are definitely going ahead with buying the kit and I'll print the parts in orange.
 
Kit ordered, 3mm PLA and ABS filament ordered, plastic parts coming. I'm going to the be the proud father of a new 3d printer :)

dave

PS- wish me luck. . .
 
Dave, I purchased the same kit about a month back but have not had the time to start assembling it. Tom printed up the parts for me - lots of pieces. You also get a spool of filament with the kit. the shipping was fast from them, 3 days if I remember correctly. For the lcd they have an ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/fabster3d/m...me=STRK:MEWAX:IT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 and have been starting out at $0.99. I have seen them go from $5.95 to $36 + $12 shipping. I got one for $20.50 + 12. It seems like a nice printer kit - good luck with it.
 
Delta style printers are very cool to watch and produce excellent results. There are many different versions out there and this one seems sound although I only read it superficially. I'm not sure what it offers over existing models that you can put together right now except for the fact that they package all of the parts together.
 
My only concern with the deltaprinter design is that it uses fishing line as the transfer from the steppers to the head. 65lb test, but you could get some stretch/wear/etc. Hopefully they've accounted for that in the design. There's another delta printer that's been in production for a while, google Rostok. The company seems to be solid as well, with a history in 3D printing.

Still $720 for a fully assembled 3D printer is a good price (lowest donation point left + shipping). Other issues are that it doesn't support ABS and that it is 'expected' to ship in June 2014 (assuming they make another 120k, they still need to sell all their highest-priced 'donation' points). All the guys look pretty young. At that age, I was more interested in beer & women than fulfilling orders for those that 'donated' to me. That's the beauty & risk of kickstarter though.
 
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I think the biggest problem deltaprintr faces are the extrusions and the wooden frame. Notice they don't have it going very quickly in their demo video. If they sped it up I would think that it would shake itself apart. D:

There are much better machines out there.

And don't worry about the spectra fishing line, lots of deltas use it.

What about the 3DR? Small and relatively cheap.
 
At some point layer resolution is just over kill. They claim 20 micron. I just dont see why you would want to print that tiny. It would take forever to print most objects. I typically print at 200 micron (.2mm layer height). It seems to be a good compromise. Twice as fast as 100 micron and it looks really nice. It all depends on what you want to print. How much do you want to spend? I built my first printer for <400 (and lots of man hours :>).
 
The thing I found most interesting was their claim about the bed surface that requires no tape or other prep. It's apparently made from PEI. A quick search online only turns up a few places that sell it in sheets. The company I found with prices list a 300mm x 300mm sheet for $250, ouch. I want to find a cheaper sheet to test out.
 
Ouch! I would hate to have to replace that on a regular basis! Can you guys recommend an desktop 3d printer with wife-approved styling that prints decent quality parts. I think if I built a reprap, it would be banished to the basement with the woodworking tools :eek:
 
I've been trying to import a 2D graphic into a 3D app (123D beta, Inventor Fusion, Sketch Up) to use as a sketch that I can extrude into a 3D object and I am just not having any luck. The image was created in Corel Draw in vector format so I can export it as any number of vector or bitmap formats but none of them will import. I can even export it as an AutoCad file, which does import to the 3D apps.... unfortunately my 2D vector image is not placed on the main 3D model layer of the autocad file, it is saved on a layout layer which is ignored when imported to the 3D apps (only the model layer is imported). It would be ideal if the Layout layer would be imported as a sketch but it isn't, its just ignored. So far I haven't found a way to import a sketch into 123D Beta or Inventor Fusion? Perhaps there is an app out there that will convert a 2D vector or bitmap image into a 3D object that can be loaded/edited in one of these 3D apps but so far I haven't found one that works....

I've searched the web and tried all sorts of file formats and tips but so far I have been unable to get this done. Searching for help with Inventor Fusion has been a bit frustrating becuase most of the results I find are for AutoCad "Inventor" (not FUSION). I would really like to figure this out because I can create images exactly the way I want them with Corel draw, I find the sketch features on the 3D apps to be tough to work with and incomplete/buggy. Since Corel Draw works with a vector format I thought this would be much easier....

If anyone knows how to get this done I would really appreciate the advice...

Thank you.
 
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