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3D Printing

tobefirst

tobefirst

I ask the questions here!
Joined
Mar 23, 2022
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Anyone else have a 3D printer? What are you using it for? Have you designed anything yourself, or have you just downloaded existing plans from the web?

I recently got the Creality Ender 3 Pro courtesy of a great deal at Microcenter. ($100US to get into 3D printing? Sign me up.) I've printed a couple of toy accessories for my daughter and am currently printing some signage/display boards/fencing for my Subbuteo (table soccer) field. Each section takes around 4 hours to print, and I have to do, I estimate, about 30 sections. So, it isn't a fast process by any means, but my goal date is a month away, so I'm just cranking them out bit by bit.

I haven't designed anything myself yet, but could see my first custom design being custom organization containers for drawers and stuff.
 
I keep trying to make excuses to get one, but haven't bitten the bullet yet. Does such a cheap printer yield decent results? Would love to see some pics of your creations.
 
theSeb said:
I keep trying to make excuses to get one, but haven't bitten the bullet yet. Does such a cheap printer yield decent results? Would love to see some pics of your creations.
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I have no reference, so I'm not sure I'm able to answer the question, but the results seem good to me! For $100, I'm very impressed. I'll try to remember to post some pics.
 
tobefirst said:
I have no reference, so I'm not sure I'm able to answer the question, but the results seem good to me! For $100, I'm very impressed. I'll try to remember to post some pics.
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Thanks. That would be great.
 
The idea intrigues me, but I have no idea what I would like to print. I have the feeling I'd be reaching to find something, print it, go "That's nice," and never use it again.
 
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@theSeb, this is everything I've printed so far, all on default settings (.2mm quality and 10% infill) and without touch ups. I can print finer or rougher (.08-1mm and 0-100% infill) settings to either conserve PLA or make the details finer. You can see the print lines at this default "resolution" and you can also see through the objects a tiny bit when backlit.
 
Thomas Veil said:
The idea intrigues me, but I have no idea what I would like to print. I have the feeling I'd be reaching to find something, print it, go "That's nice," and never use it again.
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I can definitely appreciate this – a solution looking for a problem. Ultimately, I splurged because it was a great deal. I'm treating this as a learning and exploration process by printing stuff I could definitely do without. And when the time comes where I have something integral, I'll have the base of knowledge to make it happen.
 
Let me know when they can print Benjamins with consecutive serial numbers. 😁
 
tobefirst said:
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@theSeb, this is everything I've printed so far, all on default settings (.2mm quality and 10% infill) and without touch ups. I can print finer or rougher (.08-1mm and 0-100% infill) settings to either conserve PLA or make the details finer. You can see the print lines at this default "resolution" and you can also see through the objects a tiny bit when backlit.
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It so cool, you can print your own thingies for a game for instance.

Thanks for the link. I have already the file. Problem is I would print anything just for the sake of printing. 🙂
 
I do. We've done prints from plans, and designed our own. When COVID first hit, we ran production runs of ear savers for masks for first responders. It was running pretty much all day for several months. Unfortunately, that means it now needs maintenance, and I haven't bothered doing it yet.
 
Hrafn said:
I do. We've done prints from plans, and designed our own. When COVID first hit, we ran production runs of ear savers for masks for first responders. It was running pretty much all day for several months. Unfortunately, that means it now needs maintenance, and I haven't bothered doing it yet.
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What program did you use when designing your own stuff?
 
I've now printed all of the surrounds for my field – photo to come when I get them installed (maybe next weekend) – for less than the cost of one reel of filament ($22 USD), not including electricity/time. If I'd purchased similar elements, I easily would have spent $50 and perhaps a lot more.

My next project is to design a stand to make an old Kindle Fire into a scoreboard. This will be my first attempt at designing something.
 
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Here is my first custom designed piece (done in SketchUp). It is four separate parts and uses an old Amazon Fire tablet we had lying around the house.
 
I find the technology fascinating but don’t need to produce anything at home that immediately comes to mind. For that reason, I’ll stay away from it, and from any printer in general.
 
EricWN said:
I find the technology fascinating but don’t need to produce anything at home that immediately comes to mind. For that reason, I’ll stay away from it, and from any printer in general.
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On top of that, it isn't one skill to learn, it's a bunch. You need to model what you want to print, learn about the various types of filament and when to use each, and then slice the model so it has the correct properties. On top of that, maintenance on the device itself.

On the plus side, you can relatively quickly model and prototype anything you want, for relatively cheap, although generally not as cheap as buying something ready made. It's like any other DIY hobby, and can quickly lead you down a slippery slope of upgrades, new materials, better printers, etc.
 
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