3D printer weekend project

fiddypal

Adventurer
What kind of 3d printer? SLA or FDM? that will greatly limit your field usage of the parts unless you are just making a mold for casting the part in metal.

I've worked alot with 3d printers over the past few years so i know quite a bit, nerd time:

SLA printer technology uses resins and UV lasers to cure the resin, these prints have amazing detail and can look damn close to injection molded parts after some finish work but the resin formulations are not really up to par yet for everyday use objects. UV will degrade the part significantly over time and can lead to warping and cracking of your parts, so anything that will be exposed to sun needs to be covered in a UV protective coating. Strength of SLA parts is also an issue compared to ABS, PLA, etc on FDM printers which are much stronger materials.

FDM printer technology uses plastic "wire" on spools that is fed into a hot metal extruder with a tiny hole at the end. The quality of these parts is noticeably less than SLA even on the highest resolution print settings but the trade off is you can print with MUCH stronger materials, namely ABS. The printing process is essentially the same as SLA, cut the part up into tiny slices vertically, then printer on slice at a time, move up a little, print the next layer, etc. and you end up with a finished part.

Imagine you took a ream of paper, and CNC machined a face out of it (in a perfect world where a CNC can cut through a stack of paper without it moving :) ). When you clear away the scrap paper, your left with a stack of uniquely shaped stack of papers in the shape of a face. You can still see each layer of paper, so the object is a bit grainy but overall you can tell its a face. This is pretty much what you are doing with a 3d printer, you design the 3d model then send it to a "slicer" program on the computer which slices up your model and creates the instructions for the printer on how to print each unique layer, when all combined, create your part!

TLDR:

SLA Printers - Super high quality printer resolution like injection molded parts, but weak materials and not suitable for bearing loads or frequent use.
FDM Printer - Lower quality print resolution (can see print lines, looks like a stack of paper as described above), but MUCH stronger materials available. ABS is pretty much the goto for 99% of projects but there are so many more materials you can print with....
 

fiddypal

Adventurer
I also forgot to mention the BIGGEST thing most people do not know about 3d printing in general..... IT TAKES FOREVER!!!!!!

Some of the new SLA printers are actually pretty quick in the grand scheme of things, but FDM are still slow as can be. Some small 3x5x2cm cases on SLA would probably take around 3-6hrs depending on how complex and thick the shape, on FDM probably 8-10hrs.

Keep that in mind if you only have limited access to the machine, most software these days will give you an accurate estimate of print time when you import your model and get it ready for printing.
 

Airmapper

Inactive Member
Don't forget as well that before you even get to 3D printing, you have to have a model of your desired object.

This can sometimes be found in repositories like "Thingiverse" but if you want anything unique (or customized) at all you will need to model it, which requires knowledge, or someone that can model, and suitable software. For replicating existing parts, if you cannot locate a source 3D file this means reverse engineering the object.

I've not had any personal experience with 3D scanners which could accelerate the process, but I've heard they are mostly junk as the model it produces is not easily manipulated further and is not highly accurate.
 

fiddypal

Adventurer
Don't forget as well that before you even get to 3D printing, you have to have a model of your desired object.

This can sometimes be found in repositories like "Thingiverse" but if you want anything unique (or customized) at all you will need to model it, which requires knowledge, or someone that can model, and suitable software. For replicating existing parts, if you cannot locate a source 3D file this means reverse engineering the object.

I've not had any personal experience with 3D scanners which could accelerate the process, but I've heard they are mostly junk as the model it produces is not easily manipulated further and is not highly accurate.

Spot on about 3d scanners, unless you are using one that is $10k+ its going to be crap quality. You also need to know how to work with the scanned model and manipulate it which is a whole 'nother skill set from creating models from scratch in modeling software.

Pretty much every 3d printer uses .STL files today.
 

4wdCamper

New member
What kind of 3d printer? SLA or FDM? that will greatly limit your field usage of the parts unless you are just making a mold for casting the part in metal.

I've worked alot with 3d printers over the past few years so i know quite a bit, nerd time:

SLA printer technology uses resins and UV lasers to cure the resin, these prints have amazing detail and can look damn close to injection molded parts after some finish work but the resin formulations are not really up to par yet for everyday use objects. UV will degrade the part significantly over time and can lead to warping and cracking of your parts, so anything that will be exposed to sun needs to be covered in a UV protective coating. Strength of SLA parts is also an issue compared to ABS, PLA, etc on FDM printers which are much stronger materials.
...
Actually my original question is not "what is a 3D printer" but rather "what would you build for your expo with a 3D printer". Read it again please.
 

tgreening

Expedition Leader
Actually my original question is not "what is a 3D printer" but rather "what would you build for your expo with a 3D printer". Read it again please.


Pretty sure he got that, but just wanted to Geek Out about his knowledge of 3D printers.
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
Small little odds and ends. I've done panel clips, ducting and mounts for cooling fans for inside my fridge, remote control holders, phone clips, etc.
 

mr4x4

New member
Why? They were giving these away at Expo west 2015. They would probably send you one if you contacted them.

For real? I had no clue. What's their #/email lol.

In that case though I would probably print a model of a 4x4 for a key chain or to hang off the rear view mirror if that's even possible.
 

fiddypal

Adventurer
Actually my original question is not "what is a 3D printer" but rather "what would you build for your expo with a 3D printer". Read it again please.

Well if you skipped to the "TLDR" (too long didnt read) of my post, you will see the whole point of the long winded explanation was to show that depending on what type of printer you have access to will greatly limit how you can use the part coming out of it. Just trying to give you a realistic expectation of what to you can make and be happy with the outcome.:Wow1:

With that said you still have not answered what type of printer you will be working with? FDM might want to print a tablet holder, phone holder, mounts, etc. SLA i would not use for anything expected to hold up to any use (clips, cases, mounts, etc).
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,541
Messages
2,875,674
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top