Getting started with 3d printing, help!

[slackerinabox]

My wife is a bit of a hobbyist/artist (sculptures, painting) and I'm also a bit curious. I see them for about $200 on monoprice and am pretty tempted. Have a few questions:

1. I think thingiverse is amazing - what software is used to load up downloadable objects? How difficult is the process?
2. Apx how much do expendables come out costing - for example, is printing a 4 inch tall doll house sofa for the kiddo going to be dollars, cents? I mostly thought 3d printing vases (to be hand painted by the mrs) could be a fun way for her to get back into designing objects, but not if each vase is going to cost $20 to print
3. How difficult is designing from scratch? What tools are used? Is it super nerdy like requiring numerical arguments or is it a mostly visually guided process?

Basically I'm wondering if it'll be something casual users can enjoy, or if it'll collect dust because it's difficult to use

 

[Crono]

1. There are different 3D printer viewers/printing software, including ones that are bundled by the different printer manufacturers. Windows even comes with one called "3D Builder" (side note: I've been rewatching early seasons of Arrow and hilariously you see Windows product placement with a 3D printer being used to print a fake fingerprint using 3D Builder ). I use the one that came with my XYZprinting printer, XYZware, but there are a few free ones like Cura that work with a bunch of printers.

The process isn't difficult at all to download and load a 3D object, however there are some options you'll get to play with (shells, infill density, layer height, rafts, etc) in order to get some prints exactly right. Sometimes you'll see the options the maker used and it will be close to perfect with your setup, but a lot of times you'll need to adjust some settings like scale or density because there's variance between printers. Makers and other users will often helpfully put the settings they've tried.

2. It varies depending on size of print, complexity/density, filament type, and whether you are using a proprietary system, but generally it can be as cheap a few cents per a print in consumables (for a 4 inch tall doll house sofa) up to a few dollars on the high end. Filament can be cheap if it isn't proprietary, and glue sticks aren't very expensive. Keep in mind the print size will limit how big you can build something like a vase unless it's split into pieces in software, printed separately, and glued together.

Keep in mind the biggest issue with 3D printers - especially less expensive models and older ones - is that they are potentially slow and noisy. It's like being back in the dot matrix days.

3. I've never designed anything entirely from scratch in a professional 3D program like Maya or a free alternative like Blender (been meaning to learn, but the learning curve is steep), but I've found it easy enough to use build what I need with sites like Tinkercad. You can build a lot of things just by using simple shapes. I've also made (small) 3D signs, cookie cutters, and other objects by using Photoshop, which has some basic 3D printer and design features.

There's also Sculptris, which is essentially a 3D sculpting program, however I suck even at virtual sculpting, so I haven't used it much. That and the last time I used it it was crash-happy, but it's been a while so it's probably more stable now.

 

[sdifox]

Check your local library, they may have one. Mine lets me use it for free, just pay for filament.

http://thecavemarkham.blogspot.ca/p/using-3d-printers.html?m=1

 

[Rifter]

in interested in this as well. What types of materials can you print with nowadays? last time i looked into this it was years ago and i decided way to expensive.

 

[gorcorps]

Check your local library, they may have one. Mine lets me use it for free, just pay for filament.

Never even thought of that. I wonder if any libraries by me have one.

 

[SearchMaster]

I think it's between 30 cents and $2 per cubic inch, depending on mfr, quality of filament, etc. So your doll house sofa is probably going to be measured in several dollars, depending on how hollow it is. So yeah, if you're trying to do a large-ish vase it's going to be expensive. In addition, your $200 model is not going to be able to create anything of much size unless you do multiple layers that you glue together. And from what I've read that monoprice printer is a little picky on filaments.

If you don't have a specific *need* for it, it'll probably collect dust unless you're someone who just likes to play around. However if you think your artistic wife would like to use her artistic inclination to create 3d models, then it could work for you and $200 is a reasonable price to pay to see if it's a hobby that you want to go further with.

 

[Kaido]

I'm a fan of Shapeways...you get access to the latest printers & materials and don't have to spend a bunch of money up-front on your own finicky machine:

https://www.shapeways.com/

Their materials list is ridiculous:

https://www.shapeways.com/materials/

Plastic, porcelain, castable wax, elasto plastic, full-color standstone, various metals (brass, bronze, steel, silver, gold, platinum, etc.), transparent plastics, etc.