So anyone else have a 3D printer?

[Paratus]

Got one for my birthday a few weeks ago.

A Flashforge Finder. It’s an entry level machine, only prints PLA filament but has

• Assisted Bed Leveling
• Detachable Bed
• WiFi, USB, and USB memory stick support
• 8GB on board storage.
• 3.5in Color LCD
• Cloud access
• 14cm X 14cm X 14cm print volume.

It’s pretty cool. I’m currently printing an external filament holder so I can buy cheaper larger filament spools instead of the proprietary smaller spools that fit in the internal caddy.



So anyone around here have a 3D printer?
What are you using it for?

Any questions for me?

 

[Sonikku]

You got a 3D printer as a birthday present?


In any case, just remember the golden rule; Do not use 3D printer to print more 3D printers.

 

[Paratus]

You got a 3D printer as a birthday present?


In any case, just remember the golden rule; Do not use 3D printer to print more 3D printers.

I know. I have some very generous family members. But it’s not as bad as it seems. This one was on sale for $299 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/FlashForge-Finder-Printers-Cloud-connectivity/dp/B016R9E7J2

Some go in to the high four digit range.


Don’t worry I won’t contribute to a potential Grey Goo problem.

 

[Sonikku]

I think having a 3D printer would be cool. I would use it to print so much stupid shit.

 

[Paratus]

I think having a 3D printer would be cool. I would use it to print so much stupid shit.

Don’t ever look at Thingiverse then. There’s so much awesome useless shit I want to print it’s painful. Especially since I don’t want to buy any more filament while I’m furloughed.

 

[JEDI]

has it gotten cheap enough yet to print your own ar-15?
or at least the upper/lower?

 

[Paratus]

has it gotten cheap enough yet to print your own ar-15?
or at least the upper/lower?

Regardless of what you might have read you don’t want to print an upper or lower from most of the plastics a consumer 3D printer can print in.

Your basically limited to plastics:

• PLA
• PETG
• ABS
• Nylon.

Most have problems with high heat, being brittle, UV, too flexible, etc.

There are machines that can produce sintered metal parts but they are expensive.

Your best bet is to buy partially completed 80% lowers/uppers and buy one of the simple CNC lathes designed for finishing them. Even then it’s still cheaper to just buy the damn gun.

Why does everyone want to 3D print a gun anyway?

 

[Sonikku]

Because plastic doesn't set off metal detectors.

 

[Ichinisan]

I have two:

Creality CR-10
Creality Ender-3

 

[CZroe]

Nice!

140x140x140mm build area might be a little constrained.

It's got a lot of fancy features but nothing you couldn't add to a printer with a larger supporting community, like the Ender 3. The nature of 3D printing means that the biggest selling point of any particular model should probably be how active the community is around that model. It's not just for upgrades, but for troubleshooting. I suggest adding a second 3D printer to your print farm after you get your feet wet.

 

[Paratus]

I have two:

Creality CR-10
Creality Ender-3

So what kinds of things are you doing with them?

Nice!

140x140x140mm build area might be a little constrained.

It's got a lot of fancy features but nothing you couldn't add to a printer with a larger supporting community, like the Ender 3. The nature of 3D printing means that the biggest selling point of any particular model should probably be how active the community is around that model. It's not just for upgrades, but for troubleshooting. I suggest adding a second 3D printer to your print farm after you get your feet wet.

It’s a decent beginners printer. Its small which is good since I don’t have a good space for it yet. I had it setup and printing its first test part in about 45 minutes. I’m actually impressed with how well it prints.

Tonight’s part came out pretty well.


Although you are right about it being a bit limited. That piece is about as long as it can print at 6.5inches. Plus without a heated bed materials other than PLA are basically out.

So if I find it useful maybe another printer will be in order after awhile

 

[Paratus]

Because plastic doesn't set off metal detectors.

Let’s hope that’s not why he wanted to know. Otherwise we might be getting a visit from the ATF - if they weren’t furloughed.

 

[CZroe]

That does look like a particularly nice result. I can't even see layer lines!

Having two printers with a lot of shared parts (CR-10 and Ender 3) has proven to be particularly helpful with the same upgrades and fixes being applicable to both and it being easy to switch to the other when something goes wrong with one (most recently: bed heater went out on the Ender 3). When they are both working it's hard to overstate the utility of being able to keep working with one while the other is tied up with a longer print.

My brother and I mostly print a lot of replica parts for restoring vintage devices... stuff like battery doors, cartridge dust flaps, switch caps, slot covers, custom shells, stands, etc. We also print useless freebies to include with stuff we sell, like a 3D "N" logo for the Nintendo 64 consoles we upgrade with UltraHDMI. Most recent thing was actually some replacement flaps for a exterior dryer vent for the home my friend just moved into. Kinda random but Ichinisan found it easy enough to model.

By far, we've printed more universal cartridge trays (double as door flap holders) for Nintendo 64 than anything else (probably ~300). It was made to replace an original part that was keyed to fit cartridges from only one region (now fits both). Yes, you can just modify the original with a drill or something but this was a little something to make our UltraHDMI installations stand out from the competition and the perfect thing to leave the printer doing when it's not doing anything else.

 

[Sonikku]

That does look like a particularly nice result. I can't even see layer lines!

Having two printers with a lot of shared parts (CR-10 and Ender 3) has proven to be particularly helpful with the same upgrades and fixes being applicable to both and it being easy to switch to the other when something goes wrong with one (most recently: bed heater went out on the Ender 3). When they are both working it's hard to overstate the utility of being able to keep working with one while the other is tied up with a longer print.

My brother and I mostly print a lot of replica parts for restoring vintage devices... stuff like battery doors, cartridge dust flaps, switch caps, slot covers, custom shells, stands, etc. We also print useless freebies to include with stuff we sell, like a 3D "N" logo for the Nintendo 64 consoles we upgrade with UltraHDMI. Most recent thing was actually some replacement flaps for a exterior dryer vent for the home my friend just moved into. Kinda random but Ichinisan found it easy enough to model.

By far, we've printed more universal cartridge trays (double as door flap holders) for Nintendo 64 than anything else (probably ~300). It was made to replace an original part that was keyed to fit cartridges from only one region (now fits both). Yes, you can just modify the original with a drill or something but this was a little something to make our UltraHDMI installations stand out from the competition and the perfect thing to leave the printer doing when it's not doing anything else.

You ever think about printing a partial "mini" SNES cartridge that when laid on top of the "cartridge slot" of a SNES Classic makes it appear as though it's inserted?

 

[Ichinisan]

You ever think about printing a partial "mini" SNES cartridge that when laid on top of the "cartridge slot" of a SNES Classic makes it appear as though it's inserted?

I've seen the models on Thingiverse. I doubt I could find a perfect filament color, and it's not worth the effort to paint it. I usually prefer more practical / useful prints anyway.

 

[DietDrThunder]

You just reminded me that I need to go pick up my 3D print from the company lab that I printed last week. No need to buy when the company set up a lab dedicated to employee projects. I guess they figured we'd be printing our own crap anyway, so they set up a dedicated area for employees.

 

[ctbaars]

has it gotten cheap enough yet to print your own ar-15?
or at least the upper/lower?

No, but it be really good for a cool looking bump-stock.

 

[Paratus]

That does look like a particularly nice result. I can't even see layer lines!

Having two printers with a lot of shared parts (CR-10 and Ender 3) has proven to be particularly helpful with the same upgrades and fixes being applicable to both and it being easy to switch to the other when something goes wrong with one (most recently: bed heater went out on the Ender 3). When they are both working it's hard to overstate the utility of being able to keep working with one while the other is tied up with a longer print.

My brother and I mostly print a lot of replica parts for restoring vintage devices... stuff like battery doors, cartridge dust flaps, switch caps, slot covers, custom shells, stands, etc. We also print useless freebies to include with stuff we sell, like a 3D "N" logo for the Nintendo 64 consoles we upgrade with UltraHDMI. Most recent thing was actually some replacement flaps for a exterior dryer vent for the home my friend just moved into. Kinda random but Ichinisan found it easy enough to model.

By far, we've printed more universal cartridge trays (double as door flap holders) for Nintendo 64 than anything else (probably ~300). It was made to replace an original part that was keyed to fit cartridges from only one region (now fits both). Yes, you can just modify the original with a drill or something but this was a little something to make our UltraHDMI installations stand out from the competition and the perfect thing to leave the printer doing when it's not doing anything else.

There are layer lines of course, but they came out really well on the "High" preset (Low, Standard, High, Hyper). Looks like High was 0.12mm layer height with 50mm/s print speed. I had to knock down the default temperature to 210C from 220C as I was getting some stringing.

 

[Dirigible]

I've got a Creality CR-10. Trying to get better at CAD so I can improve my own designs. My young kids make pieces for board games they invent and download stuff from Thingiverse they want. For example, they just printed one of these out yesterday: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2769344

I recently made a replacement dryer piece that I could only find for sale for $37 (for a little piece of plastic? getouttahere) and some brackets to better hold the black border of my HT screen in place.

We've had it for a little over a year. It goes long stretches without being used, but it's fun, useful, and educational when we do use it.

 

[Paratus]

I've got a Creality CR-10. Trying to get better at CAD so I can improve my own designs. My young kids make pieces for board games they invent and download stuff from Thingiverse they want. For example, they just printed one of these out yesterday: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2769344

I recently made a replacement dryer piece that I could only find for sale for $37 (for a little piece of plastic? getouttahere) and some brackets to better hold the black border of my HT screen in place.

We've had it for a little over a year. It goes long stretches without being used, but it's fun, useful, and educational when we do use it.

Yup I need to reacquaint myself with CAD. Any suggestions. I’ve started looking st Blender. It’s powerful but meant for a lot more than CAD. Maybe there’s something better.

 

[DietDrThunder]

Yup I need to reacquaint myself with CAD. Any suggestions. I’ve started looking st Blender. It’s powerful but meant for a lot more than CAD. Maybe there’s something better.

Do you have an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil? If so, the free version of Shapr3D is pretty good. I use it for modelling small parts to print.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yup I need to reacquaint myself with CAD. Any suggestions. I’ve started looking st Blender. It’s powerful but meant for a lot more than CAD. Maybe there’s something better.

FreeCAD. Tutorial online.

 

[Paratus]

Do you have an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil? If so, the free version of Shapr3D is pretty good. I use it for modelling small parts to print.

We do have a pro in the house but no pencil.

I still might check out Shapr3D

 

[Dirigible]

Started with Tinkercad, since my 10yo had figured it out and could teach me. It's really limited though.

In addition to the other suggestions, you can get Fusion 360 for free as a hobbyist. https://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/fusion-360-for-hobbyists

 

[Ichinisan]

I've got a Creality CR-10. Trying to get better at CAD so I can improve my own designs. My young kids make pieces for board games they invent and download stuff from Thingiverse they want. For example, they just printed one of these out yesterday: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2769344

I recently made a replacement dryer piece that I could only find for sale for $37 (for a little piece of plastic? getouttahere) and some brackets to better hold the black border of my HT screen in place.

We've had it for a little over a year. It goes long stretches without being used, but it's fun, useful, and educational when we do use it.

Somehow, I knew the Thingiverse link would be something for Nintendo Switch before I clicked it.

If you used PLA for the dryer piece, I hope it doesn't get hot.