Fun with 3D Printing

GAD

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I've been tinkering around with 3D printing since about September and finally have a machine that works as it should (long story). Check out today's creation!

5D3_0411_1600.jpg

5D3_0412_1600.jpg

5D3_0413_1600.jpg

Pretty cool, huh! Here's the downside: That little box took NINE HOURS to print!
 

Stuball48

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Nice nice nice. Is there material for the printer that will make a suitable pick?
 

jcwu

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Just curious - was this printed as one piece with joints in place, or two pieces snapped together?

And... nine hours??
 

GAD

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The problem with printing pics is that the 3D printer basically laminates threads of plastic, so instead of getting a single piece of plastic, it's really strips of plastic melted together. This isn't representative of modern 3D printer quality, but this shows what I mean:

il_570xN.910065152_hqsh.jpg

This is only likely an issue with thin pics because picking would likely cause the pick to delaminate. With thicker picks, the lines would cross like the grain in plywood, thus making it much stronger. There is also the issue of thickness, because my printer with the default hot-ends only print .06mm, 1mm, 1.5mm and 2mm layer heights.

3D printing is very cool, but it's a lot more limited than the hype might make it seem. The biggest hurdle is freaking time.
 

walrus

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Dunlop would call that a "Super Max Grip"! Cool stuff!

walrus
 

F312

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Can you print me a 3D printer Gad?

Ralph
 

GAD

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Just curious - was this printed as one piece with joints in place, or two pieces snapped together?

And... nine hours??

Believe it or not - yes! It was printed in place and works perfectly upon removal from the printer. That's nothing, though. I've printed fairly complex geared mechanisms that work right off the printer bed. It's wild! So long as you design with certain limitations in mind regarding tolerance and angles, you can print functional moving and interlocking parts.

And yes - nine hours. 3D printing is an extraordinarily slow process, especially when printing with any sort of quality. This is why places that use this for prototyping and manufacturing actually have 3D printer "farms".

ultimakers-3d-printer-farm-ultimaker-190727.jpg

My printer (an Ultimaker S5) is capable of being farmed out of the box and when I submit a job it will look for next available printer. Very cool stuff.
 

Guildedagain

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GAD or should I say CADzooks!

I'm as wanting to know about the hinge as the other poster, can it make a hinge from a flat plate and if so, how?

Edit, it was covered and it does, but how?
 

GAD

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Here are the 3D models of the top and base of the box:

Screen Shot 2020-01-15 at 6.02.16 PM.jpg

Screen Shot 2020-01-15 at 6.02.28 PM.jpg

The "male" part is printed inside the "female" part, and there is probably 0.5mm clearance between them - like this:

Screen Shot 2020-01-15 at 6.04.50 PM.jpg

So long as any angles or curves do not exceed 45 degrees or so, the parts can be printed free-standing. The trick is to remember that they are printed in layers, so as long as each layer doesn't touch the other part, the two parts will be interlocking and freely move.
 

GAD

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Can you print me a 3D printer Gad?

Ralph

Actually yes! Well... sort of. All of the parts for most if the big brands are open source and published so you can print all of those parts. Companies like Prusa use their own printers to print more printers.

There are motors, circuit boards and such that have to be added, though.
 

DThomasC

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And yes - nine hours. 3D printing is an extraordinarily slow process, especially when printing with any sort of quality. This is why places that use this for prototyping and manufacturing actually have 3D printer "farms".

My printer (an Ultimaker S5) is capable of being farmed out of the box and when I submit a job it will look for next available printer. Very cool stuff.

What would be in line with the current maker ideal of open-source, would be if people like you could make your printer available when you're not using it yourself. So, people out there that need something (or many things) printed would submit the job to the printer 'cloud' and it (they) would get produced on the next available machine.

The logistics are, well, unclear, and the entire idea is likely horrifying to some people, but I won't be surprised if something like this becomes a reality in the open share maker community.

p.s. The Ultimaker S5 is awesome. Congratulations.
 

F312

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Actually yes! Well... sort of. All of the parts for most if the big brands are open source and published so you can print all of those parts. Companies like Prusa use their own printers to print more printers.

There are motors, circuit boards and such that have to be added, though.

Simply amazing.

Ralph
 

GAD

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Here's one that will blow your mind.

This is a ring with a central heliacal gear, and six additional heliacal gears:

Screen Shot 2020-01-16 at 3.05.08 PM.jpg

I then merge the two parts together like this:

Screen Shot 2020-01-16 at 3.04.49 PM.jpg

Now, when I print, this part will come off of the build plate and spin without any further steps needed, and without the gears falling out!

How? Because none of the pink parts actually touch the grey parts so they all print individually. Since they're heliacal, when the layers stack, the gears become "locked" into the surrounding ring and central gear. I'm printing one now and will post pics and maybe a vid of me taking it off the build plate so you can see (takes 3+ hours to print on normal quality).

Of all the things I've printed, these little gear toys are by far the most popular. They're mind-blowing and they act as fidget spinners so everyone loves to play with them and marvel at how they're even possible.
 

F312

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I suppose you can send a copy to another 3D printer, it be jammin' to I bet.

Ralph
 
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