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Which 3d printer ?


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5 minutes ago, Pocster said:

Sometimes needs exceed wallet !

 

I want to do my own . Printing someone else’s giant cock doesn’t help me . I want to print my own cock ( so to speak ) .

 

There are limits as to how small you can print stuff! The one here can do layers 0.1mm thick.

 

As an on track aside, last night I got my lad to copy the reed plate of a harmonica. It's a bit of a challenge we're trying for a lad up the pub. The original brass reeds measure 0.4mm thick so that's no issue to print. We placed the printed reed bed in the real harmonica and could actually get proper notes on the low end but struggled on the high end ones. This was on the blow. Tried a printed reed bed on the draw side and got nothing.

 

What was interesting is that the reeds are slightly raised. We had to print flat then wedge a sliver of paper under the bent reeds to keep them up. We then reheated the reed bed to just above the glass transition temperature of PLA and let it cool. The reeds stayed in the raised position.

 

2023-10-10_05-58-03

 

IMG_20231010_165413296

 

IMG_20231010_165419435

 

Of course plastic lacks the tonality of brass but it was good to try.

 

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8 minutes ago, Pocster said:

I’m getting the feeling resin is the way to go …..

More googling required !

 

You'll need to wear rubber gloves, a gas mask and get very sticky and messy with lots of sloshing of liquids.

 

At least you'll have plenty of experience of similar.

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5 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

You'll need to wear rubber gloves, a gas mask and get very sticky and messy with lots of sloshing of liquids.

 

At least you'll have plenty of experience of similar.

I like it sticky . I think a wet and cure station would also be required .

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More reading .

Decided against resin .

 

How do you store the filaments when not in use ? . Ok to leave them for months on the printer ? . Should they be removed ?

Definitely leaning towards bambu lab p1s ( without the multi spooler ) .

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resin needs to be stored in a UV resistant container as the UV cures it. I leave the resin the tank in the machine for months at a time but the other stuff i keep in their own tank containers in a cupboard.

If its filament you mean then it needs to be stored dry as they absorb moisture from the air. Especially PLA that is like a sponge and goes super brittle if you leave it out. I store filament in vacuum bags with those silica packs in.

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I can feel “ new toy “ purchase coming on . Watched that fusion 360 video . Whilst obviously not particularly familiar with it I can now design basic shapes for my needs . That’s a start .

Edited by Pocster
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Do this 'resin' printers use acrylic resin, or something else.

I worked next door to a company that had a 3D resin printer (was called additive rapid prototyping back in 1994). That used an acrylic resin. 

The college had a printer that used a powder that got lasered, then a new layer of powder applied, then lasered again. Took days to print the smallest of things.

Edited by SteamyTea
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37 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

The college had a printer that used a powder that got lasered, then a new layer of powder applied, then lasered again. Took days to print the smallest of things.

 

Germans invented that. Selective Laser Sintering is incredible. You might know it as laser powder bed fusion. You can do metals with it, things like exhaust manifolds. Gas flow can be modelled, tweaked and then what works optimally, simply printed off. There's no need to manually profile stuff after like with traditional casting. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

Do this 'resin' printers use acrylic resin, or something else.

I worked next door to a company that had a 3D resin printer (was called additive rapid prototyping back in 1994). That used an acrylic resin. 

The college had a printer that used a powder that got lasered, then a new layer of powder applied, then lasered again. Took days to print the smallest of things.

Yeah we had one, a Z-Corp. Garbage to be fair. The resin printer is the highest resolution but the Ultimaker is the work horse.

IMG_20231013_145625.jpg

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What about if I want prints for external use I.e non brittle non fading . Assume abs filament? - that require any special storage ? Does the plate need to be different ? ( I’ve read a few things where they recommend different plates )

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54 minutes ago, Pocster said:

What about if I want prints for external use I.e non brittle non fading . Assume abs filament? - that require any special storage ? Does the plate need to be different ? ( I’ve read a few things where they recommend different plates )

 

ABS or ASA is probably best externally. ABS nicely colour fast too. Saying that we've done some PLA, in shaded areas, some primed and painted, some not that's all been fine. ABS then is notorious for warping hence an enclosure with fume control / extraction is essential. We've not been able to successfully print ABS yet but must tweak the enclosure / extraction and try again. Hugely susceptible to draughts. I know lads and it's all they use for printing. ASA is a bit more forgiving warping wise but again needs extraction.

 

Fume control can be either by direct venting to outside or through say charcoal etc filters.

 

You get adhesion promoters of various forms. With Anycubic they have a special dimpled bed that is magic for PLA. It adheres when printing like sh!t to a blanket. When the bed cools the part just releases. 

 

PLA loves printing in the cold, we often leave the window open. ABS needs a warm cabinet.

 

You can add a borosilicate glass plate atop your print bed. On that you can paint ABS slurry, Kapton tape, blue masking tape, hairspray, 3D-Lac, Pritt Stick etc etc.

 

I imagine most of your prints will be in TPU.

Edited by Onoff
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12 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

ABS or ASA is probably best externally. ABS nicely colour fast too. Saying that we've done some PLA, in shaded areas, some primed and painted, some not that's all been fine. ABS then is notorious for warping hence an enclosure with fume control / extraction is essential. We've not been able to successfully print ABS yet but must tweak the enclosure / extraction and try again. Hugely susceptible to draughts. I know lads and it's all they use for printing. ASA is a bit more forgiving warping wise but again needs extraction.

 

Fume control can be either by direct venting to outside or through say charcoal etc filters.

 

You get adhesion promoters of various forms. With Anycubic they have a special dimpled bed that is magic for PLA. It adheres when printing like sh!t to a blanket. When the bed cools the part just releases. 

 

PLA loves printing in the cold, we often leave the window open. ABS needs a warm cabinet.

 

You can add a borosilicate glass plate atop your print bed. On that you can paint ABS slurry, Kapton tape, blue masking tape, hairspray, 3D-Lac, Pritt Stick etc etc.

 

I imagine most of your prints will be in TPU.

Thanks 

I asked Bambu aswell . Unclear to me if the supplied plate is ok for abs or a different one ( not particularly expensive ) . Also they give a discount on filaments bought within 6 months of printer purchase . As p1s is enclosed and I’ll only initially be printing small things I *assume* warping on abs shouldn’t be an issue .

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I pretty much exclusively use ABS for it's resistance to heat and it's sanding and polishing potential. You can sand it and then polish it up with just friction, I've got a carpet tile attached to a board that I use to generate the friction. You can't do that with pla, you'd be sick of your life. Horses for courses really, depends on what you're doing, it's all experience.

 

With ABS i print on kapton tape on the glass plate on the Ultimaker, it's the best surface I've tried and I've tried them all. For pla I use a glue stick or salted water. Don't use pla often as it's sh1te.

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ABS won't stick to glass unless you heat the plate and add an agent of some sort. Hairspray, glue or a slurry made from abs and acetone all work. The easiest and best way for me is to float on kapton and then squeegee out the water. Then heat it until it's dry and then wipe it over with acetone after every job. Sticks no problem but the tape will lift if you run large flat jobs and let it cool while still attached.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Super_Paulie said:

Sticks no problem but the tape will lift if you run large flat jobs and let it cool while still attached.

When do you know when to take the object off the plate ? I.e cool enough to be solid but not cool enough to stick to plate ? . Otherwise be re taping every job ! ( watched a video with Kapon , detergent underneath , float tape on , push water out , heat it ) 

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