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Gone West

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So - this is the white ABS version in situ, and the prototypes have been hoicked.

 

It is slightly out from end to end, but the glue - in addition to being industrial strength and then some - has enough body to pad it out. The edge needs slight tidying with a smear of silicone. I may not even put the screws in.

 

IMG_0946-s.jpg.d0550dea6903266a04e1a033956e48a6.jpg

 

And I have put a bead of silicone along the bottom. That wall mount is a hinge as it is the bath screen reused, but it should stay firm now.

 

IMG_0948-s.jpg.cd87bd36b8be7bfd03a7c62aa9fa7a4f.jpg

 

Alighnment seems OK.

 

IMG_0949-s.jpg.5deebaafc019859a577b06af3f46b6ac.jpg

 

But the silicone bead - despite one of those gummi-bear profiler things and looking OK - is not quite as smooth as a Levy worthy of a visit from a Chevy.  And the gap is larger than I would like so I may be tempted into adding a little extra whilst it is still mint.

 

IMG_0952-s.thumb.jpg.119ad0487105d70dbc4e67bc5dd7ce41.jpg

 

Plus a bit of untidiness to take off once set firmly.

 

So, big thanks to @Temp and a donation coming for BH.

Edited by Ferdinand
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On 30/01/2019 at 06:25, Onoff said:

Anyone suggest a good piece of free software to convert an AutoCAD model to an STL? Cheers.

 

 

Old post, I know, but I've just used FreeCAD to read in a .dxf created in AutoCad.  FreeCad will accept a wide range of file formats, and can export .stl files.  There are a few potential gotchas, for example, I've found that it makes life easier if the drawing coordinate origin is set to be in the centre of the view port before saving the .dxf (FreeCad seems to be a pain when it comes to handling offsets properly).  Not sure I'll stick with FreeCad, as it's a bit quirky, but the learning curve to drive it hasn't been too steep.

 

I'm just setting up my new toy, an Anycubic Photon 3D printer.  Limited size of objects (115 x 65 x 155) but pretty high resolution, as it's an SLA machine, that uses UV cured resin (layer thickness is typically 50µ).  It's just been superseded by a newer model (same resolution and print volume) so this older model is on sale for £229.

 

Should have it set up to print a Benchy later today.  I'll post a photo of the outcome.

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Autodesk make both AutoCad and Fusion 360. Fusion 360 is free and can apparently import DXF files from AutoCAD and export STL.

 

I'm really loving Fusion 360 but I've never used AutoCad so can't compare.

Edited by Temp
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Just finished cleaning and post-curing my first test print:

 

1189621738_3Dtest1.thumb.JPG.4e72c51d8466520b620f1d6963e97376.JPG

 

678941529_3Dtest2.thumb.JPG.05c5bec55de3772368844be250ddb034.JPG

 

50802062_3Dtest3.thumb.JPG.9686d90bbf1f64537aba8ebf2878f1db.JPG

 

Pretty impressed with the result, especially as this printer is very much a budget machine.  I did the test at 50µ resolution, rather than the 20µ maximum, as increasing the resolution massively increases the print time.  This took a bit over 4 hours at 50µ, at 20µ it was predicting a print time of over 15 hours.

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On 01/08/2019 at 20:14, Temp said:

Autodesk make both AutoCad and Fusion 360. Fusion 360 is free and can apparently import DXF files from AutoCAD and export STL.

 

I'm really loving Fusion 360 but I've never used AutoCad so can't compare.

 

A question or two. When modelling in 3D within AutoCAD I can SLICE solids on a plane if I just want a chunk to work with. Similarly I can merge two solids into one.

 

Is it possible to take two different designs of 3D model from say thingiverse or yeggi and plagiarise just the bits I want from each? What software do I need (to learn)?

 

Though Makita battery adapters are ten a penny I'm struggling though at the mo to find a print that will slot into the bottom of the Ferrex tool from Aldi I just bought. I could, but don't really want to, buy a 2Ah battery from Aldi and use the ready made top half but at £15 it's twice the price of the tool! 

 

IMG_20190803_103350274.thumb.jpg.59ca7c6c0a1696663c6d30487c512db5.jpg

 

IMG_20190803_103354742.thumb.jpg.c0ce113f4bd56b3adfe284382719d917.jpg

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Temp said:

Wow, that's very good. I've been trying and totally failing to print a similar lattice cube on my filament based printer. 

 

The flip side is that, although the resin printer does the lattice cube easily, it has now failed twice printing a benchy.  It seems that there isn't enough area on the bottom of the hull to keep the model stuck to the build plate, so it comes off and ends up at the base of the resin tank.  I'm just about to try and print it again at an angle, with a pad and supports underneath, in the hope that it will stay stuck OK.

 

12 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

A question or two. When modelling in 3D within AutoCAD I can SLICE solids on a plane if I just want a chunk to work with. Similarly I can merge two solids into one.

 

Is it possible to take two different designs of 3D model from say thingiverse or yeggi and plagiarise just the bits I want from each? What software do I need (to learn)?

 

Though Makita battery adapters are ten a penny I'm struggling though at the mo to find a print that will slot into the bottom of the Ferrex tool from Aldi I just bought. I could, but don't really want to, buy a 2Ah battery from Aldi and use the ready made top half but at £15 it's twice the price of the tool! 

 

 

One slight snag with some models around seems to be that they are available as a mesh file (.stl or similar) and it's a bit of a PITA to then derive a full drawing from that.  The mesh files are only the surfaces, so primitives aren't separated out; it's just a contiguous set of surfaces that's described.  It's possible to work with these and add additional objects, that can be translated into surface mesh files, but so far I'm finding manipulating these a bit challenging.  Might be because I'm used to working with drawing files that describe all the parts separately; I've no experience of working with mesh files, so I keep wanting to be able to select parts when a mesh file doesn't really have the concept of individual parts.

 

I'd suggest trying to convert any files you find into something you're familiar with, like AutoCad, if you can, as, like all CAD software, a new programme has a fairly steep learning curve.  I'm having a problem because I keep looking to do things in the way AutoCad would work, but am finding that even simple tasks, like selecting a part and moving it by a fixed 3D offset to fit to another part isn't intuitive.  Might be because AutoCad has a very oddball and quirky interface, but because I've been using it for decades I've come to accept that as being normal...

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Third time lucky...

 

Took three goes to get the standard Benchy test model to print, there's an issue with resin printers needing a larger base area so that the model stays fixed to the build plate.  From what I've learned (largely by experiment) the problem relates to the balance of forces when a layer is separated after it's been printed.  The newly cured 50µ layer adheres to the thin layer of FEP film between the exposure screen and the resin.  The build platform moves up a few mm after printing each layer, and this breaks the layer away from the FEP film (or is supposed to) so allowing resin to flow in ready to expose the next layer.  If the layer adheres more strongly to the FEP than it does to the build plate, then it will just pull off the build plate.

 

The work around is to add a support plate plus supports to the model, and angle the model slightly so that the area being printed at any time is smaller than the area that's adhered to the build plate.  This seems to have completely fixed things.  This is the Benchy, upside down, "hot off the press" (really straight out of the resin tank) showing the plate and supports I added:

 

788560109_Benchy-justprinted.thumb.JPG.6c865ab44c9f69ae2cf602d92939771b.JPG

 

And these photos show the same Benchy after being cleaned up and post-cured:

 

2120518262_Benchy-1.thumb.JPG.3be5e4b27f0e8136d59ecec3695be5b2.JPG

 

1698669962_Benchy-2.thumb.JPG.95e51f8c9c9fa765c062a899b21a8b78.JPG

 

1992574005_Benchy-3.thumb.JPG.d0f99f2bbe707b4002fde8c872cff4b6.JPG

 

Overall I'm pretty happy with this printer so far.  Not too steep a learning curve to get it to work well, I just need to get to grips with 3D CAD now.  I also want to try out some other resins, as so far I've just been using the sample bottle that came with the printer, which is (unsurprisingly) the cheapest resin available.  I suspect that the results might be better with some of the more expensive, opaque, resins.

 

Off to trim all the support structure off the Benchy and clean it up a bit to see how it looks when finished.

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2 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

3D CAD as in within AutoCAD?

 

No, I want to have a go with something like Fusion 360, or maybe Solidworks.  I have a Solidworks licence that still seems to be valid, but last time I tried to get to grips with it I gave up and went back to AutoCad. 

 

My problem is that I think in conventional 2D drafting, so I struggle when trying to visualise things in 3D.  Ideally I'd like a programme that accepts a conventional 2D projection drawing and converts it to 3D parts, but that seems to be asking too much!

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40 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

No, I want to have a go with something like Fusion 360, or maybe Solidworks.  I have a Solidworks licence that still seems to be valid, but last time I tried to get to grips with it I gave up and went back to AutoCad. 

 

My problem is that I think in conventional 2D drafting, so I struggle when trying to visualise things in 3D.  Ideally I'd like a programme that accepts a conventional 2D projection drawing and converts it to 3D parts, but that seems to be asking too much!

 

I remember struggling with converting from 2D to 3D in AutoCAD. Discovering the EXTRUDE command was a revelation!

 

I have no issue modelling 3D in AutoCAD. It's the thought of learning something new! I reckon something that converts from a 3D AutoCAD model to a .STL file might be the kiddie.

 

(My boy is au fait with Solid Works. Our industrial partner uses Solid Edge).

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1 hour ago, Onoff said:

reckon something that converts from a 3D AutoCAD model to a .STL file might be the kiddie.

 

 

Autocad does it natively - select Export - Lithograph and it creates the .stl file. 

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3 minutes ago, PeterW said:

 

Autocad does it natively - select Export - Lithograph and it creates the .stl file. 

 

Thanks. Although I'm using 2010 I learnt on 2000 / 2000i so still use "classic" mode. 

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32 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

Thanks. Although I'm using 2010 I learnt on 2000 / 2000i so still use "classic" mode. 

 

 

Don't laugh, but the first AutoCad course I did was on the version that ran under DOS, and used a dongle plugged into the printer port to validate the licence.  The PC was the fastest one we had, a 286, with a maths co-processor, that had a hard disk drive, something that was seen as "cutting edge" at the time (as was the super hi-res VGA screen).  Regenerating the screen took several minutes...

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11 hours ago, Onoff said:

A question or two. When modelling in 3D within AutoCAD I can SLICE solids on a plane if I just want a chunk to work with. Similarly I can merge two solids into one.

 

I don't know AutoCAD but you can certainly split a solid into two in Fusion 360. You can turn any line into a cookie cutter and use it to split a body into two bodies. I made an impossible dovetail by drawing a cube and then using a line shaped like a dovetail to cut it into two mating halves. Merging two bodies into one is also easy.

 

Quote

 


Is it possible to take two different designs of 3D model from say thingiverse or yeggi and plagiarise just the bits I want from each? What software do I need (to learn)?
 

 

 

Yes you can but the ease depends on what files the author makes available. Sometimes they make F360 "source files" available but usually they only provide stl output files which are intended to be printed rather than edited. You can import stl files into F360, and I've done that, but they aren't super easy to work with. See youtube for vids on how to import stl files into F360 and edit them. Here is one..

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, JSHarris said:

Took three goes to get the standard Benchy test model to print, there's an issue with resin printers needing a larger base area so that the model stays fixed to the build plate.

 

That's also an issue with filament printers. The slicer I use (Curua) can add a raft or a brim around the object for you automatically. A raft is usually several layers thick and goes under the part. A brim is just a one layer "land" that surrounds the object like the brim around a hat. A brim is easy to remove so no need to raise the object on supports. A raft is harder.

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3 hours ago, JSHarris said:

My problem is that I think in conventional 2D drafting, so I struggle when trying to visualise things in 3D.  Ideally I'd like a programme that accepts a conventional 2D projection drawing and converts it to 3D parts, but that seems to be asking too much!

 

That's exactly how F360 is intended to be used! You create "sketches" (aka elevations or projections) and then extrude or push/pull bits of them to create bodies or holes in bodies using the push/pull tool. Sketches don't have to be limited to the x,y and z planes. You can create a sketch on any face of the body (no matter what angle) and push/pull it about. Lets say you draw a circle on one face of a cube. You can extrude that in one direction to add a rod on the side of the cube or the other direction to make a hole through it. The extrude tool is very powerful, you can use it to create a body or a hole at a distance from the sketch. So for example one sketch can be used to create blind holes on opposite sides of the cube. 

 

PS Later you can go back and change the sketch and it will repeat all the pushing and pulling you did afterwards for you automatically.

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F360 sounds similar to AutoCAD. I can create solids in seconds. To create say a cylinder it breaks down into:

 

Draw a circle the OD of your cylinder

Draw a circle the ID of your cylinder at the same origin

 

Change the view to isometric as in SW, SE etc.

 

In effect you've created two solids rods

 

EXTRUDE both to the desired length

SUBTRACT the smaller dia cylinder from the larger.

 

There's also a specific cylinder function that's a bit quicker. I like Acad as as well as icons you can do the same thing via the COMMAND LINE. I guess it harks back to DOS days. 

 

 

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Think it might be marginally easier in F360...

 

Create a sketch with two circles on it. One for the ID, one the OD.

Select the area between the two circles.

Push/pull it to the required length.

 

..but perhaps that also works in AutoCad?

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20 minutes ago, Onoff said:

I was looking buy a 3D printer (for £86)... this:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/372630619465?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=

 

then I found this:

 

https://cogkart.com/products/creality-ender-3-pro-3d-printer?

 

Any good?

 

 

I'd be tempted to push the button at that price.  The Ender 3 is a reasonably well-known machine, with a fair bit of online support.

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1 hour ago, Onoff said:

I was looking buy a 3D printer (for £86)... this:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/372630619465?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=

 

then I found this:

 

https://cogkart.com/products/creality-ender-3-pro-3d-printer?

 

Any good?

 

£60 is/would be an incredible price for a metal frame 3D printer. It might turn out to be a clone but then all the £80-90 acrylic frame printers are also clones/copies. 

 

 

 

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