3 D Printing 16mm models

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by ruby » Tue Dec 01, 2020 12:12 pm

Colleagues, congratulations on the beginning of winter! I am using Ender 3 pro. Filament PETG, magnetic mat, bed-70C, Nozzle-240C. Then sandpaper, acrylic paint. Matt acrylic varnish. I am mastering the FreeCAD program https://www.freecadweb.org/ .

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by Trevor Thompson » Tue Dec 01, 2020 7:11 pm

I can assure you all that Sketchup does work on an iMac.

I cant really add much more than that as far as what you could do with a particular notebook with Chrome as an operating system.

However as far as choosing a printer goes I think you should buy the best that you can justify. Personally I prefer to have one that is enclosed - it does seem to reduce the smell of hot plastic - and it certainly helps to keep the build area warm. That is perhaps more relevant at this time of year. If it would pay for itself on one project then perhaps spending a little more might prove a better long term investment.

However I think it is more important to have a go - even the cheapest printer will allow you to gain experience.

Perhaps the issue of software is the more critical thing, and whatever you are going to run it on. I would test out that side to make sure you can create simple things from scratch, convert them to files that will control the printer (slicing). Then its time to think about printers. I tried Sketchup out 12 months before I got a printer - just so I could work out if I would be able to drive it.

I hope that the various projects that we have been discussing on this thread will encourage you to have a go!

Trevor

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by philipy » Tue Dec 01, 2020 7:31 pm

I absolutely agree with Trevor 100% about sorting out the drawing side first.
It took me several attempts, separated by some months, before it 'clicked' and I felt confident enough to spend money on a printer ( all the drawing packages are free), and as I said earlier, some folks prefer one drawing software package over others.

I also agree about the enclosed printers. Mine is enclosed although I mostly have it wide open because I use PLA mostly, The enclosure is really only important if you use ABS but its much easier to simply close the flaps than trying to cobble something up.
Philip

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by FWLR » Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:03 am

Thanks Trevor, that's brilliant advice. I am trying Tinkercad and I have had a go at Sketchup on my MacBook Pro, but a little bit on Sketchup. I need to start to understand all the terms for trying to draw something on both systems, then it's a case of looking at printers. Though I have been looking and some are good, but then again there are things that need understanding on them, but not to much really as I did set and run CNC machines for some years. But 3D printing is something else.

You and the other guys do fantastic work on them and I am building a couple 3D kits at the moment, one from someone on the forum....Nearly finished it. :thumbright:

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by philipy » Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:39 am

BorisSpencer wrote: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:19 pm A I have had a play with TinkerCad on my Chromebook and can export an STL file to a USB stick for printing.

.....if only I read all the posts more thoroughly.
I've just reread your post more thoroughly! :) and I'm not sure whether you may have misunderstood the process slightly ( forgive me if I've misunderstood!)

Whichever actual drawing package you decide upon, you do then need to export the drawing as an stl file as you say. However you can't then send this directly to the printer, there is another stage to go through first, which is called "slicing".
Basically this takes the stl file and splits it into very thin slices and saves these slices in a machine code format that the printer can recognise and act on, by printing the slices one after another on top of each other.
There are a number of Slicer programs available. Probably the most common is called Cura, which is free, and this has almost countless opportunities for tweaking settings but in fact the standard default settings are fine for basic operations. The one drawback is that the machine code output is meaningless to anything other than the printer so you can't go backwards to tweak the output, you have to go back to the stl and work forwards again, but again that shouldn't be a major issue to begin with.
Philip

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by Jimmyb » Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:53 am

philipy wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:39 am
BorisSpencer wrote: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:19 pm A I have had a play with TinkerCad on my Chromebook and can export an STL file to a USB stick for printing.

.....if only I read all the posts more thoroughly.
I've just reread your post more thoroughly! :) and I'm not sure whether you may have misunderstood the process slightly ( forgive me if I've misunderstood!)

Whichever actual drawing package you decide upon, you do then need to export the drawing as an stl file as you say. However you can't then send this directly to the printer, there is another stage to go through first, which is called "slicing".
Basically this takes the stl file and splits it into very thin slices and saves these slices in a machine code format that the printer can recognise and act on, by printing the slices one after another on top of each other.
There are a number of Slicer programs available. Probably the most common is called Cura, which is free, and this has almost countless opportunities for tweaking settings but in fact the standard default settings are fine for basic operations. The one drawback is that the machine code output is meaningless to anything other than the printer so you can't go backwards to tweak the output, you have to go back to the stl and work forwards again, but again that shouldn't be a major issue to begin with.
Philip, a very useful piece of information, as I am sure lots of us will take the plunge eventually, 3D printing does seem the way forward :)

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by BorisSpencer » Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:11 pm

Thanks for all the replies.
I had forgotten entirely about the slicing stage :oops:
I am having a look at AutoPrint, there are very few purely online slicers available.

Next step will be to pass a gcode file to a friend of my son and see what comes back.
Based on this I will be able to decide whether to invest.

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by philipy » Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:55 pm

BorisSpencer wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:11 pm Next step will be to pass a gcode file to a friend of my son and see what comes back.
It might be worth asking if he wants the gcode or if he would prefer to have the stl and slice it himself. There are countless printers on the market these days and the best slicer settings for one might be very different for another.
The slicing operation only takes a few seconds so it's no major extra work for him to do it and the result could be vastly better.
Philip

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:49 pm

Let me provide an update on progress with a couple of things. Firstly the station building which is now finished:
IMG_1111.jpg
IMG_1111.jpg (330.79 KiB) Viewed 3946 times
IMG_1110.jpg
IMG_1110.jpg (286.93 KiB) Viewed 3946 times
and secondly the phaeton and carriage wagon:
IMG_1122.jpg
IMG_1122.jpg (312.53 KiB) Viewed 3946 times
IMG_1121.jpg
IMG_1121.jpg (310.01 KiB) Viewed 3946 times
I have finished all of the printing for the wagon, and I'm in the process of making stainless axles so I can add the wheels and axle boxes, which you can see in the first photo.

Lastly I am drawing up the Dandy wagon. It is interesting to see how a horse actually fits inside it!
Screen Shot 2020-12-02 at 16.46.49.png
Screen Shot 2020-12-02 at 16.46.49.png (510.52 KiB) Viewed 3946 times
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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:52 pm

That sandy wagon does look top-heavy! That horse is to scale and its 14 hands - which isn't that big a horse. Perhaps they used ponies to pull the slate wagons?

Trevor

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by philipy » Wed Dec 02, 2020 5:15 pm

From https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Horse_operation
Jake_the_horse_2005_Vintage_Wkend.gif
Jake_the_horse_2005_Vintage_Wkend.gif (138.52 KiB) Viewed 3889 times
FR Co. staff member Rebecca Kitchin and horse, Lasgarn Jake, during the Vintage Weekend at Tan y Bwlch. Jake is a variant of the Welsh Cob breed, believed to have been used on the slate trains before steam was introduced.
Philip

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by ge_rik » Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:11 pm

I've now blogged the drawing and the construction of my short wheelbase Southwold van.
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2020/1 ... hwold.html
IMG_1245.JPG
IMG_1245.JPG (1019.27 KiB) Viewed 3879 times
I've also uploaded the drawings to Thingiverse if you fancy having a go at it yourself

Rik
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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by philipy » Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:47 pm

That is lovely crisp detail Rik.

What layer height did you use, your Thingiverse page simply says "fine"?
Philip

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by ge_rik » Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:14 pm

philipy wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:47 pm That is lovely crisp detail Rik.

What layer height did you use, your Thingiverse page simply says "fine"?
0.1mm

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by philipy » Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:37 am

Just out of interest I left a side printing overnight, using your stl and 0.1 layer height and this is the result this morning: ( I used black because that was the tag end of a reel that was already on the machine and I want to use it up)
DSC_0002[1].jpg
DSC_0002[1].jpg (193.77 KiB) Viewed 3831 times
Clearly not as good quality as yours but I don't know how much of that is due to slicer settings and how much is inherant difference between printers. I suspect a bit of both.
Philip

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by -steves- » Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:36 am

All

I have moved this topic to the 3D Printing forum. It has created so much interest that the original post has now diverted into many posts and we have had to create a new place for 3D printing topics.

Please use the new 3D printing forum for each new topic rather than using the original posters thread. Please do continue on this thread for related posts :thumbup:
The buck stops here .......

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by FWLR » Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:52 am

Trevor Thompson wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:49 pm Let me provide an update on progress with a couple of things. Firstly the station building which is now finished:

IMG_1111.jpg

IMG_1110.jpg

and secondly the phaeton and carriage wagon:

IMG_1122.jpg

IMG_1121.jpg

I have finished all of the printing for the wagon, and I'm in the process of making stainless axles so I can add the wheels and axle boxes, which you can see in the first photo.

Lastly I am drawing up the Dandy wagon. It is interesting to see how a horse actually fits inside it!

Screen Shot 2020-12-02 at 16.46.49.png

Trevor
The station is awesome Trevor...

And the wagon is just to good for words....


I want a wagon and horse please :roll: ..... :thumbright:

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by FWLR » Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:53 am

ge_rik wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:11 pm I've now blogged the drawing and the construction of my short wheelbase Southwold van.
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2020/1 ... hwold.html
IMG_1245.JPG

I've also uploaded the drawings to Thingiverse if you fancy having a go at it yourself

Rik
Love it Rik...You are getting very good at this aren't you.. :thumbright:

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by FWLR » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:22 am

Put this comment on your blog Rik. It differently deserves recognition....

"Rik that is a very nice 3D printed kit. It just looks brilliant. I am trying my hardest to get Anne to agree for the very same printer....Hopefully he says."

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Re: 3 D Printing 16mm models

Post by SimonWood » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:22 am

ge_rik wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:11 pm I've now blogged the drawing and the construction of my short wheelbase Southwold van.
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2020/1 ... hwold.html
IMG_1245.JPG
This is a really useful and clear tutorial for a 3D printing newbie like me - thanks!
I've also uploaded the drawings to Thingiverse if you fancy having a go at it yourself
You bet I do, just as soon as I get my printer!

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