More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

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Peter Butler
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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by Peter Butler » Mon Jul 10, 2017 5:56 pm

Nice work again Philip.... please add chimney pots to my 'wish list'.
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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by tom_tom_go » Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:00 pm

You could always sell it as a chess piece...

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by philipy » Mon Jul 10, 2017 8:46 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:00 pm You could always sell it as a chess piece...
Funnily enough, that thought crossed my mind as well. :thumbright:
Philip

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by philipy » Sat Jul 15, 2017 7:06 am

There has been a posting gap on this thread this week, but I haven't been idle. I've been doing a building to go with all of the printed platform components. The building itself is Foamboard, so nothing new to talk about there, but doors, windows etc are to be 3D printed.
I'll be honest and admit that the sash windows have given me problems that I wasn't expecting, mainly I suspect due to my inexperience and lack of knowledge. Anything that has an 'overhang' requires a removable printed support - you can't extrude a filament onto thin air. I have two sorts of support material, a snap-off one and water soluble one, but I found neither satisfactory. They were either too firmly attached to remove easily or somehow mixed with the print material to give a jumbled birds nest that was useless. I suspect I haven't got the various temperature settings correct, its bad enough doing it with one material, but for two at the same time,its a 'mare.

Anyway, having produced loads of completely useless complete sash windows, I decided to revert to Plan B and produce a small 3-part kit, consisting of a frame and two separate sashes. Since these can all be printed flat on the bed, there are no overhangs to worry about!

In the following pic, the two on the left show two windows as they come off the printer, the next one is one window separated from it's support rafts, followed by two windows cleaned up and partly assembled, and lastly, 4 completed windows ready to install in the building (apart from adding glazing material).
P7140012.JPG
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What has become apparent to me is that this is where the machine comes into its own, producing 9 identical windows. Ignoring my drawing and learning curve time, they actually take about 1hr 40 minutes each to print, plus maybe 15mins each to clean up and assemble, so say 2 hours total, per window. However, for most of that time I can be doing other things whilst the printer buzzes away by itself, so effectively it takes less than half an hour of my time to make a complete sash window. Plus, now that I have the drawing, I can print more at any time in the future.
Philip

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by Peter Butler » Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:03 am

Beautifully done and a great addition to your rapidly expanding range.
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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by markoteal » Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:09 am

Great stuff again Philip

And as well as expending his range, he's been giving me some help in my first efforts at 3D designing - thanks again
Where did I put that uncoupler?

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by tom_tom_go » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:57 am

Guys, is this the printer you are using?

http://robox.cel-uk.com/

I might be able to get one through work for projects as we need to make boxes to house PCB's, etc - can it do stuff like that as the plastic boxes need to be durable?

Cheers,

Tom

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by philipy » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:15 pm

Tom,
The answer to the basic question is "Yes". However, the max print volume is relatively small unless you go a for a big industrial size model at mega money. Mine f'rinstance is 230 x 145x150mm, maximum.

As for robustness, that depends on material and to some extent your design i.e designing in reinforcement, speccifying wall thickness, etc, but ABS prints well and is one of the most recommended materials, along with PLA. All the items I've illustrated so far have been in PLA but I am experimenting with ABS at the mo. So far so good and I hope to post a piccy later today or tomorrow. You can also get PetG and Nylon, although nylon prints at higher temp and needs a different print nozzle, I understand.

Really it's drawing skill that is the limitation, initially at least, but for fairly simple boxes that should be a doddle.
Philip

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by tom_tom_go » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:27 pm

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the response.

The printing area is quite small, we would need something larger.

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by tom_tom_go » Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:51 pm


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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by philipy » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:58 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:51 pm Something like this?

http://www.aniwaa.com/product/3d-printe ... p-x350pro/
Can't really help much with the comparative merits of one machine vs another, although I did notice that the layer size is 0.02mm whereas mine is 0.1mm, so fine detail would be much better.. The build volume is about 40% bigger in all directions, but at £6500 its almost 10x the cost of mine! As I said, go up in size and you get to maga-money - at least it would be for me.
Philip

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by big-ted » Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:44 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:57 am Guys, is this the printer you are using?

http://robox.cel-uk.com/

I might be able to get one through work for projects as we need to make boxes to house PCB's, etc - can it do stuff like that as the plastic boxes need to be durable?

Cheers,

Tom
Why on Earth would you buy a 3D printer to print plastic boxes? Plenty of off the shelf enclosures available for next to nothing. You'd have to print a LOT of boxes to pay for the printer, and there are more cost effective ways of making boxes in such large volumes. If this is a creative justification to buy the printer so you can make train bits, however, I tip my hat to you... ;)

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by JMORG » Fri Jul 21, 2017 7:06 am

We use a Cel Robox in our medical division to create disposable, custom jigs for implants.
I also have a Robox and made a full boxcab on it! Currently making faux bridge sides for a group member.

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by tom_tom_go » Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:30 pm

I do like the Cel Robox but it just is not big enough for what I need it for (at work anyway).

Starting to play around with Sketch Up and 3D Builder, leaning more towards 3D Builder so far...

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by philipy » Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:17 pm

Well, I promised some input on using ABS rather than PLA, and I must say that after a couple of goes, I think I prefer ABS. It is more like HIPS than PLA is to work with. HIPS filament is available, so maybe I'll get some in due course and see how that compares, but that's for another day.

I'm soldiering on with a station building, in between replacing a (real) shed roof, gardening, shopping, visitors, and all the other things that get in the way of modelling.

Thinking about what else could usefully be printed, and in the same vein as the gutters, ridge tiles came up as a suitable candidate, particularly the fancy Victorian/Edwardian ones.

I have had a go at two options, firstly a relatively simple cockscomb type. It wasn't difficult to draw and I printed one off as a test piece, which was succesful. I then multiplied it up on the drawing, to see how three would look, and printed that.
triple cockscombe.jpg
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That also looked pretty good, so I looked on Google for something a bit fancier and found a picture of a reclaimed one with a sort of fleur-de-lys decoration.
2014-11-03_0006.jpg
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The drawing geometry took a little bit of thought but it wasn't too difficult. Again I did a one off test print,
single fleur.jpg
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...then multiplied it up 9 times to get a length of ridge slightly longer than I will need. I have to say that I am pretty pleased with it. I've just run a file over to remove odd bits, and it still needs some wet and dry, but other than that its not too bad, I think. I still have to print another one, since I have two roofs to do.
P7210004.JPG
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Coming back to the PLA vs ABS, the white test prints are in PLA and the brown 'production' version is in ABS.
Philip

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by Peter Butler » Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:31 pm

Those are most impressive... you should go into business.
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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by philipy » Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:35 pm

I've been exploring fine detail, just to see what I can do.

Decided to have a go at a cast iron fireplace for the waiting room.
The black one is the finished item, but difficult to photograph. The white one shows the detail from a test print part way through, just to see if it was worth continuing with.
P7250004.JPG
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P7250006.JPG
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Philip

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by SimonWood » Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:40 pm

Top notch! Terrific example of how to push the boundaries with this technology...

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by markoteal » Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:43 pm

SUPERB - and I've seen no-one else doing anything like that!
Where did I put that uncoupler?

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Re: More on 3D Printing for a complete beginner

Post by LNR » Wed Jul 26, 2017 1:59 am

Astounding, you're on a roll Philip.
Grant.

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