3-D Printer

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,917
8,533
61
West Sx RH
I have been using the align and find it a pita at the mo.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,917
8,533
61
West Sx RH
I can help you with that. The number of 3-D printers you need is N+1, where N is the number you already have. Applying that rule to your circumstances, N=0 and N+1= 1. Therefore you need one 3D printer at the moment.
I would have never guessed that d8veh.
 
  • :D
Reactions: Woosh

portals

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 15, 2022
635
185
I can help you with that. The number of 3-D printers you need is N+1, where N is the number you already have. Applying that rule to your circumstances, N=0 and N+1= 1. Therefore you need one 3D printer at the moment.
I disagree.

The only way to reliably print faster, let's say twice as fast.....is to have 2 printers....

At a bare minimum I'd go with: N+2 ;)
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
6,818
3,152
Telford
I disagree.

The only way to reliably print faster, let's say twice as fast.....is to have 2 printers....

At a bare minimum I'd go with: N+2 ;)
No, you're agreeing with me. It's your maths that's off. What you need is always N+1.
 

portals

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 15, 2022
635
185
3D printing is a great way to get the youngsters in to stuff that's not just screen time.

My son took an interest when I got the printer and we printed some cool stiff like Star Wars, Dr Who stuff and all the slot car stuff etc. He wanted to do a school science project with his pal and we found this crane on thinigverse. I printed it out and he took it to his pals who's dad knows about Arduinos and final result was this. No video unfortunately. The crane picks up a small ball and places it on top of a spiral drop, balls runs down the spiral track under gravity to end, crane picks up ball and drops it at top again...

Not rocket science but so much going on, 3D design, slicing, printing, mechanical build with real life bolts, electrical wiring the servo motors/Arduino, making sure everything has a common ground, getting the sketch to run, editing the sketch to make it faster etc.

Some schools are teaching this now, give me a better way of getting kids in to realising not everything in life is a click away.


54460


54463

54461


54462
 
Last edited:

portals

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 15, 2022
635
185
I play with Arduinos too, this is a 3D printed photogrammetry turntable I made powered by Arduino with a external 9V power supply as the servo and stepper motors need way more power than an Arduino could ever supply (buck converter). It has three modes controlled by joystick.
Mode 1 it rotates at a steady definable speed to take video 360s of products or whatever you want.
Mode 2 you control the turntable using the joystick left or right.
Mode 3 it moves a predefined distance once a sec. I've used this to take pics of slot cars, take enough and you can render a 3D object from 2D pics in Blender. It's a lot of effort with somewhat mixed results but with some editing you get a file good enough to print in a resin printer (not FDM).
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Woosh

portals

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 15, 2022
635
185
Apart from the Arduino Uno, the buck converter and BT gamepad I had rest of this in a Sunfounder kit I bought years ago.

54464



You can see the gamepad in top left in it's 3D printed housing to be screwed down inside the turntable, what happens is the servo activates and moves the flipper that hits a specific button on gamepad that is bluetooth connected to phone and configured to take one pic per button click on phone.

Video whilst testing here:


54465

Pot is for LCD 2*32 display brightness
54466
 

portals

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 15, 2022
635
185
Pics of my Honda Type-R rendered from pics in Mesh Room, hit and miss but enough to tart up if you have the skills (I don't) then resin print.

 
  • Like
Reactions: guerney

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
20,370
16,871
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
thank you for the heads up.
 

Bikes4two

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 21, 2020
1,008
432
Havant
I can help you with that. The number of 3-D printers you need is N+1, where N is the number you already have. Applying that rule to your circumstances, N=0 and N+1= 1. Therefore you need one 3D printer at the moment.
  • This thread once again tweeked my interest in getting a 3d printer especially as interest has quadrupled after I came off my bike a couple of weeks back (gravel + tree nuts + not paying enough attention) and am now nursing a double fracture of the Pelvis 'Pubic Rami' bones, so that's me off the road until Xmas.
  • Thus I've time in hand and the challenge of getting into CAD programs, slicer software and the intricacies of 'printer tuning' have their appeal.
  • I'm limiting myself to a printer of sub £200 because (a) I may not like it (or 3DP as a hobby) and (b) a bit like my first bike, I don't know enough aboutt them to make a truly informed view as to what features I needed vs what I'll use 3DP for .
  • My top two favourites are either the SOLVOL sv06 or the Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro - now I know that both of those printers are being superceeded by the SOLVOL sv07/Neptune 4/4pro, but I'm not interested in bunging an extra £50-£60 into a hobby I've yet to explore (or new features that I'll not make use of )and by the time, if there is such a time, that I fully explore what I have got, there will likely be further models out there to consider.
INSPIRATION?
  • I've a few things in mind as first projects but I can't think that I'll be using a 3DP for too many trinkets/toys, but more as a tool for such things as enclosures for electronic projects et al.
  • Having said that, I realise that as far as 3DP goes, I don't know what I don't know, so I'd be very interested to hear what others do with their printers?
  • And of course, are there any particular comments regarding my buying intentions e.g. preferences, alternatives in that price point?
  • One factor I've still to get to grips with is the support network/knowledge base for either printer as undoubtedly this will be a steep learning curve for me.
Ping @saneagle @portals @Woosh @Nealh
Cheers, B4t
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
6,818
3,152
Telford
  • I'm limiting myself to a printer of sub £200 because (a) I may not like it (or 3DP as a hobby) and (b) a bit like my first bike, I don't know enough aboutt them to make a truly informed view as to what features I needed vs what I'll use 3DP for .
Sorry to hear about your problems. I send my best wishes for a quick and full recovery.

Listen to what this guy says. Search his channel for Elegoo, Neptune and 3D to find other relevant stuff.

With this sort of technology, it's a bit like the microcomputer boom in the'80s. The best thing you can do is get the same one as everybody else, then there will always be plenty of help when you need it. Like ebikes, if you have a niche model, you're on your own when it comes to problems, so my advice is to get the most popular printer in your price range.

I'm pretty sure that there's not too much difference in the print quality between the different printers, but there are differences in the way you get them ready to print and the time to print. Expensive ones, like mine, are fully automatic. It has self levelling and optical systems that check everything as it's going, as well as automatic parameter setting for different filaments and things like that. You have to do more things manually with the cheaper ones and check the print quality yourself as they go.

As well as the printer, there's the slicer software. Make sure that you choose a printer that works with one of the popular slicers. The slicers have settings for the common printers, which saves a lot of messing about.

I have three projects on the go at the moment. Unfortunately two of them are a bit secret. If I show you the stuff, it might give away the secrets. Fot the third project, I've made a battery enclosure, and I'm now working on the controller box/battery mount and lock mechanism. I also made a bracket to hold my TSDZ LCD to the stem cap. Another success was a tap adapter for my sister. The tap just pulls off, and underneath is a plastic grip that has internal and external splines to turn the shaft with the tap, and grip the tap to stay on. |Her's broke. She's a trainer for Blender, so she knocked up a design and sent it to me. I printed it and took it down to her. It worked perfectly.

54648
 

Raboa

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 12, 2014
787
298
52
If unsure, it might be worth designing something and then asking somebody on here to print it for you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bikes4two

Bikes4two

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 21, 2020
1,008
432
Havant
Sorry to hear about your problems. I send my best wishes for a quick and full recovery.
Thank you , that's very kind of you to say that.
Listen to what this guy says. Search his channel for Elegoo, Neptune and 3D to find other relevant stuff.
Yes, I liked Robert's very down to earth appproach to looking at things - a kindred soul in that yes for me a 3DP will be another tool in the box, albeit probably one of the more complex ones I've had of late, but then again I cut my teeth on MS-DOS, dial up modems and command line stuff and have survived to tell the tale!
With this sort of technology, it's a bit like the microcomputer boom in the'80s. The best thing you can do is get the same one as everybody else, then there will always be plenty of help when you need it. Like ebikes, if you have a niche model, you're on your own when it comes to problems, so my advice is to get the most popular printer in your price range.
I couldn't agree more - a few years back I bought a Nissan Elgrand for a campervan conversion, a vehicles only ever made for the Japanese Domestic Market and as such technical info was scarce - fortunately the Elgrand owners club, an online forum proved invaluable With that experience in mind I've pressed the button for the Elegoo Neptune Pro3 as it seems to have a large community.
I have three projects on the go at the moment. Unfortunately two of them are a bit secret. If I show you the stuff, it might give away the secrets. Fot the third project, I've made a battery enclosure, and I'm now working on the controller box/battery mount and lock mechanism. I also made a bracket to hold my TSDZ LCD to the stem cap.
TSDZ - that's a bit of a revelation - can't wait for the great reveal.
 

saneagle

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 10, 2010
6,818
3,152
Telford
Thank you , that's very kind of you to say that. Yes, I liked Robert's very down to earth appproach to looking at things - a kindred soul in that yes for me a 3DP will be another tool in the box, albeit probably one of the more complex ones I've had of late, but then again I cut my teeth on MS-DOS, dial up modems and command line stuff and have survived to tell the tale! I couldn't agree more - a few years back I bought a Nissan Elgrand for a campervan conversion, a vehicles only ever made for the Japanese Domestic Market and as such technical info was scarce - fortunately the Elgrand owners club, an online forum proved invaluable With that experience in mind I've pressed the button for the Elegoo Neptune Pro3 as it seems to have a large community.
TSDZ - that's a bit of a revelation - can't wait for the great reveal.
It's all in this thread:
 

portals

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 15, 2022
635
185
I'm limiting myself to a printer of sub £200

Personally I wouldn't do that, you may well get a sub-optimal experience that will put you off 3DP, as mentioned support forums are very important, go with a known brand with support channels

If you want to buy new then spend £300+ and/or look at some of the new Creality models.

Or pickup something like a CR6 SE second hand or end of line, they are excellent printers with huge community support, so much that a custom firmware exists that improves the UI hugely as well as giving UI eSteps calibration, auto bed-levelling etc.

Don't believe the hype re plug'n'play 3D printers....yet to see one that can auto clean out a hotend clog... ;-)
 

portals

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 15, 2022
635
185
Either way, great you're getting in to the 3D design aspect, however don't underestimate the printer maintenance either, they have learning curves too.