So I ordered my first 3D Printer today.

[printrbot.com]

A coworker has the same one so I thought it would be best to learn through someone who has the same unit. I will make some posts once I get it setup.

It has an accuracy of 100 micron or .004". Coworker told me today that some higher end printers use nozzles that are 20 micron or .00075", less than half  a human hair. It takes a long time to make a part but very accurate.

Here is a video on it.
[m.youtube.com]

Have a great week!

Pedro

Pedro,

Don't tell your printer but Gary "eyeballs" stuff on the lathe to .004!

Jerry,

That is not to far fetched. My dad would often lathe a shaft and say, "that looks like 1.0 inch" then would measure. He would be like 0.005" away. You do tend to develope and eye for size if you lathe long enough.

Now waiting on a 3D lead printer that prints pellets!


Pedro

That's really neat and at an affordable price. I just saw one at Sam's, around the $1000 range, I'll have to take a closer look at it next time I'm there. A friend of mine has one and he makes all kinds of prototype computer parts, spacers, bushings etc.

I will post more when I get mine. I am sure there will be a learning curve. I think it will be. A neat tool to use for various things around the house and shop.

Coworker finally brought his 3D printer to work. Very simply made and room for much improvement. You get what you pay for. You can buy a lot better for $1000 but it does almost the same as this one.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2015 01:58AM by pedrog.

I've had my eye on 3D printers. Too much on my plate to pull the trigger on one right now. You're going to have to be a good engineer to make sure the plastic part holds up also, depending on the application of course. The down side is that you are limited to plastic but in today's world that is NOT a very small box.

I'll follow along.

Lon

Hi Lon,

Yes it is only plastic. I checked out another brand, much more expensive. [airwolf3d.com]
These will print 15 types of plastics. ABS to nylon and many in between. I hadn't closely following 3D printing. Design as a lot to do with the strength.
Limited to plastic for now, unless you have $1 million, then you can get metal printers!

Thanks,

Pedro

ah ha! I knew if I just lurked, I'd hit pay dirt!! Note to self: get Million dollars ... buy metal printer!!!

or ... stare at wall, convert to shop drawing, machine it in steel. Ooopps - my cloaking device slipped! Drat!!!

Well?? Did ya get it?

You must surely have parts for a Flux Capacitor all printed by now!

Gary

NO
When I ordered the printer from the website it indicated 1-2 day shipping from date of order. Now I check it and it's "please allow 2-3 weeks for shipping". So I will have to be patient.

Interesting tid bit - when you mentioned Flux Capacitor, a guy at work said this week "2015 is the year Marty McFly (from Back to the Future) went to. Don't see any hover boards anywhere".

I will be sure to post once I get it. It is a neat "toy" that lends itself to so many possibilities. I have done more research and amazed at the subculture that 3D printing has created. I will try to upload a 2 videos I took of coworkers later today. They are short but still neat to watch. Such a simple machine performing what expensive machines do.

Pedro

The 15 different materials printer doesn't look any different. I'll bet it just varies the head temperature. Figure that out and yours will print 15 different materials too I'll bet.

Gary, they are already printing firearms out of plastic. They aren't strong but they have successfully demonstrated that it can be done, similar to the first crude step of many things we take for granted these days. The development of cell phones come to mind, remember the "brick"?

Lon

Please do not understand my opinion. I am not making fun of 3d printing. Yes, I understand that they have even made aero planes work now. (Never thought THAT would work).

Do you notice, however; the underlying mood that we "must" have a new way of doing things that "replaces" current skilled craftsmen with a "different" set of newer, younger, "our type" of guys who speak "our code". And from the articles I've read, there's always a strong push to represent the new thing as being far more evolved then it currently is. Your example is prime. "Technically" it been "feasibly proven" that you "could" print a plastic gun. (with a steel barrel liner, and two dozen inserted steel components at critical wear and stress points - that might work for a few rounds). It will all improve fast. Will be a while before you get one that you can use for a hundred years. And, nobody is gonna print a 1911 45cal and sell it for $4.95. So, I see the prototyping model part imaging function - that's then turned over to the dirty guys in the shops which make it a real functioning artifact. Guess I'm just one of the grunts downstairs. Haha. I always read the articles about the 19 year old guys revitalizing the inner cities with
cool new toys.

It's neat. When you can print a hardened tool steel version, it will be better. I know that we have sintered metal components and cast tool steel components. Very neat. The 3d modeling is fascinating. You just need the 50 year olds to take the models, build the dies, molds, machinery, and production facility. Old Guys Rule!

I also read the articles of the nano technology that was going to propagate their own 80 story buildings. Tell it what to do and just stand back. Nano cell motors and wheels and bearings ... "Look in this eyepiece ... Ya see that fuzzy grey cloudy blot there? ... That represents the wheel ..... " ok. One day soon. Bring it.

Gary

Old guys rule! Well at work there have been jokes at the machinist saying they will be replaced by 3d printing. We have a commercial printer at work and it is costly to run. Engineers mostly use it for testing ideas for window design and making models etc. I have had models printed for use as templates with drill bushings pressed or epoxied in place. The templates are accurate enough for use. Printing does lend itself to some interesting fixturing and other uses.

Will 3D printing ever replace most things? Who knows. Honestly I doubt they will ever print food like they show on technology shows. At least not with real flavor, texture, nutritional value like real natural products have. Some parts will always have to be machined for accuracy, high speed concentricity and also heat treated, precision ground and list goes on.

Gary is right, it will never replace craftsmanship. People will simply learn to settle for less quality as they have with the big stores bringing in China made everything. We live in a throw away culture. Things are cheap, cheaply made and get the job done for a bit. I am guilty of buying cheap tools but I know where not to be stingy.

Oh Target is closing all 122 stores in Canada!!! Lost something like $5 billion over last 2 years. Guess us Canadians are stingy.

My two cents...

Pedro

Hi Pedro.

Hey - you and I have the place almost to ourselves!

So; you young whippersnappers are tormenting the old guys at work. Not nice. Well, one thing ... you know how all these video links show a 3d Printer and a row of yellow plastic bunnies? Maybe a row of those bunnies of varying quality printed by different machines? I think you kids have a niche market there. Doubt us old guys are gonna get into the market of machining those Bunnies from billet yellow plastic .... .... you listening Lon? .... ..... yeah .... We might get into machining some little bunnies from tool steel .... or maybe STAINLESS (Sean???) ...but I think ya'll are safe on the plastic bunnies ... for now .... (least till ya get the Walmart concession for them .... ). You share that with the old guys at work now Pedro .... hahahah. They need my help to keep their jobs.

Heard about the Target/Canada thingie. Was in a Florida Target Store down in Destin (resort area on the beach). Just last week. Needed a pr. of shoes for casual/work. They had one short whimpy isle - waist high - of Men's shoes of any kind ... nothing over size 13. Pitiful. But they had a hundred isles of flea market quality nick knacks. I used to buy a bunch of work clothes in Target in Westminster, Md. Then ... whoops ... all the man sizes disappeared. Everything funky. They've chosen to cut out the rif raff - me. Not sure their demographics. Maybe they don't know either.

Old Guys Droll!

Oh ... BTW ...

UTube is driving me nuts now. It thinks I'm seriously into 3D Printers and it's determined to bury me in videos of them .... ah ... technology ....



Gary

Gee Kurt ...

You're an old school guy ... You aren't gonna let these young whippersnappers and their plastic bunnies put us out to pasture, are ya?

Gary

Gary,

You lost me .... I am still trying to Google "stare at wall, convert to shop drawing, machine it in steel" to get your secrets. Hmmmm something must be wrong with Google.. Maybe on Ask me???


Larry

Hey Larry,

If you are serious ... that would be "Visualize part, manipulate visual, confirm visual, draw out hard copy for reference, machine a part to the shop drawing notations" ... that's my process. Closest I come to a 3-D printer.

Gary

Gary,

Google hated that... Ask hated that.. I admit it .. you have the magic.. I enjoy looking at your work like everyone here does.

Keep doing it... one day at a time..

Larry

Here are two videos of a coworkers 3D Printer. Neat to watch.

[m.youtube.com]

[m.youtube.com]

My 3D printer shipped today. Hopefully have it buy the end of the week.

Hey Gary
I am old school but I'm confused . Which came first the 3d printer or the parts to make a 3 d printer? Some one had to make the proto type first. Can you make spare printer parts on your printer so when they wear out you can replace them?
Truly I'm impressed ! They are like campfires to me ! You can stare at them for hours but someone has to cut the fire wood right and light it right? I have never seen one in real life but my son went to robotics camp for two weeks and did some cool stuff with them. I'm still amazed by neodymium magnets and they keep my mind swirling !

3-D printers are pretty cool tech, but...like a certain "reality show" TV family of shallow, vapid tramps, it's a BIG but.

Their current limitations make them nearly useless as far as real-world firearms are concerned. I'd admit that they could be used to make spacers, bushings, stuff like that, parts that can be made out of plastic and still function, but... Bushings tend to be made out of strong and slick plastics like polyethylene or nylon, and from what I've seen the "affordable" printers use either PLA or ABS plastic, not up to par for most firearms use. The density and surface finish of printed items is sub-par for firearms use, the printed objects tend to be grainy and porous, and even bushings need to be resistant to mechanical stress, strain, shock, high temperature, oils, and solvents. Temperature is a big issue since firearms get HOT, and most 3-D printers use resins that melt in the 200-300 degree F. range.

You could pretty easily print up grip panels for pistols, where the porosity and roughness aren't necessarily a problem. If you got a big enough printer you might even be able to make a gunstock for a rifle or carbine, though it'd probably be pretty heavy and really ugly. Even so-called "plastic pistols" like the Glocks are all metal where it counts, and their plastic parts are made of proprietary high-strength, temperature and solvent resistant fiber-reinforced plastic, not the weak, brittle resins that the cheaper printers typically extrude. Polymer gun parts also tend to have metal reinforcement pieces molded into them as well, which I haven't seen done with 3-D printers yet. I don't doubt that the technology will eventually get to the point where additive manufacturing will equal or perhaps even better the quality of current polymer parts, but it's a long way from that currently. I doubt that it will ever be cheaper, except in custom one-off or small batch manufacturing where it's not economical to make a mold for mass production, since those are REALLY expensive no matter how many parts you make.

I think the real applications for 3-D printers in gun making will be either for prototyping prior to series manufacture, or in making wax "masters" for investment casting. Making those currently requires either a really detailed, really expensive "master mold" for production work, or a human artist hand-carving one-use-only master figures that are melted and destroyed in the process. With a wax-based 3-D printer, you can have sort of have the best of both worlds; as many detailed wax masters as you want, but without either a master mold or all the handwork involved in making them. You could have the printer gin up the wax master figure with all the sprues and connectors already attached, ready for coating with the refractory that forms the mold for the metal. I wouldn't be surprised if they have those in the works already.

This pretty much sums up 3D printing; they are a must have for dashboard and desktop knick-knacks though.

Somehow I suspect one will end up on my doorstep eventually.

Lon

I'm anxious to see what Pedro does with his. I can see that it would be fascinating to watch the part materialize.

Hey - NCIS had a crew come in and set up a room size printer. It copied an entire room of a crime scene. Two corpse - down to the words printed on a scrap of paper clutched in the hands of one corpse. Walls, everything. I think they said their programed scan was LIDAR. Must have had quite a printer cartridge in that thing.

It exists. Saw it on TV.

Gary

I finally received my 3D printer!! Assembling it now Will post more soon.

"some assembly required"

OMG

Spent 4 hours last night assembly. About 1 more hour today and then calibrate. Steps online are fairly detailed so pretty easy to build. I will start a new thread topic once I make a print.

Pedro

I will try hard not to hi-jack your new thread. Ooopps.

Can't wait to see what it makes. Looks like you are good at untying knots in tennis shoe laces if you almost assembled that pile of parts in 4 hours.

Best of luck with it. Do share with us.

Gary

Gary,

One of the uses that actually do something, that I have been seeing is making great parts for casting molds. They seem to be great for that. They make it easy to cast parts for restoration enthusiasts. It is also quite popular to make the connectors required to build a home version of a 3D printer.

With good engineering practice and application they can be an interesting tool.

Lon

I agree. I can see hundreds of applications.

Making parts for 3D printers is neat. The concept of using simple tools to make more complex tools always intrigues me.

Gary

So you can build a printer where you have to have a printer to make the parts?

Kind of like that MC Escher print of a hand drawing itself...