UKC

About to take the plunge into 3d printing, with a Rostock G2s Pro.

Just wondering if anyone else has any experience of 3d printing and any tips/mistakes you've learnt from?

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Just out of interest what do you plan to print on it?
At the moment I can't think of any real world application for one in the home. That probably isn't helped by my total lack of either 2d or 3d modeling skills though.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Most of the things I've printed (at work) have been fine, but I'd been using SketchUp for 3D modelling for a few years before that. SketchUp: make sure all your faces face 'out'. If you have good 3D mental visualisation, and mechanical nous, you should be fine.

You need to take account of the limited ability to span gaps and overhangs (without needing support structures you cut away).

Get a feel for wall thickness, the number of shells & %age infill, in terms of strength.

Large horizontal bases will lift in the corners; add 'PacMan anchor pads' at the corners.

Don't use ABS indoors, or without a fume chamber & extractor.

In reply to Dax H:



All manor of things.

For starters I race mini quadcopters and do a fair amount with open circuit boards (like rasberry Pi), and there's all sorts of parts that I can make, and many more ideas for designs. Then there's other projects I've got on the go that could do with customised accurately made parts, including a pillar stand for my drill. I've had a mate printing parts i've modelled on his very basic printer, but I'm doing things now where it's good to see near immediate results (for checking fit with other components etc.

If you'd asked me a year ago I too was thinking there's no real application for them, but having used them to a limited extent, their usefulness goes as far as your imagination

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Sounds good.
Imagination is probably my problem. My world is steel, cast iron and billet aluminium, not plastic.

In reply to captain paranoia:






Thanks for these!

How bad is ABS...is it just a smell or can it cause similar effects to glue sniffing? Was planning on having it in the shed, but then I do spend a fair amount of time in there and that might be a problem if I'm doing long prints... I'm guessing it would be quite easy to fit an extractor and have it in a spare room that isn't used?

In reply to Dax H:

You can apparently with some printers print out wax, and then do sacrificial wax casting. Awesome! But I'd still not know what to cast.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

We have a makerbot at work and find it very useful. One issue not mentioned is directional strength, as you can get delamination along the print lines if you apply forces the wrong way. -worth thinking about at design time and you can do some clever reinforcements with bits of metal or plastic.
The abs stinks a bit, so while proper extraction would be best, you may get away with local ventilation (ie open window) if you're not running it all the time.

As an alternative to buying one yourself, do you have a local fablab, or a college where they let you use the kit at cost?