The 3D Printer Thread
Discussion
Sway said:
That'll be best printed using a FDM machine, likely with ABS to account for the machine getting hot/warm.
I'm not setup for ABS, but looks a pretty straightforward piece to get done.
One thing, it'll never be perfectly smooth. As per the pics in the thingiverse link, there will be print lines/marks on the surface. It can be sanded, but then it'll need painting.
That might be the best bet if you want it to look sleek and smooth on top of your machine.
Thanks for the advice! I scatter gunned for some quotes from places in central belt... wildest quote so far was £1200 lolI'm not setup for ABS, but looks a pretty straightforward piece to get done.
One thing, it'll never be perfectly smooth. As per the pics in the thingiverse link, there will be print lines/marks on the surface. It can be sanded, but then it'll need painting.
That might be the best bet if you want it to look sleek and smooth on top of your machine.
Sway said:
Someone who's setup for ABS should be able to do that for under £30...
He does aquarium stuff, but Darren at D-flow Designs might be able to help, he's incredibly helpful generally. Shoot him an email via his site.
Re the big quote replied kindly and said it was the most entertaining at nearly 10 times more expensive, I was then told I didn't know what I was talking about, and i should go use a 'mickey mouse' company... then the MD (the dad) emailed me saying i should come up to stirling and say it to his face (what? that his quote was astronomical)... and called me a cretin.
classy lol
ayedubya said:
Sway said:
Someone who's setup for ABS should be able to do that for under £30...
He does aquarium stuff, but Darren at D-flow Designs might be able to help, he's incredibly helpful generally. Shoot him an email via his site.
Re the big quote replied kindly and said it was the most entertaining at nearly 10 times more expensive, I was then told I didn't know what I was talking about, and i should go use a 'mickey mouse' company... then the MD (the dad) emailed me saying i should come up to stirling and say it to his face (what? that his quote was astronomical)... and called me a cretin.
classy lol
From what I've seen when this comes up on the 3D printing sites the charging structure is typically £1-2 per hour of run time + any prep needed + materials + shipping.
I chucked a couple of pieces into my slicer and it looks like they average around 2.5 hours each, call it 30 hours. Prep time is minimal as you have the STL, just needs loading onto the bed 15 minutes. Filament, the pieces I checked with 20% infill were around 15g each. Call it 250g total, at around £20kg that's £5.
Should be £30 - £50 at the top end.
I chucked a couple of pieces into my slicer and it looks like they average around 2.5 hours each, call it 30 hours. Prep time is minimal as you have the STL, just needs loading onto the bed 15 minutes. Filament, the pieces I checked with 20% infill were around 15g each. Call it 250g total, at around £20kg that's £5.
Should be £30 - £50 at the top end.
Bullett said:
From what I've seen when this comes up on the 3D printing sites the charging structure is typically £1-2 per hour of run time + any prep needed + materials + shipping.
I chucked a couple of pieces into my slicer and it looks like they average around 2.5 hours each, call it 30 hours. Prep time is minimal as you have the STL, just needs loading onto the bed 15 minutes. Filament, the pieces I checked with 20% infill were around 15g each. Call it 250g total, at around £20kg that's £5.
Should be £30 - £50 at the top end.
Thanks appreciate the wisdom. The cheapest quote I have had is £49 inc delivery and vat. I asked about ABS instead of PLA due to the heat (as sway commented above) and they said they would be using PLA+ which is better at withstanding higher temperature changes. So maybe this could work too.I chucked a couple of pieces into my slicer and it looks like they average around 2.5 hours each, call it 30 hours. Prep time is minimal as you have the STL, just needs loading onto the bed 15 minutes. Filament, the pieces I checked with 20% infill were around 15g each. Call it 250g total, at around £20kg that's £5.
Should be £30 - £50 at the top end.
Sway said:
That should work - I've got some pla+ and if I remember rightly it needed higher temps to print.
I'd think the £1200 quote would be from a firm delivering rapid prototypes/tooling quality prints. That's another world...
I suspect at £1200 they were also pricing it as a job they didn't want.I'd think the £1200 quote would be from a firm delivering rapid prototypes/tooling quality prints. That's another world...
£49 all in sounds incredibly cheap to me for someone doing these things commercially (as I assume they are given they are charging VAT). The material cost is generally sod all for a lot of these prints but as soon as you start valuing your time the price shoots up.
Sway said:
That should work - I've got some pla+ and if I remember rightly it needed higher temps to print.
I'd think the £1200 quote would be from a firm delivering rapid prototypes/tooling quality prints. That's another world...
Yeah I googled PLA+ and the blog i read said it needed 'near ABS level temperatures' to print.I'd think the £1200 quote would be from a firm delivering rapid prototypes/tooling quality prints. That's another world...
And yes, the company that were rude/name calling etc were a big big firm, but I emailed them from their listing on google my business. The funny thing is though on the request for quote I said: personal wee project on my coffee machine.... and they gave this huge number in a quote. Then get very tetchy when I said the price was comical, and said I came to the wrong place... or did they just not read my spiel and feel a bit daft for quoting. The son director copying in his board family members in his retort, and then the dad saying I should go up to stirling to say 'that price is astronomical' to his face was just laughable tho. ach well... they've lost out on my business lol
ayedubya said:
Thanks appreciate the wisdom. The cheapest quote I have had is £49 inc delivery and vat. I asked about ABS instead of PLA due to the heat (as sway commented above) and they said they would be using PLA+ which is better at withstanding higher temperature changes. So maybe this could work too.
Before you spend 50 quid have one piece printed some of the Ender range 3d printers can be had for under 150 quid. If you have other plans it can quickly pay for itself. Bullett said:
He mentions PETG in the spiel.
Standard PLA prints around 190-200c. I can't see your coffee maker getting even close to 100c externally.
PLA+ is likely fine as well.
PLA will screw up structurally (warp or sag etc) far below that temp.Standard PLA prints around 190-200c. I can't see your coffee maker getting even close to 100c externally.
PLA+ is likely fine as well.
If under any force at all then based on what I've seen it's really not suitable for anything where temps get > 45c.
No idea on whether the PLA+ variants do significantly better or not in real world stuff as I've never tried it.
Edited by S13_Alan on Wednesday 16th February 20:45
chris watton said:
Well, My first Elegoo Saturn decided to break down within a week of me receiving, failing exposure test. I bought a new LCD screen and installed, along with the firmware files in the correct order, still failed exposure test. So that has to go back.
Today, my second Saturn printed decided to break (after 4 days), with the head not going down far enough into the resin tank to print. Again, I did all I could to to resolve this but nothing worked, so this is also going back. Before this, it was only printing a small part of what it should have (from a total 50 large carronade barrels, I got 6, quite comical.
I loved my time with the printer, but to be honest, they are way too poorly built to invest in any more. I simply cannot risk such breakdowns if large orders depend on them. I think they are more suited to a hobbyist or casual wargamer who wants to print the odd figure. But for production printers, if your livelihood depends on them, they are not worth the risk.
I will look at better quality, higher cost printers, but my confidence in them is very dented. I think they still need to mature some more.
For now, I have little choice but to stick with my trusty resin castor. The amount of time I have wasted on these is ridiculous and cost me more time than it cost the sub contactors invoices!. Trying to print something like 100 cannon barrels at a time was also a nightmare, as there were always a few failed prints. This means the resin tank needs draining, cleaning and refilled, and what a mess that makes if you're not on the ball!
I need to update - I was a little too hasty in dismissing my initial trials with my Saturn 3-d printers.Today, my second Saturn printed decided to break (after 4 days), with the head not going down far enough into the resin tank to print. Again, I did all I could to to resolve this but nothing worked, so this is also going back. Before this, it was only printing a small part of what it should have (from a total 50 large carronade barrels, I got 6, quite comical.
I loved my time with the printer, but to be honest, they are way too poorly built to invest in any more. I simply cannot risk such breakdowns if large orders depend on them. I think they are more suited to a hobbyist or casual wargamer who wants to print the odd figure. But for production printers, if your livelihood depends on them, they are not worth the risk.
I will look at better quality, higher cost printers, but my confidence in them is very dented. I think they still need to mature some more.
For now, I have little choice but to stick with my trusty resin castor. The amount of time I have wasted on these is ridiculous and cost me more time than it cost the sub contactors invoices!. Trying to print something like 100 cannon barrels at a time was also a nightmare, as there were always a few failed prints. This means the resin tank needs draining, cleaning and refilled, and what a mess that makes if you're not on the ball!
I have since rectified any problems, learnt a lot, and printed off parts (1000's of parts) that cost me no more than £200 in resin, but saved me over £8k if I had used my usual resin casters..
I will buy an 8k printer at some point, for figureheads and other decoration, the 4k Saturn printers have done well, though, more than earnt their keep! I have 2 spare resin vats/trays, and plenty of FEP replacement film, as this needs to be changed often.
chris watton said:
I need to update - I was a little too hasty in dismissing my initial trials with my Saturn 3-d printers.
I have since rectified any problems, learnt a lot, and printed off parts (1000's of parts) that cost me no more than £200 in resin, but saved me over £8k if I had used my usual resin casters..
I will buy an 8k printer at some point, for figureheads and other decoration, the 4k Saturn printers have done well, though, more than earnt their keep! I have 2 spare resin vats/trays, and plenty of FEP replacement film, as this needs to be changed often.
That's great to hear! What kind of things did you have fix and what are the key things you learned in the process?I have since rectified any problems, learnt a lot, and printed off parts (1000's of parts) that cost me no more than £200 in resin, but saved me over £8k if I had used my usual resin casters..
I will buy an 8k printer at some point, for figureheads and other decoration, the 4k Saturn printers have done well, though, more than earnt their keep! I have 2 spare resin vats/trays, and plenty of FEP replacement film, as this needs to be changed often.
egomeister said:
That's great to hear! What kind of things did you have fix and what are the key things you learned in the process?
I do keep spare LCD screens as well as spare trays. It is inevitable that at some point, resin will get onto the screen. Most of the time, it can be removed (if cured already) with the careful use of a Stanley Knife blade. But you can only get away with that a couple of times...Because I need to produce stuff in large numbers, I spent a lot of time perfecting the supports and angles for parts. It is important I use light supports, so parts can be removed very cleanly, quickly and easily. I found the Anycubic resins best for this, with the Elagoo resins requiring medium to large supports in order to have successful prints. But the Anycubic resin is much better, and is the only resin I now buy in bulk. I bought a load of white resin for a series of boat hulls, and they all print great, with all small supports only at the stern.
Scabutz said:
Before you spend 50 quid have one piece printed some of the Ender range 3d printers can be had for under 150 quid. If you have other plans it can quickly pay for itself.
Cheers, I would love to get a 3D printer but lack of room in my wee flat is probably an issue... and i wanted to look into a 'side hustle' of learning to 3D print and offer it as a service but I am not sure as etsy seems flooded with this kind of service. I am not sure what else I would need a 3D printer for.PETG was suggested by someone else, but I have read the finish isn't that great?
It 'shows' print lines more than PLA perhaps - but you'd still got down the route of sanding and painting for a 'proper' suitable finish to go with an espresso machine.
Some modellers build acetone vapour chambers to smooth the surface finish out really well - but perhaps a tad risky/specialist!
Some modellers build acetone vapour chambers to smooth the surface finish out really well - but perhaps a tad risky/specialist!
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