The 3D Printer Thread

[Sway]

First two plates of prints on the Mono X. Could dial in a bit more, and could definitely spend more time on assembly prep - but this is terrain for wargaming, so that's really a waste of my time!

[Scabutz]

Why are 3d print hubs so expensive? I'm working on a large project and the main frame is too big for me to print on my printer. I uploaded the STL to a couple of sites at the cost was nearly £200.

The slicer estimated 200g of filament required, so £2 worth. I appreciate there are other costs, electricity, the web site, buying the machines. But seems a very large mark up.

[Sway]

What sort of size?

Size equals time with fdm printing, so could be a lot of machine time you're paying for.

[egomeister]

Scabutz said:

Why are 3d print hubs so expensive? I'm working on a large project and the main frame is too big for me to print on my printer. I uploaded the STL to a couple of sites at the cost was nearly £200.

The slicer estimated 200g of filament required, so £2 worth. I appreciate there are other costs, electricity, the web site, buying the machines. But seems a very large mark up.

Presumably because someone is charging for their time whereas home stuff is effectively zero cost.

[Scabutz]

Sway said:

What sort of size?

Size equals time with fdm printing, so could be a lot of machine time you're paying for.

Disc about 300mm diameter with a couple of walls about 50mm in height. Slicer said a day to print it.

[Lazadude]

Web printing sites make their money from printing lots of small things at once with a large print bed. If you take up their whole print bed, theyll charge you for it.

Although 300mm doesn't sound too massive...

[Lazadude]

Sway said:

Using paid for, fully supported files. The new machine (which is so far ahead of the OG Photon it's unreal). A proper workspace and some thought to the work flow. Plus a useful 'trick' now in the software to clean the VAT really safely - and I bloody love it!

Still terrified of spending the hours supporting free files and having the massively increased risks of failures...

It really does need a dedicated, heated and ventilated workspace separated from any form of 'living space'. Eco resin is great as no VOCs, but still damned nasty. Do not underestimate the HSE elements - it's virtually asbestos like in it's potential nastiness, and incredibly stupidly mentally crap for the environment if not handled properly.

The prints look good.

I'd be interested in anything you've learnt so far with it. I'm pretty sure I want a Mono X, like you will be for war gaming terrain and miniatures (Bolt action + mordheim in my case) .

So the idea of having it in my home office with my prusa mk3 is a bad idea..?

[Baldchap]

I really want to want a 3D printer, going right back to the REPRAP days of old. But every time I look I struggle to see a point for me.

Has anyone managed to make anything genuinely useful and useable? Car parts that work and are durable? Home/DIY fittings?

[Scabutz]

Baldchap said:

I really want to want a 3D printer, going right back to the REPRAP days of old. But every time I look I struggle to see a point for me.

Has anyone managed to make anything genuinely useful and useable? Car parts that work and are durable? Home/DIY fittings?

See my post a few up. I had been making hobby st, parts for a flight sim, cases for Raspberrypi/Arduino projects etc.

Anyway the pivot hinges on our shower door broke. Manufacturer was out of business and couldn't find spares anywhere. Was looking at £250 for an entire door because of two plastic hinges.

Anyway got the two pieces measured them up. About 45 mins in Fusion360, couple of hours print and about 40 pence worth of filament.

[chris watton]

I am thinking of buying a 3-d printer to produce some of my kit parts, for my won kits. At the moment, I sub contract, and the large amounts of investment money went into buying laser machines. however, I am trying to weigh up the long term cost benefits of producing my own 3-d printed parts.

Not sure if SLA or filament would be better, both for quality and speed. I would need to print many parts, or as many parts as the printer space would allow per printing run.

I have up to £3.5k to invest, if I choose to go down this route. Any recommendations - or is outsourcing still the best way?

ETA - here are some I have been looking at:

https://www.solidprint3d.co.uk/product/raise3d-e2/

https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/721-origin...

https://www.box.co.uk/W125836239-Flashforge-Creato...

Edited by chris watton on Tuesday 16th November 12:37

[egomeister]

chris watton said:

I am thinking of buying a 3-d printer to produce some of my kit parts, for my won kits. At the moment, I sub contract, and the large amounts of investment money went into buying laser machines. however, I am trying to weigh up the long term cost benefits of producing my own 3-d printed parts.

Not sure if SLA or filament would be better, both for quality and speed. I would need to print many parts, or as many parts as the printer space would allow per printing run.

I have up to £3.5k to invest, if I choose to go down this route. Any recommendations - or is outsourcing still the best way?

Based on what I see on your website, I don't think FDM would be appropriate as you wouldn't achieve the resolution/detail required so you are probably looking at a resin system.

I think your options are something like a laser based system such as the Formlabs machines, or LCD based stuff like the Elegoo and Anycubic machines.

From what I've seen of Formlabs, they are a very nice "productised" machine where you are likely to get consistent results more easily. I think they will probably be slower due to the time for the laser to scan across on each layer

The LCD stuff has come on a long way. They effectively blast a UV light through a LCD screen which is used as a mask for each layer. The latest ones with mono screens have better definition and speed I believe. As they cure each layer at the same time, the amount of parts built doesn't affect build time. There are some pretty big machines available now if you require a good build volume or surface area for a lot of parts.

[chris watton]

egomeister said:

Based on what I see on your website, I don't think FDM would be appropriate as you wouldn't achieve the resolution/detail required so you are probably looking at a resin system.

I think your options are something like a laser based system such as the Formlabs machines, or LCD based stuff like the Elegoo and Anycubic machines.

From what I've seen of Formlabs, they are a very nice "productised" machine where you are likely to get consistent results more easily. I think they will probably be slower due to the time for the laser to scan across on each layer

The LCD stuff has come on a long way. They effectively blast a UV light through a LCD screen which is used as a mask for each layer. The latest ones with mono screens have better definition and speed I believe. As they cure each layer at the same time, the amount of parts built doesn't affect build time. There are some pretty big machines available now if you require a good build volume or surface area for a lot of parts.

Thank you for that, much appreciated. Am trying to keep as much production as I can in-house.

So, if I start with something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0863TJF21/ref...

And I get on with it, I could look at something bigger. The parts I need to make are not large, so should be able to produce quite a few for each run.

[paulrockliffe]

I posted ages ago about an issue I was having with print adhesion, I solved it by switching from a brim to a raft and unblocking my printhead.

Now I'm getting the same issue again, but it's printing the raft perfectly. I'm running the raft at double the speed of the main print, then my first layer has adhesion to the raft at the edges, but every one of the diagonal in-fill runs has zero adhesion to the raft or each other.

Any pointers?

[egomeister]

O/T: Chris, I was correct - 2003!

[chris watton]

egomeister said:

O/T: Chris, I was correct - 2003!

Damn! Time flies...

I ordered this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0863TJF21/ref...

If it works out and I like it, I shall buy a more dedicated one in the future. For now, this will be enough for me to learn from.

[egomeister]

If you are happy with it, the other option is to buy another the same and take advantage of using your existing knowledge, spares commonality, ability to run different resin choices in parallel etc.

[GC8]

chris watton said:

Not sure if SLA or filament would be better, both for quality and speed. I would need to print many parts, or as many parts as the printer space would allow per printing run

Models? Resin only.

[Bullett]

Buy a wash and cure station as well.
You don't want to be messing about manually cleaning prints.

Assuming you are designing your own stuff make sure you understand the print hollowing, orientation and support process. Maybe worth printing some other peoples stuff that is pre-supported to make sure your printer is dialled in.

[chris watton]

Thanks guys, for your advice. I hardly use PH these days, mainly due to the over politicisation that seems to permeate almost every topic - but at times, it is very helpful!

I did order all the gubbins along with the printer, so should be OK

I have attached a pic of one the master castings for one of my kits (done by SBS Models of Hungary)

[GC8]

Avoid NPE, it is full of sociopaths and weapons grade s!