Cheap 3D printer

[pbj]

I don't think any of us are knocking the idea of having one of these to play with, I'm just waiting to be convinced on the expense and actual utility of it.

[HaRuMaN]

I hear you can play gauntlet legends 110% on it...

[pbj]

Meh, Gauntlet Legends died when Diablo 3 came out on PS4. 

10,000 chicken wings and a couple hundred hours later I think I'm good on the action RPGs.

[ChadTower]

People have been printing other arcade parts like replacement gears for star wars yokes, and bits and pieces here and there.

Figures.  People finally get the tech to print these but not after real ones become commonly available.


If using this to print out a positive to make a mold how would one deal with the surface texture?  Sand it down?

[dkersten]

So you spend $200 to make dollar store trinkets?

Yeah, because building/acquiring/restoring arcade cabinets and pinball machines is so practical. 

If nobody here was willing to piss away money to do something fun, this site wouldn't exist.  The day I start caring about whether my hobby is "cost effective" and "financially responsible" is the day I stop having hobbies.

[PL1]

how would one deal with the surface texture?  Sand it down?

Sand/prime/paint is one way.


If you're printing with ABS, you can use an acetone pen or acetone vapor.





Another option is epoxy.




Scott

[yotsuya]

Here is the secret to infinite wealth and glory!

! No longer available

[ChadTower]

That is pretty cool.  The support material must be printed using a different plastic than the actual model?

[PL1]

There is a type of filament (PVA) that dissolves in water.

You need a two-extruder printer, one for the print and the other for the supports.




Scott

[Titchgamer]

So you spend $200 to make dollar store trinkets?

Yeah, because building/acquiring/restoring arcade cabinets and pinball machines is so practical. 

If nobody here was willing to piss away money to do something fun, this site wouldn't exist.  The day I start caring about whether my hobby is "cost effective" and "financially responsible" is the day I stop having hobbies.

To true!

Between this, general gaming and Paintball prob 90% of my spare money gets spent lol.

[vwalbridge]

Yeah, because building/acquiring/restoring arcade cabinets and pinball machines is so practical. 

I'll argue it's very practical. At least when I'm done restoring/playing an arcade machine, I can turn around and sell it for someone else to enjoy.

...a 3D printed car? Worthless to the rest of the world.

Do what makes you happy. Everybody has their "thing".

But arcade collecting, restoring, and playing is not impractical, nor throwing your money away.

[opt2not]

So you spend $200 to make dollar store trinkets?

Yeah, because building/acquiring/restoring arcade cabinets and pinball machines is so practical. 

If nobody here was willing to piss away money to do something fun, this site wouldn't exist.  The day I start caring about whether my hobby is "cost effective" and "financially responsible" is the day I stop having hobbies.

Well arcade machines could be built under tighter budgets, but people tend to want to throw all the bells and whistles into their projects, especially the CP hardware and frankenpanels trying to support every damn game ever made. There are plenty of projects here that have been made on a tighter budget and they've turned out pretty well.  But when one wants to throw multiple LCD panels for stuff like Marquee displays and jukebox options, or rather go with Pi hardware than cheaper thrift store PC finds which emulate better and is easier to set-up, then I have no sympathy for their spending habits.

[yotsuya]

Yeah, because building/acquiring/restoring arcade cabinets and pinball machines is so practical. 

I'll argue it's very practical. At least when I'm done restoring/playing an arcade machine, I can turn around and sell it for someone else to enjoy.

...a 3D printed car? Worthless to the rest of the world.

Do what makes you happy. Everybody has their "thing".

But arcade collecting, restoring, and playing is not impractical, nor throwing your money away.

[05SRT4]

That is pretty cool.  The support material must be printed using a different plastic than the actual model?

As mentioned above there is dissolvable filament for easier clean up but you will need a dual extruder. Since I only have one extruder I just use the ABS or PLA that I'm printing with. Generally the supports are easy to remove but there will always be a post clean up on most prints.

[pbj]

I enjoy arcade game ownership more than I enjoy owning plastic cars.  No need to justify it.

[05SRT4]

For those who now have a printer, if you have an extra raspberry pi not being used I would recommend setting up a OctoPrint Server. This allows you to control most printers from any computer/smart phone/tablet on your home network. You can also install the camera module and get live feed of the print and it will also record each print. Really cool software and its free.

[Howard_Casto]

how would one deal with the surface texture?  Sand it down?

Sand/prime/paint is one way.


If you're printing with ABS, you can use an acetone pen or acetone vapor.







Another option is epoxy.




Scott

That's the part of the process that scares me away.  (For now.)  I've been following the progress of the techniques out there and they seem more of an art than a science. 

[mpm32]

For those that worry about the finish of their parts, I just saw this;

http://www.3dprintingsolutions.com.au/PolyMaker/PolySmooth-Filament

[Howard_Casto]

You guys are determined to get me to buy a printer aren't you..... hmmm.... ok it's added to my watch list.

[BadMouth]

I'm only concerned with the texture as much as it affects the functionality of the parts I hope to make.

I haven't had time to do anything with mine yet, except using up the included filament to print out the first 1/4 of a cat figurine. 
This weekend is going to be a bust.  Maybe next week.

[ChadTower]

It is starting to tempt me too.  Not that I need another hobby that requires dedicated space and toys. 


Definitely wouldn't want that rPI setup mentioned below.  I don't need another network printer that never responds when you need it.   


For me it would probably be a solution in search of a problem, though.  I only have one plastic thing for which I have a compelling need (Whodunnit pinball slot machine reels).

[knave]

I enjoy arcade game storage more than I enjoy printing plastic anything.  No need to justify it.

Fixed that for you! 

[Howard_Casto]

I haven't had time to do anything with mine yet, except using up the included filament to print out the first 1/4 of a cat figurine. 
This weekend is going to be a bust.  Maybe next week.

Eek!  That doesn't sound promising.  How much filament did it come with?

I agree with the pi assessment.  No offense to the OS hobbyists out there but most *nix stuff barely works. 

Assuming I could get the parts smooth enough it would be nice for the Camaro.  Last year I broke a 1"x1" plastic cover on the dash.  Outside of scrounging through a junkyard the price for a replacement was something ridiculous like 45 dollars.  I guess the old girl is transitioning into the "classic car" category.  Unfortunately the plastics are starting to get brittle so every time I tinker with it I risk breaking something.

[BadMouth]

I haven't had time to do anything with mine yet, except using up the included filament to print out the first 1/4 of a cat figurine. 
This weekend is going to be a bust.  Maybe next week.

Eek!  That doesn't sound promising.  How much filament did it come with?

Eh, I dunno.  Maybe 10 or 15ft?
I didn't measure it and the new spool is sold by the kg.  (1kg per spool)

I suppose I could weigh the spool before and after printing along with measuring the electric use.
It could be a month before I manage to learn enough to design something worth printing though.
It uses enough that I'm not wasting the plastic by printing out figurines that I'll end up throwing away.

I'm sure the amount of filament used varies greatly depending on how thick the walls are and what type of infill you use.

[Howard_Casto]

Hmm..... maybe you could determine the footage via the software... it extrudes the plastic after all.  Keep us posted.

[BadMouth]

There are so many variables (wall thickness, infil %, etc), the things I print might not translate to the things you want to print.

This gives some idea:


There are longer videos with explanations that go way too far in depth.
On one of them the guy gets 60 3DBenchy tugboats out of one 1kg spool (they are around 2" long and 2" tall) with standard settings.  (that's something like 33 cents each based on $20 a spool)
He squeezes out an extra 13 by cutting the infil % and wall thickness.  meh.


So you can print a lot of light hollow things or not as many solid things.

[knave]

Hmm..... maybe you could determine the footage via the software... it extrudes the plastic after all.  Keep us posted.

I believe the slicing software displays an estimate of filament usage in Meters...but I'll have to double check when I'm in there.

As for power usage the I have mine plugged into a UPS and under load i.e. printing with the nozzle temp at ~220 and the Bed at ~50 degrees Celsius the display read ~90w.

The electronics probably don't eat much power its the heater elements that affect the draw. I bet if I plugged in my soldering iron and turned it up to temp it would be similar.

I only printed some trinkets as proof of concept and to learn how to control the settings. in only a week of use I have learned a ton. Rather than print out the useless cat I printed dice, a space marine and some toys for the kids. My daughter(2 and 1/2) loves that car btw. 

I'm not quite to the point where I can design a part from measured dimensions yet but I'm close...and I'm able to make some custom items (key chains with my family members names on them).
...soon though I will be able to need a part, measure, plug it into a 3d program, slice it for the printer and print my own part.  Fixing broken latches, knobs, custom spacers, standoffs, and repair fasteners are all 100% possible. I have a few broken plastic bits to my car that I would love to print replacements for.

In the mean time it is kinda fun to download toys from the internet.

[BadMouth]

Check out 123D Catch for you phone or tablet.

You take like 30-60 pics around and above an object, then it supposed to create a 3D model from it.
I've only found time to attempt it once, and it failed. 

I'm hoping to use it to replicate and modify stuff.

[Slippyblade]

Check out 123D Catch for you phone or tablet.

You take like 30-60 pics around and above an object, then it supposed to create a 3D model from it.
I've only found time to attempt it once, and it failed. 

I'm hoping to use it to replicate and modify stuff.

I've seen several Instructable style articles for building 3D scanners using a phone.  Some have pretty decent results.

[Howard_Casto]

Lasers are supposed to be more accurate, although you lose the texture data. 

[PL1]

Lasers are supposed to be more accurate, although you lose the texture data. 

The open-source Ciclop 3D Scanner by BQ has had decent reviews -- relatively low cost, but scans sometimes need mesh repair.

http://www.reprap.org/wiki/Ciclop


Scott

[05SRT4]

I haven't had time to do anything with mine yet, except using up the included filament to print out the first 1/4 of a cat figurine. 
This weekend is going to be a bust.  Maybe next week.

Assuming I could get the parts smooth enough it would be nice for the Camaro.  Last year I broke a 1"x1" plastic cover on the dash. 

Do you have a picture of the piece or a part number? Id love to print something up for ya.

[Howard_Casto]

I'll see if I can find it, but I think it's long gone.  It's just a little blanker plate used to fill a hole if you don't have fog lights.  I can probably find it locally, it's just one of those things you have to set aside time to do. 

[knave]

Good times with the 3d Printer. Been forced to take a break from almost non-stop printing to do some maintenance.

I'm finding that 3d printing is a lot like a owning classic car. Really cool when it works and requires a lot of tinkering when it doesn't.
I am starting to get a grip on which settings do what and how they affect the print. I'm finding that I want to print out upgrades for the printer too (cool that that's an option) such as a better spool holder and an adapter for a better hot end down the line.

Folks have been printing bearings...witch is a pretty interesting feat.
In any case I have some cleaning filament and some tools coming to clean up my mess and get it back up and running. I'm having a great time learning about this tech but it is very tinker-intensive. At least over here in the budget end of the pool.

[Slippyblade]

I'm having a great time learning about this tech but it is very tinker-intensive. At least over here in the budget end of the pool.

Nah, my Brother-in-Law has a $1200 setup and he has to do the exact same level of tinkering on a regular basis.  His is a dual head model though. 

[Locke141]

Tray for the Sega Saturn Rhea mod:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1546926

Sweet! Downloaded

When I started my first built I had access to a large 3D printer, a CNC, and a CNC 60 watt laser. The CNC laser was by far the best in terms of usability and had the lowest learning curb. 3D printers are cool but they do take a lot of effort to keep them running right.

That sad if we did not just become a Single income family with a new baby on the way, I would definitely be tempted by something like this.

Although I have also had my eye on a 40 watt CNC laser for a while and that would probably take priority.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/260825065645?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT   

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I saw one for the dreamcast mod I'll eventually do as well. 

CNC's definitely seem easier from my limited experience.  The entry price point is rather high though.  I'm thinking of getting a 3d printer to print parts for a cnc.  I've seen where some print heads can do composite metal filaments, which really opens up the ability to print strong things.   

[ChadTower]

I'm finding that 3d printing is a lot like a owning classic car. Really cool when it works and requires a lot of tinkering when it doesn't.

Pinball.

[pbj]

Haven't taken the glass off any of my machines in almost two years.  Pinball isn't THAT unreliable.

[vwalbridge]

A 3D printed door handle that works without moving parts...except that it doesn't. It has more moving parts than a real door handle.