Above 1200 Sq/FT LilScorpion’s Fab Space

[lilscorpion]

Forward on the clamp drawer. Proto Mini C-Clamps.





Ratchet clamps…I need 3 more of these but I ran out of red today.





If you TRULY have OCD, this one might break you. The metal prep drawer. Have 2 more and it’s complete.

 

[bugnut]

You are really on a roll! Are you making filler strips for the open area, front left of drawer? I may need to upgrade my storage space, this is so frickin efficient!

 

[lilscorpion]

You are really on a roll! Are you making filler strips for the open area, front left of drawer? I may need to upgrade my storage space, this is so frickin efficient!

Not sure yet. I’m more or less playing a game of Tetris with piles of options on the counter trying to figure out where everting goes. The width is about 1/4” too narrow to fit a another set of 2” abrasives so I’ll have to go thru what I have and figure out how to utilize that space. I do have some 4.5” grinder guards and some backing plates that would fit nicely there. If I do tho, I’ll probably shift everything forward and put them in the rear since I almost never use them.

 

[fartymarty]

Let's back up just a bit...I think I missed something that is messing up my OCD
Talking about the double holders here. Is there a reason? If it was mentioned I missed it

#6 L --> R, #6 & #7 L -->R, #7 R --> L, #8 R -->L, #8 L -->R, #8 L -->R, My head is hurting. I hope to see these all layed out in a drawer maybe then it'll make sense to me.

Edit: I guess it would have been easier to ask why the #7 & #8 wood screw 3/4" and 5/8" containers seem backwards.

 

[LeonardY]

Dang...
I'm this organized...
In my dreams.
It's really coming out well.

 

[b-dog]

Goood laaawd! This is incredible. I thought a 3d printer would be fun for all my day to day garage shinanigans but this is cray.

 

[LXCam]

Let's back up just a bit...I think I missed something that is messing up my OCD
Talking about the double holders here. Is there a reason? If it was mentioned I missed it

#6 L --> R, #6 & #7 L -->R, #7 R --> L, #8 R -->L, #8 L -->R, #8 L -->R, My head is hurting. I hope to see these all layed out in a drawer maybe then it'll make sense to me.

Edit: I guess it would have been easier to ask why the #7 & #8 wood screw 3/4" and 5/8" containers seem backwards.

Screwy ain’t it

 

[lilscorpion]

Goood laaawd! This is incredible. I thought a 3d printer would be fun for all my day to day garage shinanigans but this is cray.

I can’t describe it. It’s crazy. It’s just so much better using tools that are organized. These transfer punches work fin in the holders they came in and even took up less space but I never could get the one I wanted on the first grab. With these organizers it’s only one grab every time.

 

[lilscorpion]

Let's back up just a bit...I think I missed something that is messing up my OCD
Talking about the double holders here. Is there a reason? If it was mentioned I missed it

#6 L --> R, #6 & #7 L -->R, #7 R --> L, #8 R -->L, #8 L -->R, #8 L -->R, My head is hurting. I hope to see these all layed out in a drawer maybe then it'll make sense to me.

Edit: I guess it would have been easier to ask why the #7 & #8 wood screw 3/4" and 5/8" containers seem backwards.

There’s two sizes. The bigger ones are large enough to hold the entire box when I get a new one and will go in a larger “bulk drawer”. The smaller ones I will grab and go to wherever the project is. Could take the large one two I guess but I never need 800 screws…

Because 3/4” and 5/8” in those two prints are backwards. Somehow when I was designing them I started going the other way in my head. I’m going to leave them for now because I have other drawers I’m current trying to make progress on but ultimately I’ll re-print them. Good eye!

 

[larry4406]

Excellent!

Looks like you are well along the slippery slope!

I am envious!

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Ok, I have come up with a plan. I am just going to buy all the same items that @lilscorpion has and hope he will share the files to save some time. You really are covering everything.

 

[lilscorpion]

Ok, I have come up with a plan. I am just going to buy all the same items that @lilscorpion has and hope he will share the files to save some time. You really are covering everything.

Whatcha want? I decided that I will not share up into the maker sites but I’ll share here. I’ve contemplated consolidating all of the Amazon links too under an affiliate account which I could use to support my new filament addiction (seriously).

I’ve been messing with tap storage for the past few days. Printing now…

 

[XJSuperman]

Just skimmed through the last few pages showing a 3d-printer friend today and he about lost it when the pic of the 3 printers popped up. Insanely thorough organization, as we've come to expect from you over the years.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Whatcha want? I decided that I will not share up into the maker sites but I’ll share here. I’ve contemplated consolidating all of the Amazon links too under an affiliate account which I could use to support my new filament addiction (seriously).

I’ve been messing with tap storage for the past few days. Printing now…

Appreciate it. Probably won't be till this fall/winter till I get up and running. I think the printer will end up as my black Friday pickup this year.

 

[Jgaz]

Whatcha want? I decided that I will not share up into the maker sites but I’ll share here. I’ve contemplated consolidating all of the Amazon links too under an affiliate account which I could use to support my new filament addiction (seriously).

I’ve been messing with tap storage for the past few days. Printing now…

Somebody would be all over these pieces if you posted on a maker site, for their eBay or Etsy account. If you made royalty that would be one thing but to do the work and post it for free would be another IMHO.

Every time I look at your creations I think they can’t get better, but they do. The lettering, two colors, etc. is all next level.

 

[lilscorpion]

Appreciate it. Probably won't be till this fall/winter till I get up and running. I think the printer will end up as my black Friday pickup this year.

That’s how I got mine. Any savings helps.

 

[lilscorpion]

Somebody would be all over these pieces if you posted on a maker site, for their eBay or Etsy account. If you made royalty that would be one thing but to do the work and post it for free would be another IMHO.

Every time I look at your creations I think they can’t get better, but they do. The letting, two colors, etc. is all next level.

Thanks. I’m getting more and more familiar with Bambu Studio and it turns out there’s quite a bit of functionality built in. Has some nasty bugs/glitches too. Eventually I’ll move to a full blown CAD software for other reasons, but for now, works good

 

[loganb]

Thanks. I’m getting more and more familiar with Bambu Studio and it turns out there’s quite a bit of functionality built in. Has some nasty bugs/glitches too. Eventually I’ll move to a full blown CAD software for other reasons, but for now, works good

Hold up....

You're designing all this directly in the slicer??? By using the "add primitive" command in Bambu then just doing negative cutouts and scaling sizes? If so....holy hell

I will often do lettering directly in the slicer as I find it's easier to make 8 or 10 of something for screws sizes etc just changing the text in slicer vs doing it in CAD, but I've never considered doing the actual design of the item there. But I also always had a CAD software available....so I used the tool I had and knew....hum.....

 

[lilscorpion]

Hold up....

You're designing all this directly in the slicer??? By using the "add primitive" command in Bambu then just doing negative cutouts and scaling sizes? If so....holy hell

I will often do lettering directly in the slicer as I find it's easier to make 8 or 10 of something for screws sizes etc just changing the text in slicer vs doing it in CAD, but I've never considered doing the actual design of the item there. But I also always had a CAD software available....so I used the tool I had and knew....hum.....

Well yeah, it’s like right there and after all, Gridfinity is just a bunch of squares!



Designing like that is really fast especially if you already know is what you’re gonna do. In some regards it’s probably easier because I’m just using visual for layout vs needing perfect math. Sometimes you gotta play with the team that’s on the field.

Parallel keeper organizer. Turns out the slicer has a split function for large parts. not like this stuff is difficult.

 

[XJSuperman]

Jesus man, Fusion is free. I let the comment slide last night thinking there's no way I read that right. That's insane to think you've done all that directly in the slicer. Have you gotten into any of the model builders in MakerLab yet? Theres some pretty neat programs there that I haven't needed just yet, but will be handy at some point, I'm sure.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

I had seen the comments about him adding text using Bambu but figured maybe that was it. That said the text creation on your items looks way nicer than a lot I have seen people make online.

I was definitely, leaning towards using Fusion when I get into it but don't know anything about the Bambu Slicer to know if it is better or worse option here.

In for learning more here.

 

[lilscorpion]

Jesus man, Fusion is free. I let the comment slide last night thinking there's no way I read that right. That's insane to think you've done all that directly in the slicer. Have you gotten into any of the model builders in MakerLab yet? Theres some pretty neat programs there that I haven't needed just yet, but will be handy at some point, I'm sure.

Fusion isn’t free….unless I’m doing it wrong. My trial expired and it’s like $50/mo IIRC.

I am using a bunch of the makers tools primarily the ones specific to Gridfinity (any bin, any configuration). They’re really handy if you don’t want to or need to use cad.

I had seen the comments about him adding text using Bambu but figured maybe that was it. That said the text creation on your items looks way nicer than a lot I have seen people make online.

I was definitely, leaning towards using Fusion when I get into it but don't know anything about the Bambu Slicer to know if it is better or worse option here.

In for learning more here.

It’s better but not always easier. An example is text per @XJSuperman comment. Adding a word/string in the slicer to a base object takes seconds allowing me to reprint the same model with different words. Here’s an example: there’s only 3 different models I’m use for end mill holders but reprint them with diffent words to identify different tools. Super fast and easy.

 

[Firebrick43]

Fusion isn’t free….unless I’m doing it wrong. My trial expired and it’s like $50/mo IIRC.

I am using a bunch of the makers tools primarily the ones specific to Gridfinity (any bin, any configuration). They’re really handy if you don’t want to or need to use cad.


It’s better but not always easier. An example is text per @XJSuperman comment. Adding a word/string in the slicer to a base object takes seconds allowing me to reprint the same model with different words. Here’s an example: there’s only 3 different models I’m use for end mill holders but reprint them with diffent words to identify different tools. Super fast and easy.

Fusion can be used free for hobbyists. There are some features turned off with it and you can only have 10 editable models at a time active so you have to shuffle things around.

They all the time bombard you with messages about upgrading as well.

 

[XJSuperman]

I do use text in the slicer quite a bit. Its much faster than editing the model and then exporting it back to the slicer all over again.
Fusion is absolutely free, you need to find the hobbyist version online. No trials to worry about and it has plenty of features for CAD work. There are certainly aspects of it that are locked down, but it works well for many of us printing things. I think @loganb can elaborate on the available CAD programs better than I.

 

[loganb]

To my knowledge, the following are the major "professional" engineering targeted CAD programs with free/reduced cost licenses for personal/hobbyist usage:

Fusion 360-Probably the most common one or at least one with most social/youtube mentions:

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal

SolidWorks-One of the defacto standards in engineering CAD/3d modeling systems of components/systems/assemblies etc....it's not free but 50/year so equivalent to 2-3 rolls of filament

https://www.solidworks.com/solution/solidworks-makers

SolidEdge(different then SolidWorks, owned by Siemens)-Less common then SolidWorks, but still a common-ish commercial engineering CAD package and has a free option:

Free CAD Software for Hobbyists and Makers | Solid Edge | Siemens

Eligible hobbyists and makers can apply for free access to software and resources through our Solid Edge startup program with one-year subscriptions.

solidedge.siemens.com

The common thread here with these is in exchange for the reduced price, you get a reduced feature set and generally reduced privacy on files. Last I played with them, all (3) of those still had .stl or .stp file type export in their free version, but a personal expectation of mine is that at some point in the future Autodesk(maker of Fusion) will put that export behind a paywall to try and convert the hobbists to paid users. They're doing similar things to existing corporate users moving away from floating network licenses on Autocad...when the money is attractive enough I think it happens here too.

There are then full "free" platforms like Tinkercad, Onshape, Freecad but I've got no experience with any of them

As I've thought thru this more....I've moved from "wth" to "I kinda love it" in probably 30 minutes. The big challenge with the 3d sharing sites of printables, makerworld etc is even if they share the native CAD files, you've got to have that software to really do anything with it. Sharing .stl's are great until you need to modify it and anything outside of basic scale operations or adding a hole/feature is challenging and often results in just remodeling it anyway. Doing it natively in the slicer allows anyone to modify it and adjust sizes...and for the most part we're just making blocks, rounding corners then putting some combinations of rectangles/spheres in as relief cuts

Whole heartedly agree with text being generally faster and easier to manage in slicer as well....which brings me to

I'm going to give designing stuff directly in the slicer a try. I just started a new job last week and as expected didn't take much effort to convince the new boss (who I've worked with for years) that a 3D printer would be very helpful for his 5S goals in our warehouse and shop. So I printed a couple pretty straight forward things, brought them in and was asked how fast I could have one in house....it shows up next week

My next challenge was what was I going to use for modeling as at this time they don't have any 3D modeling software for this application...but for basic tool holders, it's been well proven here that it's not hard to do directly in Bambu! So I'll give it a try

Have you gotten into any of the model builders in MakerLab yet? Theres some pretty neat programs there that I haven't needed just yet, but will be handy at some point, I'm sure.

thanks for mentioning MakerLab! I kinda remember hearing about it but didn't dig in and had forgotten all about it. For those curious....see link below and dive in. Trying to solve some of the "I want this customized but don't have CAD skills/software" challenge

https://makerworld.com/en/makerlab?from=Forum

And going back a bit farther....whenever @lilscorpion decides to sell a .zip folder of all this amazing stuff or just setup a Patreon account I'll gladly jump in line to help pay for printer food in exchange for the assortment of files you've come up with. Stellar work

I've printed some of Pat's stuff he's loaded on GrabCAD and bought the sets just to drop in there as it was easier/faster then modeling my own etc

4 FN 27 | CAD Models | GrabCAD

3D CAD models designed by GrabCAD Community member 4 FN 27

grabcad.com

 

[LeonardY]

I'm going to throw in my 2 small cents here.

Most of people don't need a full blown Engineering program to model this stuff.

A basic modeling program will do the job.
A program needs to do basic 3D geometry accurately and Boolean's.

I recommend FormZ free. It's truly free. I use the professional version. I do not work for them.

form•Z Free - AutoDesSys formZ

formZ is a popular, powerful 3d modeling software used to explore, design and deliver extraordinary projects.

autodessys.com

Here's some of the models I have created in this program.
Lens assembly

My desk I'm building.

Chip guard for my mill

Wrench racks

I did these on the pro version.
The free version is capable of doing this type modeling.

If your so inclined, have a look. I'm happy to give you further information.

 

[Cruzan80]

There are then full "free" platforms like Tinkercad, Onshape, Freecad but I've got no experience with any of them

Recently, OnShape started to allow parametric modeling, merged with STL meshes. You can click any "face" of the mesh to create a sketch plane, and then it is the same interface as people are used to. Really helps when trying to deeper editing tools on a .STL mesh!

 

[lilscorpion]

To my knowledge, the following are the major "professional" engineering targeted CAD programs with free/reduced cost licenses for personal/hobbyist usage:

Fusion 360-Probably the most common one or at least one with most social/youtube mentions:

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/personal

SolidWorks-One of the defacto standards in engineering CAD/3d modeling systems of components/systems/assemblies etc....it's not free but 50/year so equivalent to 2-3 rolls of filament

https://www.solidworks.com/solution/solidworks-makers

SolidEdge(different then SolidWorks, owned by Siemens)-Less common then SolidWorks, but still a common-ish commercial engineering CAD package and has a free option:

Free CAD Software for Hobbyists and Makers | Solid Edge | Siemens

Eligible hobbyists and makers can apply for free access to software and resources through our Solid Edge startup program with one-year subscriptions.

solidedge.siemens.com

The common thread here with these is in exchange for the reduced price, you get a reduced feature set and generally reduced privacy on files. Last I played with them, all (3) of those still had .stl or .stp file type export in their free version, but a personal expectation of mine is that at some point in the future Autodesk(maker of Fusion) will put that export behind a paywall to try and convert the hobbists to paid users. They're doing similar things to existing corporate users moving away from floating network licenses on Autocad...when the money is attractive enough I think it happens here too.

There are then full "free" platforms like Tinkercad, Onshape, Freecad but I've got no experience with any of them

As I've thought thru this more....I've moved from "wth" to "I kinda love it" in probably 30 minutes. The big challenge with the 3d sharing sites of printables, makerworld etc is even if they share the native CAD files, you've got to have that software to really do anything with it. Sharing .stl's are great until you need to modify it and anything outside of basic scale operations or adding a hole/feature is challenging and often results in just remodeling it anyway. Doing it natively in the slicer allows anyone to modify it and adjust sizes...and for the most part we're just making blocks, rounding corners then putting some combinations of rectangles/spheres in as relief cuts

Whole heartedly agree with text being generally faster and easier to manage in slicer as well....which brings me to

I'm going to give designing stuff directly in the slicer a try. I just started a new job last week and as expected didn't take much effort to convince the new boss (who I've worked with for years) that a 3D printer would be very helpful for his 5S goals in our warehouse and shop. So I printed a couple pretty straight forward things, brought them in and was asked how fast I could have one in house....it shows up next week

My next challenge was what was I going to use for modeling as at this time they don't have any 3D modeling software for this application...but for basic tool holders, it's been well proven here that it's not hard to do directly in Bambu! So I'll give it a try



thanks for mentioning MakerLab! I kinda remember hearing about it but didn't dig in and had forgotten all about it. For those curious....see link below and dive in. Trying to solve some of the "I want this customized but don't have CAD skills/software" challenge

https://makerworld.com/en/makerlab?from=Forum

And going back a bit farther....whenever @lilscorpion decides to sell a .zip folder of all this amazing stuff or just setup a Patreon account I'll gladly jump in line to help pay for printer food in exchange for the assortment of files you've come up with. Stellar work

I've printed some of Pat's stuff he's loaded on GrabCAD and bought the sets just to drop in there as it was easier/faster then modeling my own etc

4 FN 27 | CAD Models | GrabCAD

3D CAD models designed by GrabCAD Community member 4 FN 27

grabcad.com

I’ll need to get fusion 360 so I can use the sheet metal, post for my CNC mill, post for plasma…and router. I should just get it. For whatever reason I really struggle with the learning curve even though everyone says it’s not so bad. @slodat even walked me thru it. I guess I’l old struggle with new. It’s truly the inertia to start more so than the work or mental effort. I’d probably seriously benefit from a class (but I’m cheap and don’t want to pay)…haha

 

[RickP]

For whatever reason I really struggle with the learning curve even though everyone says it’s not so bad.

I'm in the same boat -- I even installed Fusion and started using it, then stalled out.

It’s truly the inertia to start more so than the work or mental effort.

That's it for me -- I used 2D Autocad back in the dark ages, and I really just don't like the Fusion interface (parametric and timeline history). I've downloaded SolidWorks and I'm using that to restart my inertia.

I'm sure Fusion will work well for you though, especially with everything you have planned for it.

 

[Cruzan80]

Silidworks does have a CAM module, but not sure how much it costs. Generally, I have found that people tend to prefer either AutoDesk or Dassault "flavored" products (Dassault makes SOLIDWORKS, and former employees have started OnShape, Creo, etc).

 

[LeonardY]

I’ll need to get fusion 360 so I can use the sheet metal, post for my CNC mill, post for plasma…and router. I should just get it. For whatever reason I really struggle with the learning curve even though everyone says it’s not so bad. @slodat even walked me thru it. I guess I’l old struggle with new. It’s truly the inertia to start more so than the work or mental effort. I’d probably seriously benefit from a class (but I’m cheap and don’t want to pay)…haha

That's a great reason for it. Before I retired I tried to get my department to switch over to VisualCAM inside of Rhino.

Homepage - MecSoft Corporation

Previous Next POWERFUL AND AFFORDABLECAD/CAM SOFTWARE Since 1997, MecSoft Corporation has been developing, marketing, and supporting standalone CAM software, as well as CAD/CAM software solutions for CNC machining. Our Rhino integrated RhinoCAM and stand-alone VisualCAD/CAM products are not only...

mecsoft.com

I use the standalone version of VisualCAD/CAM. Since I only have one CNC to program and I never bought my own copy of Rhino.

Here's why I mention it. Smaller companies have a much better one on one customer support. When I started my journey with CNC I needed the hand holding. I was able to call the company have a direct one on one with the support guy. Sharing my screen. I moved leaps and bounds ahead. They also wrote custom posts for my machine. Yes, I did pay for a yearly service contract. It was about $400 a year. That got me that access and training webinars. Along with a free software upgrade.

I also went with a local company for my CNC. If I had a problem I used to email him sometimes on a weekend and get a response back that day. They also had a connection to Mecsoft.

While I recommend VisuaCAD/CAM. I think a conversation with any smaller company is worth the time to find out what their service package is.

 

[lilscorpion]

Unfortunate set of circumstances that I should have seen coming - just about the time I get comfortable with software that I'm using in a semi-non-standard way (referring to Bambu Studio) a new version is released and I have no choice but to take it because the printers needed version parity. BUT, the new version now won't let me use object difference like it did in the past. After doing it a few times I now get a mesh error of various types...Sooooooooooo - time to get after Fusion.

Fusion - I realized that I wasn't reading the renewal info right in Fusion 360 and I had a choice to stick with Personal OR (kinda important) upgrade. So I just renewed Personal. Done and I'm back in. I can see all the projects of the past where I tinkered here and there. I know there's a plugin for Gridfinity so I installed it. *****. I mean it's ok, but it doesn't have features I wont' live without like configurable base divisions. One adjustment I've made as I've played with Gridfinity is that using the standard 42mm square grid for the bottom of my containers is too constraining. I now use halfs so I can slide bins more freely around the drawer. The Fusion plugin does not do halfs.

What I need to figure out today seems basic. I'm able to import the base gridifinity bin into Fusion. Easy. But it comes in sized all whacky. So I need to resize. How did Fusion determine the size of the object in the STL file? In Bambu the object is...



and fusion its?



Now to figure out how to resize...but there is no resize that I can see. Only scale. So the fancyness of fusion and I need to do the math to figure out what to scale? That's really dumb. Thus begins the learning curve.

 

[Curt Meyer]

You have a unit discrepancy. I'm not familiar with fusion, so I don't know where to do this but, you need to set the units to mm when or before you import.

 

[LeonardY]

You should be able to change the units within the program. I don't use fusion but I used Solidworks and Inventor.

 

[lilscorpion]

It's a .01 multiplier and works out.

Edit: took me a while to figure out how to take a body I created in Fusion 360 and subtract it from the imported Gridfinity Bin (Mesh Body). It's the "Tessellate" command. I shoulda been able to guess that I suppose? Heh...



Took me a while to figure o

 

[lilscorpion]

It did take longer but I got there. I did cheat in the slicer and add the finger access holes. All in all I'd say Fusion is better once I get the hang of the functions but making the parts was much faster and way more accurate.



Imported into the slicer...



And away to the printer....be back in an hour.

 

[XJSuperman]

Yeah, I hadn't touched anything CAD in 10years before I bought my printer and started back in with Fusion. It was an unforgiving and steep learning curve, and I'm only using a fraction of what its capable of. You'll get there. Nice update.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

***** their update disrupted your work flow.

Taking notes here now. Sounds like it is worth it to get Fusion360 installed and start playing with well before I get the printer when I have a free moment.

Wonder if the tools are remotely similar to SketchUp.

 

[Cruzan80]

***** their update disrupted your work flow.

Taking notes here now. Sounds like it is worth it to get Fusion360 installed and start playing with well before I get the printer when I have a free moment.

Wonder if the tools are remotely similar to SketchUp.

Not really. SketchUp is a pencil in 3D space. Fusion 360 is a parametric CAD software, where things are drawn on 2d planes, then brought into 3D via extrusion, revolving, etc. MOST parametric modelers behave similarly (F360, SW, OnShape, Inventor, etc), with some workflow differences.

But going from SketchUp to Fusion would be like going from DOS to Windows 10. There may some similarities if you dig (you can sketch in 3D panes in F360), but not ideal to force it thru, and not the general design intent.


As I have previously said, it really seems like people fall under one of two main camps. Either AutoDesk or Dassault "flavored". I would try a free version of both (F360 vs onShape, for example for generic modeling to 3D print), and see what clicks more. Just about anything one of these can do, another can as well (nobody makes the "perfect" version).

 

[Cruzan80]

a new version is released and I have no choice but to take it because the printers needed version parity.

Curious if the printer software or the computer "Auto-updated". Or did you accept an update without realizing the change it would have? Or was the first half "forced"?

AFAIK, there is no way to "roll-back" firmware on the printer at this point. But I haven't heard of a "required" update (except to match) to be able to keep running in general (aka if printer and software are on identical 1.5 releases, it works, and doesn't force you to update to 2.0 to print. But if one half is on 2.0, the other needs to as well). Firmware numbers are made up as an example.