The Everything 3D Printer Thread

[youinreverse]

Does anyone have any suggestions for good bowden tube connectors? The ones that came on my Ender 3 Pro were terrible and I ended up replacing the tube and fittings with Capricorn. Now the Capricorn fitting on the extruder motor won't hold, so I need to replace it. Anyone have a suggestion on quality ones?

I'm seeing a magnetic system that piques my interest, but I can't find many reviews on it.
https://www.captubes.com/shop/#!/Hotends-FR-Magnetic-Bowden-Kit-M6-M10/p/163565246/category=33913105

 

[slim01]

Made up a temporary TIG welding lead hanger while I'm setting my shed up. I modified an existing bracket design I was using to join 2 roller toolboxes together to have a hanger bracket as well. Its not a perfect solution but it'll keep the leads off the floor for now.

 

[loganb]

Couple recent articles that I saw which may demonstrate where some of the next "new" things to come towards these new tools/toys of ours:

Rotary axis on the Extruder
https://hackaday.com/2021/01/16/3d-printing-without-support-material-thanks-to-an-additional-axis/


Easier removing of support with a "Sharpie" add on:
https://hackaday.com/2020/05/27/improving-3d-printed-supports-with-a-marker/

 

[slim01]

The rotary extruder looks interesting, saw a bit of that vid a few days ago. I didn't see what slicer was being used though.

I like this idea too, true 3D printing......

 

[Firebrick43]

Can anyone recommend a new laptop to run fusion 360 well. My old dell is struggling and I ordered a new dell but after 3 weeks they just cancel the order with no reason. On the phone for an hour and I gave up. After a search its seems I am not alone and they could care less so no more Dell for me.

I prefer a metal chassis/shell. Want durable/tuff not thin/light. Not a fan of HP

 

[brawls43]

I got a used Dell M6800 workstation laptop. I had used one for work in the past, and they're upgradeable easily, and not too expensive because they sell ones coming off corporate leases. I don't know if Fusion 360 is the same, but with Solidworks, they have approved graphics cards that work better with the software, so you might want to look into that as well when comparing the different versions of the M6800. Its metal chassis, 17.3" screen, upgradeable memory and two hard drives.

 

[Darby9]

Can anyone recommend a new laptop to run fusion 360 well. My old dell is struggling and I ordered a new dell but after 3 weeks they just cancel the order with no reason. On the phone for an hour and I gave up. After a search its seems I am not alone and they could care less so no more Dell for me.

I prefer a metal chassis/shell. Want durable/tuff not thin/light. Not a fan of HP

I buy my CAD laptops from Dell's Outlet. Some come with a 3 year warranty. And in the environments I work in, that's about the lifespan I expect (dust from plasma cutters murdered my last one). When I search, I filter by graphics card RAM, then sort from highest price down.

For performance, you'll want want a graphics card approved by Auodesk with as much RAM as you can afford and an SSD drive.

FWIW, I currently run a Dell Precision i9 eight core with 64GB RAM and 6 GB video RAM. When I throw a 1000+ part, 100MB PCB assembly at Solidworks, it'll bog down but it handles everything else gracefully.

 

[banjopete]

Can anyone recommend a new laptop to run fusion 360 well. My old dell is struggling and I ordered a new dell but after 3 weeks they just cancel the order with no reason. On the phone for an hour and I gave up. After a search its seems I am not alone and they could care less so no more Dell for me.

I prefer a metal chassis/shell. Want durable/tuff not thin/light. Not a fan of HP

I know you said laptop but if the portability isn't an essential element, desktop/towers can be had for very little with more than enough punch for fusion. Used, the prices get pretty crazy low in the gamer crowd as they usually lust after the latest gpus.

 

[bdbecker]

One thing to keep in mind here, a lot of the processing power you need for running large assemblies in a CAD program like Inventor or SolidWorks doesn't necessarily apply to drawing up parts for 3D printing in Fusion360. If you can afford it, go for it, but don't feel like you need to drop big money on a CAD system just to be able to use Fusion360. I'm running an Intel i5-8400 in my desktop and it runs Fusion360 with no issue. Not a low end CPU, but by no means at the top of the spectrum either.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

I know people are proud of their big rigs but I run FreeCAD+Cura on a little i5 SFF PC and it does everything I need it to. Don't let people tell you that you need a supercomputer to do 3D printing.

 

[Quick240]

Does anyone have any suggestions for good bowden tube connectors? The ones that came on my Ender 3 Pro were terrible and I ended up replacing the tube and fittings with Capricorn. Now the Capricorn fitting on the extruder motor won't hold, so I need to replace it. Anyone have a suggestion on quality ones?

I'm seeing a magnetic system that piques my interest, but I can't find many reviews on it.
https://www.captubes.com/shop/#!/Hotends-FR-Magnetic-Bowden-Kit-M6-M10/p/163565246/category=33913105

Mine is not falling out yet, but I have noticed a couple mm of movement, so was planning to try this:

 

[mbaulfinger]

FireBrick that is a really nice RailCore. How's it printing for you?

 

[MyLilMule]

I used Fusion 360 to design this clamp to hold a dial indicator on the ways of my 1941 South Bend 13" lathe. Once printed, about $4 in hardware from the local hardware store and it works like a charm!

I uploaded the STL file to thingiverse.

 

[Firebrick43]

FireBrick that is a really nice RailCore. How's it printing for you?

Its printing really well. I am mostly printing ASA/ABS and have therefore removed the cooling fan/shroud and will leave it off. No more PLA for me.

Even with the enclosure and I am able to get somewhere around 45 degree C in the chamber using the bed I do want to still add a chamber heater to get it to 70C. I need to get water cooling on the hot end and extruder stepper first. I get some warping still on some large and thick abs prints

Little to no ringing, layers as low as .050mm, and perfect leveling as it physically levels the bed instead of just in the software. Also its so fast, either can print .10mm layers really fast, same finish time as my ender or at .20mm twice as fast

 

[banjopete]

Had some good outcomes for my new dust shoe on my cnc. It's sohandy having a 3d printer for stuff just like this. I went back to pla as I got tired of the stringing of petg. A welcome change as it prints so cleanly in comparison.

 

[vavet]

I ordered this micro drill set for one particular thing and only needed one size of bit, but they were inexpensive and you never know, I might need something else in a slightly different size at some point. The only problem was that most of the bits were in zip top bags with no indication of size.

I measured each bit diameter and length and made this block to hold all the bits, plus the special case, and the handle. The only problem is that the smallest hole sketchup will let me draw in 1 mm. The smallest of these bits are 0.28mm.

 

[banjopete]

The only problem is that the smallest hole sketchup will let me draw in 1 mm. The smallest of these bits are 0.28mm.

It might be time to jump ship to fusion if you need finer scale items if that's the case.

The block turned out well regardless and unless you're moving it around a lot the loose fit probably doesn't matter all that much.

 

[MyLilMule]

What is your experience with printing threaded parts? I've tried a couple times to print a large 1-7/8-8TPI threaded part in PLA. I clean off the scaffold, and no matter what, it doesn't thread onto the male part. I ended up printing it at 1-15/16 and then shrank it halfway back to 1-7/8 in the printer. It's closer, and fits, but it's a hack. I tried to print male threads today, and same thing, won't thread on to a known female part.

Does PLA shrink THAT much?

 

[txvwnut]

I haven't measured PLA for shrinkage but what I've found with PETG is it doesn't seem to excessively shrink. I've been printing some blast gates and everything I've measured has been spot on to my cad dimensions.

 

[MyLilMule]

I printed a couple of 1 inch cubes. One with 20% infill and one 100%. They both measured within 5 or 6 thou. But I can't figure out why my modeled threads are so jacked. Maybe it's droop?

 

[penright]

What is your experience with printing threaded parts? I've tried a couple times to print a large 1-7/8-8TPI threaded part in PLA. I clean off the scaffold, and no matter what, it doesn't thread onto the male part. I ended up printing it at 1-15/16 and then shrank it halfway back to 1-7/8 in the printer. It's closer, and fits, but it's a hack. I tried to print male threads today, and same thing, won't thread on to a known female part.

Does PLA shrink THAT much?

Search with something like "3d printer slicer holes not right size"

https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/3rdhsh/the_undersized_hole_diameter_issue/

The printer technically prints in straight lines. A circle is a square corner rounded off. Do the search and reading, it can explain it a lot better than I can. The bottom line there are slicer settings to help.

 

[toolin' around]

Are you printing with enough thread depth clearance?

Cutting a thread in metal with more than 80% makes a really tight fit, so using any print material, you probably need 60-70%.

I can’t recall what I used last time I printed both internal and external mating threads. It’s a bit more forgiving if you are printing one side and mating with a metal nut or bolt.

 

[Darby9]

What is your experience with printing threaded parts? I've tried a couple times to print a large 1-7/8-8TPI threaded part in PLA. I clean off the scaffold, and no matter what, it doesn't thread onto the male part. I ended up printing it at 1-15/16 and then shrank it halfway back to 1-7/8 in the printer. It's closer, and fits, but it's a hack. I tried to print male threads today, and same thing, won't thread on to a known female part.

Does PLA shrink THAT much?

If you measure the pitch of the finished part, does it measure correctly (ie are the crests of the threads on an 8 TPI part really 1/8" apart)? That may tell you if you have a shrink problem.

As @tooling'_around said, the fit may be too tight--either change the triangular-ish shape you're spiraling to draw the thread shape, or if your CAD is doing it automatically, create a cylindrical cut to knock the tips off the threads to create a looser fit.

 

[4EyedTurd]

Is anyone offering scanning and printing? Say for plastic gear on a power antenna mast that isn’t reproduced

 

[jwmelvin]

For something like that, you’d be better off modeling it from scratch instead of scanning, which would be more appropriate for an arbitrary, curved surface that is hard to model accurately.

 

[4EyedTurd]

Thanks

 

[Retrosmith]

If you're looking to roll your own scanner, check out openscan.eu. I bought on of their electronics kits and printed the parts. The scans work much better than I expected.

 

[TTMotorsports]

I've done some research but whats a good entry level beginner machine. Ender or ???

Anyone use a monoprice printer. Monoprice 121711 Select Mini 3D Printer V2 - Black With Heated (120 x 120 x 120 mm)

Looking to print some pieces to use as a nice template to trace for patterns. I have them drawn in solidworks and want to replicate them in 3d printed plastic to put over a metal tube to trace and cut out with my hand plasma cutter and grinder.

Thanks

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[shortykorte]

My Ender has been working good but I’m only a beginner.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[brawls43]

Also quite happy with my Ender 3. Ran great till my plastic extruder tensioner arm broke (which is common with the original ender 3), but now that I replaced it with a metal one, its been printing awesome. I also ended up upgrading to BLtouch. Leveling the bed really isn't that bad, but it is super handy.

 

[WoodsTruck]

I have an Ender 5 and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. My daughter (15 at the time) had gone to some STEM class at the local university where they did 3D printing. She helped me assemble the machine and start up with the software to get me started. There is obviously better programs but I have been able to make all sorts of things so far with mine. $350 seemed pretty reasonable for what I have done so far.

 

[brawls43]

Getting some extra bins printed for my Packout box.

 

[txvwnut]

Look into an Ender series machine, Creality made these “open source” so the owner can modify at there discretion and they are rather inexpensive. I’ve got an Ender 3Pro and a friend of mine has the same plus an Ender 5.

 

[vavet]

I got an ender3 v2 for Xmas 2020. I’ve been printing a lot of stuff. I’ve designed a few things, but I’ve mostly printed stuff I downloaded from Thingiverse.
Don’t rush through the bed leveling. It’s not difficult, but adjusting one corner can move other corners.

 

[TTMotorsports]

Ok perfect ill do some more research on thr ender.

What are you guys using for drawing stuff you print on these things? Fusion 360 or ???

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[brawls43]

I use Solidworks at work, so I generally bring it home and use it. Fusion 360 is pretty good, and way more affordable.

 

[penright]

Ok perfect ill do some more research on thr ender.

I have been happy with the ender 3. A good place to get your feet wet. Also, don't get into too big of a hurry to start upgrading. The base model will print just fine.

What are you guys using for drawing stuff you print on these things? Fusion 360 or ???

I been using 360. It has a steep learning curve, but once you get it it is nice. The forums are a nice help and you learn more in the process. Looks like they just added a new restriction for the free license. You are allowed only 10 projects to be "editable" the rest is "read-only". I don't see this as a show stopper. If you are truly a hobbyist then you will not be working on that many projects at one time. If it helps keep this free to us hobbyists, then I am all for it. I just notice it this morning. As the warning says, all projects were marked as "read-only" I just changed the one I was working on to editable and it seem to be working.

 

[txvwnut]

Ok perfect ill do some more research on thr ender.

What are you guys using for drawing stuff you print on these things? Fusion 360 or ???

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I’ve got Freecad on my laptop and Tinkercad on my iPad. I find myself using Tinkercad since my iPad is always close by.

 

[Cruzan80]

I use Fusion, as well as OnShape. Free, browser based, and does 95+% of Fusion while outsourcing the heavy lifting off my computer.

Sent from my IN2015 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[white91formula]

Large print on ender 5 plus completed after 28 hours