PILOT SPIN
Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: asechrest on September 06, 2016, 01:50:19 PM
-
Any of you dabble in 3D printing at home? I bought the Monprice MP Select Mini (http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15365) when it went on sale at Jet.com for $170. It gets great reviews (http://johnbiehler.com/2016/06/05/monoprice-maker-select-mini-3d-printer/), especially for its price point. I have never done any 3D printing but so far it's pretty neat to tinker with.
I started by 3D printing upgrades for the printer: an adapter for the future in case the "heater" part breaks and I need to replace it with a commonly available generic version; an extension piece for the printer's control knob to have better tactile feel; etc. It's pretty cool to have a printer printing itself!
I haven't quite figured out whether this'll become "useful" for something other than messing around with. I've been working on my 3D modeling skills using TinkerCad, and have so far modeled a ring and a basketball card display holder. Pretty rudimentary stuff!
Anyway this is a pointless thread, just wondering if anyone else has done this.
-
If I ever sit down and learn how to use my seat of Solid works, then a 3d printer will be my next purchase. Until then I really have no use.
-
If I ever sit down and learn how to use my seat of Solid works, then a 3d printer will be my next purchase. Until then I really have no use.
It's a fair point. $170 is fairly accessible for just something to tinker with, though. I'm printing a toothpaste squeeze thing as we speak. ;D
-
If I ever sit down and learn how to use my seat of Solid works, then a 3d printer will be my next purchase. Until then I really have no use.
Help this old man figure otu what a seat of Solid works is, please.
-
Help this old man figure otu what a seat of Solid works is, please.
Solidworks is a 3D modeling program I believe. He probably has a license or a copy to use it.
Tinkercad (https://www.tinkercad.com/) is what I have been using. It is free and web-based, but I am sure far less powerful than Solidworks.
-
It's a fair point. $170 is fairly accessible for just something to tinker with, though. I'm printing a toothpaste squeeze thing as we speak. ;D
Oh, don't get me wrong, it sounds like a great thing to have and to play with, I think I would just frustrate myself not being able to model my own stuff. I'll have to check out tinkercad.
-
Help this old man figure otu what a seat of Solid works is, please.
Joe, Solidworks is a 3d modeling cad (computer aided design) system. I own a seat (license) to use the software. Lots of companies use it to design products and it is a pretty powerful tool for designing parts and systems. It's a perishable skill to use it, at least for an old 2D fogey like me. I took a course and got proficient at a beginner level and actually designed a pretty cool machine on it, but I got distracted from the project and it feels like starting from step 1 now, although it would probably come back quickly. The software is expensive but can do great things in the right hands.
http://www.solidworks.com/
-
Help this old man figure otu what a seat of Solid works is, please.
Not something you use in the loo, I'll tell you that!
-
First we have home built guns, then we have home built airplanes, and now we have home built toothpaste squeezers?
Dogs and cats, living together. Mass hysteria.
-
First we have home built guns, then we have home built airplanes, and now we have home built toothpaste squeezers?
Dogs and cats, living together. Mass hysteria.
Yep, and they only cost 10X what you can find at Walmart, but it is fun to build your own crap.
-
If you built your own throne you'd be king.
-
I haven't played around with it but have thought about trying it. It sounds like a lot of fun. There are plenty of useful things you can build with it though I imagine producing only one is probably more expensive than just buying it. The idea that you designed it and built it though is pretty cool. You did build that!
-
My husband is rather fascinated by the 3D printing thing. He read a book a few years ago called "Fab," about such. Noticed that Barnes and Noble has a whole table of books now about it all.
"Maker spaces" are showing up around town where nerdy people congregate to see what they can make/devise together. The 3D printer I saw working looked rather slow and primitive. But it has, perhaps, potential.
-
My husband is rather fascinated by the 3D printing thing. He read a book a few years ago called "Fab," about such. Noticed that Barnes and Noble has a whole table of books now about it all.
"Maker spaces" are showing up around town where nerdy people congregate to see what they can make/devise together. The 3D printer I saw working looked rather slow and primitive. But it has, perhaps, potential.
We have a really expensive one where I work. And it too is slow. But it can make really small intricate things.
I suppose one of these is around the corner
(http://content6.flixster.com/question/36/58/28/3658280_std.jpg)
-
So far I have printed: half a cat figurine (the ass end), an elephant figurine, a new control knob for the printer itself, an adapter for the "print head" of the printer to accept a future replacement, a Florida Gators keychain, a ring that would only fit a midget, another ring that would only fit a giant, another ring that actually fits, a toothpaste squeezer, and a basketball card display holder.
I might print this soap dispenser (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:16775) next, since the one in my bathroom is broken and this one is so unique.
If you're good at the 3D modeling side, there is plenty of opportunity to custom make your own replacement parts for things that break around the house.
-
So far I have printed: half a cat figurine (the ass end), an elephant figurine, a new control knob for the printer itself, an adapter for the "print head" of the printer to accept a future replacement, a Florida Gators keychain, a ring that would only fit a midget, another ring that would only fit a giant, another ring that actually fits, a toothpaste squeezer, and a basketball card display holder.
I might print this soap dispenser (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:16775) next, since the one in my bathroom is broken and this one is so unique.
If you're good at the 3D modeling side, there is plenty of opportunity to custom make your own replacement parts for things that break around the house.
Can you upload pics of those items you have made?
-
Can you upload pics of those items you have made?
Sure. I'll try to take some when I get home.
-
It's in aviation already! Not just for toys and soap dispensers anymore!
http://www.dw.com/en/ge-buys-two-european-3d-printing-companies/a-19529541
-
It's in aviation already! Not just for toys and soap dispensers anymore!
http://www.dw.com/en/ge-buys-two-european-3d-printing-companies/a-19529541
Nice!
The two firms would be put under GE's aviation division, which is currently developing a propjet engine for Cessna planes made largely from 3D printed components.
They can hire me! Unfortunately, I can only print in plastic, and my components will take 8 - 12 hours each to print.
-
My husband is rather fascinated by the 3D printing thing. He read a book a few years ago called "Fab," about such. Noticed that Barnes and Noble has a whole table of books now about it all.
"Maker spaces" are showing up around town where nerdy people congregate to see what they can make/devise together. The 3D printer I saw working looked rather slow and primitive. But it has, perhaps, potential.
Actually slow and primitive is state of the art now and it is light years ahead of what we had even ten years ago. When I was actively doing this for a living I would draw things in 2d, multiple views, extract the components, make prints, dimension the parts, check tolerance stacks and so on. That was the design phase, and that could take weeks to months. Then I would have to send out the prints to get quotes on prototype quantities, which would take a lot of time, sometimes weeks, then place the orders, wait for delivery at least a few weeks, then put it together, rework if necessary etc. Now you can model something quickly, pull out the components, create a file and send it to a printer. Yes it may take a day or two to get a prototype, but nothing like what it used to take. It's really amazing. Oh, and everyone should try to make a simple part from concept to prototype, it's eye opening and it helps you appreciate the thought and work that goes into making everything we take for granted now.
-
Actually slow and primitive is state of the art now and it is light years ahead of what we had even ten years ago. When I was actively doing this for a living I would draw things in 2d, multiple views, extract the components, make prints, dimension the parts, check tolerance stacks and so on. That was the design phase, and that could take weeks to months. Then I would have to send out the prints to get quotes on prototype quantities, which would take a lot of time, sometimes weeks, then place the orders, wait for delivery at least a few weeks, then put it together, rework if necessary etc. Now you can model something quickly, pull out the components, create a file and send it to a printer. Yes it may take a day or two to get a prototype, but nothing like what it used to take. It's really amazing. Oh, and everyone should try to make a simple part from concept to prototype, it's eye opening and it helps you appreciate the thought and work that goes into making everything we take for granted now.
Right now I'm working on a from-scratch part for the printer. It's a guide for the filament, which comes off the spool and into the extruder mechanism. You can see it below. The way my filament comes off the spool, it sometimes touches the tower part of the printer and doesn't feed perfectly perpendicular to the extruder mechanism. So my idea is to create a part that fits the curved edge of the left side of that tower, and has a cone-shape thingy that feeds the filament directly into the extruder mechanism. It will attach using the existing hardware, so I'll need the part's hole placement to be exact.
I've never done 3D modeling or creating so should be fun.
(http://images.monoprice.com/productlargeimages/153651.jpg)
-
For pilots who have sleep apnea, you can 3D print parts for your CPAP machine: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:47244