What 3D-printing projects did you do for your truck and shop?

[e9999]

Interesting. I printed these scriber/pencil guides in both cms and 1/2ins for an upcoming project and as a test. I was thinking that the shrinkage of the PLA might result in worse accuracy for the outer diamonds in terms of distance from the reference edge, but no, they were all within about the same accuracy level -at least given the rough measurement I did quickly with calipers. I didn't see a clear trend (besides most being on the high side, oddly enough). Not bad accuracy at all actually. Within around 5 thous and 1/10 of a mm or so of the nominal distances. But hard to gauge by eye, admittedly. So, no, no significant shrinkage.
Plenty good enough for woodworking TBF, and how I hold the pencil probably gives more error than this.
So, yes, 3Dprinting is fine for something like this.

 

[e9999]

I printed a large rectangular lid for a collet box. It was large (about 200mmx150mm) and also thicker than I normally do (2.5mm this time), so to avoid it taking 9hrs I used a thicker bead than usual: 0.25mm speed -first time- rather than my usual 0.15mm speed. I didn't use a brim. Lo and behold I got a big amount of lift at the corners, like 5 or 6mms. A lot. Made the lid pretty much unusable. I was not expecting that. I imagine the bigger bead is the culprit due to increased shrinkage. Is that common with 0.25?

 

[KLF]

I assume you are using PLA? I find that if the model has a significant flat base, say more than a few in², I have to use a brim with PLA, or it lifts up at the edges, especially at the corners. I'm wondering if this is a moisture issue?

I don't have any adhesion issues with PETG, in fact the opposite, I often have to pry the model off the build plate.

 

[e9999]

yes, that was PLA. I usually don't use a brim (outside of stability issues) because I never had significant liftups before. Very minor ones but this big one was a striking first.

That was on a makerspace printer and I don't have control over the cleanliness of the plate, so that's an unknown too. I don't think there is a moisture problem because these printers are going 24/7 and go through filament like crazy. I'm guessing they would go through a 1kg spool in a couple of days, so I doubt they have much exposure to moisture.

I have not done much with PETG so no real experience there.

added: reprinted that lid but with 0.15mm thick layers and a brim, and it came out perfectly flat. Also looks much better, the 0.25 was very rough looking.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

We are looking at an X2D Bambu Labs printer with an AMS. Buy once cry once. Like the OP, so much I could have done over the years.

 

[e9999]

I have now printed more than 500 items. I would say maybe 30% of that were repeats due to fine tuning dimensions. Many of the 500 were to some extent at least for fun admittedly, but all served a purpose in the house, vehicles, or shop, nothing for decoration or BS, and were always something that saved me time and/or aggravation. I would say that not only would it have cost far more to buy equivalents than to buy a printer and filament, but most I could just not buy at all. A few were actually critical items that saved something else, sometimes costly. Those alone would likely have cost more to buy than the cost of the printer.

And, of course, perhaps most importantly, this is all great fun for me, including the CAD part, but of course I'm kind of a nerd for that sort of thing... YMMV. In fact, I would say that if you don't like computers, software, and especially CAD, you won't enjoy the process. There are a lot of already designed items out there for download, but I only did so a couple of times in the beginning, I don't know much about that side. I suspect my stuff is too specific to find the right download anyway.

So, altogether, a great investment in my opinion, but if somebody is thinking about starting with a costly printer, I would suggest first checking around to see if there is a Makerspace (or a friend) nearby that they can use to get their feet wet and see if they like doing all this stuff, before they spend the big $$. This is rather specialized work with a significant learning curve.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Thanks for the advice. I had considered some cheaper options but was more about stepping up the game.
I enjoy making stuff and computer stuff but I admit I have never tried any of the design software (CAD, fusion, etc). I have a friend who is really good at that and also has access to one of the 3d scanners. I am hoping she will be my go to instructor.

I am super intrigued by the McMastercarr info earlier in the thread.

I will add that I have asked friends to print a few things for me and, as is so often the case, either they just never get around to it, have other prioroties or the items need a reprint which delays projects. So having one and learning something like Fusion or whatever seems logical.

 

[KLF]

We are looking at an X2D Bambu Labs printer with an AMS. Buy once cry once. Like the OP, so much I could have done over the years.

You're gonna want to catch up with the latest drama with Bambu. They've really pissed off the entire community, with their lockdown on their printers. I've pretty much put mine on a shelf, might get rid of it, not sure what I'm gonna do. Haven't used it in several weeks. F them.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

You're gonna want to catch up with the latest drama with Bambu. They've really pissed off the entire community, with their lockdown on their printers. I've pretty much put mine on a shelf, might get rid of it, not sure what I'm gonna do. Haven't used it in several weeks. F them.

I have been reading about that and how they have basically shut out the open source world. I think right now the overall concern is that some of the recent various state legislation is threatening the use of these machines on a nationwide scale. This may be at least one reason Bambu has done what they did. But yeah. What are you considering replacing it with - if you have any idea? I really liked the features of the X2D.
The Qidi Plus4 has some of the same features but only one hot end like the P series. And no free shipping which is nice.
I should add, I would like an enclosure and a heat range that can print more resilient filament types, particularly ABS.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

I see the Flashforge Creator 5 Pro is in the same pricepoint and has 4 heads. I do know a friend who had firmware issues with their entry level Flashforge. It updated the printer but not the slicer and that was confusing for a minute.

 

[e9999]

HH, you could just practice a bit with CAD well before you buy a printer, and see first if you like the former. I'm sure lots of people would hate CAD, it's minutiae and sometimes quite frustrating. I'd suggest reading first a bit about the pros and cons of entry level vs pro level software (both can be found free) and decide whether you'd want to start with an easier -but limited- entry level soft or go straight for the pro level like Fusion, the latter being of course harder to get going with, well at least with the more advanced stuff. But, of course, with something like Fusion, the sky is the limit as to what you can do and once you've mastered it, you will likely use powerful features that will save you time and effort over less sophisticated software.
And then, once you learned CAD, you could just give your friends a file and they should be able to print it with close to zero effort. (A beer will help.) And you will then see your first real 3D print, which is fantastic.

 

[e9999]

On another note, since some folks are hating on PLA, I should mention that I have printed a strainer/platform for my kitchen sink in PLA, and contrary to what is often told and what I expected, the thing shows no deterioration at all after several months despite being quite often wet (probably about 1/2 hr per day on average). Does not seem to have changed one bit...

 

[Hugh Heifer]

HH, you could just practice a bit with CAD well before you buy a printer, and see first if you like the former. I'm sure lots of people would hate CAD, it's minutiae and sometimes quite frustrating. I'd suggest reading first a bit about the pros and cons of entry level vs pro level software (both can be found free) and decide whether you'd want to start with an easier -but limited- entry level soft or go straight for the pro level like Fusion, the latter being of course harder to get going with, well at least with the more advanced stuff. But, of course, with something like Fusion, the sky is the limit as to what you can do and once you've mastered it, you will likely use powerful features that will save you time and effort over less sophisticated software.
And then, once you learned CAD, you could just give your friends a file and they should be able to print it with close to zero effort. (A beer will help.) And you will then see your first real 3D print, which is fantastic.

Before I read this I had already downloaded Onshape and Fusion to play with.

 

[e9999]

there are tons of youtube tutorials on Fusion, from very basic to advanced. Sure beats figuring it out on your own!

 

[Hugh Heifer]

there are tons of youtube tutorials on Fusion, from very basic to advanced. Sure beats figuring it out on your own!

Discovered that too.

 

[Waorani]

Good 3D printing project - M1337 - Nopel - https://nopel-0.com/m1337/

 

[AirheadNut]

Before I read this I had already downloaded Onshape and Fusion to play with.

I've been using OnShape for over 10 years now (the free version) and really like it for the more basic modeling I've done. I find it intuitive (very similar to SolidWorks in a lot of ways), easy to use and it has an excellent support forum. A lot of the more advanced features are only for the paid version, but there are a lot of free 3rd party programs that do the same thing and dovetail nicely with OnShape. I recently started using Fusion at work and it has taken some getting used to. Some features are really useful, I particularly like the hybrid design studio and its sheet metal design capabilities seem really robust. Having the McMaster Carr catalog built in to the application has been really nice. I have the free version on my personal computer but haven't really explored it yet, will be interesting to see how much difference there is between the two.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Snapmaker gets ridiculously good reviews for customer service. And folks like their stuff. I had not heard of them before.

 

[PAToyota]

There are a lot of already designed items out there for download, but I only did so a couple of times in the beginning, I don't know much about that side. I suspect my stuff is too specific to find the right download anyway.

I am constantly amazed at how many people just download and print stuff and have absolutely no interest to design - or even modify - the things they print.

 

[clrussell]

I am constantly amazed at how many people just download and print stuff and have absolutely no interest to design - or even modify - the things they print.

I lack the mental capacity to design anything on a computer.

My 11 year old has a printer and has made a couple things for me.

It’s literally the extent of my knowledge to be able to purchase and down load the file to send to him. I have zero I mean zero idea how it goes from magic to physical product.