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

[e9999]

It is true that if you're not used to working with this kind of technical software -and perhaps even if you are-, the whole concept of making 3D-printing happen, all the way from CAD to plastic, does seem rather overwhelming at first... But there is not really much that is very technically difficult about it. Maybe good to be reasonably adept at 3D visualization in your head for the CAD part, but overall it's a lot of kitchen recipes and trial and error.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

The latest on Bambu Labs is they are starting fires and BL is saying that they have not started enough fires to matter. Yeesh.
I have been looking at three multihead printers
The BL X2D - I have heard that if you don't care about the shenanigans , it is a solid printer and the BL system is stable and their customer service is pretty good. It is highly recommended for entry level if you can afford it. But now with the fire reports? And the BS over their open source war? Not sure this is for me.
The Flashforge Creator 5 - very new to the market but looks like a copy of the Snapmaker U1. Flashforge is notorious for having horrible customer service. It is very new on the market and it has limited reviews.
Snapmaker U1 - Also new to the market. I have heard Snapmaker has fantastic customer service.
I looked at Prusa and know they are strong printers with good customer service but they are far more expensive and don't have the features I am interested in at the price point of the others.

 

[PAToyota]

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

I guess I can understand that somewhat. Many years ago I spent a year trying to learn to play the guitar and finally acknowledged that it just wasn't something my brain was able to work with.

The issue to me is that it opens up so many possibilities for customization - even with making an initial purchase of a model - that the temptation to modify or redesign things is too great for me.

 

[e9999]

and it is indeed a great fundamental strength of 3D printing and CAD that it is very easy and time efficient to make changes. Imagine you are making a complex part by hand. You realize it's a bit too small. Now you likely have to remake the whole thing or spend significant time adding to it. Compare that to changing one dimension in CAD (1min), reslice (1min), resend the file (1min). Then just have a coffee (or better) while it's printing the new part with no effort on your part... That is a fantastic concept. In fact, I have been guilty of preemptively printing several parts with minor differences in dimensions just to be sure I have the best fit or to do tests with (well, if it's not a lot of filament, that is), it's just hardly any more work.

Now, if only we could do this with metal at home...

 

[Hugh Heifer]

An update in my 3d print world. A teacher friend of ours has several printers and access to a bunch at her school. She is going to loan me one of her low end Creality non-xy machines and give me some lessons. She teaches this stuff to middle schoolers - so I am sure she can dumb it down enough for me. Plus she is super cool and (since my retirement) has helped me some with my ptsd and sleep issues through the introduction of better living through chemistry.

I am looking forward to getting home and continuing my study of Fusion. The YT classes I started with are decent but the guy talks too fast. During the first couple of sessions I was able to identify issues with his instructions that did not work due to either his omissions or an update in the software. This alone tells me I will be able to get it figured out. I had terrible trouble learning guitar and finally gave up. So far this has been easier. I have decided to watch the full video and then watch again while doing the work and then review to help me remember where to find stuff on the screen and fully understand what function does what - plus a few of the terms are foreign to me.

I can easily visualize stuff and when I build something out of wood or metal I do it easily without plans or just a rough sketch. All I have to do is put in the middle men that are Fusion and then the slicer.

 

[e9999]

FWIW, I'm using the Prusa Slicer. Not that I have tried several, that one was suggested by my local Makerspace. I have no complaint. It does everything I need. I probably used 5% of its features. Reasonably user-friendly. There may be better, I just don't know.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

FWIW, I'm using the Prusa Slicer. Not that I have tried several, that one was suggested by my local Makerspace. I have no complaint. It does everything I need. I probably used 5% of its features. Reasonably user-friendly. There may be better, I just don't know.

I guess Orca is the other very popular one

 

[GeoRoss]

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

There is also something called TinkerCAD. It is very intuitive and what we use with students in our intro engineering course as it gets them out of the gate quickly and designing. You will find the limitations quickly, and I use Onshape. It is intuitive to me whereas using Fusion usually makes me think violent thoughts.

 

[GeoRoss]

FWIW, I'm using the Prusa Slicer. Not that I have tried several, that one was suggested by my local Makerspace. I have no complaint. It does everything I need. I probably used 5% of its features. Reasonably user-friendly. There may be better, I just don't know.

Cura is another versatile slicer.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

There is also something called TinkerCAD. It is very intuitive and what we use with students in our intro engineering course as it gets them out of the gate quickly and designing. You will find the limitations quickly, and I use Onshape. It is intuitive to me whereas using Fusion usually makes me think violent thoughts.

Messed with that as well as Womp.

 

[KLF]

There is also something called TinkerCAD. It is very intuitive and what we use with students in our intro engineering course as it gets them out of the gate quickly and designing. You will find the limitations quickly, and I use Onshape. It is intuitive to me whereas using Fusion usually makes me think violent thoughts.

I'm an Autodesk guy, so I tried TinkerCAD. I hit the walls in about 15 minutes. Very limiting.

 

[e9999]

There are various good ways to approach all these software questions, of course, but I didn't want to fuss around learning some limited software and having to switch after a short while, so I just bit the bullet and learned and am now using Fusion. I imagine it's not the easiest one to learn (or use?) out there, but it likely is among the most powerful CAD software available and I like that. (TBH, Solidworks might have been my first choice -mostly because of its popularity in my work circles- if I had had easy free access to it for the foreseeable future, but that was not the case.) Now, I have to admit that the sort of 3D printing I do does not often require the advanced features in Fusion, it's pretty simple stuff usually, but I kind of like the idea of being able to do more complex shapes and assemblies in the future.

Anyways, there is no wrong way about any of this, as long as we have fun with it all.

 

[PAToyota]

and it is indeed a great fundamental strength of 3D printing and CAD that it is very easy and time efficient to make changes.

If you follow Jasmine Warren and her Stout build (LINK) she uses 3D printing to prototype a lot of things.

A million others do the same, but her build is pretty incredible for all of the different things that she is doing with it.

Now, if only we could do this with metal at home...

A lot of what Jasmine does, she does by hand. But she has also sent things out, which is another advantage. Once you have the model drawn up in Fusion (or other) and printed it out to make sure it is just what you want, it is just about as easy to have it milled out of metal as to print it. I have a guy with a CNC mill and lathe, but even if you cannot find someone local you can use SendCutSend, OSHCut, or others.

During the first couple of sessions I was able to identify issues with his instructions that did not work due to either his omissions or an update in the software.

Fusion does have an initial learning curve, but once you get past that it gets easier and as you expand what you're doing it also becomes easier to understand the videos for new features that you want to learn.

However, the constant updates they roll out can be an issue even if you've been using it for awhile. This past week I had a hell of a time because I could not find where to make a new component. The command just wasn't in the menus anymore. I finally figured out that the new feature of choosing a part, hybrid, or assembly when you start defaults to part - and as a part (singular) it doesn't have components, just hybrid or assembly do. I've been using Fusion for about six years now, but that stumped me for entirely too long until I stepped away for awhile and then came back and thought through it.

 

[e9999]

^ I have never sent out a file for CNC machining but won't be able to resist doing so for too much longer, I'm afraid. I just didn't have the inner fortitude to ask about the prices, but will bite the bullet soon, I think, $$ be damned. That could indeed open some new avenues for tinkering...

 

[KLF]

SuperFastMatt is another YouTuber that really does a great job of taking about how he uses his 3D printers, and he uses SendCutSend a lot. He built an entire car body for a Pikes Peak racer out of 3D printed parts, although he then laminated it with carbon fiber. Very interesting, and he's a witty guy too. Fun to watch. Especially the one where he launched his rusted out RV off a cliff.

The Bambu slicer is maddening about updates. Like... Every. Single. Time. I go to use it

 

[PAToyota]

I just didn't have the inner fortitude to ask about the prices, but will bite the bullet soon, I think, $$ be damned.

From what I've seen, it isn't bad - considering a one-off custom part. Do search around, though. Xometry is another one and people bid on the parts. So if you find a shop with downtime and drops from other projects rather than purchasing material just for your part it can be pretty decent.

The Bambu slicer is maddening about updates. Like... Every. Single. Time. I go to use it

Fusion is the same way. They'll do half a dozen updates in a few days - likely because there are issues with the first one they rushed out...

 

[Waorani]

I've used SendCutSend a few times for simple parts and using their templates. Fast, easy and not bad price - at least if you need multiples.

 

[GeoRoss]

There are various good ways to approach all these software questions, of course, but I didn't want to fuss around learning some limited software and having to switch after a short while, so I just bit the bullet and learned and am now using Fusion. I imagine it's not the easiest one to learn (or use?) out there, but it likely is among the most powerful CAD software available and I like that. (TBH, Solidworks might have been my first choice -mostly because of its popularity in my work circles- if I had had easy free access to it for the foreseeable future, but that was not the case.) Now, I have to admit that the sort of 3D printing I do does not often require the advanced features in Fusion, it's pretty simple stuff usually, but I kind of like the idea of being able to do more complex shapes and assemblies in the future.

Anyways, there is no wrong way about any of this, as long as we have fun with it all.

On Shape is Solidworks lite and managed and developed by the same company.

 

[george_tlc]

I got fed up with the solidworks maker license manager (what a piece of garbage). Was coming to the end of my 1yr license, so good opportunity to just cancel the subscription and uninstall all the various bits. Found a software package called Alibre and bought their 3d Atom. It's an outright purchase, you own it and there's no 'calling home to mama bear' to be able to run it. Was $150 for outright purchase. Given I do a 3D design at least a couple of times per month, seemed worth it and I can write it off as a small business expense. $50 per year if you want access to all updates (small or large) during that year period.

So, yeah, costs some money, but I've been very happy with it and it can open solidworks sldpart files and assemblies so all my previous work isn't "lost". The look and feel is very solidworks-like, so pretty small time investment to get up to speed.

Just another option.

cheers,
george.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

I continue to watch and read all about the pros and cons and this is interesting about the Flash5 and really needs to be addressed: