3D Printing

ian1954 Sun Nov 17, 2013 7:01 am

I have been looking at 3D printers for some time and they always seemed to be very expensive. Especially "shop bought" or pre assembled jobs.

Why? There are quite a few custom parts that can be made - servo holders, bell cranks, engine mounts ............(more ideas welcome).

Some only use PLA - this seems to be a delicate plastic while quite a few can handle ABS (higher temperature to melt, heated bed required).

After many seconds of research there appeared to be a few problems selecting a printer - apart from cost!

A lot of the pre contructed printers have parts that are not easily available making repairs and maintenance a trifle expensive and modifications (different sized printing head) not possible.

So I perused the various forums (none a patch on this one - creep, crawl!) and realised that you can easily build your own for a fraction of the cost.

Chicken and egg - the self build machines use brackets made by 3D printing. These can be found though - there are many entrepenurial 3D enthusiasts around.

The frames are simple threaded rods and the sliding parts mounted on smooth aluminium rods.

Stepper motors, wiring, control boards are all easily found from a multitude of sources on the interweb and fleabay.

There are many, many build manuals on the interweb - they have material checklistss and are very detailed.

http://garyhodgson.com/reprap/prusa-mendel-visual-instructions/

However, there are many different variations of mounting brackets.

Afeter a few more seconds thinking about it - I decided to build the Prusa Mendel Iteration 2.

Why? It looks easy and is better than Iteration 1. There is an Iteration 3 but it doesn't have the "skeletal" look of the previous versions.

Also, I watched a derogatory U tube video with some chap criticising it and I decided that I didn't like him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQuUqd9ldUU

This "printer" is not perfect but as an introduction and buildable for well under £200 ($300) - I made another of my milli second impulse decisions and decided to source parts and give it a whirl. There are also numerous hints, tips and improvements on U tube and enthusiasts web sites.

All my parts arrived and I started building yesterday. The mechanical and framework is 90% complete and I now am ready to embark on the electrickery.

If anyone is interested - I will update the post. It is likely to be slow though (I have spent 4 hours on it so far) as I have just had both eyes operated on. Day after returning from Chicago - holes laser drilled!!!!!!

Jason_WI Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:30 am

I too looked long and hard at the 3D printers that are made of rods and printed parts.

I decided on a sturdier design. Although the cost was greater I feel the added rigidity of the frame will yield better prints.

http://store.makerstoolworks.com/printer-kits/mendelmax-2-0-standard-kit/

There will be lots of tweaking to get things right and I am still printing upgrades and tweaking after 3 months.

ian1954 Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:54 pm

That looks like a very tidy printer. Do you know what controller board it uses and what software are you running?

ian1954 Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:57 pm

Spaghetti!

ian1954 Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:58 pm

A little tidier!

Jason_WI Mon Nov 18, 2013 8:41 pm

It has a rambo controller board in it along with a GLCD kit in it. I use Ponterface and Slic3r for the software. With the GLCD kit I can run the printer standalone with the SD card interface in it.

Looks to be coming along nicely. The wiring is one of the most difficult things to keep tidy and still be able to work on the machine.

ian1954 Tue Nov 19, 2013 5:48 pm

I have finished the build now. The controller board is a Melzi.

I have downloaded Pronterface and Repetier (along with the driver software) and once I have fine tuned the printer, I will try both.

The Rambo board is more feature packed than the Melzi but, if this follows my CNC builds, I will be chopping and changing.

Thanks for the info Jason

ian1954 Sun Nov 24, 2013 3:34 pm

I jumped straight in - after the build was completed, it took a long time to set this up ready to print. It still needs a lot of fine tuning and adjustments both to the hardware and the firmware but ............ one step at a time.

Not the best finish in the world - but a start

After cleaning up

pkrankow Sun Nov 24, 2013 4:06 pm

What material are you using?

It might be stronger to do the layering in the other direction...some testing might be in order.

Phil

ian1954 Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:12 pm

pkrankow wrote:What material are you using?

It might be stronger to do the layering in the other direction...some testing might be in order.

Phil

It is ABS plastic. The mounts are also very strong - I cannot snap them. Don't be fooled by the "ridges" they aren't like the grain in wood. The plastic is all melted together.

The ridges are a product of using too large a diameter melt (0.5mm) on a small area with sharp turns and too thick a layering.

There are a lot of adjustments to do. It is like piping icing decoration on a cake. It is not possible the form a sharp corner easily. The smaller the print the harder it is.

I sawed through one of the bearers and it was solid. I couldn't cut it with a knife.

They would all look better if produced with a smaller nozzle and a thinner layer.

I have made a few as test pieces and am going to machine them. Some "smooth" them out using acetone.

It would also be difficult to build the bearers any other way. The plastic is molten when being laid - if not supported the arms would end up as a pile of goo on the table.

You also need quite a large area for the part to remain "stck" to the table and not move.

Ian

Jason_WI Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:44 pm

Looking good. ABS is the most difficult to learn with. I had issues with my ABS filament as it had water in it. ABS will absorb water out of the air. I had to bake mine in the oven for 8 hours on the lowest oven setting to bake the moisture out of it. I was getting steam pockets and plastic bubbles.

What temperature where you running at? I run ABS at 230 to 235C. The hot plate I have set to 100C. PLA at 180C with the plate at 80C. I print on Kapton but there is ABS glue that can be used to prig right on the glass. I haven't tried that yet.

PLA is a lot easier to work with but it's not rated for outdoor stuff.

ian1954 Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:02 pm

Jason_WI wrote:Looking good. ABS is the most difficult to learn with. I had issues with my ABS filament as it had water in it. ABS will absorb water out of the air. I had to bake mine in the oven for 8 hours on the lowest oven setting to bake the moisture out of it. I was getting steam pockets and plastic bubbles.

What temperature where you running at? I run ABS at 230 to 235C. The hot plate I have set to 100C. PLA at 180C with the plate at 80C. I print on Kapton but there is ABS glue that can be used to prig right on the glass. I haven't tried that yet.

PLA is a lot easier to work with but it's not rated for outdoor stuff.

I have the bed set at 110c and the first layers at 235c, the rest at 230c. No fan for the first few layers.

Kapton tape and I was advised to use ABS slurry - ABS dissolve in acetone. I am currently dissolving ABS scrap in acetone to make this.

However, "hairspray" was also recommended and so when the SWTSMB isn't looking I "borrow" the aerosol for a quick squirt. It works a treat and she hasn't noticed the smell yet! Just thinks melting ABS smells nice.

I use the hairspray on Kapton tape and will do the same with the slurry.

roddie Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:37 pm

You're gonna' have to make "her" (SWTSMBO) stuff... when she find's out... Shocked

Jason_WI Sun Nov 24, 2013 10:58 pm

Where did you find the .stl files for the engine mounts?

Jason_WI Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:15 pm

Printing some of Ian's creations.

printing - 3D Printing 67EF467B-16AE-4593-B49C-4494EA9955F5_zps0h6taep2

A new crankcase that has mounting lugs.

printing - 3D Printing EB285C46-D5C4-42AC-A2B5-C008A125AABD_zpss1yo93nl

printing - 3D Printing 4199FA4F-6A65-4087-A35F-D26DCC5F6FDC_zpsvi0ixxnl

printing - 3D Printing FEBA29E7-AB73-4F47-9300-3CA241F9E1E9_zps2iobz7bm

ian1954 Thu Nov 28, 2013 6:10 am

The engine mounts that Jason produced are much crisper than mine. I need to spend more time on my printer setup and practice.

The crankcase is a mighty fine effort - the ones I produced (I didn't post any pictures) looked saggy. Still, I was pleased for first efforts.

Jason's are very neat.

I will be working on a few more designs - but for now, here is the Cox hybrid progress. It is a cross between an Enya and a Keil crankcase modded for Cox components.

For "prototyping" the 3D printer is a marvel. A physical 3D object like the crankcase Jason produced makes visualisation of a build much easier than a diagram or picture. They can even be used to produce moulds for castings.

Thank you Jason for posting your prints. It is a spur for me to improve mine.

getback Thu Nov 28, 2013 1:48 pm

great job Ian , out of my league for sure ! are you and Jason I think it was going to hook su up with some plastic engines that are quieter . LOL Babe Bee .049

nice job Eric

ian1954 Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:30 pm

I designed another part/piece of equipment to print - I am not saying what it is until it is finished!

On the printer

Printing finished

Now for a bit more work!

..............to be continued...........

Jason_WI Wed Dec 04, 2013 8:14 pm

Prints are looking alot better. Is this PLA or ABS?

ian1954 Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:01 am

Jason_WI wrote:Prints are looking alot better. Is this PLA or ABS?

This is ABS. I am going to have to print it again though.

I decided that I wanted to smooth it. Read about using acetone --- dipped it ......... not a good result!

will post pictures tonight.

ian1954 Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:17 pm

How not to smooth an ABS print - I dipped the part in acetone. I was really pleased it went smooth and shiny --- then as it dried the newly formed skin bubbled and blistered!

Anyway, I took the opportunity for a slight redesign - smaller with less curved edges and I am ready to continue

Any ideas what it is going to be? It is something to do with model aeroplanes!

ian1954 Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:29 am

It progresses! - more clues

The dog isn't very interested either!

**RknRusty** Sun Dec 08, 2013 11:16 am

Dang! I thought it was an arrow shaft linkage connector in the 12/5 post. No Idea now though.

ian1954 Sun Dec 08, 2013 11:23 am

Assembled

pkrankow Sun Dec 08, 2013 5:20 pm

Drive for a car?

Phil

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