Cheap, desktop 3D printer

[Lou E]

That is really cool, I think I know what I'll be begging Santa for this year! lol

[MrAdept]

The first thing I saw was all the army guys! Awesome!

Interesting but small floor space.

Mark

[chappy]

Thats is cool Dave.
I was looking at a 3doodler pen.
A guy made a frame car using it .
But compared the the one youve shown, the pen is a bit of a toy.
Thanks for sharing that
Bob

[chappy]

Thats is cool Dave.
I was looking at a 3doodler pen.
A guy made a frame car using it .
But compared the the one youve shown, the pen is a bit of a toy.
Thanks for sharing that
Bob

[ccobra]

First thing I looked at was the the specs and I noticed some important specs missing. For example the voltage and amps was missing from the Brick. My first printer was only 12 volts and it took a very long time to heat up the nozzle and the bed. Then the nozzle temp would only go to 205c degrees with the 12 v but with my new one will go to 240c degrees. I use the ABS so the higher temperatures are preferred. I realize that the filament on the first one was 1.75mm and the second one uses 3mm. With the larger filament, higher temps, and a heated bed result in smoother prints. As far as the heated bed goes I think you need heat, otherwise the model being printed will catch the print head and you get to start over. With the first printer, I went through three cans of hairspray just to get the prints to stick. There's more I noticed but I don't want to ramble on to much and sound so negative.

[TuscoTodd]

Interesting!

[bobbyraz49]

Do you need a CAD degree to use this properly ? TY

[Lou E]

[DixonJohn]

There is a whole slew of video's on youtube about this machine

[ccobra]

I started out with the Solidoodle 3 when they were just starting up. It took a month to get the printer and then another 3 months to get it to work. What I ended up doing was remaking the printer housing out of UHMW instead of the lexan. Once I got it working then with the issues of the platform not staying warm, I put the printer inside my desk and used hairspray to hold the part down. After many trials I finally got where I was somewhat happy with the print quality but like Jeremy said, be prepared to do a lot of trial and error.
The I downloaded a formula 1 body and tried to print that out. Well, the printer was down again for three months not to mention spending more money on it for parts that wouldn't fit. So I bought a new printer, this time I spent twice as much on it compared to the first purchase but at least it worked the first night and has still worked. But I am still making little mistakes. But that may be do to the fact that I am trying more complicated prints with the tubular chassis.
As far as software goes the my current printer uses CURA and so far I am satisfied with that even though I normally use just the automatic settings and only change the temperatures. Even with that, it took around six hours to print out the Econoline that I am currently building. I've been trying out the netfab software to tidy up the models I download but that has been a challenge for it leaves gaps in the models when printing. I've tried 'stitching' the model but I haven't had much luck. I am spoiled by the CAD putting out a good model for printing. Now I'll have to learn how to get better with the CAD so I can model up some bodies that are more detailed than a model A. Hope this answers more questions that it creates but these printers can be fun and entertaining, just like watching a CNC cutting a piece of metal.

[studioRS]

Not slot car oriented, but relevant to 3D printing.

Totally have to agree with Jeremy and using SLA 3D printer for super fine details.

I just finished designing a 1959 Sid-Craft F Hydroplane, at 1:5.2 scale 32" (820mm). A dummy outboard motor to replicate the Mercury Mark 75 6-cylinder tower will be 3D printed and mount to a electric brushless motor mounted on an old school K&B 3.5cc nitro lower drive unit. All the parts were designed in Solid Works, the motor mounts were cut in 1/8" aluminum CNC, Mercury Mark 75 dummy motor will be printed on a high end SLA 3D.

Pretty soon, I'll need to have this Mercury Mark 75 cast in resin and need some help there. Dave?

[ccobra]

When I decided to pull the trigger, so to speak, on a new printer, I did a small comparison. The black chassis was from my old Solidoodle, the white one on the right was from one of those $50k printer, and the one in the middle was from my current Lulzbot Mini. As you can sort of see, as the prints go to a better printer, the quality improves. But I haven't tried the expensive chassis yet but it did have better tolerance than the Solidoodle but I need to print one on my Mini to get a true comparison.

[ddyke]

Thanks CCobra