3d printed aquarium parts?

[Maddlesrain]

Here's the little octopus my friend printed for me!

 

[Mike N]

Here's the little octopus my friend printed for me!

Very nice, now you can finish the 3d print to a fine polish
Finishing is the hard part. Anyone who has mastered the art of the acetone vapor bath deserves respect.

 

[Maddlesrain]

Very nice, now you can finish the 3d print to a fine polish
Finishing is the hard part. Anyone who has mastered the art of the acetone vapor bath deserves respect.

Haha yeah, this was her first attempt at the printer, so not quite into all the finishing yet!

Maybe with the hermit shell test runs (;

 

[Mike N]

Haha yeah, this was her first attempt at the printer, so not quite into all the finishing yet!

Finishing isnt really part of the 3d print. Its actually using sandpaper (or acetone) to smooth out the layer lines of the print. Small detailed prints are tough to work with, which is why acetone is the ideal method >

 

[Rick.45cal]

Finishing isnt really part of the 3d print. Its actually using sandpaper (or acetone) to smooth out the layer lines of the print. Small detailed prints are tough to work with, which is why acetone is the ideal method >

Now THAT is an awesome technique. That is getting filed away for future use.


So because I'm the Crazy Artist/Mad Scientist I would want to take that acetone finished model (plug) and make a mold out of tubes of 100% silicone and cast wax figures out of them, then I would cast those in refractory cement (playsand plaster of paris and water). Then cast it in aluminum or bronze

 

[Mike N]

I found some actual hermit shell 3d models:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:12784
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:14243
https://www.stlfinder.com/model/transparenthermit-crab-designer-shell-3d-1-mm/5148790

And a related video:
I wish I could find the 3d model for the shell used in the video, but no luck.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Smart way to advertise!

 

[Mike N]

Smart way to advertise!

Indeed, genius marketing.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Now this is cool... I need to stop looking at this stuff before I go mortgage my home

 

[Mike N]

That is cool. The ability to print both solid and elastic is ****** and the print speed is just a cherry on top. Must be very expensive lol

 

[Rick.45cal]

Yeah I won't even bother to look and see how much they want for that one LOL

 

[GK3]

I have a 3D printer and just ordered my second one. If you want one that prints with insane accuracy and can do a large range of materials, you'll have to mortgage your house. If you want one to tinker with and make aquarium parts, you can get it for <$1000. The ones like the video above have entry level prices too. I had a client that had one for <$500. Here is something I made with my 3D printer - a 2g pick tank. Everything you see that is black plastic is 3D printed.

 

[Mike N]

Other quick & easy 3d print ideas I had:
1) feeders
2) shelters/traps
3) pod condos

I'm going to get my 3d printer going tonight and try a hermit shell design.

 

[Cherub]

That probe holder is sweet! I will print one tonight

here's a pic of the probe holder I printed. sorry it took forever for the pic. busy day... turned out nice

 

[77railer]

I'd like my hermit crabs to be driving race cars and monster trucks!!!

 

[Mike N]

here's a pic of the probe holder I printed. sorry it took forever for the pic. busy day... turned out nice

Nice print

 

[Mike N]

I'd like my hermit crabs to be driving race cars and monster trucks!!!

Haha thats a good idea.
I'm going simple with my first design: A crown on top of the shell.

 

[Frop]

This is the CAD software I use since it's free (unless you need private documents).

Www.onshape.com you can also export CAD and I think in the apps is a company that will print and ship your design to you. If there is free trials (or paid if you prefer) you may also be able to stress test it too with simulations. Manufacturing software is really expensive. The programs at where i work are like 4-10k (solidworks, Mastercam, pcdmis, catia, mold flow analysis). And the simulation computers have to be built processing machines so this website does everything on the cloud. Take the need for an expensive computer out of the way.

 

[Eric LeClair]

Wow! Thanks for the info guys. This is incredible. Cheers!

 

[donnievaz]

I just finished building mine from a kit last week. If you don't mind building it and doing quite a bit of tweaking to get it going you can save a ton of money. It's the Anet A8, I got mine from eBay for $180. So much fun.