3D Printing thread

fetta · Jan 11, 2017

Whats everyones opinion on a flashforge creator as a beginner printer

spinycheek · Jan 11, 2017

I always recommend the Lulzbot. It's pretty straightforward to get printing, everything is open source and they're customer support is phenomenal.

fetta · Jan 11, 2017

They look great, but ouch, been shopping used ones on CL

spinycheek · Jan 11, 2017

They are on the high side, but I still think it's been worth every penny. The sheer variety of materials, including the high temp ones, the self leveling heated bed and the upgradable tool heads, plus like I said, the awesome customer service. Whenever I had an issue, the phone was answered by a someone that actually makes them as their job, so they knew exactly how to help.

spinycheek · Jan 14, 2017

When your little kid has been practicing his unscrewing skills...

Frop · Jan 15, 2017

I kept trying to get our work to buy one. I told them I need it to make quick holding fixtures to check the customers parts on. That way I can align to the datums. They completely hate the idea. Get mad whenever I mention it. :/

I work at a plastic mold injection place. Lots of molds. My brother is in the manufacturing business as well. He told me of another machine shop that was able to 3D print a mold and run a few parts through it for prototypes. Thought that was amazing.

I check a couple 3D printed parts.. all messed up.

mdbannister said:
Cook stuff! Now I want a 3D printer...as if the Reef wasn't an expensive enough hobby. LOL

You can actually submit your digital drawings to some companies and they'll 3D print it. They give you the options of material and tolerances.

spinycheek · Jan 15, 2017

I've been wanting to try making a 3D printed mold. I have a small injection molder, I don't know why I haven't tried it yet...

Frop · Jan 15, 2017

spinycheek said:
I've been wanting to try making a 3D printed mold. I have a small injection molder, I don't know why I haven't tried it yet...

Ya. Idk how hard it is but my work runs aluminum and steel tools here. High pressure. The plastic tries to slip the cracks and you get flash. Seems like heat would be an issue on a plastic mold too.

spinycheek · Jan 15, 2017

I think it would be hard to accomplish on a high pressure rig. Mine is a really small, lever powered one. If you use a high temp filament like polycarbonate for the mold, then a low temperature plastic like polypropylene for the injector, I bet you could get several runs from it.

rcmike · Jan 15, 2017

@cope413 I just ordered a Rostock Max V3 from you guys. It prints great. Even printed a little TPU today and the EZRStruder handles it easily.

I'm always looking for useful things to print. I've made a few overflow guards for my clownfish breeding system and a light mount for a small tank I have but that's about it aquarium related so far.

cope413 · Jan 16, 2017

I just printed a new overflow box for a 60g tank I'm upgrading to.

The possibilities are endless.

Enjoy the Rostock. I still own a V1 from 2013. Got over 6000 machine hours on it. It's a horse.

GrizFyrFyter · Apr 5, 2017

Recently switched my filament suppliers so I'm redoing my toxicity tests but I'm looking forward to designing and printing some new things.

ludnix · Apr 5, 2017

Working on a light shroud for my AI Hydra26HD, this should slip over the top and keep incidental light spill within the confines of the tank. Printing upside down the small lip at the bottom will keep the shroud on the light fixture. This is the first version to test the fit, later version may want to add slots near the heatsink to keep the airflow unimpeded.

rcmike · Apr 5, 2017

ludnix said:
Working on a light shroud for my AI Hydra26HD, this should slip over the top and keep incidental light spill within the confines of the tank. Printing upside down the small lip at the bottom will keep the shroud on the light fixture. This is the first version to test the fit, later version may want to add slots near the heatsink to keep the airflow unimpeded.

Looks good! It's nice to be able to design and make something that isn't available on the market.

GrizFyrFyter · Apr 5, 2017

ludnix said:
Working on a light shroud for my AI Hydra26HD, this should slip over the top and keep incidental light spill within the confines of the tank. Printing upside down the small lip at the bottom will keep the shroud on the light fixture. This is the first version to test the fit, later version may want to add slots near the heatsink to keep the airflow unimpeded.

I was sketching up something like this a few days ago, never got around to building it. I did want to put a cutout of a clownfish in it

JBradford · Apr 5, 2017

ludnix said:
Working on a light shroud for my AI Hydra26HD, this should slip over the top and keep incidental light spill within the confines of the tank. Printing upside down the small lip at the bottom will keep the shroud on the light fixture. This is the first version to test the fit, later version may want to add slots near the heatsink to keep the airflow unimpeded.

I like that you 3D printer is made of 3D printed parts. For some reason I got a kick out of that.

ludnix · Apr 5, 2017

rcmike said:
Looks good! It's nice to be able to design and make something that isn't available on the market.

Thanks, there's been a mental backlog of items like this, now that I have a printer I'm having to pick and choose what to print first!

GrizFyrFyter said:
I was sketching up something like this a few days ago, never got around to building it. I did want to put a cutout of a clownfish in it

That's funny, I was working on putting a tentacle design on the upper portion so that the black fixture would contrast and not let any light out. I wasn't feeling very artistic at the time though so I just printed the rectangle.

JBradford said:
I like that you 3D printer is made of 3D printed parts. For some reason I got a kick out of that.

All the parts are for some added stability to a pretty cheap printer. I found them all online and they really do help a ton.

Here's the final product in action. We can sit on the couch and not get any glare in our eyes now!