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Things I would like to 3D print

jmtd.net

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Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't think op is in US. Nobody would say "phone engineer" in the states.

Come on, this sort of cop behavior is limited to the US

Not at all, as I mentioned above I am in the UK. It is hard to get our police to react to anything...but any mention of firearms gets them excited. Interestingly I thought the phone engineer was more of a dick than the coppers.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#73

Funny story. I bought a printer for my kids this year. An Anycubic Mega Zero with a magnetic base. It stays pretty calibrated but I have struggled with base adhesion once a few prints have been through it. IPA and abrasives have not fixed it...maybe I will get around to some other things...there have been a few random failures, but not many. We printed a few novelties items that came out OK. The real learning curve i…

I just looked up your printer and it looks extremely similar to the one that I have, which is the Creality Ender 3. Both appear to have an identical stock plate, which makes me think your base adhesion problems will almost certainly be addressed by switching to a spring-steel PEI plate. Although I didn't start having problems after only a few prints, the stock plate on the Ender 3 actually worked too well for me whic…

All Good tips, thanks.

I think I would get more use out of it if I acquired some basic CAD skills!

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#74
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started writing the comment with "I highly doubt it", but as I was writing, I think it is a very interesting question. And it might be possible. Like you said, spark plugs require high-heat and high electrical insulation properties. Hence why spark plugs are made out of ceramics (or glass) and metal. Spark plugs also have a heat rating, which indicates how well the plug is able to extract heat from the tip. If the…

I think 3D printing the spark plug itself would be the wrong approach. You could get a better result by designing and printing a jig for making spark plugs - perhaps a couple of pieces? So like, one extruder for making ceramic tubes, then a lathe for working the ceramic while it's still soft? My own messing around with a 3d printer has generally confirmed it's an amazing tool for making jigs of all kinds, but the act…

I reached a similar conclusion a while back, when a previous partner was talking about the benefits of mensural cups and how annoyingly expensive they were, and how making them cheaper could help young girls in certain 3rd world countries finish their education without being embarrassed out of the classroom the moment they reach puberty. (My ex said there were other issues besides cost, but cost had to be solved as well).

While it is possible to 3D print silicone, and while that would still be cheaper than anything I see on the first page of Amazon search results even today, it was clearly much more sensible to 3D print a reusable mould to pour silicone into.

Then you can expand the idea into a cottage industry by having multiple moulds, with fluid channels, as a single unit.

A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation suggested a 3D printed multi-mould the size of a shipping container would supply all global demand for mensural cups, but then I found Alibaba and it listed mensural cups for less per hundred than the local store listed them per unit[0], and I figured the purchase price already had nothing to do with manufacturing costs and wasn’t something I could optimise.

[0] at the time, they’re only 20-30 times cheaper today

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just looked up your printer and it looks extremely similar to the one that I have, which is the Creality Ender 3. Both appear to have an identical stock plate, which makes me think your base adhesion problems will almost certainly be addressed by switching to a spring-steel PEI plate. Although I didn't start having problems after only a few prints, the stock plate on the Ender 3 actually worked too well for me whic…

All Good tips, thanks. I think I would get more use out of it if I acquired some basic CAD skills!

If you can code, OpenSCAD might be the best place to start. I have 3D modeling experience, but CAD is sort of a different beast and a skill of its own. Most of the free tools that exist are pretty complicated (FreeCAD makes me want to claw my eyes out) and the professional software packages are outrageously expensive. Once I found OpenSCAD, which is basically just modeling by code, I got way more use out of my 3D printer without just relying on other people's models. There's even an extension for VS Code that allows you to use it as an IDE for it with previews.

This isn't to say that you can't take the time to learn more standard CAD software, but for what I'm doing I haven't had the time for that and I imagine you probably don't either. After a few hours of learning OpenSCAD and reading the cheat sheet, a whole world of possibilities was opened to me.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#76

I'd love to print storage items with LEGO connectors and technic pin holes. E.g. a battery storage for AA/AAA . You'd be able to stack and expand them in any way you like. Anyway, the 3D printer is coming any day now.

Putting your own printed parts beside LEGO is a great way to see just how high quality LEGO really are :)

The key thing for me in making lego that snapped was accounting for shrinkage in my prints; i just guessed and gollied a factor on a few parts, but those worked where others hadn't.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't think op is in US. Nobody would say "phone engineer" in the states.

Come on, this sort of cop behavior is limited to the US

Lol you’ve been shown to be wrong by the original commenter. Get your head out of your ass.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All Good tips, thanks. I think I would get more use out of it if I acquired some basic CAD skills!

If you can code, OpenSCAD might be the best place to start. I have 3D modeling experience, but CAD is sort of a different beast and a skill of its own. Most of the free tools that exist are pretty complicated (FreeCAD makes me want to claw my eyes out) and the professional software packages are outrageously expensive. Once I found OpenSCAD, which is basically just modeling by code, I got way more use out of my 3D pri…

I would love to use OpenSCAD, just seems to have a really steep learning curve that I can't get up. Even though I write code professionally and have no professional CAD experience, Fusion360 just clicked in a way that OpenSCAD didn't for using my 3D printer (Prusa Mini).

I agree about FreeCAD, lacks a lot of polish, but there's a big update coming from it seems basically one maintainer that looks pretty promising. I found it looking for a way to save in a git-sane format (which this branch/fork has). Main problem with Fusion360 (for me) is the lack of Linux support.

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