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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

#101

Post by spiderice »

ravenstine wrote: post #84
OJFord wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I haven't used Fusion360, but I have to say the screenshots of the UI make it look appealing and pretty straight forward (more so than say Solidworks). My assumption is that it and other standard CAD packages would have a greater learning curve for a programmer who mostly wants to print simple but custom objects. Granted, I have a background in non-CAD 3D, but OpenSCAD was incredibly fast for me to pick up not just b…

Fusion 360 is pretty easy and fun to learn. I became productive in it within just a couple hours, and used it to print some things for some house projects. Just my $0.02.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#102

Post by sircastor »

I’ve owned a 3D printer for 11 years. I found myself cured of the desire to print doodads pretty quickly, because they just become “stuff” lying around your house. While it’s cool to see the printer produce some of these things, I feel a bit like I’m burdening myself with trying to figure out how to deal with this in the future.

I’ve found that the most useful stuff to print is not random items I find online, but things I model on my own. Most recently this was a series of mounts for the electronics for my Halloween display. 3/4 were my work, the last was a repurposed raspi mount. My favorite thing about the work was that I was solving a problem unique to me. It was a one-off, just-in-time solution.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#103

Post by ssl232 »

ravenstine wrote: post #75
jimnotgym wrote: post #73

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 started out with OpenSCAD but found it limited me eventually with some of its lack of advanced features, probably because it focuses on solid geometry. I recently switched to CadQuery which uses the same CAD kernel as FreeCAD and haven't looked back. It's also Python rather than a domain specific language.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#104

Post by sircastor »

ravenstine wrote: post #69
FractalParadigm wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FYI a 3D printer is super affordable nowadays This seriously cannot be understated enough. When I was in my final year of high school (2012) my shop teacher was the first person in the entire school board to get a 3D printer, one of the cheapest machines on the market (I can't remember the brand, or the name, only the number at the bottom of the invoice - $11,374.38). He got the machine in February and tasked me to…

My dad got one of the original Makerbot printers back ~2009. It was expensive, I'm pretty sure in the thousands. And it sucked . Sometimes you could get it to print right, but most of the time it screwed everything up to the point where it wasn't useful for anything. Every print was a roll of the dice. Last year I got an Ender 3 on Amazon for a fraction of the price (~$150) we spent on the Makerbot. I assembled it, p…

My first printer was a Makerbot Cupcake in 2010. It sucked. I had to replace a lot on it to get it to work, and the best thing it ever did was print the parts for my current printer. I have since given it away.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#105

Post by jackyinger »

sircastor wrote: post #102

I’ve owned a 3D printer for 11 years. I found myself cured of the desire to print doodads pretty quickly, because they just become “stuff” lying around your house. While it’s cool to see the printer produce some of these things, I feel a bit like I’m burdening myself with trying to figure out how to deal with this in the future. I’ve found that the most useful stuff to print is not random items I find online, but thi…

Yep, designing and printing ones own designs is great fun. Unfortunately few folks know how to use CAD. I was lucky enough to learn in high school.

Most of my designs aren’t glamorous, mostly functional items like mounts, standoffs, etc. I did print a ergo keyboard I designed (a la dactyl) but it turns out I suck at ergo design.

Probably haven’t gotten my money’s worth for the printer, but realizing relatively simple designs can be gratifying. Designing for print-ability with minimal supports is a fun challenge.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#106

Post by crowbahr »

_def wrote: post #15
demeyer1 wrote: post #3

Good list! Couple thoughts - if you are using some of these items with kids (the replacement part example) it's worth considering the types and materials of the filament you are using. Some are safer than others, depending on the application. If you are using for food storage, there are ways to take otherwise unsafe materials and make them safer for storing edible/consumable materials. If there is something out there…

Thangs is super useful, as you can search by geometry. Sort of like a reverse image search. Works really well and is just amazing to me.

I've never actually understood the use case for that personally. What do you reverse model search?

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#107

Post by sircastor »

sokoloff wrote: post #49

My advice for people contemplating 3D printing is similar to software dev: if you can buy exactly what you want off the shelf, you should do that. If it has to be custom, consider what parts could come off the shelf or if it all has to be custom. I’ve printed many usable and useful things around the house and with the kids. It’s been incredibly fun and even educational, but I generally don’t do it for things that you…

This is great advice. Also, 3D printing an object is not a panacea for objects. Not everything can or should be 3D printed.

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#108

Post by UI_at_80x24 »

I've wanted a 3d printer for a while but never had anything that I needed to print.

Until I got a CPAP machine.

The masks are made to fail, from cheap elastics that stretch out after 3 months, to flimsy plastic that is supposed to be under strain and guaranteed to fail. And at $200-$600 to replace the 'shitty bits' a 3d printer will pay for itself very quickly.

Edit: Lots of advice further down in the comments! Thanks everybody!

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#109

Post by wellthisisgreat »

milliondollar wrote: post #58
throwaway2077 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is that a normal experience in all of the US or only certain states? sounds all kinds of fucked up. the random passerby ratting you out. cops showing up over a handgun, which as far as I know are legal to own in all states unless you're a felon. doesn't sound like land of the free at all.

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

I thought wow some guest working at Apple snitched on your kids?

Re: Things I would like to 3D print

#110

Post by OJFord »

jimnotgym wrote: post #89
OJFord wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also (as well as OP) in the UK, but mildly disappointed to read it on HN. Bit of a pet peeve of mine (as a capital E Engineer I suppose) the absurd things we accept having 'engineers' sent out for, things that are barely even trades. I had a dishwasher engineer fit a replacement plastic piece where you put the tablet; a quote for an oven engineer to replace the glass door. That sort of ridiculousness makes me mor…

Perhaps we have it backwards. I'm in the UK. If I saw a company that did 'engineering' I would expect to walk in and see someone at a lathe. I work in the West Midlands a lot and this is especially true. An engineer may drive a train or maintain ships propulsion in the English speaking world. A Civil Engineering company builds roads and bridges, and may not have any Chartered Engineers on the staff. I know several pe…

Yeah, maybe. But that's what I mean about 'barely even a trade' - takes a lot more know-how to operate a lathe (per your example) than to do a lot of the 'handyman' type jobs that we get told 'an engineer' will be sent out for.

Fwiw I'm not CEng, EE by degree, but work in SE. I'd like the IET & chartership to be more relevant for SE, but all I meant by that was that we have it, but don't (as some other countries do) require it or something like it in order to use the term 'engineer'.

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