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A Year of 3D Printing

brookehatton.com

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Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#31

Post by dgroshev »

IgorPartola wrote: post #3

One of the most useful things that I print is Gridfinity storage boxes and holders. I try to organize as many of my tools and supplies using it. I sometimes do a little leather working for fun and have a drawer full of hardware, all in their own bins. In my garage my sockets, wrenches, etc. all has a Gridfinity holder. I design my own as much as I use pre-made ones. A while ago I even saw a shop that used it to organ…

Unfortunately, even annealed HT-PLA-GF still creeps quite a bit. I find this to be the main problem using PLA as an engineering filament. For many parts it doesn't matter, of course.

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#32

Post by dgroshev »

zihotki wrote: post #9
tylerflick wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any reason you are recommending PLA instead of PETG?

any reason to use PETG instead of PLA? PLA is plant based, in theory bio-degradable, while PETG is produced from crude oil.

Less creep, slightly better at absorbing shocks without breaking, better failure behaviour (PLA can suddenly shatter leaving sharp edges, PETG tends to deform elastically first).

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#33

Post by chakintosh »

VladVladikoff wrote: post #14

I still have mixed emotions about 3D printing. I do love the idea of being able to print a part when I need it for something. But I do hate myself at the same time for creating more plastic junk. PLA is not really getting recycled, when it fails someone throws it in the trash and it goes to a landfill. Maybe some really diehard enthusiasts are ensuring all their failed prints and broken parts get properly chemically…

The way I see it is that a 50g piece of 3D printed PLA could be used to fix a 5kg item that would have otherwise gone to the landfill. I for example have a broken hook for the door tray in my fridge, it's a tiny piece but it being broken rendered the entire 1kg tray useless, it's sitting on top of the fridge waiting for me to buy a 3D printer and fix it.

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#34

Post by dgroshev »

I'd encourage people doing engineering/functional parts to also try ASA and PC(-CF). Both are pretty easy to print on enclosed printer like Prusa Core One, and they offer unique qualities that are impossible to achieve with PLA or PETG.

Prusament PC Blend is insanely strong and stiff, I saw a 3mm PC bracket bending a high quality metal wood screw into an S-shape without breaking. PC-CF is much easier to print, looks great, and is stiffer still, even if a bit less strong. ASA looks great and is tougher than PC. Both creep less than PLA and PETG. Both shrug off 100C under load.

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#35

Post by otter-in-a-suit »

LeafItAlone wrote: post #11

All of this was on a Bambu A1 Mini? These are the types of things I want to print. My Ender 3 was so finicky, I only got a few out before I gave up.

I just got a Bambu P1S (they are / were on sale since the P2S came out) and the difference to my Ender 3 is truly night and day. I almost never used the Ender, since it always resulted endless tinkering and even then, the prints never came out well. The Bambu worked flawlessly out of the box.

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#36

Post by LanceH »

IgorPartola wrote: post #3

One of the most useful things that I print is Gridfinity storage boxes and holders. I try to organize as many of my tools and supplies using it. I sometimes do a little leather working for fun and have a drawer full of hardware, all in their own bins. In my garage my sockets, wrenches, etc. all has a Gridfinity holder. I design my own as much as I use pre-made ones. A while ago I even saw a shop that used it to organ…

I like having a gridfinity grid on my desk with a number of various sized boxes for at-hand storage of things like paperclips, tacks, pens, etc...

In the garage, I have one that I can slap down anywhere, with a couple boxes that I can load for the screws, nails, washers, nuts, and bolts, etc... used in my current project.

Having the grid makes the boxes sit firmly in place.

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#37

Post by noo_u »

jacquesm wrote: post #28
IgorPartola wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still get worse finish quality with PETG (stringing and globbing) and these PLA+ type materials just end up being as good for me while being easier to print. PLA also prints a bit faster.

This is not my experience. PETG should be utterly problem free, super fast to print and has a much lower fraction of failed prints due to various adhesion issues. The big trick is to make sure the filament is dry, if it is not you will be in for a world of trouble. But properly used prints will last much longer, and are mechanically (much) stronger. On top of all that we can buy PETG in bulk for about a third of the…

Calling PETG "utterly problem free" is quite a stretch lol. PLA is pretty objectively much easier to print than PETG, and perhaps than all the popular filament types out there, especially if you are trying to print anything where precision/detail matters. .

PETG is just oozier and stickier by default, so stringiness is almost guaranteed to happen, bridging at a greater risk of failure, etc. It is tougher, so unless you have a printer that can use multiple filaments on the same print, removing supports is more difficult.

Can you reduce these factors by tuning your 3D printer - yes, a bit. But that's not "utterly problem free".

PLA is the plug and play of the 3D printing world right now.

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#38

Post by the__alchemist »

tylerflick wrote: post #6
IgorPartola wrote: post #3

One of the most useful things that I print is Gridfinity storage boxes and holders. I try to organize as many of my tools and supplies using it. I sometimes do a little leather working for fun and have a drawer full of hardware, all in their own bins. In my garage my sockets, wrenches, etc. all has a Gridfinity holder. I design my own as much as I use pre-made ones. A while ago I even saw a shop that used it to organ…

Any reason you are recommending PLA instead of PETG?

PETG is, for me, always stringy. And I don't want to breath ABS fumes.

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#39

Post by unsharted »

VladVladikoff wrote: post #14

I still have mixed emotions about 3D printing. I do love the idea of being able to print a part when I need it for something. But I do hate myself at the same time for creating more plastic junk. PLA is not really getting recycled, when it fails someone throws it in the trash and it goes to a landfill. Maybe some really diehard enthusiasts are ensuring all their failed prints and broken parts get properly chemically…

[dead]

Re: A Year of 3D Printing

#40

Post by the__alchemist »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

Awesome. This person got way busier than I did [1] (I think I focus more on creating original designs on the printer). When I first got the Bambu in 2024 I did the whole Gridfinity thing. Very fun. As their post makes clear (even to me) there are actually a lot of things out there you can 3D print. Something I printed last year (and did not even bother to post) was a center-console "compartment" for a 1995 Mazda Miat…

Hah, I hope I wasn't the previous owner! Needed an aux jack, and that seemed like the easiest way to add one!
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