A Different Direction..............

[tr1ckey66]

Well done Dave on taking the plunge into 3D printing. All the testing and tinkering with the many variables will doubtless pay off.
I have an SLA printer which I have yet to switch on, your thread is inspiring me to give it a try.
Keep on experimenting, it’s the only real way to learn (I have all this yet to come!!!)
All the best
Paul

[Dave Ward]

looks good Dave.
My printer has a removable glass plate and I use a Dimafix pen to hold stuff in place.
it's not cheap but it it's sticky when it's hot and releases when it cools down. And it washes off with water.
You'll find the Pritt needs to be scraped off from time to time(unless you change the tape more frequently) although I guess you might be able to wash it off the magnetic plate...
I would also persevere with the bed levelling and the initial calibrating of the nozzle height-maybe use a thinner piece of paper?
Happy tinkering

I'm thinking the bed levelling may be easier with the magnetic plate - I've read that every couple of prints, wiping the plate with IPA will keep them clean - although that probably isn't a good idea if it's hot. Next problem to address will be the spool holder, I'm not happy that the existing part will give a snag-free feed over a long print session ( or when I'm not in the room! )
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Well done Dave on taking the plunge into 3D printing. All the testing and tinkering with the many variables will doubtless pay off.
I have an SLA printer which I have yet to switch on, your thread is inspiring me to give it a try.
Keep on experimenting, it’s the only real way to learn (I have all this yet to come!!!)
All the best
Paul

The resin printer is the way forward, but living in a flat, the post-processing needed is not at all practical - and I wouldn't be happy anyway, with buckets of IPA and bottles of toxic resin under the sink!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

An early delivery from postie - the magnetic build plate

Two piece - an adhesive backed magnet & the steel plate - will need careful fitting to avoid any lumps & bumps
Dave

[mog]

Hi Dave, Just run into this, however I have been giving 3D printing some thought myself, I try to kit bash & scratch build as much as I can , however some items are above my skill level. For highly detailed things or figures I will still use my guy in Spain who is really good, which means he has a lot of commissions & that takes time. I have looked over all the threads here. Well Dave I’m not a a tech person, nor an engineer or designer if I go down this path I will need something simple stupide, and be able to find designs, purchase or free. I would be looking at printing items what are repetitive like barrels, boxes , terrain items. I have did the research, watched the videos , but I need the opinion of folks who are modelers like us . So any Ideas on a right direction here ??

[Neil Merryweather]

Hi Mike
I have written much on this forum about this. I am a professional modelmaker and I have been using 3D printing since it first appeared in industry in the early 00s.
The short answer is yes it is the future of modelmaking, but like PE or resin casting ,most people will not want or be able to do it for themselves.
Yes it is getting cheaper and better all the time, but it's never going to be as simple as paper printing.
I could go on ,but I don't want to repeat myself. If you're really interested I suggest a search of 3D Printing on this forum, there has been A LOT!
all the best
Neil

[Dave Ward]

Hi Dave, Just run into this, however I have been giving 3D printing some thought myself, I try to kit bash & scratch build as much as I can , however some items are above my skill level. For highly detailed things or figures I will still use my guy in Spain who is really good, which means he has a lot of commissions & that takes time. I have looked over all the threads here. Well Dave I’m not a a tech person, nor an engineer or designer if I go down this path I will need something simple stupide, and be able to find designs, purchase or free. I would be looking at printing items what are repetitive like barrels, boxes , terrain items. I have did the research, watched the videos , but I need the opinion of folks who are modelers like us . So any Ideas on a right direction here ??

Mike,
I'm just at the start of my 3D printing career! I hope to be able to produce simple items at first - one would be a base for a 1/350 ship model. The FDM printer I have won't be capable of very fine detail, but good enough - for fine detail you'd need a SLA printer, which uses UV curing resin. This has drawbacks, as the print needs post-processing & curing - fine if you have the space & the correct ventilation. At the moment, I have seen a few barrels & boxes, but anything fancier, you get into the area of paying for files - not what I'm intending to do. Unless you can get these files, then you have to create them yourself. You have to learn how to use a 3D CAD programme - which can be tricky. I have many years of CAD usage, being a design engineer, producing mechanical components.
https://www.thingiverse.com/ is the source for free files - there's lots of stuff there.
At the moment, I'm getting to know the tweaks needed to produce acceptable prints, I'm printing a spool holder for the machine, to replace the supplied poor one. One thing you should know that it's not a fast process! The part I'm printing now will take nearly 5 hours to complete. You just hope it doesn't fail. or you have a power cut 10 mins before the finish!!
Dave

[mog]

Thanks Neil and Dave , Yes it all looks pretty daunting to me . I'm a simple old school builder, scratch building , working outside of the box , creating the feel if you know what I mean, However your never to old to try new things and my hands are not as nimble anymore , plus some items require a lot of repetition,, anyway thanks guys will research the forum see what I can pick up.

[Dave Ward]

Thanks Neil and Dave , Yes it all looks pretty daunting to me . I'm a simple old school builder, scratch building , working outside of the box , creating the feel if you know what I mean, However your never to old to try new things and my hands are not as nimble anymore , plus some items require a lot of repetition,, anyway thanks guys will research the forum see what I can pick up.

Just been looking at thingiverse & a few minutes turned up these

You can scale these up or down to suit whatever scale you need.................
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Over 2 hours into this print - only another 2 hours or so to go

I'm not confident enough to leave the printer running overnight ( yet ), so the other two parts of the holder will have to wait till tomorrow. Before I print those, I'll fit the magnetic build plate & really work on the levelling
Dave

[Dave Ward]

After 4 1/2 hours this is a result, the male threaded portion of he spool holder

The base is still a bit ragged, but a round of levelling on the new build plate should help that.
The next part is the nut that will hold the spool on

Smaller, with an internal thread - this will be a test of the accuracy of the printer!
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

After 4 1/2 hours this is a result, the male threaded portion of he spool holder
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1193057[/ATTACH]
The base is still a bit ragged, but a round of levelling on the new build plate should help that.
The next part is the nut that will hold the spool on
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1193058[/ATTACH]
Smaller, with an internal thread - this will be a test of the accuracy of the printer!
Dave

I did wonder what it was building……

[Neil Merryweather]

Very respectable Dave

[Si Benson]

This looks very interesting, you've certainly got to grips with it quite quickly Dave:thumb2:

[Jim R]

That looks successful Dave