FDM PLA 3D printing - with a model making inclination

[Dave Ward]

My original Anet A6 printer has been gathering dust since I replaced it with the SunLu. I decided that I was going to improve the printer, by eliminating some of the less desirable features.
The frame & chassis is constructed of laser-cut 8 mm acrylic, strong enough, but rather brittle. I'm going to replace as many of the parts with 3D printed parts on the SunLu.
The parts can be gleaned from the internet. So far I've printed these

These are the Z-axis parts - they will carry the X- axis rails & extruder head. They have to be pretty strong, so the infill has been increased. The red filament is PLA+, supposedly stronger than normal PLA. They're quite comlicated internally and each one took over 8 hours to print.

Bracket for the X-axis stepper motor - this has 75% infill for strength

One of the omissions of the original Anet was that there was no provision to easily tenson the drive belts - this will be part of the Y-axis belt tensioner.

There will be quite a few frame replacements or stiffeners, and a decent box for the mainboard. I'm going to add auto bed levelling, as far as possible. At the moment, apart from the minor cost of the filament, I haven't spent any money - but the BL touch sensor for bed level has cost me £8.16, and any further bits I'll source from China as needed..
I hope this will bring the Anet A6 up to be a much easier printer to use - I have toyed with the idea of fitting a more advanced mainboard, for faster printing, but this is a rather more expensive option, and the less pennies I spend on parts, the more I can spend on filament - which in the way of all things recently, has gone up in price from £10.99 at the beginning of the year to £13.99 for a 1kg spool last week!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

All the Anet pieces are too big for my Monoprice printer, so I've been pushing the boundaries of what I can print ( and can't )
One thihg is certain, that as you get better quality prints, the time taken to print increases exponentially!


This Buddha is 70mm high & took nearly ten hours to print...............................
The actual statue is at Kamakurra, Japan

This is where FDM printing becomes inviable commercially - except for commissioned one-offs. With two printers going, I can produce only two quality prints a day, if I limit the printer time to working hours. It's OK for a hobbyist like myself, where time is not critical. I reckon FDM printing is a bit of a dead end for commercial uses ( still useful for large prints ). If I was starting out, with suitable space available, then resin printing is really the only way to go.................
Dave

[Dave Ward]

The case & cover for the Anet A6 mainboard................


The case took 12 hours to print, the cover, 8 - it's 200 x 120 x 70 mm assembled
PLA FDM is more suited to structural objects, it's a lot stronger than SLA resin prints ( although, with technolgy developments, the gap is shrinking ). For stronger prints you have to go for steel nozzles, higher temperatures, enclosures & toxic fumes! PLA is good enough for me. I did see a test which compared PLA FDM gears to identical SLA resin prints - the PLA gears lasted many times longer than the resin. Horses for courses!
My little Monoprice is printing a bust, which although I had doubts about whether it would work seems to be working well! Update & picture later today.
Dave

[JR]

Look how far you have progressed since the beginning Dave, you must be very pleased . Your engineering background has certainly paid off .

[Dave Ward]

Look how far you have progressed since the beginning Dave, you must be very pleased . Your engineering background has certainly paid off .

John,
I just wish I'd got into this a few years ago! The new printer removes a lot of the hassle of printing - but making the Anet printer taught me how a printer works & how to fault find!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Two more busts
Emporer Trajan, c100 CE

I didn't think this would print - too many folds & overhangs.............

Louis XIV by Bernini 1665 - both took about 8 hours to print
In high magnification, there are a few anomalies!!! This from a 3D scan of a copy of the original full size bust.
It raises a question of intellectual property & copyright. 3D scanners are coming down to prices that richer hobbyists can afford them. Now, if I buy the latest Meng/Takom model and build it, and make one small modification - then 3D scan the assembled model & make copies, what's the legal position? I realise that if copies are sold, then that alters matters...........
I only bring this up because of all the rip-off copies of resin busts that come from the Far East, that are readily available - adding in 3D scanners could bring this copying to a new level
Dave

[Valeron]

Two more busts [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1205327[/ATTACH]
Emporer Trajan, c100 CE

I didn't think this would print - too many folds & overhangs.............
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1205328[/ATTACH]
Louis XIV by Bernini 1665 - both took about 8 hours to print
In high magnification, there are a few anomalies!!! This from a 3D scan of a copy of the original full size bust.
It raises a question of intellectual property & copyright. 3D scanners are coming down to prices that richer hobbyists can afford them. Now, if I buy the latest Meng/Takom model and build it, and make one small modification - then 3D scan the assembled model & make copies, what's the legal position? I realise that if copies are sold, then that alters matters...........
I only bring this up because of all the rip-off copies of resin busts that come from the Far East, that are readily available - adding in 3D scanners could bring this copying to a new level
Dave

Interesting comment Dave.

I guess people have pirated things for many years whether it be music on tape CD and then digital, computer games, videos etc etc.

I guess technology always provides the pirate with options for a new market.

[Dave Ward]

Interesting comment Dave.

I guess people have pirated things for many years whether it be music on tape CD and then digital, computer games, videos etc etc.

I guess technology always provides the pirate with options for a new market.

It's not so much about individuals doing stuff for their own use, but larger scale operations for commercial theft
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

I know a song downloaded on I tunes can only be loaded onto a limitEd number of devices (5 I think), but this is one for a copyright specialist I think.

[David Lovell]

My other half brings proper chucks eggs home from work her friend isn't allowed to sell them there but its ok just to give her a little towards the feed and upkeep of the chuck's so if I or anybody else just gave you funds towards the stuff needed to print is that OK. Dave

[Dave Ward]

Another bust - sort of - an exercise in stubbornness ( ot pigheaded )
Looking for busts, I found this on the Cults website by 'DuncanShadow' - he's a paratrooper, I think, but he doesn't have a flotation vest, and his helmet doesn't have the camo netting, so maybe in training?

First attempt broke at the top of the base. Strenghten the supports - printed OK, but I was unable to get the sopports off & broke the base off. Thinking cap on, make him a head and shoulders only print
On the SunLu printer , at 0.08mm layer height, 10% infill, it took just over 16 hours to print

As always, the high magnification shows up minor flaws..............
I messed around with scale, sizing him so it took around the 16 hour mark - he ended up being around 1/4.5!

I liked this, so I also printed him on the Monoprice..................................about 8 hours later

This has taken about 30 hours print time on the SunLu, with two failures & one success. - total flament used < 1/4 spool ( less than £3.50 )
This is at 1/7 - odd scales, but for one off prints I'm comfortable with that. The smaller print, I might actually paint!
I've been looking for a bust of Napoleon, found a few, but not the right one yet!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

A lot of models that I find would seem at first to be impossible to print. FDM printers don't like models with too many overhangs & undercuts, needing heavy supports, which are very difficult or impossible to remove.

USS Cairo American Civil War gunboat. With the funnels, posts etc very difficult to print.
I decided to split the print in half lengthwise. After 6 hours of printing ( each side ) 1/350.


They need to have the mating faces sanded really flat, to give the best fit - but first looks are positive

Quite happy with that!
One of the earliest photos of a US Warship

The USS Cairo was built in 1861, and was sunk in December 1862 at Haines Buff, on the Mississippi - the first ship sunk by a mine! ( remotely fired )
This method of splitting along the centreline means that I may be able to revisit some models, that I'd rejected as not suitable for FDM printing
Dave

[Jim R]

You are definitely getting the hang of this 3D lark. It certainly looks as if the results are getting better and better.

[Dave Ward]

getting better and better.

You haven't seen the failures!!!
Dave

[Neil Merryweather]

maybe next time, Dave, leave the centre frame intact and cut just off-centre?