I printed my first 3D object today. It is a test piece and it was like the curate’s egg. The design printed perfectly with wonderfully straight and accurate sides BUT there is a flaw.
It has a skirt or base that I didn’t want, Here is a very bad photo of it
The object itself printed accurately - it is about 5cm across and 1.5cm high but as you can see it is sitting on a base extending out a few mm which is not in the plan.
I suspect it is a setting I have to change because other people use these printers to create characters and buildings for architecture or display dioramas where a base might be useful.
Anyway I have entered a plea in the Flashforge FB page for some help.
Despite this I am very encouraged by this as I am confident it is easy to overcome and the thing it is supposed to be is accurate, strong and very clean indeed ie no sagging walls or flaws.
I have this translucent red filament (it came with the printer), some clear filament, a roll of silver filament and I probably should get some black - a 1kg roll costs about $30
That is very clever, I want one, although I don’t expect I’d understand it
A lot of crafters do use them, though
What is that object you made for?
My friend is a model railway enthusiast and he makes and sells laser cut kits and parts for 16mm gauge and he uses a 3D printer to make parts for his kits and also to make parts you can’t get anymore for repairs
It’s a fascinating thing to watch, like a Star Trek replicator
I had intended to learn how to use a program to design and make my own bits and pieces but I just came across a web site which has hundreds (thousands?) of designs for everything from models like chess sets to brackets and attachments.
There are quite possibly others but I came across this one today.
Because they are a standard digital format I would also imagine that it would be possible to modify them to suit yourself.
In my original post I mentioned the “skirt” around the object I made. That is called a “raft” and is removable, I peeled it off (with pliers) and the piece I made is exactly as designed. Compare the picture below with the first one in my original post.
It’s battery holder for AA batteries. It’s a script so it has variables and by changing these it can be made any width or length and for AAA batteries as well. The printer I have is limited to a150mm cube maximum.
Not world shattering devices but I am a beginner. After one day my brain hurts but I have learned a lot and am extremely pleased with this device so far. It cost me $670 (£335) including some filament (350gm), as mentioned 1kg rolls of PLA filament are about $30
BTW the first thing took 35 minutes to print, the battery holder took 2 hours but you don’t need to watch it once it is set running.
This is fascinating, Bruce! I love technology, and to think you have learned so much in a short space of time as well - there is hope for us all. Can you use other materials in it, or is it just the filament plastic which works?
You can use various filaments including PLA, ABS, PETG, HIPS apparently - have no idea of the difference.
The printer is connected to my ethernet but it does wifi too.
It has three sources of files, its internal memory to which files are transferred over my LAN, a USB socket for those without a LAN and two cloud storages provided by Flashforge (I think).
There is a control program called Flashprint which converts the common CAD format SLA files to Gx files that the printer uses then saves them to either a USB or transfers them to the printer’s memory. That is where the settings can be altered too (including the “raft” setting I mentioned).
I have started to come to terms with OpenScad which is open source CAD software it produces the SLA files I have a very basic understanding of the way it works but a long way to go to do anything sophisticated with it. Tons of stuff on Youtube about these programs.
Yes, I can see it would be steep learning curve, but the possibilities are endless! You could make anything with this…from kids toys, jewellery, prosthetic limbs - I’m sure I read somewhere that someone even built a house with this technology!
I’d never heard of Roman Dodecahedrons until you mentioned it. Quite interesting.
I also came across a design to print dice (not sure why you would want to) but there seems to be little limit to the things you can make, Warcraft figurines seem very popular as well as bowls and dishes.
Personally my intention was always to print practical and useful things rather than “arty” stuff but that Thingiverse site has opened my eyes. I actually have a very handy pencil/pen holder I bought from Big W that I wanted another to go with it but they have never had them in stock, I could now print my own Whether I would or not is a moot point.
I don’t think those moulds are printed they are vacuum moulded but it would be possible to print the coin, however you would need much better programming skills than mine or a 3D scanner to create the file.
Whether I would or not is a moot point.