Buying a 3D printer

[ukracer]

Is it just trail and error or is their tutorials and help online ie YouTube

Well there are many many tutorials but you need to pick ones that fit your level of knowledge PLUS ability to pick things up.

From my perspective I have used hundreds if not thousands of programs and rarely use a manual (although you tube helps with that.)
But it's like no other I have used.
I think I might have been given a gem.
I was told to think of fusion as you need to access a function.....then carry out the tasks you need . Then close the function.
With most other programs you can jump around between menus and they all tend to be similar and intuitive.

Problem I find with fusion is I need to carry out a function but its hard to find a tutorial that covers just that aspect. They very quickly expand into a lot of stuff I don't need and cant remember so my brain overloads and I get frustrated.
Another key is learn to sketch first before bothering to work in 3D......

Hope this helps.

 

[ukracer]

Is it just trail and error or is their tutorials and help online ie YouTube

My above reply is fusion specific.
As for a slicer I use Cura as it's Free. Find a plastic and brand that works and stick to it whilst learning. Don't go cheap.
Cura does most of the work in thickness/infill , you need to concentrate on getting a handle on speeds , calibration, above all get a decent profile for the type of Plastic/Brand you choose and stick with it. Tweaking it when needed but always keep a master profile.

 

[Jacktegla]

My above reply is fusion specific.
As for a slicer I use Cura as it's Free. Find a plastic and brand that works and stick to it whilst learning. Don't go cheap.
Cura does most of the work in thickness/infill , you need to concentrate on getting a handle on speeds , calibration, above all get a decent profile for the type of Plastic/Brand you choose and stick with it. Tweaking it when needed but always keep a master profile.

Is fusion a free application or do you have to pay for it

 

[Hood]

Is fusion a free application or do you have to pay for it

You can get it free for home or educational use or what they call a start up business. They seem to be tightening up a bit though as I started using it around Christmas time and although I seemed to qualify for a start up (under $100k turnover) I was refused. I could have appealed but as I use CAD/CAM for my business I decided to buy it, or rather lease I suppose. At the current price it will be 7 years of licence to the cost that BobCAD were wanting from me for an upgrade.

 

[Jacktegla]

You can get it free for home or educational use or what they call a start up business. They seem to be tightening up a bit though as I started using it around Christmas time and although I seemed to qualify for a start up (under $100k turnover) I was refused. I could have appealed but as I use CAD/CAM for my business I decided to buy it, or rather lease I suppose. At the current price it will be 7 years of licence to the cost that BobCAD were wanting from me for an upgrade.

Ok thanks so I can get it for free as it’s only for personal use

 

[Hood]

Ok thanks so I can get it for free as it’s only for personal use

You should be able to.

 

[indy4x]

@Jacktegla I'm now in my early 50's, I did Engineering Drawing back in my school days but this was with pencil and paper.

I'm currently in night classes learning CAD, I could have done it at home as there are loads of tutorials on YouTube. If you want to learn Fusion 360 there is a self paced learning course on the Autocad site. I only signed up to the college course as it forces me to get on with it rather than getting distracted by other projects

You don't need to worry about wall thickness, infill, support etc, this is all done with the slicer software that turns your 3D model into g code for the printer to produce the print job

 

[Onoff]

Well there are many many tutorials but you need to pick ones that fit your level of knowledge PLUS ability to pick things up.

From my perspective I have used hundreds if not thousands of programs and rarely use a manual (although you tube helps with that.)
But it's like no other I have used.
I think I might have been given a gem.
I was told to think of fusion as you need to access a function.....then carry out the tasks you need . Then close the function.
With most other programs you can jump around between menus and they all tend to be similar and intuitive.

Problem I find with fusion is I need to carry out a function but its hard to find a tutorial that covers just that aspect. They very quickly expand into a lot of stuff I don't need and cant remember so my brain overloads and I get frustrated.
Another key is learn to sketch first before bothering to work in 3D......

Hope this helps.

You're putting me off learning it!

Only plus here is my lad can sit at his pc and me at mine and he can guide me through Fusion as we draw the same thing.

AutoCAD is just a doddle. I did 2 years at college, 1st year was taking dictation, page after page but boy did it go in. 11 ways to draw an arc, who knew? The lecturer would draw on his pc, that would show up on the big screen at the front and we'd religiously copy what he did. Seemed a faff at the time but it stuck. 2nd year we got straight into 3D.

I always think you only really need one command, EXTRUDE, to bring a shape to life in 3D.

 

[ukracer]

People have mentined cura in the thread but do we have any experts...lol

I have a file from thingiverse but it has a .scad files and a .stl which imports fine into cura 4.5. (BTW anyone using an ender 3 I have some great profiles for PLA.)

But the file is a piece of extrusion to be used as a spacer. As it comes its twice as thick as I need and I wondered if there is a quick and dirty way of reducing size in one direction.

IF its as I supect its a fusion task who was it on here who knew about importing an STL to edit it in fusion.

I think I have come up with a much much quicker solution.. Can any one think of it??

But I would still like to hear of other solutions. Please.

 

[tflnemesis]

You can use the 'Scale' setting in Cura (second button from top on left hand side) to reduce dimensions in X,Y,Z, so decide which dimension you need reducing and change scale in that axis, just remember to uncheck the uniform scaling box.

 

[badabec]

Hello, my son is looking for dual colours, heated bed, PLA and ABS compatible as a minimum. One problem is that he lives in Norway and so printers without a glass cage may be easier to ship.
What can the brains trust suggest?
Thanks

 

[tflnemesis]

@badabec
Any dual filament printer will do the job. Ender and Prusa are two mainstream manufacturers so tend to be a little costlier than the clones, If going for one of the clones he might need to do some upgrades.
Pretty much any kind of sheeting can be used to create an enclosure to keep temperatures stable, mine is made from 18mm ply with a perspex window in the front.
With any 3d printer there will be a learning process, ABS can be very problematic, large prints will warp like a banana.
If I was going to buy a new 3d printer I would definitely be looking at Prusa or Ender as these tend to work pretty much out of the box and are very easy to setup.
If you want some 3d printer reviews look up 3d Printing Nerd and Maker Muse on youtube, there is also a german guy whose name I don't remember that likes to be ultra precise in his testing.

The clones Anet, Geetech etc etc are all pretty good printers but may require upgrades to improve function and output quality.

 

[armalites]

A lot depends on if you want a project or want to print usable stuff straight away. Back in the days where building PCs was really common I enjoyed it, often whole evenings would disappear loading software and fine tuning. 3D printing can be the same and the big issue is you can get 2-3 hours into a print and it fail or just do a poor job. Unfortunately you do need to pay proper money if you don't want the hassles.

We went down the Prusa route because I saw more benefit for kids learning to design stuff then getting bored trying to make the printer work but £700+ is likely to be an issue for many people starting out.

 

[badabec]

Thank you, I have reported back. Maybe I will get a Moe Szyslac key ring after all

 

[DAPPH]

Hello, my son is looking for dual colours, heated bed, PLA and ABS compatible as a minimum. One problem is that he lives in Norway and so printers without a glass cage may be easier to ship.
What can the brains trust suggest?
Thanks

Go direct to Prusa in Prague they are online ..it's where my original genuine Prusa Mk 3 I , came from .. they do all the multiple colour kits and best of all you'll always be able to get original parts & buy upgrades direct . Buy as self assembly or built ready for battle .

 

[DAPPH]

Well there are many many tutorials but you need to pick ones that fit your level of knowledge PLUS ability to pick things up.

From my perspective I have used hundreds if not thousands of programs and rarely use a manual (although you tube helps with that.)
But it's like no other I have used.
I think I might have been given a gem.
I was told to think of fusion as you need to access a function.....then carry out the tasks you need . Then close the function.
With most other programs you can jump around between menus and they all tend to be similar and intuitive.

Problem I find with fusion is I need to carry out a function but its hard to find a tutorial that covers just that aspect. They very quickly expand into a lot of stuff I don't need and cant remember so my brain overloads and I get frustrated.
Another key is learn to sketch first before bothering to work in 3D......

Hope this helps.

Look for Lars live 1 on YouTube he does some great tutorials for Fusion 360 I 've been through most of them & kept dipping back to refresh my addled brain.

 

[DAPPH]

People have mentined cura in the thread but do we have any experts...lol

I have a file from thingiverse but it has a .scad files and a .stl which imports fine into cura 4.5. (BTW anyone using an ender 3 I have some great profiles for PLA.)

But the file is a piece of extrusion to be used as a spacer. As it comes its twice as thick as I need and I wondered if there is a quick and dirty way of reducing size in one direction.

IF its as I supect its a fusion task who was it on here who knew about importing an STL to edit it in fusion.

I think I have come up with a much much quicker solution.. Can any one think of it??

But I would still like to hear of other solutions. Please. View attachment 219226

I've just had to do similar . I went back to my drawing took off all the limiting icons then adjusted the single measurement to shorten my model by high lighting measurement deleting it then inserting the new one & pressing enter saved it to file then put it back through Cura . I'll find out if it works tomorrow

 

[indy4x]

@badabec
Any dual filament printer will do the job. Ender and Prusa are two mainstream manufacturers so tend to be a little costlier than the clones, If going for one of the clones he might need to do some upgrades.
Pretty much any kind of sheeting can be used to create an enclosure to keep temperatures stable, mine is made from 18mm ply with a perspex window in the front.
With any 3d printer there will be a learning process, ABS can be very problematic, large prints will warp like a banana.
If I was going to buy a new 3d printer I would definitely be looking at Prusa or Ender as these tend to work pretty much out of the box and are very easy to setup.
If you want some 3d printer reviews look up 3d Printing Nerd and Maker Muse on youtube, there is also a german guy whose name I don't remember that likes to be ultra precise in his testing.

The clones Anet, Geetech etc etc are all pretty good printers but may require upgrades to improve function and output quality.

Just purchased a Copymaster 300 V2 Idex 3D dual extruder, yes it wasn't cheap but within 15mins of it being unboxed it was producing good prints with no issues and no upgrades or tinkering required. Yes I like tinkering but these days I just need stuff to work without faffing for hours with it

Not got into the dual extruder stuff yet, just bangin out PPE ATM

 

[LandRoverTom]

Jumping on the bandwagon a bit here, but how robust are the 3d prints?
Obviously this is going to be very dependent on infill %? (totally new to this) which will mean more time and cost for higher percentage. But as a bit of a guide to a total npvice?
Thanks

 

[tflnemesis]

Depends what you are going to do with the print, I run infill anywhere between 10-40%.

The size of the part is also a consideration as very large prints would use a lot of filament at 40%+ infill.
Very occasionally i have used 100% but only on small parts that are going to be under a lot of stress.
You would have to experiment but 25% is usually considered plenty for 95% of anything you print and it is surprising the amount of abuse you can give a print before it breaks at that level of infill.

I find orientation of the part more important than the infill as parts tend to be weakest along the layer lines.