Stuff your 3D printer has made today...

[Onoff]

A 3 piece stencil to route a mediaeval esque arrowhead in some timber. In two colour PLA:

https://flic.kr/p/2pa2o8h

 

[Onoff]

More hats for SWMBO:

https://flic.kr/p/2pa6Azv

 

[My Old Landy]

A mount for my fpv camera on the mecanum wheeled car. Cleaned the bed as instructed and it worked well. I didn't for the second half and it started to peel. I will clean it each time now

 

[My Old Landy]

360 hobby licence

I have now registered for an account and got the software installed. Had a little play. It will take some time to get used to it but worth it I think

 

[Anguz]

I have had it just over a year now.
Took a while, but have sort of got my head round it for what I need

 

[Onoff]

I watch my son use Fusion 360, haven't got a clue!

 

[Anguz]

I hadn't when I started... haven't watched many videos, I find them annoying, and a lot of them are out of date so the menus are wrong.
I know I do some things the long or wrong way but that's half the fun

 

[fractured]

I use the creality bed in reverse with a quick squirt of 3D laq.

However I have today purchased 5 rolls of PeTG at a special price from 3DQF as they have fitted a new line and can now do PETG and ABS as well as PLA.
2 rolls 13.99 each delivered.

So.i will let you know how it prints... not sure how long the introductory discount will last BTW.

Please let us know how you get on with the PETG from 3DQF as that seems a decent price and they are relatively local to me and I like to support local businesses where I can.

I am just getting to the end of my first roll of PETG and I must say I like the material.

I did look at the 3DQF site when I purchased my PETG but they were only doing PLA and ABS at the time.

 

[skotl]

Turns out I designed my "high temperature" box so well that the plastic surrounding the 245C hotplate is barely touching 40C, so I could have stuck with PLA after all rather than going to the much-more-troublesome ABS!

 

[Mart63]

I have now registered for an account and got the software installed. Had a little play. It will take some time to get used to it but worth it I think

I'm 60 years old and started playing around with it a couple of years ago. Learned through youtube videos. I now do an introduction to Fusion for 6th form students and support them throughout their A Level course in 3D Design and Architecture. I teach them to create 2D and 3D designs and we then laser cut or 3D print. If I can do it I reckon anyone can. I'd start with Kevin Kennedy's videos (Learn Fusion 360 in 30 days). Just make sure you follow the updated for 2023 videos as the user interface has changed .

 

[skotl]

When I learn something new I tend to dip in and out of tutorials, videos etc. and build my esperience based on a combination of learning, making mistakes, and then learning from these mistakes.

What I would say re Fusion 360 though (which I love, and have spent some ten hours within, in the last week alone) is that you will become extremely frustrated if you don't understand a lot of the basics off the bat. If your first print is a circle, for example, simply watching one video on making a circle is not going to be of any help without the background on planes, offsets, construction lines, sketches, components, bodies etc.

So starting with a real commitment to watch a 1 or 2 hour video on the basics would be a massive help. This is probably true for most 3D / CAD software, but especially for F360.

I echo @Mart63's recommendation of Kevin Kennedy being a good place to start.

In summary; F360 is immensely satisfying one you've got the basics, and anyone can learn it, but it's not a tool you can just jump into.

 

[Mart63]

Paul McWhorter is also good for beginners.

 

[skotl]

Current project, phase one of two complete:

It's going to be a surface mount component solder/de-solder hotplate. This is the hotbox, made out of ABS (good for up to around 270C - the plate goes to 238C), and has connectors and conduits to connect it to the other half, which will be a box made from PLA containing the controller (ESP8266), display and controls and associated electronics.

It's made of 8 discrete components (e.g. left, right, front, back) that connect via M3 lugnuts which are melted into the fixing holes with a soldering iron.

In hindsight, this is hideously over-engineered (using ABS, the 15mm air gap between the boxes etc.) but it's a been a fun exercise both in F360 and (less so!) in ABS.

 

[ukracer]

Please let us know how you get on with the PETG from 3DQF as that seems a decent price and they are relatively local to me and I like to support local businesses where I can.

I am just getting to the end of my first roll of PETG and I must say I like the material.

I did look at the 3DQF site when I purchased my PETG but they were only doing PLA and ABS at the time.

They only released PETG 2 days ago.

 

[Dr.Al]

They only released PETG 2 days ago.

I think I'd looked at 3DQF a while ago and given up when I realised they didn't to PETG. Good to know they offer it now.

Their naming choice did make me laugh when I looked at the website just now:

 

[My Old Landy]

When I learn something new I tend to dip in and out of tutorials, videos etc. and build my esperience based on a combination of learning, making mistakes, and then learning from these mistakes.

What I would say re Fusion 360 though (which I love, and have spent some ten hours within, in the last week alone) is that you will become extremely frustrated if you don't understand a lot of the basics off the bat. If your first print is a circle, for example, simply watching one video on making a circle is not going to be of any help without the background on planes, offsets, construction lines, sketches, components, bodies etc.

So starting with a real commitment to watch a 1 or 2 hour video on the basics would be a massive help. This is probably true for most 3D / CAD software, but especially for F360.

I echo @Mart63's recommendation of Kevin Kennedy being a good place to start.

In summary; F360 is immensely satisfying one you've got the basics, and anyone can learn it, but it's not a tool you can just jump into.

The thing is I spent 6 years learning Solidworks at work that I get frustrated that it is not as easy. It took me a couple of hours to find the dimension command to place something where I wanted it! Found it now on a right click menu instead of an icon

 

[ukracer]

I think I'd looked at 3DQF a while ago and given up when I realised they didn't to PETG. Good to know they offer it now.

Their naming choice did make me laugh when I looked at the website just now:

View attachment 421888

Yeah it caused a ripple in the Facebook group. Lol

 

[My Old Landy]

Getting the hang of this printing thing now
This is part of a stand for the RC plane.

 

[My Old Landy]

Stand complete and in use

 

[My Old Landy]

Just wanted to say that I have given up on the glass bed. I have returned to the standard one with a piece of paper under it in the centre. It is flat across the whole plate.
The glass one failed adhesion unless run at 70°C so it has been consigned to the 'learning' bin.