Stuff your 3D printer has made today...

[Onoff]

Thanks for actually acknowledging this valid point sir.
I've never read anyone state look at what my machine made today.

Plastic is not my cup of tea.

If we're going to be pedantic we could could have :

"Stuff you modelled from scratch and made on your 3D printer"

&

"Stuff you ripped off of Yeggi / someone else designed etc.
Then made on your 3D printer (aka you just hit Print)"

&

"Stuff you ripped off of Yeggi / someone else designed etc that you then modified the files/grafted to you own design and then made on your 3D printer"

I tick all three boxes!

I'm messing around with printing 2D pictures in pseudo 3D. The eventual aim is to use the model to make a mould and then cast in brass.

Plenty of tea cup models so plastic could become your cup of tea...

 

[Dr.Al]

Another (highly debatable, I'll admit) argument in favour of 3D printing (at least the functional sort, which interests me, as opposed to the "pretty" models, which don't) is that it can be slightly better environmentally than the alternative.

Consider for example a simple widget like a privacy cover for a webcam. I could order a privacy cover on ebay and even ignoring the container ship that brought it half-way round the world, it's likely to be packaged up in an LDPE bag and then that bag put in a jiffy bag that, if you're lucky, is one of the recyclable two-part ones but if you're unlucky it'll be in one that can't. Either way, there's all that extra packaging that's very wasteful. Alternatively, I could just print it with a few grams of filament that's sitting in the cupboard. I would argue that the latter is probably better overall.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Alternatively, I could just print it with a few grams of filament that's sitting in the cupboard. I would argue that the latter is probably better overall.

Especially when PLA isn't plastic anyway!

 

[Screwdriver]

Especially when PLA isn't plastic anyway!

...and it doesn't actually decompose either. It is not biodegradable and the only positive "green" aspect is that it is manufactured from renewable plant based materials.

<edit> though I am not sure why you would say it's not a plastic??

 

[ajlelectronics]

<edit> though I am not sure why you would say it's not a plastic??

Because it was my impression that plastics were oil based, whereas PLA is plant based. Happy to be convinced otherwise of course!

 

[Dr.Al]

Because it was my impression that plastics were oil based, whereas PLA is plant based. Happy to be convinced otherwise of course!

From Chambers:

plastic noun 1 any of a large number of synthetic materials that can be moulded by heat and/or pressure into a rigid or semi-rigid shape, used to make bottles, bowls and other containers, fibres, film, packaging, toys, construction materials, etc

I think PLA meets that definition

 

[Dr.Al]

...and it doesn't actually decompose either. It is not biodegradable and the only positive "green" aspect is that it is manufactured from renewable plant based materials.

Well, I did say (emphasis added):

... (PLA) is (I believe) biodegradable ...

Happy to be corrected. I really haven't spent much time looking into it as PLA is much too brittle for most things I want to do.

 

[Onoff]

It's a bioplastic?

 

[Nomad]

Interesting thread, thanks for all the ideas

A quick looks says PLA is made from a renewable resource (so it's not a plastic/bioplastic according to the definition above) and it will break down degrade over time. It is recyclable. I now know more than I did about this stuff
PLA info from the yellow facts box at https://www.3dsourced.com/3d-printer-materials/pla-filament-guide/

 

[Bladevane]

“Over time” seems to be the key phrase concerning the ability of PLA to biodegrade. I’m sure I’ve read it takes decades even if you put it into a steamy worm pit.

 

[ajlelectronics]

plastic noun 1 any of a large number of synthetic materials

Would plants come under the "synthetic" heading?

 

[Dr.Al]

Would plants come under the "synthetic" heading?

I interpreted "synthetic material" meaning that the material was synthetic. I wouldn't have considered crude oil to be synthetic: it's the PETG that's made from it that's synthetic. Similarly PLA being the synthetic material that is made from plants.

 

[Screwdriver]

Happy to be corrected. I really haven't spent much time looking into it as PLA is much too brittle for most things I want to do.

You and me both. I did look at PLA some time ago because the environmental impact does concern me. I don't think the fact that it is plant derived makes the blindest bit of difference to its "green" credentials. It still sits there being plastic. You might argue oil based products are plant derived, just that it takes a little longer.

As for it being synthetic, we're in the realms of semantics, it is definitely synthesised being an industrial product etc. but I don't know exactly how.

 

[Onoff]

I believe a lot of vegan stuff is made from PLA...

 

[Anguz]

Dropped the battery cover for my digital calipers the other week
Couldn't see where it went and it didn't appear ....
So 15min on fusion and 6 mins printing...
Then another 6 mins rescalling it a little...
And it fits...

 

[AndersK]

Today I printed the very first parts I've downloaded and not designed myself.
Paint pyramides.

Paint Pyramid by Justin Depew Design | Download free STL model | Printables.com

Tool for holding up work pieces as you are painting them. | Download free 3D printable STL models

www.prusaprinters.org

 

[Dr.Al]

Today I printed the very first parts I've downloaded and not designed myself.
Paint pyramides.

They look good. Like you I definitely prefer designing stuff myself, but sometimes it is handy to just grab stuff from others. I'm not sure I should be shouting about this in case it becomes too well known and then gets clamped down on, but prusa have set up their "prusameters" thing to positively reward using other people's designs. With my printer, they chucked in (for "free") a reel of their orange PETG. Orange is one of my least favourite colours (although everything at work is orange themed, so I can probably get some use out of it for work stuff). However, if I use it to print a load of downloaded 1-10 g models, then post photos ("makes") on the website (at a rate of 10 a month), in less than a year that would give enough "prusameters" for 3 reels of filament. This lot for example (which I'll print when I can be bothered):

uses 100 g of filament and is 30 different downloads, so nearly enough for a free 1 kg reel of prusament PETG.

Don't tell your friends!

 

[pawsnizzy]

Enclosure for an NTP clock I made for the workshop

 

[AndersK]

Some consoles in PLA

 

[Dr.Al]

A couple of filament guides:

At the very least, they should stop the squeaking when the rim of the spool is up against the main strut of the spool holder and the extruder is at the far end of the bed. If I'm lucky they're also prevent the problem I just had on the tap storage drawer unit I've been printing.