Alien 13 Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Have been browsing again and found the PocketMaker 3D Printer and the Createbot Super Mini 3D printer that fit the bill size wise but have no idea if they are any good, there does seem to be a lack of small printers on the market. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Ju_ju Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 They both look very pretty, and even though they've been around for some time, there isn't much on-line info\reviews on them.... The problem is that with any printer, especially smaller ones, is that you will just want\need to print a slightly bigger part than can safely be printed, without the head running into top or sides etc. that's why the 200x200 size is almost a standard, as it will cover 80% of most peoples needs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Some years ago when |I had the little UP Plus 2 with 130mm x 130mm print area I found it decidedly limiting. My smallest working printer now has a 200mm x 200mm bed. There is very little to be gained by going smaller even if you only ever want to print small parts. Going smaller means going non-standard and will cost more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesF Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Yes, I was wondering if, when you get down to below 150mm x 150mm it doesn't all start to get more awkward because a certain amount of space is required for the mechanical parts of the printer. James 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien 13 Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 I dont think anything bigger than an 80 mm bed size would fit on my coffee table and I cant imagine that I would want to print anything larger than about 40 mm anyway. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 As James said, you can't make certain parts any smaller. My Mini printer has a footprint of 400mm x 360mm. It may be possible to get it a bit smaller but not much without sacrificing accuracy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesF Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Oooh, I have just printed out a box with a latch and an "in place" hinge, so the two halves of the box close together, but there is no break in the hinge that joins them and they cannot be separated. That really is rather cool. It was only a small test piece to see if it would work (planning ahead for my box of driver bits as mentioned above), but now I can see lots of potential uses. What would be very handy now would be the ability to add text to a design in openscad, so I can make labels for the lids. James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RolandKol Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Hi all, I am waiting for my first printer "Anycubic i3 Mega 3D Printer", should be delivered today!!! I hope I will manage to hold myself till tomorrow as the 31st of December is not the best day for experiments! P.S. I still have not managed to choose the software for design... TinkerCAD webapp looks very basic... AutoCad - too expensive, however, I do have it in the office, just in case.... a bit lost in this area. any new starter advises are very very welcome! (like web libs, soft, settings and "no no things" especially!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upahill Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 4 minutes ago, RolandKol said: P.S. I still have not managed to choose the software for design... TinkerCAD webapp looks very basic... AutoCad - too expensive, however, I do have it in the office, just in case.... a bit lost in this area. any new starter advises are very very welcome! Fusion 360 seems to be the popular choice - https://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/fusion-360-for-hobbyists I don't have any experience of it though, there are some open source alternatives too but ill let someone more knowledgeable on those chime in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mognet Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 15 hours ago, JamesF said: Oooh, I have just printed out a box with a latch and an "in place" hinge, so the two halves of the box close together, but there is no break in the hinge that joins them and they cannot be separated. That really is rather cool. It was only a small test piece to see if it would work (planning ahead for my box of driver bits as mentioned above), but now I can see lots of potential uses. What would be very handy now would be the ability to add text to a design in openscad, so I can make labels for the lids. James Print in place hinges and joints are very handy. Some of my early design experiments used them It looks like 3D text should be possible. Looking at the cheat sheet and manual I think it would be via a linear extrude of 2D text. I've yet to try it though. Maybe a job for later today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesF Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Regarding design software, as previously noted, I use OpenSCAD which uses constructive solid geometry to create objects. It's a bit like Sketchup (which some people also use for 3d printing design), but whereas Sketchup uses a GUI to create objects, OpenSCAD uses a simple programming language. FreeCAD is another that I've been meaning to get my head around. I have the impression that it is perhaps a bit more like a traditional CAD package and somewhat more interoperable with them than OpenSCAD, but I may be entirely wrong there. Whilst Neil isn't looking I'll also mention that if I've understood correctly, Model Engineer's Workshop is offering a free six month subscription for Alibre Atom3D at the moment and publishing tutorials for it in the magazine. James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesF Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 1 minute ago, Mognet said: Print in place hinges and joints are very handy. Some of my early design experiments used them It looks like 3D text should be possible. Looking at the cheat sheet and manual I think it would be via a linear extrude of 2D text. I've yet to try it though. Maybe a job for later today I'm definitely going to have to look at it at some point soon. It would be nice to have an "engraved" label on containers, but it also struck me today that I could 3d print large plant labels for the veggie plot if text was easy to do. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mognet Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 One cup of coffee later...embossed text in OpenSCad $fn=1; difference() { // Create block translate([-50, -5, -10]) cube([100, 10, 10]); // Subtract text translate([0, 0, -2]) linear_extrude(height=2, center=false) text(text="Stargazer's Lounge", size=5, font="Courier New:style=Bold", halign="center", valign="center"); } 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I've often 3D printed text on my objects, with SketchUp in the past, nowadays with a very old copy of Autodesk Inventor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calli Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 If you don't insist on a full parametric design and work more like an artist than an engenier you may try Blender. http://Blender.org Best try first the Beta of 2.8 which is much more beginners friendly. I did all my 3D things in Blender. https://www.thingiverse.com/calli/about 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reezeh Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 On 16 September 2018 at 14:19, Gina said: Yes, I'm afraid cheap 3D printers are an illusion. They are cheap for a reason! I guess that's like a lot of things; you get what you pay for. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upahill Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 22 hours ago, Alien 13 said: I dont think anything bigger than an 80 mm bed size would fit on my coffee table and I cant imagine that I would want to print anything larger than about 40 mm anyway. Alan Take a look at the Ender 2, I have the Ender 3 and find it to be quite compact, but still not coffee table size really. The model before it is a bit smaller though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien 13 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I have been thinking about 3D printer costs and was wondering what part takes up most of the cost?, after all a modern scanner copier is more complex with more moving parts but are very cheap. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reezeh Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Whilst on the subject of 3D printing and astronomy, I'm wondering if someone can print a good, viable aperture stop of about 100 - 116mm for a 152mm refractor, centre hole for solar use. Material and construction opaque, especially to visible and infrared of course. Obviously, it'll be more economical to ask someone to do it than purchase a setup for a single job. By viable, I mean worthwhile, will stand up to the ultraviolet onslaught of exposure to sunlight for hours at a time and not soften and deform from sun's heat. It's something I'm mulling over and even if it happens I'm in no rush atm. Thoughts anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) 1 minute ago, Alien 13 said: I have been thinking about 3D printer costs and was wondering what part takes up most of the cost?, after all a modern scanner copier is more complex with more moving parts but are very cheap. Alan But produced in vast numbers! Edited December 31, 2018 by Gina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upahill Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Alien 13 said: I have been thinking about 3D printer costs and was wondering what part takes up most of the cost?, after all a modern scanner copier is more complex with more moving parts but are very cheap. Alan If you were self building the largest chunk of cost would probably be the mechanical parts - aluminium frames and connectors etc. Followed by the electronics Then the motors But it depends on quality of each part - for example you could buy a £100 hot end or a £9 china clone, a £20 ramps board or a £200 duetwifi controller. Edit: I think personally that machines like the Enders in their sub £200 price bracket are going to be the cheapest commercial units available that are actually half-decent. I doubt we will see good quality sub £100 for a few years yet. Edited December 31, 2018 by upahill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) 6 minutes ago, reezeh said: Whilst on the subject of 3D printing and astronomy, I'm wondering if someone can print a good, viable aperture stop of about 100 - 116mm for a 152mm refractor, centre hole for solar use. Material and construction opaque, especially to visible and infrared of course. Obviously, it'll be more economical to ask someone to do it than purchase a setup for a single job. By viable, I mean worthwhile, will stand up to the ultraviolet onslaught of exposure to sunlight for hours at a time and not soften and deform from sun's heat. It's something I'm mulling over and even if it happens I'm in no rush atm. Thoughts anyone? Don't even think about it! There is very great danger unless you really know what you're doing with solar. For white solar, Baader solar film in front of the telescope is what's needed. For Ha you need very specialised equipment - get it wrong and you can easily blind yourself!! Wrong parts in the telescope can result in fire or explosion. Edited December 31, 2018 by Gina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey-T Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 2 minutes ago, reezeh said: Whilst on the subject of 3D printing and astronomy, I'm wondering if someone can print a good, viable aperture stop of about 100 - 116mm for a 152mm refractor, centre hole for solar use. Material and construction opaque, especially to visible and infrared of course. Obviously, it'll be more economical to ask someone to do it than purchase a setup for a single job. By viable, I mean worthwhile, will stand up to the ultraviolet onslaught of exposure to sunlight for hours at a time and not soften and deform from sun's heat. It's something I'm mulling over and even if it happens I'm in no rush atm. Thoughts anyone? Easier / quicker / cheaper to make one from a bit of 3mm plasticard. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reezeh Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 1 minute ago, Gina said: Don't even think about it! There is very great danger unless you really know what you're doing with solar. Altair Herschel wedge in the arsenal... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Finder-scopes can blind you if pointed at the sun. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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