Feedback Needed - 3D Printers - Any Interest?

[guymark]

The prices have come down so far!

I recently bought one of these for my kids: http://amzn.to/2pELYbw

... and I'm VERY tempted to get one of these: http://amzn.to/2quJYRm

I have seen some fairly mixed reviews of the "pen ones" - though it seems the better ones are rather good fun to play around with. As for the link to the second one - that seems an amazing price for an ASSEMBLED unit that is "ready to go".

Cracking deal and still only just over $300 delivered to the UK with customs paid into the bargain.

I wonder if some little "filament makers" will start appearing. I know a few creative folks have already made them but for others who intend to print a lot and can buy plastic "grit" for a fraction of the price, then a little feedscrew > extrusion kit that has a little hopper for plastic waste / pellets and an extruder, cooling fan and take up reel could be awesome. Even it wasn't too cheap if it was really well made, it could become enough of a micro industry (preparing inexpensive filament) as to create a substanttial drop in price.

About the only improvement I could think of on that, would be for a a 3D printer to have the equivalent of a "CISS" system, but instead of ink from tanks, plastic granules from hoppers. One hopper each for CMYKW and then just make sure you fill the little hoppers with plastic granules of the right colour and it then "melts on demand" and feeds the extruders freshly made filament which it could pulltrude from the filament making device.

I am sure it would not be super simple to make that work BUT if it can be made to work as two separate machines, I am guessing one way or another it could be made to work.

Either that or - as the filament is MUCH thicker than the finest "resolution" dots the typical printer can make, then just make the nozzles accept a MUCH thicker "slug" of plastic - perhaps not TOTALLY unlike the "solid ink" printers which seemed to take what looked like solid slabs of colour and somehow "melt
them accurately" onto paper.

 

[Nifty]

I have seen some fairly mixed reviews of the "pen ones" - though it seems the better ones are rather good fun to play around with.

Ya, honestly, I probably wouldn't buy it again... especially considering it's about 1/4 of the way to getting that awesomely reviewed printer.

As for the link to the second one - that seems an amazing price for an ASSEMBLED unit that is "ready to go".

Ya, the reviews online are really good. Just search Youtube for that model and lots of people raving about it.

I discovered it from this video originally:

 

[The Hat]

@Nifty, This little printer has really got my taste buds active, I like the idea of it but fear its way beyond my ability to reproduce something useful especially using CAD.

But then again that has never stopped me before, most you guys’ thing I’d flaming mad anyway, so I just might take the plunge and buy it, just for the hell of it.

I am forever making and repairing things from redundant pieces of plastic and metal and was thinking this printer might be an easier way to do the same, but sourcing the extra rolls of plastic might be a big problem, not to mention Customs & Excise...
I’ll have a word with my son tonight because he has an Amazon account, I don’t...

 

[Nifty]

Ya, my only hesitation is the slippery slope of learning the software to start designing stuff. I definitely don't have time right now, but might be able to squeeze a new hobby in down the road.

 

[The Hat]

@Nifty if you get any positive reactions then you might even convert me over..

It has taken almost 3 years for this thread to get going, and in another 3 years it may even be the most popular...

 

[The Hat]

Well I went and done it a few weeks ago, and I've just received the 3D printer today and unpacked and turned it on... Then hit my first little problem...

The printer does not come with the roll of plastic pictured, I just got ten feet of the stuff which makes it very limiting as to what I can print during setup.
click to enlarge..

I had to calibrate the head and platform first which only takes 5 minutes (Read setup instructions) and I was ready to go, I also ran the initial head temperature guide and feed the plastic into the head and printed out the setup pattern required.

That’s as far as I could get, I can’t install the printer on the computer, wait for it, there’s not a mention of needing a mini cart reader to install the Feckin drivers, so I am stuck between a rock and a 3D printer.

I borrowed the cash to get the printer in the first place, so I’ll have to wait to pay that back, before I can purchase a roll of plastic and a card reader to proceed, had I got a roll of plastic with the machine I could have at least made a load of useless little figures.

Everything is initially done using a micro SD card which plugs into the side of the printer, it has all the files and drivers on it to really get started, but I’ll just have to wait a couple more weeks to venture any further, first impressions are still positive...

 

[mikling]

They say life is short and boy they have that right. I now want to get into this stuff as well. Last year i discovered that less than 10 mins away was this facility. http://www.newmakeit.com/equipment
Now these are the dream tools every make it person wants. I can go there when I want by just joining but I don't have the time to learn Fusion 360 as the video says.

Then a few days ago, someone referred me and opened my mind about deep learning and machine learning. Now I was shocked at what was available today. I have never been as excited about something as much as this now.
Take a look if you have the time. Forward to around 7minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eex-ZMsVOhU&index=10&list=PLZHnYvH1qtOZPJtv1WNYk0TU4L3M_rnj4

If you have the time, look at the whole keynote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npzRyTimcZo

Then take a look at what they recently presented in 2017. Pay attention to Isaac towards the end. at around 2:01:50 Think about the implications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JvNAzj0iKk

Like I said what a time we are in now. The future will have have many changes.

 

[ninj]

@The Hat I built my own 3D printer about a year ago and it's been an all-consuming (and time consuming) hobby ever since. I'm sure you will have great fun with your new printer, which looks like a good one.

That’s as far as I could get, I can’t install the printer on the computer, wait for it, there’s not a mention of needing a mini cart reader to install the Feckin drivers, so I am stuck between a rock and a 3D printer.

Any cheap card read should be fine, eg from Poundland (or Irish equivalent). You can print with your printer without connecting it to the computer simply by copying the g-code to the SD card and plugging it into the printer. In fact, that is the preferred way because sending print instructions to a 3D printer via a USB cable can be slow and unreliable. There's nothing more annoying than having a 5 hour print fail because the cable moved slightly!

Your next job is to learn to use your slicing software. I believe your printer came with Cura, but you can experiment with others such as Slic3r (slic3r.org). The resulting g-code can be viewed in a simple text editor, and it is instructive (but not necessary) to go so. A description all g-codes is available at http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code/. Unlike inkjet printing, the innermost workings of 3D printers are open and (relatively) easily understood. Pretty much everything works on open and well documented hardware and software.

There are several good free 3D design packages available. My personal preference is openscad (www.openscad.org) which is unusual because it involves typing simple instructions and then previewing the result. It's a quick way of making a simple (or very complex) practical part, but less good for 'organic' models. For example,

cube(20);

will produce a cube of side 20mm. You can then 'subtract' a cylinder of diameter 5mm to make a 5mm hole down the middle using the difference() function:

difference(){

cube(20, center=true); // "center = true" keeps the parts aligned to the center of the grid
cylinder(d=5, h=30, center=true); // d is the diameter and h is the height​

}

Hours of fun and frustration lie ahead!

 

[The Hat]

@ninj, good post and excellent advice, thank you, now let’s see if I can follow some of it, that's after I can get my hands on this little gem and start to make something worthwhile.

I was given a USB 3 reader and can finally install everything from the tiny micro card, but for the moment I can only stare at the darn printer and hope I can figure out how to use it to produce something useful, instead of useless little figures.

I will certainly have a good look at the websites and programs you posted, it’s like rushing out after the rain and thinking have I stepped out to early, and will I get drowned by the very next shower...

P.S. first things first, I must buy a plastic role, Feck the inkjet printers they can wait, I only got eyes for 3D printing for now, there’s one good thing dough, it can’t get a head clog...

 

[ninj]

P.S. first things first, I must buy a plastic role, Feck the inkjet printers they can wait, I only got eyes for 3D printing for now, there’s one good thing dough, it can’t get a head clog...

I have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news: 3D print heads can and do get clogged (dust, burnt plastic, etc). Partial clogs cause poor prints, total clogs cause filament jamming.

The good news: they are much easier and cheaper to fix than an inkjet printhead. And if you can't remove a clog, Chinese nozzles cost pennies and work fine.