Learning about 3D printers and looking for input

You will find projects for that printer every week. Heck, maybe every day.
I am going to print up some quick change tool holder keepers. I had them on my last lathe. Snap over the back of the splash shield and the tool holder just slides on. Lot of guys make them out of metal, which I could too, but what fun is that?!!
 
Technical Ted said:
I must say I am VERY impressed by the quality of this first functional part I made! No tweaking... I did set 3 parameters that the creator suggested when slicing, but that was it... Didn't really know what I was doing using the PrusaSlicer program.... just downloaded/installed it, clicked a few things, and out came some G code!!! :)

Also, I am impressed by the kit. No missing parts, all parts were high quality, the instructions were FABULOUS!!! What a relief after all the other import stuff I've been dealing with lately!

I highly recommend this Prusa kit!

Ted

View attachment 359080

View attachment 359082
View attachment 359081
Click to expand...

I told you the instructions were good. :)
 
@Technical Ted One of my friends here has a Prusa, and hi prints polycarbonate with it... He like PC better than ABS. His go-to is PETG. Unsurprisingly all of them print quite well, with a little trouble of curling on larger ABS prints.

You are going to ave a lot of funiwth your new toy - er, essential workshop tool ;)
 
Way to go @Technical Ted!
I love having a printer, it’s made a few things that I would have to buy.
Case for digital tack for the mill
1d798df3564465ae89151c6c6743555b.jpg


Holder for 5v relay.
3d24ecbb47ef308abea1757754ddf655.jpg

3a58086e5f9323cd0ff3ce182b51b920.jpg
 
I've printed several things now in PLA and PETG, including a case for my Raspberry Pi, a camera mount for its' camera, a different design Pi case for my son, and some toys for my grandson. This printer does an excellent job! Here's a picture of an Impossible Dovetail Puzzle I made. It's a copy of the Fusion 360 design I made and used the shaper to make out of aluminum and brass. It came out very well dimensionally... the only thing that was a little off was the Z (a few thousandths higher than the design). I can scale that in the Slicer. I had to give the mating surfaces 0.002" clearance (on one half only) so they would slide. I'm amazed at how well these turned out!

Ted

PXL_20210324_111734609.jpg
 
Hi All

Last year I bought an Ender 3 Pro for my Architectural Office. https://creality3d.shop/collections...ality3d-ender-3-pro-high-precision-3d-printer

For obvious reasons the office has been closed and I'm just about to bring it there - but have been greatly enjoying it for my own personal use. I do lots of auto restoration and printed brackets for an electric fan conversion. I also printed some brackets for a Mill DRO install. I upgraded to an all metal hot end and direct drive extruded both from Swiss Micro.

Things change very quickly in the 3DP world and I didn't do all that much research when I bought the Ender. I'm interested in making functional parts and open to spending ~500 for something useful. Curious to hear if anyone has advice?

I like the upgrades from the 3Pro in this model - glass bed, dual Z axis, quieter operation - https://www.creality3dofficial.com/products/creality-cr-6-se-3d-printer

One hesitation is that I don't see many upgrade parts listed. https://store.micro-swiss.com/collections/all-metal-hotend-kits
 
The only printer that I'm familiar with is the Prusa Mk3S+. Maybe others can chime in for decent printers in the $500 range.

The Prusa Mk3S+ kit will cost you just shy of $800 shipped. This thing does awesome work! No upgrades needed, but it is totally open source in case you want to update down the road after they come out with improved models.

If you're looking for a printer to make functional parts I don't see how you can go wrong with a Mk3. The parts used on their printers are made on the same printers... they have a farm with over 600 of them IIRC.

Ted
 
I am familiar with the Prusa - a few schools I taught in had 'farms' of them and spoke highly. Some of the younger people who work for me put me on to the Ender series which are bonkers inexpensive and still very well liked.

Does anyone know if the Prusa is in fact manufactured in Czechoslovakia ? I realize its components come from varied sources like all electronics.
 
The Creality printers seem to be on perpetual 'sale' (harbor freight style). Does Prusia do sales or free shipping ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top