3d printing: The reality of the handy dandy home replicator

[35NCO]

Over the past year I took the leap into 3d printing. I went from knowing little to making some very useful and very accurate objects. In example, I have made electrical conduit boxes for the shop, gears for my lathe, toys and jewelry for my kids, and some really neat cutaways of, well, interesting things.

I also have designed and printed a lot of 3d printer parts to increase efficiency and accuracy.

I frequently get asked questions about 3d Printing and how to start. I realized that I have not shared enough here and thought that this would be a good place to contribute.

Reality of 3d printing:

From my experience 3d printing is amazing in general. But, it is NOT plug and play. Most of them hardly print out of the box at all. Even really expensive ones require a fair amount of knowledge to get them to run right. That's also not even getting into the filament types and the pros and cons there. You will be printing for about $500.00 or less. Then prepare to tinker on and off for months.

Important to mention:

1. This is not StarTrek, No, we do not have the technology; you will not instantly get objects. Printing takes time. Minutes, hours, days even. Depends on size, complexity and what you are asking the printer to do. However, this is very much out weighted by the fact that its faster than shipping, it can be custom designed by you, and you can make as many as you want, including the value of proto-typing to make objects even better.

2. You mostly print in plastic in hobby FFT 3d Printing, but there are a ton of amazing plastics to work with that have incredible durability with different strengths and heat properties. You can also turn plastic objects into metal through casting.

3. It is not practical to mass manufacture this way.

Once you start to get used to that, you need to learn how to 3d model to turn your ideas into objects. (Or repair bad objects) Not just objects either, objects that are printable. You need to know some 3d modeling minimally because you need to understand ideal models (Manifold objects) and you need to understand meshes (Structure of a 3d object) and how STL files (3d printable files) are created. There are many free resources to learn 3d modeling. Youtube is fantastic for this.

Closing:

There is a learning curve and it is not small, but it is no longer finically impossible nor resource impossible to be 3d Printing at home. It is extremely rewarding and useful. You will soon be printing so many things and spending so much on filament you will want bigger machines before you know it. Warning, It is a gateway drug! Anything around the house or in general life will be a project. You no longer will have a “If only they made this…” thought. You will just redirect time to go make it.

If you are asking, do I need this? Consider that this is another step towards self reliance. I strongly believe that where this is mostly underground geek stuff now, very soon of our children’s and especially our grandchildren’s future, this will absolutely be common place. As said by many, it’s like when computers were just a thing that some folks were doing or the internet was a thing we heard about.

It is time to get started now so you are ahead of the game when it shows up. More importantly, it is time to teach our kids or grandkids. If you learn how to do all of the below and make your own filament, you will have the power to make anything, anytime, anywhere, whenever you want to. It is an incredible undeniable use of resource, knowledge and force multiplication…be creative and imagine the use!


If anyone has any questions please let me know and I will knowledge dump as much as I can.


Communities and knowledge: Check out MakersMuse, 3d printing nerd, and 3d printing professor on YouTube. (Among many others) https://www.3dprintingforum.org/, http://3dprintboard.com/, http://www.3dprintforums.com/ Watch a lot videos, read the 3d printing forums, and then make a choice.

Printers: There are a huge amount of affordable FFT 3d printers on eBay and Amazon. CR10, Flashforge, CTC 3D, TEVO DELTA...ext. There are many others, but this is a good start. For under $500.00. Do your research and read reviews and forums on modifications.

Filament: 1.75mm or 3mm PLA, ABS, PETG, PVA, Nylon…(Lots to learn here, don’t buy too cheap and research all you can)

STL sites: STLfinder.com and Thingiverse.com, many, many others out there.

Mesh Repair: MeshMixer or if your brave, Blender

Slicers: CURA and Simplify 3d (Pay program, but well worth it IMO)

3d Modeling: Fusion 360(The most powerful free CAD AND CAM program available), Tinkercad.com (Free and exceptionally useful for electrical and CAD), Microsoft 3d (Free and good for quick simple stuff.)

Casting Plastic to metal: Research PLA Casting on youtube.

Sticking to build plate: PLA’s use Purple Elmers Glue stick with minor plate heat. ABS, use heated plate and or ABS Slurry.

[Flagg]

Great post and summary.

It tracks with my experience(far less than yours) with 3D printing.

I recently put my kids through a 3D printing course that mostly consisted of how to design and build STL files. While we haven’t bought one for around home yet, our local library(where they conducted the course) does offer a 3D printing service which we’ve been using to get them started before we commit to a printer purchase.

We’ve got a few at work

I reckon “Amara’s Law” may apply here where we overstimate the value of technology in the short term but underestimate the value of it in the long term.

As filament material quality and utility continues to improve along with printer resolution and 3D design software interface simplicity and intuitiveness then we will see accelerating growth.

3D scanning to printing is already possible, but 3D scanning of a broken part that uses AI/ML to reassemble and print it will be quite useful in both civilian and military contexts.

[35NCO]

Thank you. Thank you for the reminder too.

Yes, 3d scanning of already existing objects or custom objects based on 3d scans is really easy at home now with Xbox kinetic sensors and freeware. You can also use photogrametry with a series of photos and just a camera.

It is surprising the miltary does not not use it more in the field or support.

[TOMAHAWK9521]

I was introduced to 3D printing while pursuing my degree in Industrial Design. Very cool stuff. Most of my classmates were half my age and grew up with computers and such, so while I was spending my spare cash on reloading equipment and new pea shooters, they were investing in software (both legit and bootlegged), other advanced design equipment, and a wide range of desk top 3D printers.

Mind you, as posted above, there are varying types of 3D printers and printing methods. The more readily available printers are the heated filament types but there are more complicated models used in manufacturing that using laser sintering to create solid layers out of baths of "plastic" and even metal particulate.

The software I use(d) are SolidWorks and Rhino. A full SolidWorks software package is extremely expensive, in my opinion. However, if you can afford it, it is something to consider, especially if a knuckle dragger such as myself was able to pick it up and do some impressive designs with it. Rhino, on the other hand, takes a little longer to figure out. Unlike SolidWorks, Rhino allows you to design all manner of surfacing for your design. SolidWorks, by itself, is limited to geometric shapes and patterns. You can make some contoured/curved surfaces but, believe me, it may require a whole lot of ass pain to get it right so your product prints out like the graphic picture you've made.

Since my student copy of SolidWorks has expired and I don't relish forking over a few thousand bucks for their official package, I'm scraping the rust off my Rhino skills and working to improve my skills there.

As for application, I used Rhino in conjunction with the 3D printer we had in our shop overseas to fabricate durable components, which were then added to metal products we designed for the teams we were supporting in country. Since I'm now working on product development in my own shop back home, I'm looking at throwing down some cash to get my own printer to help speed up the prototyping process. The only thing slowing me down right now is deciding on which type of home 3D printer to invest in.

[The Reaper]

Or, you could learn to run a mill and a lathe, and remove the portions that don't belong on your object.

CAD is even better, or CNC if you have the money to burn, though there are a few hobbyist machines that are more reasonable.

We need to invest in teaching kids how things are made, and training them to do these jobs here in our own country if we are going to have a viable future.

TR

[Flagg]

Tomahawk and Reaper,

Have you fellas heard of Tech Shop?

http://www.techshop.ws/locations.html

They seem to be trying to bridge the skills gap as well as provide a higher level of capability than the average home garage/shed for projects/ideas.

I'm sure there are others like it or a similar co-op workspace/access to higher end tools.

The education/community aspect of it is key I reckon.

[35NCO]

Tomahawk, I got into the Autodesk side earlier, but there are a lot of great 3d modeling programs. I like Fusion because it's free, but you are right, solidworks is awesome too. Especially with some of its simulation visualizations. I had never heard of Rhino, I will look into that.

TR, I agree with your points on the future of manufacturing and innovation. It is really troubling how we are short on machinists and CNC people right now. General mechanical knowledge is poor too. What's worse is all those amazing teachers that knew all the tricks before CNC was around are a few less every day. It is indeed the time to learn and then teach. Someday most of that will be gone. There are things that were mass made in WWII that today we already forgot how they made them!

I should stress 3d printing in general, FFT or SLA do not replace machine shop or machine skills. Printing is another tool. It is the difference between additive and subtractive manufacture. There are crosses to both where machining or printing makes the other easier or more efficient for various reasons to use or learn. G code (sorta) and 3d design are common between them. The CAM, feeds, speeds, offsets, and tooling are different. Thinking about how to machine or print a part are very different.

Flagg, We have "MakerSpaces" here too. Alot like that.

[TOMAHAWK9521]

I also learned AutoCAD in school and continue to use it for making fabric templates.

35NCO, you mentioned Fusion. I'll have to look into that. My last partner at MTRC was a genuine mechanical engineer who also worked in a machine shop for 8 years and had an account with one of those free software packages. It was similar to SolidWorks but was limited in some areas. Being a free or public software package also meant everything you designed immediately went out to the public, kind of like Thingiverse.

As for milling and working a lathe, that was another basic course in IND school we had to take. It was also something I went through with MTRC. I did a fair amount of both overseas, although not nearly as much as I had hoped. I'll admit my machining and welding skills are not very sharp right now, considering I haven't touched either type of equipment in almost a year.

As for using a CNC with CAD, the ones I'm familiar with are those running Torch Mate plasma cutters and small laser cutters. The plasma cutting I did was done by hand so my work wasn't anywhere as neat as that done with a a Torchmate. Sigh, those area just more tools which I would love to have in my own shop.

[35NCO]

The cloud based part of freeware is absolutely an issue for a business. I am able to save my models locally, but I am sure it talks out in some way. Data logging is a big business. Hence the if its too good to be true, they are getting theirs in some way. They are not publishing the models as far as I am aware. Something to look into I suppose. But I really use it for home hobby and study for professional development.

As far as getting up to speed on CNC, there are Military, Veteran, and Workforce programs that are free or close to free. I attended a fantastic one last year for a machinist school and became certified in a number of areas. The schooling is 100% free through the DoD and it is the place of duty. Just go to school and learn machining. It has been fantastic on my job searches and an overall amazing experience. For DoD members it falls under DoD instruction 1322.29.

http://rwtf.defense.gov/Portals/22/Documents/Meetings/m19/091employment.pdf

Under that program Soldiers and Veterans can learn jobs skills for free. Welding, Machinist, Maintenance, supply, Health care, IT..ext It does not require TA or any GI bill money. The only catch is, the participating schools can not always support housing, food or travel. That's all on the individual and TDY or PTDY is illegal in this case. Most the programs are six months or more and if a exiting service member, they must be within 180 days of separation and have a BN commander signature on their release forms. Soldiers or veterans can search for more info, but also contact the SFL-TAP office on base. The program is not well known and requires some hurdles to get in.

If anyone is interested in the CNC class that I attended, please PM me and I will provide the contacts I have.

[Badger52]

Tagged. Thanks all for their input here. Was just chewing around this with one of the kids the other day.