/diy/ - Do It Yourself

I don't have a 3d printer... but I really really want one.

So yeah, bump, I guess?

I want one and I have the $$ but I don't know WHY I want one other then it is cool. What would I ever really make? A CNC machine (especially one that works with wood) is another story.

In 10 or 15 years we will all have one of those. I am already saving to buy one once the price to drops below the 8.000 USD. Oh boy all the toys I want to do with a 3d printer.

Personally, I want to make one for my /tg/ing uses.
Minis are expensive, plastic and 3d software are cheap... not to mention how easy it'd be to build big fancy setups to play on!

Plus, it'd be nice to prototype machines I want to build in plastic miniature before I go and buy metal etc--never know when you'll make a mistake.

Niggas just make your own MENDEL from RepRap project, the kits are pretty cheap.

http://store.solidoodle.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=56

You can get one of these for $500 and they can print up to 6"x6"x6"

I would make like skateboard wheels and boardgames and maybe instruments.

How would you 3D print a guitar with something like that 6" printer? Parts of the body that join together after printing?

i wonder how the government is going to start cracking down on these i mean a dude made a working ar 15 lower

just think in our life time your going to be able to get on the internet and download a hoagie

I really want a 3d printer with a huge working area... like a cubic foot...

I wonder, do you think that one of the kits could be bashed up to a larger size?

>>277671
>you wouldn't download a gun

>>277671
>download a hoagie

Actually, 3D printing of food is more mainstream then any other type of 3D printing, both commercial and amateur.

http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/977-Ready-to-Eat-3D-Printed-Shoe-Burger.html

>food
>body parts, both inorganic and organic
>clothing

3D printing will literally be the future of merchandising. Eventually, 3D printers will be cheap and common place like your normal 2D printer is today. You'll have one for making treats to eat and one for downloading and making replacement parts for your electronics ortalented /diy/ers toys (which were both 3D printed). You'll order the supplies, download the plans (for a price or pirate it), and print out pretty much anything. There will be new rules and regulations for everything from food to weapons to biological stuff.

http://www.noggblog.com/?p=2381

>>277911
And then they'll discover that people would, in fact, download a car.

What I've always wanted to do is to merge cnc, 3d printing, and casting.

1) Design something on the computer
2) Print it on 3d printer
3) use in mold making process
4) cast metal
5) cnc for perfect fit.

won't work for everything of course but would still work for 90% of the projects I dream about. the bad part is all of those things are entire hobbies in themselves. it would be like pursuing acting, writing, and an instrument all at the same time.

every time I see something 3D printed (especially watching the process), I'm disgusted by the resolution and sloppiness of when the printer head moves and leaves a trail of plastic like a hot glue gun

I heard about better, higher res 3D printers but how much more expensive are they?

>>277934
not necessarily.
Depending on the hot end (nozzle and heating element), you could achieve wildly different results with the same material.
One of our printers (I am working in a lab at a college) only produced crap results with PLA plastic until my boss changed the hot end. Now, the results are of quite the high quality. The slicing and control software / firmware also plays a part in quality.
Of course finally, a lot of tweaking and trial-and-error is involved in perfecting results.
The attached picture shows a print off a 1200€ printer (Ultimaker) that is supposed to be one of the best currently available (I guess half of the price is pure profit, though?). I haven't reached the resolution and quality with our printers yet, but it may be doable. The interesting thing is that it is based on the RepRap (and Makerbot) hardware which doesn't stop it from outperforming cheaper "professional grade" FDM machines that cost 10 times more.

>>277628
Sorry to break your dream, but printing any part that has to endure enormous loads (like skateboard wheels and guitars) isn't possible with the regular home printers (yet). There are some very intricate aircraft parts that are nearly impossible to manufacture with other methods, though. But that is another printing process altogether.

>>277873
Absolutely doable. A graduate from my college scaled the Mendel90 design up to a working area of 40*40*? cm.

>>277929

>Urbee Unveiling 3D Printed Car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07AQHelb1f8

>>277934
Don't use ones that use plastic to print then. There are food printers, metal printers, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ0ONAZrg6M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2zwyFB-VxI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5QxvlylxUQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emvzO96iBZI

....soon.

>>278114
Damn, I just realized, you could make some pretty intricate sex toys/molds with 3D printing. All dat texture.

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20120516-the-first-3d-printed-sex-toy-is-there.html

Yeah, I made a toy car to practice getting the orientation right on parts so it prints more efficiently.

>>277932

I've thought about combining 3D printing and casting to make custom action figures or little figurines. 3D printing doesn't seem refined enough for truly "finished" pieces, but it's perfect for getting a rough model that you can sand down as necessary. Then create some silicone molds, and you're ready to go.

Of course, I'd probably end up doing something like
>>278116
eventually...

>>278102
Man, is there a guide around for that somewhere?

I could probably figure out the hardware with enough trial and error, but the software bits would probably be beyond me... plus, I don't have very much money at all, so it'd be bad if I tried it and managed to wreck some bit of electronics... since I'm pretty mediocre with electronics in general...

>>278338
ah, don't worry. The software part isn't that difficult.
You'll need a 3D program (obviously), a slicer and an interface program with which you feed the printer with the G-Code.
A popular slicer would be Slic3r for example and as an interface, we use Pronterface (AKA Kliment Printrun).
I got them all running pretty quickly thanks to some tips from my boss and some research on the internet, but there should be tons of info and guides floating around.

The electronics shouldn't be that much of a problem, either. If you are willing to shell out a little bit more, you can get pre-assembled kits (for example, RAMPS 1.4 carrier board for the Pololu/Stepstick A4988 stepper drivers (which seemingly are very "safe" in regards of operator error)). So, only minimal (if any) soldering required.
According to my very rough guesstimation, you could buy the parts for around 100$ (Electronics) and another 100 to 200$ depending on which model you want to build and of what quality it should be.

>>278468
derp. I am forgetting stuff left and right. Add another 100$ for hot end and motors, but that should be about it.

And generally, it is hard to find some source of information that offers everything, but the RepRap Wiki generally is a good starting point: http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page
Yeah, the information is just as convoluted as the project due to extreme fragmentation (I think it would be about right to say that there are nearly as many variants of RepRaps as there are owners).

>>278468
>>278473

You completely lost me on "Slicer."

ITT: People who don't understand how rudimentary 3D printing is.

>>278571
ITT: Some cunt who claims to understand it but refuses to explain anything.

>>>/sci/
Your elitism does not belong on /diy/.

Question is there a commercial 3d out that can do 28mm models in detail? I'm looking to open a game store were you can buy customized models(and potentially ones to get around GWs horrible pricing policy) but I'm only at the start of my research.

>>278669
Depends on the level of detail you want to get. 28mm seems a little bit small, though.
As a reference, look at pic of >>278102 which is the best quality that I have seen so far. Unfortunately, I don't have exact data on the model size, but it looks like 5-ish centimeters or 2 inches.
It took about 14 hours to print, so no mass production.
You will also have to color the models yourself if you want color (or invest in something like the Zprinter 650 for just measly 60K $).

>>278531
Don't worry, I'll try to explain as best as I can. Basically, you can't just feed any 3D model into your printer. It won't know what to do with the data.
You first have to "slice" the model into thin layers which will determine the movement of the tool head in Z (and thus, your vertical resolution). The slicer will also generate a toolpath to tell your machine how to horizontally position the extruder within the layers.
Imagine it like a pen drawing the outlines of a cross section of your 3D model and filling the enclosed space with a pattern (after all, if you want your object to be solid, you will have to extrude plastic threads to fill it). The attached pic shows this quite well.
All this information about toolhead movement (in a standardized format called G-Code) is saved in a file that can then finally be fed to the printer that interprets the commands and translates them into motor actuations.

sex dolls obvs

>>277498
y

>>278727
Okay, that makes perfect sense now, and you're right--a bit of googling gave me what I'd need in that regard.

So, what about the hardware stuff? I'd like to aim for at least a cubic foot of active workspace for printing...

Plus, white kind of fill is available and where can I get more information on types/colors/etc?

Any specific tutorials?

>>278759
Ok, this post will deal with the hardware while the next one will deal with the filament (printing material).

For starters, I think the Mendel90 design might be one of the best because it is easy to build, scalable (the one behind this, Nophead, designed it to be scalable) and quite sturdy. Compared to the Prusa Mendel, it allows faster X axis movement without shaking the whole machine. We are now preparing 5 sets of this design for our art students to build next semester, so it shouldn't be too complicated.
In fact, as I said somewhere above, one of our graduates built a Mendel90 with a working area of 1.3 feet in X/Y direction.
Here is the link to the blog of the developer: http://www.hydraraptor.blogspot.de/
And here, the files to build one: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:17826
The bill of materials should be linked on the thingiverse site.

Also, depending on the actual printer design, you would have to double the working area to get the approximate printer size. Space efficient designs would be Ultimaker, Makibox and the original RepRap Darwin. Intermediate designs are Mendel variations (of which the Mendel90 is one of the best stability wise) and an example for space inefficient design would be the Makerbot Replicator (ok, they have a double extruder head that has its "special" requirements regarding space).

>>278760
a good starting point is http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page

>>278759
There are various materials that can be used. They range from thermoplastics such as PLA (Polylactic Acid) and ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) to ceramics and even chocolate and sugar frosting. You can buy the plastic raw material on spools.

The most common materials as of now are ABS and PLA as it seems, though there are other thermoplastics like Polycarbonate, PVC, PVA and Polyethylene that can be printed. Here is a list of thermoplastics: http://reprap.org/wiki/Thermoplastic

I prefer ABS for functional parts because it is a sturdy plastic. Legos are made of ABS for example and I used it to print pulleys and cases. One really remarkable testimony of its strength is of a box with 2mm walls I printed in ABS: It was supposed to hang below a ~10kg vehicle made out of an old computer, stuffed with heavy batteries and motors. Once I set it down, forgetting that on one side, I didn't mount the wheels yet, so it essentially sat on the little box and two wheels. I moved it around a little bit before I finally noticed my error, but instead of breaking, the box even managed to tear the fabric that it was sitting on.

>>278880

PLA on the other hand seems to be used mainly for decorative prints and in fact, the highest resolution prints have been achieved with PLA. The linked images in my earlier posts are all PLA. It has a lower melting point than ABS and can be extruded with a lower temperature (180°C vs 230°C is what we usually use, but now I am experimenting with hotter PLA extrusion). PLA is also a lot less viscous when hot, so it is easier to extrude. One interesting fact about PLA is that it is food safe, so you could theoretically print cups, but you won't be able to drink hot beverages from it because PLA deforms at around 60°C.

You can get the raw material in various colors from quite a few suppliers linked here: http://reprap.org/wiki/Printing_Material_Suppliers

Mills/Lathes are still a better investment. The plastic that's printed isnt very strong.

>>277671
He made a plastic lower not the whole gun, the lowers to an AR is what is legally the gun however this does not mean that the guy printed a whole gun what he did was just make a plastic lower but the media made up a big load of horseshit.

>i wonder how the government is going to start cracking down on these i mean a dude made a working ar 15 lower

Not a problem at all. The BATF allows civilians to manufacture their own firearms for personal use. You just can't sell them.

>>278890

>what he did was just make a plastic lower but the media made up a big load of horseshit.

In America that is all that matters. A stripped lower counts as the firearm, no matter how simple it is.

Even here in Canada the AR-15 lower is the the only part that is considered a firearm and everything else is unregulated by the government.

Everything else (barrel, all trigger parts, bolt, buffer, stock & grip) is available to be mailed to your door without requiring a background check. You click "add to cart", pay online, and every component that makes the rifle a rifle will arrive at your door.

This is why AR-15 airsoft rifles get heat now and then. If they get the dimensions too close to a real lower (and the holes match up) you get into legal hot water. If an airsoft lower has the holes match a real AR lower, you could potentially use it to built an untraceable firearm.

tl;dr

We are coming dangerously close to violating the rules of /diy/ (No discussion of manufacturing of weapons), but in the case of rapid prototype machines it is potentially a legal concern.

>>278889

speaking of Lathes, has any made a gingery lathe with a 3d printer?

>>278896
nobody want's a plastic lathe

From my experience unless you're machining from high quality plastics even using plastics for the lower wouldn't really work. There's debate among enthusiasts that even cast aluminum might not be up to snuff. Some say cast is okay for the lower but certainly not okay for the upper. And while I'm not familiar with all plastics I'd be confident to assume that most plastics, especially the ones used in 3d printing, aren't as strong as cast aluminum.

>>278926
Then use a metal 3D printer.

>>278926
>nobody want's a plastic lathe
nobody??? well come on, now.
you could use it to make all those styrofoam projects you were dreaming of

--------

>>279006
>Then use a metal 3D printer.
sure--one beelion dollars

srsly, for as much as they get mentioned (whenever someone points out the limited usefulness of plastic 3-d printers) how many people have successfully build metal-sintering 3-D printers themselves?

>>278926
With a gingery lathe, you use the 3d printer to make mold patterns for METAL CASTING.

...I have heard of lathes and mills being made of concrete (or concrete-filled hollow metal components) but the risk is that the concrete will crack with use. then you have to figure out a way to chip it all out before refilling it again

concrete is very strong in compression, but has rather poor strength in tension

>>279006
>>Then use a metal 3D printer.
It's not advisable to make a whole lathe out of Stainless/bronze either. Metal 3D printing also still is not very precise and won't be able to produce high tolerance parts for machinery. Nevermind that some of the parts are also too big to print.

3D printing is supplemental to machining. It's not a good replacement for any other process.

>>279016
>>279019
I gave a good answer. no need to hate on it. This guy also gave a good answer, >>279017 and a 3D printer would be boss for it.

>3D metal printing not precise

Eh,
https://www.google.com/search?q=3d+metal+printing+aircraft+parts

>>278889
You are right in that printed plastic is not especially strong. Especially horizontally, the printed parts are a little bit on the weak side because of the layers. I have not tried to print with extremely high vertical resolution yet, so maybe this might not be a problem at all with the right configuration. Nowadays, people are already printing quite functional RepRap parts that have to withstand daily use and wear, so unless you want heavy duty objects or extremely low tolerances (which in my opinion are the bigger problem of home 3D printers right now), 3D printing is quite viable.
What a subtractive process cannot do by the way, is to manipulate the properties of the inside of your workpiece. Imagine being able to print objects that are partly hollow or have extremely low infill density in one place, but where structural strength is needed, increase in density.

>>279020
>>Aircraft parts
Which if we're talking about anything other than brackets, will need several of their surfaces post-machined for tolerances needed for them to interact with other components.
>>279017
>>mold patterns for METAL CASTING.
Yes you can make quick blanks for metal casting and you won't be limited in geometry. But nor will you if you're making a lost-wax, CNC routered foam, sodium silicate, or even wood blanks.
3D printed wax would be great if you could get better control of the surface finish and no have stratified layers, which would then end up on your cast part.

Again, 3D printing is pretty good as an option if you are making something that is time-prohibitive or involves geometries not possible by other processes. The people making the most noise about it don't seem to be at all familiar with its limitations compared to other methods.

>>279032
Learn to finish a mold form prior to casting it and you won't have layering problems.

>>279032
How do I make /shop for the ceramic to dip the lost wax in?

>tfw in 20 years you'll be able to print food, PC parts, and other cool stuff

shit this is some real star trek shit in this thread

>>279070
....you already can.

They've even printed batteries from scratch. In less than five years the same team plans to have a robot printed all in one go and have it be able to walk out of the 3D printer under its own power.

>>279070
>Can 3D Printers Reshape The World?
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/22/155582850/can-3d-printers-reshape-the-world

transcript and streaming audio of it

>>279085
Thanks man.

>>279080
Well you can do a lot of things, but they aren't able to be bought like normal printers, yet.

Good video about 3D printing,

>A primer on 3D printing
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/lisa_harouni_a_primer_on_3d_printing.html

>>279086
The food ones are extremely wide spread in homes more than any other type right now. Mostly for deserts like things made out of chocolate for instance.

Makerbot, is a pretty good one that is as close to being standard desktop series for regular home use right now.

>>279087
>4 micron resolution

Shiiiit.

>>279088
But can I just go, hey I want a hamburger, and it prints it?

If not, we aren't that far, if so

HOLY FUCK IT'S THE FUTURE

>>279093
Literally, yes. You merely need extra print heads for the various ingredients. Another ingredient? Add another print head. Though, you may not like the texture since it'll be coming out as a paste that sets up or is baked/cooked.

>>279095
That is really, really cool.

Now we just need to print the pastes....

Can we print microchips and such yet?

>>279099
>Can we print microchips and such yet?

Uh, we've been doing that for decades. It is one of the reasons 3D printers even exist today.

>>279102
So what is stopping me from printing PC Parts?

It is more costly than buying them, problems with the metals?

>>279087
>they are printing human organs now as a work in progress
>video about kidney 3D printing in side links on page

Guys, GUYS.

>>279103
>It is more costly than buying them, problems with the metals?

It is costly right now. It's like when DVDs or CDs first came out. The players were effing expensive. 10 years from now, average 3D printers will walmart-level electronics.

http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney.html

>printing to heal wounds
>3D printing bones that get implanted directly into the body.
>making new heart tissue
>printing new kidneys
>making new bladders

Why can't I hold all this science?

>>277932
I think the reason that tooling for processes like injection molding is so expensive is because you need very accurate laser/waterjet cutters to cut steel

everything that is worth buying today is expensive because of microelectronics, PCBs and components.

you aren't able to pirate anything of value with a 3D printer unless you collect models/etc.

>>279111
>>279106
A troll thread derailed into talking about how stuff like this would effect our future on /v/.

We came to the conculsion that if it became easy and extremely cheap to "print" material objects and food, it would lead to the collapse of society due to education and jobs being less and less important, or it would lead to a second renascence.

We figured in 50 or so years we would have fusion reactors, and of course a cure for cancer(We already have a good idea of how to get there) and near immortality(Lab tests done on rats stopped aging and regrew cells but caused cancer).

Future is bright.

>>279103
Hundreds of thousands of dollars for the machines is stomping you. The 6 months I worked at a chip factory involve moving waffers(The plate the chips are printed on) Get moved to up to a dozen different machines before they're done.

>>279126
>/v/

>>279129
The main thing that is "stopping" people from DIYing microchips is the fact that they use photolithography in a clean room, probably tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars to build.

>>279132
The need for clean rooms has been lessening great as year go by most of the machines I worked with were in a seal environment. and the.biggest threat was not from dust but from someone dropping the module holding the waffers.

>>279139
that's pretty crazy they're relying on people to move these when they're automatically fabricating 28nm gates

>>279132
PLDs are for the DIY chipmaking crowd.
>>279140
something has to move it to wiring and packaging

Board's been moving a fair clip greater than usual recently, so...
Bump for overnight thread survival.

Goodnight /diy/.

>>279095
or just build everything from scratch like this guy here:
http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=5265
Taken a little bit further, one could theoretically manufacture custom enzymes that would be able to make even more complex molecules and structures.
Heh, would be fun to have cyborg lifeforms out of a printer. Imagine having organic linear actuators based on actual muscles or instead of using batteries for handheld devices, you feed them sugar or whatnot.
Of course, that will be a little bit far in the future, but indeed doable.

>>279126
>and of course a cure for cancer

Cancer does not work that was in the slightest. In fact, the more we get away from natural things and into fabricated things, especially when dealing with food, the more cancers develop and the more people that get them. The biggest thing for cancer isn't treating it or curing it, it is preventing it in the first place.

>>279132
>clean room costing tons of money

DIY clean rooms are actually really easy to make. Most people make them for other purposes like culturing fungi, plants, or other biological things. All you need is a sealed chamber, a HEPA filter, and positive pressure inside.

>>279279
That's rubbish! Your cartoon proves the ignorance of people to-date.

And don't worry about giving a flying fuck about the pharmaceutical/biotechnology development, they will take your money once you get cancer.

/diy/, how would you do BIG parts with a 3D printer that prints onyl 6x6x6 pieces?

>>279285
>being an idiot online

stop that

>>279315
Hypocrite and a troll.

>>279301

Not OP. Rep-rap and scale up or build one of the Center for Bits and Atoms' new fabricators.

>> Go open source and don't look back.

>>279301
You could print a bigger printer.

Or

Build the pieces to interlock and join them permanently with a plastic glue-solvent.

>>277575
I moulded some 40k miniatures for kicks, decent results if you have the time. Printing them? With the amount of effort / prototyping required to get to the point where they can't easily be spotted at tabletop distance, you could have bought a shipload of Chinese bootlegs

>>278896
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rrh6Pl4vow&feature=related