[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/diy/ - Do It Yourself

View post   
File: 52 KB, 960x540, maker.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
701606 No.701606 [Reply] [Original]

Is a 3d printer a worthwhile investment? It would seem to me that it would come in handy if you're a tinkerer, but I want to know from people who have them what they're best used for/ which models are the best. Thought this was the best suited board for the topic if not sry I guess.

>> No.701623

>>701606
Not really. They're coming down in price, but they don't really print in useful materials or resolution yet. A 3 axis CNC mill is a much better investment.

>> No.701688

about the best people can make with these is cases and candle holders and figurines. the reprap itself is made with 3d printed joins that hold the rods and frame together and the gears for the extrusion feeder are made with it too.

problem is that most of this stuff could be made by just lining up the parts and pouring hot nylon all over them.

gears are about the most useful thing i've seen made with them but the strength is toy strength and the size is fairly large. there are some parts that can be printed but wont work so people usually end up getting metal gears machined or buying kits.

ABS is a great material for the printer.

>> No.701716

>>701688
actually pla>abs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaQA_EccZkk
major disadvantage of pla is heat.

>>701606
I use my printer mostly for some houshold items that need repairing and lately for D&D stuff (figurines, tiles etc)

>> No.701717

Saving up parts to build a delta printer, prob a Rostock variant. I am particularly interested in investment casting to produce parts in metal.

But 3d printing won't be economical to print unless I get my own recycler/extruder online first, so I can spin my own filament and save 90% of the cost of pre-made spools of ABS or PLA.

>> No.701719

>>701716 <me

ever thought about building your own filament recycler? I am currently playing with the thought of doing so

>> No.701723

>>701719
Looking at this one currently: http://youtu.be/vL9zDOdRqBo

>> No.701725

>>701723
exactly the one i was eying lately

>> No.701733

>>701725
Need to catch up this week with a buddy who's getting back from World Maker Faire and pick his brain about what is being done on this front for extruders.
Also to see some more sexy photos and video of PartDaddy, than what is available on YT

>> No.701735

>>701733
keep me updated; this thread should last for some days i hope

>> No.701741

So this begs a few questions on building a FDM printer:
Printer Design:
>Gantry (Cartesian)
>Delta bot

Carriage:
>Smooth round steel
>OpenBeam
>MakerBeam

NEMA Stepper Motors:
>standard precision 1.8° pitch (200 steps/rev)
>fine precision 0.9° pitch (400 steps/rev)
>high precision 0.45° pitch (800 steps/rev)

Controller:
>RAMPS
>RAMBo

list other categories I may have forgotten about

>> No.701744

>>701741
Power supply
>depending on whether you plan on adding 2 extrudesr or more etc

Frame
>wood
>aluminium

>> No.701750

Every printer over $500 is overpriced shit and you pay only for that fancy plastic box and their advertisement. Every one of those printers works on the same principles as reprap and has the same precision. And paying for a shitty Makerbot that costs $3000 but only prints PLA is just scam. For printing PLA you can buy a $300 one.
If you think you need it then buy it, don't buy it like a retard just because every other retard buys it.
I ordered a 3D printer because I need it for my work.

>> No.701758

>>701606
I used a 2X for a small project, and it was reasonable, only things I would consider are that the resolution isn't that great (is it 1.75mm diameter?), and that they're really time consuming.

I had to put it a solid 20 hours printing time for what was a very small job really. Would be trying to find alternatives in future.

>> No.701761

So anons, be honest; is there any point to 3D printing aside from the obviously expensive and crazy ones that print metal and shit, and the cheap ones that print ugly-looking pieces of plastic?

And as an aside to this, do any of you have some worthwhile tips or material on where to start on building your own aside from the reprap BS?

It's infuritating to think that this is really just an expensive niche hobby

>> No.701773

>>701761

Disclaimer: I'm not really into 3D printing, however, as something of a hack, I've gone through a lot of info regarding manufacturing processes because I've had to to get my projects working.


Excluding professional 3D printing techniques (like laser sintering or inkjet), there aren't really that many uses for a 3D printer at home.

3D printers excel at 2 things: Prototyping and ready-made assemblies. The former is, naturally, not something you're going to find in the average household. There isn't much reason to own JUST a 3D printer as your sole manufacturing tool, because the only way to get real use out of it is using it to make odd parts for OTHER things that would be difficult or otherwise impractical for you to make via other methods. The limitations of FDM and the fact that there are often technical hurdles to handle means that a 3D printer outside of an industrial prototyping or laboratory setting only has a home with someone who can use it for more than just all-in-one pieces of plastic crap.

But someone like that is liable to already have the tooling necessary to make such things WITHOUT a 3D printer. The only reason they wouldn't is if they, like myself, cannot actually afford such tooling. So, at this point, 3D printers in the home are relegated to one of two things:

1.) A stopgap for hackers who can't afford a CNC mill.

2.) 3D printing hobbyists who don't actually have any other use for them.


I'm sure there are a handful of other, highly-niche uses for them I haven't named (such as metal casters using them for lost wax casting), but the vast bulk of them fall into those two catagories.

>> No.701778

>>701773

As far as building your own, I'm almost inclined to suggest looking up CNC machines in general as opposed to immediately homing in to the printers themselves.

The reason I say this is because 3D printers are nothing special. They're a plain-old 3-axis Cartesian CNC machine. The only differences between a $500 3D printer and a $500,000 10-ton gantry mill are that the 3D printer has an extruder on it instead of an endmill, and has a lot less reinforcement on the axes (because it has no cutting force to work against).

This is part of the reason it baffles me these things cost so much. It's kind of crap, but I built a CNC router with a 32x29x6" working volume for ~$700 all-up. I just don't understand how you could spend that much and yet end up with an essentially identical machine with a fraction of the working area, (cheaper) unsupported bearings, smaller steppers (or servos), and using much less material overall.

>> No.701780

>>701741
>Printer Design:
Deltas are moslty there to be "different"
XY-head Z-bed Is how I'd build one If I were to do it again.

>Carriage:
Linear ball rails

>NEMA Stepper Motors:
depends on pulley size. Usually standard (200 steps/rev) is enough if you use 16th microstepping. (keep in mind that microstepps are not as exact as full stepps and are mostly there to make the moovement more smooth not more exact)

>Controller:
I've used both you list with marlin firmware. Both work fine get RAMPS if you want to save money get RAMBo if you feel fancy.

>>701750
I agree with your basic Idea but I have to say I'm quite happy with a printer that cost me about 1400$. I have seen output of a cheaper printer a colleague got for about 500$ and output of a 30000$ Stratasys FDM and to be honest I think the 1400$ were worth it.

>>701606
Generally I would say no a 3d printer is not a worthwhile investment. It's not an investment at all. You can't make money with printing parts. Atleast not nealy in the ranges of what you can make with a decent CNC-mill.

Also don't consider makerbot if you want to buy a 3d printer. please

>> No.701781

>>701773
Cool, then I'm not crazy thinking it's a fucking racket.

I mean, the idea of 3D printing is cool, and it is a revolutionary technology that has lots of potential, just nothing consumer based that justifies the price outside of labs and factories, and they already have this shit.

I'd want one and a paired recycler that's big enough to at least print like 2x2x3 feet or so. And it's possible to make them. They exist. Fucking Ford probably has one that prints cars.

But the price is unjustified, and everyones' so set on making these little ones that you can barely make anal beads with.

>> No.701784
File: 25 KB, 300x225, error1-300x225.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
701784

MakerBot is shit. My work got one...

The extruder clogs constantly. MakerBot's "Smart Extruder" is a cheap and flawed design: the heat-sink is tiny! As a result the filament gets warm and soft where the gear tries to push it down, and clogs. Also, the way the nozzle moves up and down and senses when it touches the build plate has a lot of play in it's movement, it's simply a cheap mechanism.

MakerBot's support sucks. It comes with a 6-month warranty with "email support", but MakerBot takes over a week to respond to email support, and there's no way this junk will hold up for longer than 6 months. You can buy MakerBot's extended warranty for $350/yr which includes "phone support", but that just means that someone from MakerBot will call you back instead of email you back.

As a company, MakerBot set itself up to be bought so it's founder and investors could cash out. As a result, they rushed out their product, cut too many corners in it's design to reduce cost, and obviously haven't expanded their support staff. There are much better 3D printers.

>> No.701811

>>701761
>is there any point to 3D printing aside from the obviously expensive and crazy ones that print metal and shit, and the cheap ones that print ugly-looking pieces of plastic?
Are you retarded or something?

>> No.701820

>>701811
Not clinically like you I suppose, why? Did I hurt your worthless hobby's feelings?

It's ok. You just gotta be honest with yourself.

>> No.701838

>>701761
>So anons, be honest; is there any point to 3D printing aside from the obviously expensive and crazy ones that print metal and shit, and the cheap ones that print ugly-looking pieces of plastic?
there's lots of point if you are a tinkerer.... and even the metal ones don't print metal as strong as you would get if you cut the same shape out with a CNC mill.

3D printing's main problem is that it's not real great at manufacturing finished goods, but that's what they have been sold for anyway.
Only the high-end ones can make stuff that really looks nice, and even with those you still have limitations of durability and heat exposure. And they still are very slow compared to methods like injection molding.

>It's infuritating to think that this is really just an expensive niche hobby
you mean like owning CNC mills and lathes? well, uhhhh ,yea.
These things have uses and can be profitable for a person to own and operate, but generally not directly. You won't make much selling CNC stuff just like you won't make much selling 3D printed stuff, because anyone else with the same equipment could copy whatever you are doing.

Most people don't really have much use for a 3D printer, just as most people don't really have much use for a CNC mill.

>> No.701841

>>701820
Even a total idiot knows 3D printers are used for prototyping and hobbyists can use it to make parts. Just because it doesn't look super good doesn't meant it's not useful idiot.

>> No.701849

http://www.3dprinterprofits.biz/
These retarded scammers will jump on anything. The idea is stolen from http://3dpcase.sculpteo.com..
>I give you this all for free
>subscribe for $47

>> No.701862

>>701838
>And they still are very slow compared to methods like injection molding.
I'm sure you ment speed at mass production. In that case It's true.
I don't want to atack you because you are basicly right. I just want to clarify this for the thread.
The main Advantage of 3d printing is speed, but another kind of speed. It's about how fast you can produce a one of a kind part. Sure a injection molding machine can pump out tons of parts verry fast just like a ofsett printing press can churn out a mass of printed paper. But you need to create the mold first and that takes it's time. (of course this nullifies if you want to produce more parts. I'd say at about 5 parts for the most time)

And that is why we don't use 3d-printing for mass production but for prototyping and individualised parts.