3D Printers

Anyone have one? Anyone investing in companies that make them?

I think they have allot of potential, I may buy one for the house just to play around with. It seems you can buy a decent one for under $3k.

 

No personal experience at all.

This is a pretty cool video showing one in action though;

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kEWSrbhHuI]Red Bull - Rapid Prototyping (1080p) - YouTube[/ame]

Cheers,
Ian

 

Yup, I have one (or two, depending on how you count!)

In 2011 I bought and built a MakerBot Thing-o-Matic. It as an ABS / PLA extrusion machine, and worked really well, but definitely required some tinkering with to get good results.

I had absolutely no CAD experience, but some tinkering / playing with SolidWorks allowed me to make some really useful things, some for cars, some not.
I made myself a custom GPS mount that slotted under the center tunnel surround, a cup holder that replaces the ashtray, and various similar things.

One of the issues with an F430 is that, even with the skid-guards installed, the undertray to bumper mounting flanges break. So, I ended up printing 2 sturdy plastic discs: https://www.kumari.net/gallery/index.php/Cars/Ferrari-F430/Work/IMG_0676
These go on a bolt on the undertray, and then when you tighten them they rotate and lock into a groove in the bumper -- https://www.kumari.net/gallery/index.php/Cars/Ferrari-F430/Work/IMG_0684

Pictures of the device: https://www.kumari.net/gallery/index.php/Cars/Ferrari-F430/Work/IMG_0656
and it printing a spool holder (with ball bearings!):
https://www.kumari.net/gallery/index.php/Cars/Ferrari-F430/Work/IMG_0657

Apologies for the poor photo quality.

Anyway, if you don't want to design stuff yourself there are sites with user contributed designes, such as Thingiverse: Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects
All sorts of things, from utilitarian to art.

Anyway, I have ordered myself a newer 3d printer, the Makerbot Replicator 2X (much less of a hobbiest design, dual extruders, better resolution etc). Unfortunately it has a 6 week lead time, and I ordered it on Jan 25th, so it hasn't shown up yet (hence the "one or two, depending on how you count" comment).

There is also the Form 1 (FORM 1: An affordable, professional 3D printer by Formlabs ? Kickstarter), a kickstarter funded stereolithography system. Once it is finally actually released I'll be picking one of them up as well.

I justify these to myself as somehow saving myself money in the long run ("Look! I can print myself a new shower hook, and so not have to buy a whole new set!"), but it really is a: something really useful for making things that you just cannot buy anywhere else, or b: a toy.

 

Our Objet Connex260 gets installed next Monday. I'll let you know how it goes. We bought it to do rapid prototyping.

 

Purchased a Makerbot2 for a school. They love the thing, talking about how the kids are interested, etc. Not sure what you want it for. This thing is "recreational" not commercial in my opinion.

Makerbot Replicator 2 - YouTube

 

I have a Replicator 2 (I couldn't bring myself to wait for the 2X which I will probably upgrade to in the not too distant future, I want to be able to print with ABS) I got it around Christmas, had to wait about ten weeks because of delays from Sandy. My job is making data so it made sense for me to have one even without an exact use for it. I have successfully used it for work related things already and I have also been making interesting/useful stuff in general. It is much more of a "put it on your desk and use it" affair then the older "build it yourself and tinker with it" ones. It is interesting that the quality of some things you print is great right off the machine while other things, because of the shape/design/expectation, would require so much finishing that it is not worth it. So there is an amount of learning what will work well and the best way to print things etc. I am currently setting up an Etsy storefront to sell one of the things I have been making, just for fun and to see how it goes.
I highly recommend getting one just for the fun of it.

 

Post pictures of the things you've made. I'm interested in the level of detail that is possible.

 

have been investigating the reprap build for my own uses, here's a couple of good links i came across in the process

Will 3D Printing Change the World? | Off Book | PBS - YouTube

How Big Business is Stymying Makers' High-Res, Colorful Innovations | Wired Design | Wired.com

 

Today's show, 03/02/2013, had a segment on 3D printers in the last half hour of the program. Might be able to find it on the CBS website.

 

3D printer tech for printing food!?!

3D printers create edible objects - Technology & Science - CBC News

 

Currently building one with a friend. I'll post up more once it gets interesting.

 

cool, reprap?

 

As a model builder I often end up with the right parts in the wrong scale. A 3D printer would be the best solution to address this once and for all.

For the time being I'm using a lot of resin kits and the help of a friend with a lathe. But all that is messy, not very precise and coupled with a lot of effort. 3D printing is the future.

Can't wait till prices are more within the consumer range.

 

i'm right there with you, as a scale modeller 3D printer seems invaluable, for now i too am reserved to scratch build components, https://www.facebook.com/jeremy.jon.16#!/pages/Clearly-Scale/381978565229192 , however i have seen some use 3D printing services like shapreways with decent results

on the forums for 3D printer building, i'm learning that even with the purchased printers are some development and user issues, mostly with inconsistant printing of material quality, porous results some, cost of materials, size differences in final product, etc.

 

You are lightyears ahead of me, because the 3D printer is only have the equation: First you need to get your piece scanned and transformed into a CAD format. I haven't even crossed that bridge yet. Partly because I'm hesitant to send any one of a kind parts to a 3D scanning service out of fear they loose it or reject it for IP violation issues.

If you have some comforting advice on that issue, I'm all ears.

 

Pm me on that facebook page of mine ^^ , and i'll link you to some pics and links for the services already used
so far the results have been good, i typo'd in post, was supposed to be "shapeways" but there are several companies worldwide now similar, some fellow modelers have been making duplicate kits parts, scale parts of real life items (rare ferrari wheels, etc) without issue, so long is for personal use there appears to be no issue
i'm just beginning making my own using reprap open source, mostly due to budget, but some good results have been seen by others using them

 

here's some cool 3D printing tech:

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

a formula student challenge race car, printed (mostly) on 3D printer

3D-Printed EV Racer Hits 88 MPH, Doesn't Go Back to 1955 | Autopia | Wired.com
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I don't do facebook but you can PM me on here

 

of course, i just meant i have links there and a fb forum on the subject there too

 

Another option to look into: Tech Shop. TechShop is America's 1st Nationwide Open-Access Public Workshop -- What Do You Want To Make at TechShop?

If there is one in your area you can take classes or become a member and use their gear. I feel quite lucky there's a tech shop 2 miles from work. Just took a welding class last week. It is an awesome playground.

 

Just enjoyed an article that shines light on a new issue with regards to 3D printing.

3d printing - Topics - Macleans.ca

 

Pettis noted, “The MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner is an innovative new way to take a physical object, scan it, and create a digital file – without any design, CAD software or 3D modeling experience at all – and then print the item again and again on a MakerBot Replicator 2 or MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer.”


Wild!

 

Would be about time that somebody comes up with a decent 3D scanner here in the US. So far it looks the Brits are leading in this field.

 

We have one at work (assembly plant), a large Stratasys Fortus model from their Production series. That thing gets worked pretty hard and has been quite reliable over the past few years we've had it. We use it mainly to build production tools/fixtures (both prototypes and final versions for the assembly line) and engine parts for fit checking and other prototype development.

Our corporate design software is Pro/E (boo) and we plop out STL files for the Stratasys "server".