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Anybody on here into 3D printing?

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Rydah

Rydah

Who's ready to ride some dirt?!
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I keep thinking this is something I'd like to explore. I really haven't done any research so far, but figured why reinvent the wheel. There are so many times I need a "part" of some kind to fit something to my bike(s), but just can't find just what I need at the local hardware store. Never really anything too big or technical, usually just a correct bracket of some kind. How hard is it to get into 3D printing, and how expensive is it anyway? Obviously theres quite the gammut, from simple plastics to exotic metals, but I'm talking just for the average Joe in his garage. Comments?
 
Keeping an eye on this. I've been thinking about the same thing recently. Figure I would be willing to spend in the $300 - $500 range on a 3D printer. Not sure if that amount only gets me a "toy" or something decent.
 
In my little town, there is a 3D printing Service on every corner. Might be worth exploring that route before you sink money into your own printer.
 
I bought an Ender 5 Pro on impulse last year for much the same reason. My biggest hurdle is the 3d design. I've printed parts from thingiverse pretty well, but designing my own stuff is a challenge since I really don't have the time to dedicate to learning the software.

One of the big "gotchas" is the varying qualities of plastics for your use. If you are printing something for your bike or car that will see direct sunlight, PLA is pretty much out because it will deform, but there are "engineering PLA's" that are supposed to be better in the heat, or use PETG or ABS. Polycarbonate is possible, but you have to have very strict control over your heat and need to have an enclosure for the machine to prevent heat fluctuations. Glass or Carbon filled Nylon will be the ultimate for me to print things like intake pipes or even intake manifolds in the future. You need a hardened nozzle for these filaments.

I like these channels specifically for car/bike related stuff.
 
Yep, it's the learning curve that I'm hesitant about. I tend to be the impatient type, so unless it's pretty intuitive, I'll probably just get frustrated. I'll have to check out the print services Flipit mentioned too as an alternative, but would like to at least give it a try.
 
You might also check out Houston-area maker spaces. I am a member of the Dallas Maker space and it's like shop class for adults. They have 6 or 7 3-D printers that you can use with the option to buy their materials or bring your own.
 
TikiCaster said:
You might also check out Houston-area maker spaces. I am a member of the Dallas Maker space and it's like shop class for adults. They have 6 or 7 3-D printers that you can use with the option to buy their materials or bring your own.
Click to expand...
Now that's interesting! Will definitely check them out. Thanks!
 
I've been trying to learn for 3-4 years. I'm software incompetent. I've messed around with a couple of the online pieces but just can't figure them out.

Then yu have these 10 year olds that are doing all this cool/crazy stuff and people making things for the RV/MC/RC cars. Just ticks me off!!! :-(
 
I concur:
the hardest part is getting that 3d model drawn up.
even if it's drawn up, you can't have lines and shapes that are dis-jointed, ie, separated in virtual space.
The shapes, form and bends have to be logical so that the CNC/3d printing can be performed.
and once the solids modeling is learned, then knowing how to change that part up, revising it in a way that still maintains the logical foundation is the next step.

this is the area I'd get skilled in first before buying a 3d printer,
 
I print parts for work quite often. Have an Ender3 that I use for small parts here and there that we would have to buy from Europe. The shipping alone for a small part pays for doing it in house. I do a few things here and there for personal use but nothing too crazy cause its a small hobby printer.
 
I work at a service bureau of one of the largest manufacturers of industrial 3d printers (I'm at one of the divisions that makes and sells parts, not the main part which makes the machines). I would say that if you want decent quality then you'll have to spend a couple thousand at least on hardware, and you'll still need good software for design. It woould be a much more expedient path to do your design work then send the printing work to one of the local service shops or maker spaces around you that has a good machines of the commercial level. That way you get your feet wet and get some practice before spending money on a machine you'll regret.

Dassault Systems has a maker license for Solidworks and the 3d design platform (the name escapes me at the moment) that will allow you to create most anything you can dream up. Only $9.99 per month, that or $100 per year as I recall. Great deal honestly. I've subscribed for my personal work at home.

Just my 2 cents. Its hard to get a cheap home/hobbiest printer to output great work, all the while putting your project further and further behind.
 
I use Inventor for work and Fusion 360 for home. I have seen ā€œdecentā€ results from less expensive machines but it is a lot of work to get them dialed in and keep them dialed in. It also depends on materials needed, tolerances, and finish. On cases where you need an ā€œexoticā€ material or tolerances must to perfect - the farm out option works great for small orders. But I think for the cost of an inexpensive machine - an in home DIY option has alot of benefits, a major one being learning how to iterate part design to overcome limitations and for prototyping when you donā€™t have well defined parameters and iterative design is required
 
Great replies, guys! Yeah, I think this might be a bit more than I want to take on. Might definitely check out the Maker spaces; that sounds a bit easier. Thanks again for all the input.
 
My buddy and I have a sweet arrangement. I do a lot of the drawing and designing of custom 1-off parts and he is the wizard of printing. Both aspects are about as deep down the rabbit hole as you want to go. He starts going on about different materials, temperatures, layer heights, bridging attributes, in-fill percentages, and on and on. I can't keep up, but he has it down! Meanwhile, I'm talking about all the different things about how I design stuff and he sums up my 15 minute explanation with "so, you want me to print it up?"

I do all of my designs with Vectorworks because it is something I'm comfortable with. I've made a bunch of stuff for work, a bunch of stuff for reloading, and a ton of just random stuff like a redesigned swimming pool overflow cover and screen for a buddy's pool so we could raise the water level by 1.5" so his yard would stop flooding (long story).

If I were to start from scratch, it is a pretty big mountain to climb to get proficient at it. And it isn't cheap if you want to get stuff that will last. My buddy swears by the little Prusa printers and has told me over and over and over again that if I ever get into the printing part of it to never go cheaper than those. After all these years of him doing it, I tend to believe him.
 
At work we use Solid Works and have a Raise 3D printer. Model up the items in Solidworks, save as STL file and import into IdeaMaker to turn it into Gcode. We can print 6-32 threaded hole and a screw will go into it (admittedly tough first time). There is a learning curve on printing, biggest one is you can't print on air. You do your best to orient part so there are no overhangs etc. If there are overhangs, you can use "supports". Also you need to adjust infill. Printing 3d totally solid, while it can be done, takes a lot longer, and is usually a waste of filament.

If you have never run drawing software, learning the 3d modeling may be the biggest hurdle

www.raise3d.com

Learn 3D printing from Raise3D Academy

Raise3D Academy provides interactive learning experience through webinars, demo videos, tutorials, and white papers.
www.raise3d.com www.raise3d.com
 
^^ which Raise do you guys have and use? Do you recommend it? I trying to convince the bean counters at work to pick up a large volume, dual extruder unit and the Raise was on the shopping list
 
Skid (aka Gavin) is a 3D printing pro. He should be a wealth of info.
 
I actually modeled and printed some custom brackets for the rear turn signals on my T7 to keep them out of the way of my HP Corse exhaust.

Parametric modelling is deceptively simple - just draw a 2D shape with desired dimensions, then extrude that shape into a 3D solid. If your part needs to be more complex, you can modify your 3D solid with various tools, and/or draw additional shapes on its surface and extrude those shapes to create recesses/holes/protrusions.

I've found the actual printing to be the most difficult bit. Specifically dialing print settings, keeping them dialed, and accounting for the expansion/contraction of my prints when I am working with tight tolerances. As DFW_Warrior said, don't go cheap when you're getting started. The slightly more expensive stuff just works, and right out of the box no less. I've got a Longer LK5 Pro, which is leaps and bounds ahead of the DaVinci 1.0 Pro my brother helped me start out on, but his Prusa (unsurprisingly) just blows it out of the water in terms of print quality.

I use Fusion 360 for modelling (you can get a free license for private use, just need to dig a little bit on their website), and Ultimaker Cura for slicing/printing (also free).
 
Of course BMW makes a special wrench for the R1200GS oil filler cap. That thing is supposed to be in the on-board tool case, but it's not in mine (on my new-to-me 2010 bike). The BMW part is $6.95 plus shipping. A quick search turned up this 3D model, which looks good enough. I can make this thing in about 10 minutes for $0.01. Fun.

Lots of other models are available. The quality of those models varies a lot.

There are services like Protolabs that will 3D print things for you in a wide range of materials: ABS, aluminum, copper, stainless steel, titanium, silicone. Not cheap but an option for parts or tools that are hard to obtain. Yeah, the challenge would be in modeling. Having an example part to measure probably required. If ten people wanted some weird part and at least one person had the part in hand, then design and fab might make sense.

parts.PNG
 
We have a basic Ender 3. Thingiverse.com has a lot parts and ideas. We typically just find what we want/need off of that and load it into Creality to convert them into files the printer can handle.
 
I just printed that downloaded model on an Ender 3 with all the defaults (using Cura to "slice"), and it worked. Definitely not how it went a few years ago.
 
Revising a kind of old'ish thread. I now have a Prusa here at the house so I am able to design and then print straight away. This little guy is one rock solid printer. Sure there are faster ones out there, but so far this thing just doesn't seem to hiccup.
IMG_3717.jpg


As for what is the thing on the printer? Well, that is a steering knob I drew up for a Toyota forklift that we have at work. The replacement from Toyota is $80 but this one will cost just over $1 to print. Not too shabby since we have 3 of them to replace.

IMG_3716.jpg
 
Warrior, that's super cool, but you have to factor in your design time and cost into that part as well. I'm sure that adds a few more bucks to the cost! ;-)

Funny enough, I was just looking into getting a small part for my car 3D printed somewhere. I imagine I'll be able to find a shop locally to do it fairly economically.
 
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