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Twerpling
Oct 12, 2005
The Funambulist
Rather then build a heated platform, I find that attaching a hair dryer on there with the lowest heat setting actually performs better. At least it does on mine, not sure how well it would work on a maker bot.

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Snackmar
Feb 23, 2005

I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.

Twerpling posted:

Rather then build a heated platform, I find that attaching a hair dryer on there with the lowest heat setting actually performs better. At least it does on mine, not sure how well it would work on a maker bot.

Seriously? If you've got a picture or video of this in action I'd like to see it. :)

Sponge!
Dec 22, 2004

SPORK!

kafkasgoldfish posted:

A strip heater like this: http://www.drillspot.com/products/518294/tempco_csh00169_strip_heater_ss_heater would simplify things a bit over nichrome wire. You'd still need a thermostat of some sort.

Or tear up some $5 toasters, still need a controller and all, but the boards from a toaster would be nice.

The Eyes Have It
Feb 10, 2008

Third Eye Sees All
...snookums
A hair dryer approach had occurred to me (basically a reverse cooling fan, since cooling fan is the wrong approach) but I honestly didn't think it would work and so of course never tried it. :downs:

Anything special about how you hooked it up/aimed it/etc? I'll give it a shot!


Naturally I just finished biting the bullet and ordered the drat HBP kit yesterday, so of course a hair dryer in a clamp will work like gangbusters.

The Eyes Have It
Feb 10, 2008

Third Eye Sees All
...snookums
OK, I just tried it!


Kludged-up setup



So far so good, raft printing nicely and not lifting. Note I added cardboard to the rear of the makerbot to reflect the hot air somewhat (it was otherwise just blowing over and through, I realized.)



This is as far as I got, but no lifting/curling happened which was nice!

It's not all tits and ice cream though, I stopped here for two reasons:
1) the print wonked out for some reason and started going off-axis - you can see the stray extrusion on the far right - and
2) the extruder was being shoved/dug around by the deposited ABS which was built up too high and getting in the way. This is a result of either the infill density being too high (and the machine depositing too much ABS trying to fill it too much, leading to excess) or some other similar bullshit. Welcome to iteration 1 of 'n' with possibly endless fiddling of gibberish skeinforge settings in between! Hope you didn't look away too long and miss your extruder snapping off from the lateral stress!

bolind
Jun 19, 2005



Pillbug
I've lurked a bit in this thread earlier, but thought of it again, when my friend sent me this picture. See, he just got a new cellphone (HTC something) and it was so new that no one made a car mount cradle thingie for it yet. So what do you do? Well, you CAD one up i SolidWorks and print it off on your employer's million dollar 3D printer, is what you do.

Dolphin
Dec 5, 2008

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Boy is that company going to feel silly for having spent a million on that printer in five years.

a forbidden love
Apr 28, 2005

"It was never meant to beep boop be"
Hey this thread is about 3d printers right? I haven't seen this fine example of 3d printing yet and thought you guys might enjoy it.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/223159/tedtalks-anthony-atala-printing-a-human-kidney#s-p6-sr-i0

Skip ahead like 3-5 minutes if you're a philistine.

E: and while you're there you might as well watch all those videos because each one is awesome.

a forbidden love fucked around with this message at 12:37 on Apr 19, 2011

The Adama
Jan 6, 2003

EJO has always got your back. Shouldn't you return the favor?

Dolphin posted:

Boy is that company going to feel silly for having spent a million on that printer in five years.

I was thinking the same thing with the one my company has. It was a half million for the printer, and the powder used for printing is thousands of dollars for a quart or something insane. What will be the tipping point for hobby vs commercial printers will be getting hobby printers with multiple print heads that include a disolvable support material, and options for rigid or flexible structural material. And Makerbot already sells a water soluble material.

cakesmith handyman
Jul 22, 2007

Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

The Adama posted:

I was thinking the same thing with the one my company has. It was a half million for the printer, and the powder used for printing is thousands of dollars for a quart or something insane. What will be the tipping point for hobby vs commercial printers will be getting hobby printers with multiple print heads that include a disolvable support material, and options for rigid or flexible structural material. And Makerbot already sells a water soluble material.

The rapman I posted about has an optional triple extrude head.

Aurium
Oct 10, 2010
If you've wanted a printer for a while, but haven't gotten one for some reason, I have news for you. They're selling off the remaining cupcakes, for $200 off.

CupCake CNC Ultimate Kit

So if 700 sounds good to you to start fun with, I'd get one. To put it in context, if you build a prusa mendel, and really shop around, you'll end up with a bill of 400-500. Prusa kits tend to be more expensive than this price, if you're going for a quality kit.

You also get the automated build platform, and their new extruder design.

The platform is great, its heated, and it dumps the part out when it's finished. The extruder is good as well, but hasn't attracted much attention in the community outside makerbot.

The only real downside to this vs a prusa (other than price) is that a reprap has a much larger build area (200x200 vs 110x110)

cakesmith handyman
Jul 22, 2007

Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

International shipping is between $100 & $330 for me, poop.

Snackmar
Feb 23, 2005

I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.
If you haven't seen Beautiful Modeler from last November, it's an app that lets you use an iPad's multitouch input and accelerometer to manipulate a 3D model:



You can even export the model straight to STL for use on a 3D printer. Unfortunately, it's distributed in source form only, for an older version of Xcode and iOS.

So, I've written a huge-rear end tutorial on compiling it with the latest Xcode and iOS SDK. Check it out: http://blog.ponoko.com/2011/04/27/how-to-compile-set-up-and-use-beautiful-modeler/

Hungry Gerbil
Jun 6, 2009

by angerbot
After watching the video I can say that is the worst piece of 3D modeling software ever.

Snackmar
Feb 23, 2005

I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.

Hungry Gerbil posted:

After watching the video I can say that is the worst piece of 3D modeling software ever.

Haha, well, it's early days for a project that doesn't even have official binaries. :)

There should be some interesting stories today. 3D/DC starts in a few hours and has a ton folks from the hobbyist 3D printer movement involved. The idea is to expose lawmakers to current tech and presumably plead for sanity as things develop.

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



techknight posted:

Haha, well, it's early days for a project that doesn't even have official binaries. :)

There should be some interesting stories today. 3D/DC starts in a few hours and has a ton folks from the hobbyist 3D printer movement involved. The idea is to expose lawmakers to current tech and presumably plead for sanity as things develop.

Calling it now, 3D printers banned when lawmaker stabbed tragically with dagger printed on a CupCake, you heard it here first!

Doc Hawkins
Jun 15, 2010

Dashing? But I'm not even moving!


"It can't fohm complex machines. Guns and egzplosives havf chemicals, moving parts. It doesn't wurk det vay. But it can form solid metal shapes, like knives and stebbing wepons."

Sun Dog
Dec 25, 2002

Old School Gamer.

Midjack posted:

Calling it now, 3D printers banned when lawmaker stabbed tragically with a copywrited Lord of the Rings dagger printed on a CupCake, you heard it here first!

Needed more irony.

The Eyes Have It
Feb 10, 2008

Third Eye Sees All
...snookums
Thingiverse is ahead of the curve on that one, they forbid uploading :byodood: "weapons". :byodood:

Doc Hawkins
Jun 15, 2010

Dashing? But I'm not even moving!


My designs are weapons designed to murder scarcity.

Snackmar
Feb 23, 2005

I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.
Made a couple of sets of shot glasses in April:



Time-lapse video: http://youtu.be/P4sUwmPrK_I?hd=1

Full-length video: http://youtu.be/DxSxH3pz-Ic?hd=1

Fayez Butts
Aug 24, 2006

now for someone who is woefully unaware of how that poo poo works, can you:

1 drink out of those bitches?

2 sand them to make them look nicer?

Cause they're pretty tyte

Snackmar
Feb 23, 2005

I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.

Fayez Butts posted:

now for someone who is woefully unaware of how that poo poo works, can you:

1 drink out of those bitches?

2 sand them to make them look nicer?

Cause they're pretty tyte

Oh god yeah, I wouldn't have spent all that time making them if they weren't usable. :)

You could sand them, but I think that the photograph highlights the imperfections more than you'd notice in-person.

The object source is here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7214

The Eyes Have It
Feb 10, 2008

Third Eye Sees All
...snookums
Maybe I'll try that out. I have printed or attempted to print many many shotglasses only to discover that - out of the ones that actually saw completion - they did not turn out waterproof (even if they looked like they were.) So I have literally never had the opportunity to follow the custom of "first printed object is a shotglass from which to drink a toast to a working printer." I eventually just said "fuckit" and went on with my life.

But overall I could not have asked for a better introductory experience to the fiddly mess that is contemporary hobby 3D printing! :iamafag:

dirby
Sep 21, 2004


Helping goons with math
So apparently I might be able to access to a Thing-O-Matic in my area. I'd like to make a really simple object with it, but the problem is I know almost nothing about 3D modeling.

The OP seems to suggest that I'll need to make an STL file. The object is simple enough that I could probably write down triangle vertices by hand, except I have no idea what orientation the object should have, or what scale the coordinates should use, or anything about how STL files are used by the Thing-O-Matic.

Is there a program that makes this easy to do or something?

Doc Hawkins
Jun 15, 2010

Dashing? But I'm not even moving!


SketchUp is the free simple-object-maker I hear the most buzz about. If you use that, it's only a simple six-step process to export to STL. :v:

I recently remembered this cool talk by the founder of Cloudfab about manufacturing's brave new frontiers. This seemed like the thread for it?

Snackmar
Feb 23, 2005

I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.

helopticor posted:

Is there a program that makes this easy to do or something?

Almost any 3D modeling program will export models to STL format, but don't forget that you can also just download something nice from Thingiverse. I suggest downloading "whistle v2.stl" from the bottom of this page: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1046

For making some simple 3D models in your web browser, check out these two tools:
3DTin (uses pixel-style blocks)
TinkerCAD (haven't tried this personally but looks neat)

Videodrome
Apr 5, 2003

All hail the new flesh!
I'm trying to wrap my head around OpenSCAD, but writing translation equations and figuring out the math of what I want to do is a pain in the rear end. However, being able to modify certain parameters of an object just by changing some variable is hugely useful.

If you aren't familiar with OpenSCAD, it is basically the reverse of a 3D modeling program. In something like Sketchup, you manipulate a 3D representation of an object and the program figures out the mathematics of the manipulations you perform. You extend a face until it looks right while the program is calculating the changes in vertex positions in the background. With OpenSCAD, you actually type the positions and orientations and translations into code and the program renders them.

The advantage here is that you can use variables for certain parameters of the model that you expect to change frequently. Suppose you know that an object is going to contain a cylinder, and you know that other aspects of the model are going to be dependent on the diameter of that cylinder, but you don't know exactly what the diameter needs to be right now. You can define the cylinder's diameter as a variable. All of your functions related to cylinder's diameter can call the variable instead of a constant. Want to change the diameter of the cylinder and equally affect all other parts of the model that relate to the cylinder? Just change the diameter variable and re-render.

It is also very good for the community if your can provide an object in SCAD format on Thingiverse. It means that something as simple as a wire clip or a sowing button becomes infinitely more useful when anyone can make their clip or button the exact size they need.

This model is a perfect example of why we should all learn OpenSCAD:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7648

A simple round clip with mount. The designer provides 5 variations on the design in STL format. If you know nothing about 3D modeling you are basically stuck with only these 5 possible clips to make.

The designer also provides an .scad file. If you open this in OpenSCAD you are greated with a bunch of code...also useless if you don't understand it.

However, the first chunk of all that code is a section called "Parameters" :
code:
// Parameters
clipNumber = 4;            // Number of clips on the bracket
clipSpacing = 18;          // Distance between clip centers
clipInnerDiameter = 10.5;  // Diameter of the clip inside face
clipWidth = 10;            // Width (height) of clip
clipWallThickness = 2.5;   // Thickness of clip walls
clipOpeningAngle = 110;    // Amount of clip ring to remove from top (valid between 0 and 180)
bracketThickness = 3;      // Thickness of mounting bracket
mountEarsLength = 18;      // Length of mounting ears from center of first and last clips
mountHoleOffset = 5;       // Position of mounting holes from edge of mounting ears
mountHoleDiameter = 3.5;   // Diameter of the mounting holes
Change any of these parameters and re-render the object and the model changes to meet your particular needs.

What was originally a static model of a single clip of a fixed size and shape can now be easily modified by anyone, regardless of 3D modeling or programming experience, into the exact type of clip they need.

Videodrome fucked around with this message at 22:27 on May 3, 2011

Snackmar
Feb 23, 2005

I'M PROGRAMMED TO LOVE THIS CHOCOLATY CAKE... MY CIRCUITS LIGHT UP FOR THAT FUDGY ICING.

Videodrome posted:

If you aren't familiar with OpenSCAD, it is basically the reverse of a 3D modeling program.

OpenSCAD is great.. I'm also trying out various libraries available for Processing for creating and exporting 3D models.

If anyone is in Toronto for the weekend, be sure to come out for the Mini Maker Faire at Evergreen Brick Works!

I've just finished printing one hundred goddamn mustache rings to give out at my MakerBot demonstration booth:



Oh, and earlier in the week I made this this neat flower model:



(model source: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:8142)

artfulshrapnel
May 9, 2011

Doc Hawkins posted:

SketchUp is the free simple-object-maker I hear the most buzz about. If you use that, it's only a simple six-step process to export to STL. :v:

Okay, their process is a bit asinine. I use Sketchup for mechanical stuff like these, and my process is as follows:

Step 1: Make sure your model is clean and doesn't have any zero thickness walls sitting inside it. (i.e. make sure it isn't a durp model that is unprintable)

Step 2: Export in OBJ format, make sure it's set to triangulate faces.

Step 3: Open in Netfabb Studio Free, run the "repair" algorithms if it gives you an error warning, and save as an STL.

Yay!

The Adama
Jan 6, 2003

EJO has always got your back. Shouldn't you return the favor?

kafkasgoldfish posted:




I just watched the video on his site for the first time, and holy gently caress BALLS that was amazing. I'm dying to know what the resin is and how much it would cost, as everything I've seen in light curing resins is expensive.

The Eyes Have It
Feb 10, 2008

Third Eye Sees All
...snookums
That video is pretty :aaa: for two reasons; one - the resin 3D printing and results are amazing, and two - someone actually put some effort into editing a video for watchability :aaaaa:

Claes Oldenburger
Apr 23, 2010

Metal magician!
:black101:

The Adama posted:

I just watched the video on his site for the first time, and holy gently caress BALLS that was amazing. I'm dying to know what the resin is and how much it would cost, as everything I've seen in light curing resins is expensive.

He said somewhere in a comment on one of his blog posts that the skull cost somewhere around $10 to produce. The walls are 1.5mm thick to minimize the use of resin , and it seems he's going to really try to work on keeping the cost down as much as he can. HE JUST NEEDS TO POST MORE. :(

HolyJewsus
Jun 26, 2006
Disgruntled By Flashing and Blinking Lights.

Videodrome posted:

I'm trying to wrap my head around OpenSCAD, but writing translation equations and figuring out the math of what I want to do is a pain in the rear end. However, being able to modify certain parameters of an object just by changing some variable is hugely useful.

If you aren't familiar with OpenSCAD, it is basically the reverse of a 3D modeling program. In something like Sketchup, you manipulate a 3D representation of an object and the program figures out the mathematics of the manipulations you perform. You extend a face until it looks right while the program is calculating the changes in vertex positions in the background. With OpenSCAD, you actually type the positions and orientations and translations into code and the program renders them.

The advantage here is that you can use variables for certain parameters of the model that you expect to change frequently. Suppose you know that an object is going to contain a cylinder, and you know that other aspects of the model are going to be dependent on the diameter of that cylinder, but you don't know exactly what the diameter needs to be right now. You can define the cylinder's diameter as a variable. All of your functions related to cylinder's diameter can call the variable instead of a constant. Want to change the diameter of the cylinder and equally affect all other parts of the model that relate to the cylinder? Just change the diameter variable and re-render.

It is also very good for the community if your can provide an object in SCAD format on Thingiverse. It means that something as simple as a wire clip or a sowing button becomes infinitely more useful when anyone can make their clip or button the exact size they need.

This model is a perfect example of why we should all learn OpenSCAD:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7648

A simple round clip with mount. The designer provides 5 variations on the design in STL format. If you know nothing about 3D modeling you are basically stuck with only these 5 possible clips to make.

The designer also provides an .scad file. If you open this in OpenSCAD you are greated with a bunch of code...also useless if you don't understand it.

However, the first chunk of all that code is a section called "Parameters" :
code:
// Parameters
clipNumber = 4;            // Number of clips on the bracket
clipSpacing = 18;          // Distance between clip centers
clipInnerDiameter = 10.5;  // Diameter of the clip inside face
clipWidth = 10;            // Width (height) of clip
clipWallThickness = 2.5;   // Thickness of clip walls
clipOpeningAngle = 110;    // Amount of clip ring to remove from top (valid between 0 and 180)
bracketThickness = 3;      // Thickness of mounting bracket
mountEarsLength = 18;      // Length of mounting ears from center of first and last clips
mountHoleOffset = 5;       // Position of mounting holes from edge of mounting ears
mountHoleDiameter = 3.5;   // Diameter of the mounting holes
Change any of these parameters and re-render the object and the model changes to meet your particular needs.

What was originally a static model of a single clip of a fixed size and shape can now be easily modified by anyone, regardless of 3D modeling or programming experience, into the exact type of clip they need.


PLEASE checkout rhino and grasshopper(free), everything you said... but with a visual node interface and sliders! :) generative/parametric modeling and you can even use firefly to hook it up to an arduino.

Videodrome
Apr 5, 2003

All hail the new flesh!

HolyJewsus posted:

PLEASE checkout rhino and grasshopper(free), everything you said... but with a visual node interface and sliders! :) generative/parametric modeling and you can even use firefly to hook it up to an arduino.

I've never used Rhino, but I will try out the demo this weekend. While I'm sure it is great for the designer, the apparent complexity (and $1000 price tag) defeat the main purpose I was promoting OpenSCAD.

Ideally someone should be able to use their 3D printer without having to know how to design models. Sure, right now you can download a pre-made .stl file from Thingiverse, but you have no easy way to alter the model.

Right now I think OpenSCAD is the easiest option for the end-user to have some control over the models they want to print. It is a 7MB free download. As long as the original designer made proper considerations* it should be easy enough for somebody with 0 modeling experience to make changes to a model.

For example, techknight's mustache ring is available as both a .stl and .scad. If I have no idea how to use any 3D modeling program AND I have freakishly fat fingers, the .stl is useless to me. However, once I open the .scad file I see the very first non-comment line reads:

code:
inner_diam = 21; //mm
Change that to 25 (or whatever the diameter of my finger is), compile and export to .stl. Now I have a model that will print and fit on my finger and I didn't have to to even think about the model itself.

El_Matarife
Sep 28, 2002

Videodrome posted:

I've never used Rhino, but I will try out the demo this weekend. While I'm sure it is great for the designer, the apparent complexity (and $1000 price tag) defeat the main purpose I was promoting OpenSCAD.

PM me and I can hook you up with a Rhino reseller that might be able to offer a discount. It won't be all that much but it'll save you a little bit.
Another good option with this stuff is to take a class at a local community college so you get a student ID then can buy student software that's typically way cheaper. A good rule of thumb is that any software you can "make money with" like CAD/CAM or other design software is going to be ruinously expensive but usually student versions are available for college classes.

Claes Oldenburger
Apr 23, 2010

Metal magician!
:black101:

Is anyone else following the DIY DLP 3D printer still? The alien head one. It's really hard knowing that his guy is doing a TON of work, and all the comments on his blog posts are just people making GBS threads on him for not releasing it for free :(. Do these people just not understand these things take time and money? I hope he knows that people will still support him. I want one soooo bad.

HolyJewsus
Jun 26, 2006
Disgruntled By Flashing and Blinking Lights.

El_Matarife posted:

PM me and I can hook you up with a Rhino reseller that might be able to offer a discount. It won't be all that much but it'll save you a little bit.
Another good option with this stuff is to take a class at a local community college so you get a student ID then can buy student software that's typically way cheaper. A good rule of thumb is that any software you can "make money with" like CAD/CAM or other design software is going to be ruinously expensive but usually student versions are available for college classes.

actually rhino is 200 for students, and you can use it commercially! hot drat!

Aurium
Oct 10, 2010

Claes Oldenburger posted:

Is anyone else following the DIY DLP 3D printer still? The alien head one. It's really hard knowing that his guy is doing a TON of work, and all the comments on his blog posts are just people making GBS threads on him for not releasing it for free :(. Do these people just not understand these things take time and money? I hope he knows that people will still support him. I want one soooo bad.

They definitely understand that it took tons of time and money to develop. Many of them already did it with the reprap and makerbot projects, which took tons of time and money. The reprap project created a community to spend money and time to make something workable, and then to make the technical info free. Vendors have sprung up to make and sell parts and printers. The Makerbot is completely a commercial product, and still gives it's technical info out for free.

It is completely his choice to not do so, but the opposing clearly works, and benefits everyone.

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Claes Oldenburger
Apr 23, 2010

Metal magician!
:black101:

Aurium posted:

They definitely understand that it took tons of time and money to develop. Many of them already did it with the reprap and makerbot projects, which took tons of time and money. The reprap project created a community to spend money and time to make something workable, and then to make the technical info free. Vendors have sprung up to make and sell parts and printers. The Makerbot is completely a commercial product, and still gives it's technical info out for free.

It is completely his choice to not do so, but the opposing clearly works, and benefits everyone.

Ohhhh. He has already said he wants to release the info and plans through crowd funding, so maybe he just wants to recover some of his losses before he lets it out to the community?

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