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I really dig http://www.shapeways.com. The prices are quite reasonable, the community is helpful and they have a ton of different materials. Printing in stainless steel is just too cool. They have a pretty good interface for uploading models and getting cost estimates.
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Nov 15, 2010 02:24
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Three-Phase posted:How much for a simple plastic or metal part? I'm just curious what the ballpark is. There's is a $25.00 per order minimum but something around the size of a matchbox is roughly $7-10 depending on the actual volume of material. edit: That's for the 'white strong and flexible plastic' which is some sort of sintered nylon. I just found a random octopus ring in the gallery that someone is selling for $33.00 in gold plated stainless steel. http://www.shapeways.com./model/147727/octopus_ring_1.html?gid=mg
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Nov 15, 2010 02:30
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Bobulus posted:I'm curious how thin you can make stuff without making it prone to breaking? The center-ring-seat thing would work fine. In fact the sintered nylon is quite tough and flexible. So yes, a CD or DVD case is definitely possible. They say the minimum wall for the nylon is .7mm but I know people have gotten away with less so long as it is anchored to a thicker section. In other words, I've seen models with thin spikes or ridges which were made possible by having thicker bottoms. Having said that, my experience with this is pretty shallow 
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Nov 15, 2010 06:33
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ASSTASTIC posted:This is exactly what I was thinking. You could set a project up to be made in wax(some sort of wax) and then just set it and forget it. When its done, all you have to do is sprue it, make the mold, then stick it in a kiln ala lost wax. Why not just print it in metal in the first place? edit3: Just so we're clear, these are just some cool examples I've found, I had nothing to do with them. edit: Incidentally, there are some really sweet 3d wax printers out there that print in the thousands of DPI. Let me find a link...  edit2: wax printing at it's finest 
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Nov 16, 2010 07:29
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leo_r posted:This is fantastic! I wish there was more information on how it works. It's obviously a projector, but it would be nice to know the exact process. I'm eagerly anticipating the kickstarter project and potentially plans available! Random bits I've gleaned:
If this guy doesn't release his notes relatively soon, maybe I'll take a stab at something like this once I'm done remodeling my shop. Seems like it'd be a fun project. I'm sure a goon here can pop my bubble for me though. Why can't I just rip out of the light engine from a second-hand rear-projection tv and toss out the color wheel, stick it in a box with a glass/plexi tray on top with a few ounces of light cured resin and finally stick a acme screw driven platform on top? Shine some pretty images of cross-sections of a cool 3d model and tweak the timing.... et voila, HD 3d printer?
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Apr 6, 2011 23:24
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Brain dump rebuttalleo_r posted:It seems unlikely to me that focussing the light is going to selectively cure a plane of the resin. For one thing, the light penetration is probably pretty low in the resin, so you'd have to focus within a few mm of the boundary. Even then, given that the resin probably cures because of some photon interaction, the parts that are in the plane of the unfocused light will still likely receive a big enough dose that they'll partially cure. My thought wasn't that you'd move the focus as a sort of pen but rather the focus would be fixed at the bottom boundary of the resin. My concern was whether tight focusing was sufficient to prevent bleed over curing. oxbrain posted:An initiator will trigger only if it is exposed to a certain amount of light. Lower light levels won't trigger the initiator in anything like a normal time frame. You could shine multiple lasers into a big tank and only get curing where they intersect. So this would suggest that if you have the image focused on the bottom of the dish (top side of the bottom where the resin contacts the dish) that the resin on your 'work path' would cure before the adjacent stuff assuming the adjacent stuff cures at all. At the very least you might be able to assume that any minimal amount of accidental curing would be disturbed onced the tray moves and causes the resin to flow and remix a bit. Likewise, your comments regarding the penetration (or lack thereof) combined with the idea of focusing the image/light at a specific plane helps explain how you would build of layers of your object. oxbrain posted:I'd toss the DLP and look into using a LCD screen over something like this. That, with a highly UV opaque pigment, would let you greatly decrease curing time per layer. I built a homemade HD projector using a 400W metal halide bulb and a 15.4" LCD and while it works... the LCD blocks a LOT of light and accrues significant heat as a result. Furthermore, most LCDs have polarized surfaces and an anti-glare coating that can be very difficult to remove. That could affect things significantly. Finally, blacks are not very satisfying and rely on the LCD to block the light which it cannot do entirely. Maybe it'd do it well enough to prevent curing but when you consider a DLP/DMD who can supposedly completely redirect black pixels/light away from the lens, the LCD's approach doesn't seem very effective by comparison. On the other hand, a DLP/DMD is really just a fancy mirror and can reflect (in specific patterns of course) light from potentially any light source. You could potentially use those UV lamps you link although the only source of DLPs I can think of is light engines for rear projection TV's and the construction of those may not play nice with those lamps. leo_r posted:I'd use a computer projector because it would have higher resolution and be controllable from a computer easily. Well, if the DLP/DMD light engine from an HD TV has the WUXGA style connector, there are lots of controller boards available to hobbyist that accept DVI and HDMI inputs. WUXGA is 1920x1080 resolution, the same as the highest resolution 'computer projector' on office max's website at least. Maybe there are better ones? In general, I suspect they may just downscale the image. Besides, if you focus the image such that it's only say... 4"x2.25" that's a DPI of 480... that's pretty awesome. leo_r posted:I think the easiest way to do it would be to build one that sank down. Build a platform that sinks into the resin, place your projector on top. Project your layer, sink the platform so that the resin covers it all slightly, project another layer. Once your done, slowly lift the platform up again to retrieve your part. If the resin is as thick as oxbrain says it is, it would require some sort of mechanism to evenly spread a new layer of resin or you'd be waiting all day for it to spread out on it's own. Likewise, this would require a fairly large tank of the resin which is pretty expensive. On the other hand, building upside down requires less precision in the layer of the fluid. Presumably, capillary action would suck the fluid under the model as you lift it up. As long as you lift it in equal increments, you'll ensure that you're building with layers of consistent thickness, yes? Mmmm, delicious 3d printer discussion.
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Apr 7, 2011 05:06
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Here's one of the latest models printed by Junior Veloso's HD printer. That just too awesome so at this point I'm thinking of picking up a 480p rear projection TV off craiglist for $40-50 to dick around with. While writing software to create cross-sections of models is non trivial (I've actually done it before), it'd be trivial to project a single debug image of a simple object like a square or something to play around with. I figure it shouldn't be too hard to at least rip out the guts of the TV and get the light engine secured inside of a simple adjustable frame that can focus a roughly 4"x3" image on a translucent panel (cut out from the donor TV). 
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Apr 9, 2011 05:24
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Cakefool posted:It just occurred to me you'd have to design drain holes into any bottom-up liquid-resin prints, otherwise you'd have a finished product with a liquid gooey centre. Is this something you could make the' compiler' handle, or something the designer would have to put in themselves? It wouldn't be hard to design the software to identify if that situation would occur. It's a step further to offer trivial solutions but they will likely not be satisfactory most of the time which means it'd probably be best to have the designer add them just as the designer may need to add supporting sprues (e.g. imagine printing the wings on an airplane, the wing tips may need to have a supporting pillar/sprue printed for them were the plane printed flat). What sort of designs were you envisioning where this would be an issue? This may not be the best way to replenish your ping-pong ball supply  On another note, the lack of a support material does kind of suck. There'll be no printing of functional mechanisms with this method.
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Apr 11, 2011 17:23
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This is pretty sweet:Junior Veloso on Twitter posted:
Who would've thought a DIY 3D printer would be able to print a working flute?! He's still saying he's going to release the plans and resin recipe. I can't wait. There was a little discussion in the comments section on resin recipes which involved lots of words I can barely pronounce. Whatever he's done is pretty advanced. This isn't your typical hobbyist type project.
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Apr 15, 2011 21:40
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Cakefool posted:So how hard would it be to make your own heated print bed? I'm thinking sheet of aluminium, nichrome or similar heater wire, underbed of suitable insulation, install a thermocouple & set & control temperature, including gradual cooldown. 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.
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Apr 15, 2011 23:15
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Claes Oldenburger posted:Yea the resin part has completely escapes me. I thought he was buying it from a supplier not MAKING IT HIMSELF. I read somewhere in his writings that he has the resolution down to 0.05 mm. Not only is that amazing for a DIY printer, it makes me want one right now The alien skull (pic above) took about 60mL of resin. At say, $200/L, that's only about $12. That's not too bad. Even if it was $400/L it'd be useful for a lot of things. I don't think the worst case scenario will be that bad.
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Apr 15, 2011 23:47
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Although people are also talking about how much that resin might cost...we'll know pretty soon when he puts up the indiegogo account.
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Claes Oldenburger posted:The way i see it, it's very very hard to get precision AND speed at the same time. he said each layer has to harden for about 4 seconds...and each layer can be 0.05mm thin so it'll still be quite a while :P That's about 13min/cm. For several thousand DPI, that's not bad?
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Aug 19, 2011 07:58
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:I found a 6v gearhead motor in the shed and am using a stack of 5w resistors soldered in parallel to drop the 12v to 6v. That sounds really ghetto. Are you at least waiting for a 7806 to arrive in the mail?
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Nov 8, 2011 02:00
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Mister Sinewave posted:Is the idea that with so many holes (and so much surface area) the cooling is evened out and it all therefore shrinks evenly? I think it's that by not having a continuous layer the contraction caused by the cooling won't pull across the length of the piece and cause it to curl. You could probably replace his big circles with vertical grooves in the material or some other shape to break-up each printed surface into many surfaces. It's kind of like expansion joints in concrete, except in reverse I guess?
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Nov 15, 2011 18:38
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If only machines like this were even remotely close to affordable for individuals. Hell, if it was under $15K I might splurge but I doubt it's under $40-50K http://www.objet.com/3D-Printer/Objet260_Connex/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbRlDBScDz4
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Dec 7, 2011 22:43
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Splizwarf posted:Jesus, you guys can expect a few new faces in the community; that guy on Kickstarter with the Printrbot was trying to raise $25,000 and at the moment has $448,000(!) with 6 days to go. 750+ people bought a version of the full kit, he's made his own new 3D Printer demographic. It's sort of frightening when that happens to a Kickstarter project. It's probably going to take years to get all the kits shipped. I was super excited at first because I thought you were referring to Junior Veloso's kit. Now I'm sad.
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Dec 11, 2011 21:54
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devians posted:But what I dont get is that its comparably the same price as a RepRap Prusa? IE 500 vs 400-600? and you dont have to wait, and you'll have a better printer in the end. It just strikes me as bizarre. How they spend their money is their problem. Just be glad that home 3d printing is becoming much more popular!
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Dec 12, 2011 18:18
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techknight posted:I hope it's a good 3D scanner or a giant-size MakerBot: Maybe they're the ones who bought out http://3dhomemade.blogspot.com/ 
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Jan 5, 2012 06:45
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MikeNCR posted:Looks like this is the big news: So the big news is they made an Ultimaker? edit: Looks like the MakerBot store is down
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Jan 9, 2012 23:25
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Can this thread also be about open source laser cutters? I just came across Lasersaur, the open source laser cutter being designed by Nortd labs. It's actually a fully funded Kickstarter project that's made it as far as the beta stage. http://labs.nortd.com/lasersaur/  It's a large format laser and supposedly goes together fairly easily considering that you're building a frickin' laser beam (TM) Yay or nay at including lasers in our discussion? Friendly reminder that lasers can be used to create our beloved open source 3d printers.. just sayin'..
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Jan 11, 2012 04:19
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Linux Assassin posted:Anyone heard anything about this company, or their product? Looks like a basic ABS extrusion setup ala MakerBot and what not. I'm sure it's capabilities are similar.
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Jan 18, 2012 21:44
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Sooo... you're gonna share pictures of your print with us when it arrives, yes?
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Jan 18, 2012 23:45
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Mister Sinewave posted:Trust me, you DON'T want to see it. Fair enough. What about it was outside the capabilities of your MakerBot?
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Jan 19, 2012 01:43
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Mister Sinewave posted:
Are you referring to the Alumide material? I wasn't aware of a sintered-Aluminum material at Shapeways. The Alumide has powered aluminum in it but is otherwise similar to the sintered nylon. Regarding delivery time, normally they are supposed to be 10 days to your doorstep and they've done as much for me in the past.
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Jan 19, 2012 02:26
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Mathhole posted:The gyrocycle has arrived! (in two pieces) Sweet, sounds like it fell within that 10 day delivery period? Btw, while your fixing stuff, you should crank up the poly count on those wheels unless you like the faceted look. I thought an 100+ side poly would look good and even that was faceted when I got my stuff printed.
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Jan 21, 2012 08:42
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InternetJunky posted:Miniatures (~30-50mm) and accessories (buildings, elaborate bases, etc). The best I've seen from a home machine so far was some tiny yoda figure, but even that had layers visible from the build process. The resin production system looks ideal. Maybe that Yoda was a bad example? Likewise, it seems that flash photography is really good at showing the print lines that would otherwise be very difficult to see with the naked eye. I wouldn't hold your breath for Junior Veloso's resin printer.  These are Ultimaker prints but people have tweaked Mendels and MakerBots to do similarly nice stuff. It probably took hours and hours though at that layer thickness (guessing .1-.2 mm).
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Feb 3, 2012 16:31
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boondocksts posted:Has anyone on here bought an ultimaker? I'm thinking about taking the plunge, from what I've read here and around the net it seems like the best option right now that isn't a professional machine. I'm waffling between that and the Replicator. The Ultimaker has a larger print volume but the Replicator sports a dual head which could run water soluble PVA for support structures. I could've sworn the Ultimaker guys had a dual head setup they were going to release but I can't find dick about it, just the Ultimaker+ which also isn't available for general consumption. It's worth noting that lots of folks have had troubles with the bowden tubes on the Ultimaker. Sometimes the PLA can be fragile and breaks into multiple pieces in the tube which is a hassle. I'm still waffling.
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Feb 5, 2012 18:49
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techknight posted:I have some ReconstructMe news.. It actually works. And how exactly did you come upon a dismembered head? 
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Feb 22, 2012 17:44
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nesbit37 posted:Here is the mesh of the head for that gecko. The left side of the model looks a little off because the gecko decided to move its head slightly while I was filming the last few of the 360 degrees. Still, not bad for a first try: I'd consider fashioning a little box of known dimensions for the gecko to sit on. You would be able to recreate a digital equivalent in a 3d modeling app and then subtract that volume from the scan to get a model of just the gecko. It'd be a lot easier to clean up the fillets left behind in recesses (e.g. under the gecko's belly) once that box was taken out.
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Feb 24, 2012 16:54
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Rapman and the newer 3dTouch are supposed to be, "open box, print things" except you're paying Ultimaker prices for something that's slower and potentially has a lower quality ceiling.
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Mar 2, 2012 02:16
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Tad SG posted:Holy Crap, Veloso updated his blog for the first time since October. This... is unexpected. Excellent. I'm still torn on what FDM printer to get but I'd totally pull the trigger on that kit if it is under $2K. Maybe I haven't thought it through fully.. is there anything you couldn't make through his process that you could make with the FDM process? All it comes down to is how the material strength/cost compares, yes?
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Mar 8, 2012 01:57
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Linux Assassin posted:I can't think of anything FDM could do that his metholodgy could not do. Though material strength could vary radically from FDM PLA or ABS; Still, unless its super fragile or decays in sunlight or something, I think it really only comes down to accuracy/speed and cost/print cost/unit. Last post I saw that mentioned price was suggesting it was up to $350/L for the resin. At that price point it probably translates to at least a few bucks per model when creating a hollow shell versus the couple of bucks of ABS you might spend making a 100% fill object. Hopefully the prices come down significantly. quote:Q: How much cost the resins? Incidentally, most expanding foams expand significantly and then eventually shrink, not to mention variations due to temperature (I tried filling papercraft type stuff with foam and it was a horrendous failure due to this  ). But PVA/Plaster or just more resin/epoxy would do the trick.
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Mar 8, 2012 16:32
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George Zimmer posted:So I've been reading this thread alot the past few days and I'm really interested in 3D printing. However, I don't know a bit of CAD/3D modeling. Where is a good place to start? I'd really love to make figurines, models, and all sorts of neat stuff on a 3D printer one day. TinkerCAD is also aimed at entry-level CAD design. I have not used 123D so I can't say how it compares. The neat thing about TinkerCAD is that it runs in the browser and you can get started in 15s, no problem. https://tinkercad.com/home/
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Mar 14, 2012 21:06
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mhsneon posted:I am really tempted to get the MakerBot Replicator, but wish they would offer a kit version, do you guys think they will ofer a kit version after it has been out a bit. I want something to put together. Maybe I will order an ultimaker instead. Stupid Ultimaker and their 4-6 week lead time  Still waiting for mine (only been 2 weeks lol) I follow the channel hossmachine on Youtube. The guy does lots of CNC stuff and recently started playing around with a RepRap. He definitely knows what he's doing when it comes to tweaking these things, but regardless he has achieved impressive results so far including taking some big steps toward dual extrusion and what not. I'm still happy with my decision to purchase an Ultimaker but considering what Hoss has achieved, I'd consider following in his footsteps rather than buy a Makerbot. (I may still do a RepRap just for fun using parts printed on my Ultimaker)
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Mar 26, 2012 22:03
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Obsurveyor posted:That's still more than 3 times as expensive as Bucktown Polymers(lemon curry dude). Unfortunately we have no way of knowing whether that is an apples to apples comparison. Veloso made it sound like he came up with his own formula.
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Apr 2, 2012 23:03
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Cakefool posted:Just for an apples to oranges comparison, how much is a reel of PLU or ABS by weight? ABS/PLA are around $40-45/kg versus $150/kg for the resin from veloso and $40/kg for the resin from Bucktown Polymers.
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Apr 4, 2012 00:28
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Young Freud posted:Man, I've got a hard decision. Everything is coming together, but I'm really trying to make a decision on whether to get spend almost $2k on a Utilmaker or buy a cheaper Thing-O-Matic MakerBot or Replicator. My Ultimaker should arrive within a week or two. You could just chill and wait for my trip report. I'd be happy to explore any issues your worried about or even try a model. I got the NetFabb software as well although lots of people do just find without. Cura (aka skeinpypy) is super popular right now.
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Apr 18, 2012 18:00
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Weee, finally got the shipment notice for my Ultimaker! What should be the first thing I print?
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Apr 21, 2012 06:22
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error1 posted:Just make sure you're mentally prepared for failure, because the chance of screwing up the hot end and being unable to print anything reliably is pretty high. Yea, I've been following a lot of the discussions about those issues on the google group. I hope it turns out well  Funny thing about the UltiController. I found out about it they day they announced it and emailed them to have it added to my order. Since it didn't ship yet I was hoping to save on shipping. A couple hours later I got the shipping notification after 5+ weeks of waiting  Incidentally, I consider my "first print" to be the first geeky thing I print after getting some decent calibration cubes out of the thing. I suppose the shot glass would be the traditional thing to print.
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Apr 21, 2012 20:14
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Videodrome posted:Do Shapeways/Ponoko let you specify an infill %? Shapeways doesn't and I'm not sure if Ponoko would. Infill is mostly an FDM concept, it wouldn't work well with SLS because the powder would be trapped inside. Just do a couple boolean operations to get something like below. You could get even fancier and get the interior to follow the profile but I just subtracted two cylinders, a 32 sided one and an 8 sided one. 
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Apr 22, 2012 20:17
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