Results 16 to 30 of 48
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22nd Jul 2020, 11:58 AM #16Golden Member
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Location
- Adelaide
- Posts
- 574
I've only had my 3D printer for a few weeks but have put it to some use already - first was a box to hold the gear cutters I bought on Ebay a while back, I included a space for the arbour I had to make.
My belt/disc sander was a Gumtree job and was missing the protractor - that was next.
I was finishing up my home built vacuum tube tester and did not have an older style British 7pin socket so that was printed up - pity I couldn't also print the brass contacts.
Current print I'm just starting is a timegrapher microphone stand - a timegrapher is an instrument for checking mechanical watch movements, the watch is placed on the microphone stand, the sound picked up by the mic is analysed by software to give the user an insight into the timekeeping and general health of the watch movement, the stand allows the movement to be rotated through various positions to check timing in each position so adjustments can be made and hopefully achieve better than 5 seconds a day timekeeping. I printed the main body yesterday - a 9 hour print.
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22nd Jul 2020, 06:15 PM #17
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22nd Jul 2020, 06:46 PM #18I break stuff...
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
- Location
- Toorloo Arm, VIC
- Age
- 39
- Posts
- 1,292
You can buy Viton o-rings in the right size for the intermediate shaft, which I've chucked in both the ones I've done. Much higher service temperature than nitrile, and the LT230 does run pretty hot. Does it help, buggered if I know, but it makes sense. They definitely need sleeving though, the housing definitely ovals, and if run that way for a while the intermediate bearings wear an angled seat on the shaft... If you buy a new intermediate shaft (they're pretty cheap), mic it up before fitting and compare to the dimensions of the unworn bits of the genuine one. I went through 3 for my mates before I got one that was both actually round, and the right size for the sliding fit to the bearings. Surprisingly Britpart (supplied by Ashcrofts) was fine, which is what is in mine, and I think that's what we ended up with in his too. Allmakes, EAC and one other all hadn't been cylindrical ground after heat treat, and were lumpy and/or oversize. Think one was bent too.
And to steer us back on topic, a picture of one of my first useful prints nearly 5 years ago - a cap for the oil pump on my Bridgeport clone. Done in ABS, and it was printed including thread (which was some odd pitch from memory).
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22nd Jul 2020, 10:37 PM #19Golden Member
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
- Location
- Melbourne
- Age
- 54
- Posts
- 825
Not really for the workshop but it’s a tool.
18BD95BD-320A-4F18-A220-26A41157DB01.jpg 17A1FC2F-DAFD-45B7-AAEA-55A3A63122BE.jpg
Makes removing hard to access #555 globe holders from pinball boards a lot easier.
Printed a couple of scraper gauges last week but never got a photo, they were the most festive pearlescent purple. All done in plain old PLA.
My missus does all the printing, I don’t have the patience to nut out all the settings.
Cheers,
Greg.
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22nd Jul 2020, 11:33 PM #20Most Valued Member
- Join Date
- Jul 2010
- Location
- Melbourne
- Posts
- 9,088
My latest finished print is a mount for a power meter on a generator. With sliding covers for the LCD.
I run an Ender3 as well. Few mods but nothing to crazy.
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23rd Jul 2020, 12:35 PM #21Most Valued Member
- Join Date
- Nov 2017
- Location
- Geelong, Australia
- Age
- 57
- Posts
- 2,666
Forgot to add the Thingiverse link to the design (not mine): https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4052729
Steve
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23rd Jul 2020, 06:05 PM #22
Hi Steve, Guys,
Lovely colour ! My collets are kept in the original yellow boxes they came in.
I want one, I want one Seriously though it does look the bees knees !Best Regards:
Baron J.
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24th Jul 2020, 01:27 PM #23Golden Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2019
- Location
- Adelaide
- Posts
- 596
Those will be bling collets now!!
I bought a vacuum cleaner for the workshop but it has a split hose. I drew a connector in TurboCAD and printed it. Looks rough but works a treat.
20200724_115255.jpg
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24th Jul 2020, 07:14 PM #24Most Valued Member
- Join Date
- Nov 2007
- Location
- melbourne australia
- Posts
- 3,228
Some interesting projects there. Would be good to know what printers y’all are using.
I’ve never owned one but I got close to buying a Prusa i3 a few years ago. They seemed to be the best value for money at the time.
What’s the best beginner’s printer these days? Budget around $1000 Oz.Chris
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24th Jul 2020, 11:56 PM #25Most Valued Member
- Join Date
- Nov 2017
- Location
- Geelong, Australia
- Age
- 57
- Posts
- 2,666
I'm definitely a newbie so no expert, but mine is a Ender3 Pro. Cost about $350 delivered. Apart from being a bit limited (out of the box) when it comes to printing the higher temp plastics such as ABS etc, its been a great printer to start with I think. Easy to assemble, and just worked straight up.
People I know with the Prusa i3's are very happy with them, but more money than I could justify at the time.
Only other bit of advice I can offer is if you're thinking of something with a larger build volume then be aware that they physically take up more room than you think, and power supplies start to get more serious (and expensive to replace) for heating the larger bed etc.
My daughter has one with about a 450 cubed build area, and has had to add bracing etc to reduce vibration. She also was stuck for a couple of months trying to source a 24v/1000W power supply at a reasonable price.
Steve
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25th Jul 2020, 12:15 AM #26I break stuff...
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
- Location
- Toorloo Arm, VIC
- Age
- 39
- Posts
- 1,292
The Prusa is probably the pick of the bunch if you just want to use it, generally seem to be well regarded with minimal issues.
Other than that, the most common ones people seem to have is the Ender (3), Creality and ANet printers. There are many others, but those seem to be most common, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. All should work reasonably well out of the box, and the sheer volume of owners means you can probably find an answer to any problem you have fairly easily, and plenty of upgrades to print on Thingiverse etc.
I have none of those. What I have is the cheapest Geeetech I3 you could buy about 5 years ago, came with the crappiest warped 5mm plywood frame imaginable. Still running the motors, heat bed, control board and LCD from that, but everything else has been...... 'slightly modified.' Learnt a lot along the way, but probably not the best approach for many people.
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25th Jul 2020, 12:45 AM #27Most Valued Member
- Join Date
- Jul 2010
- Location
- Melbourne
- Posts
- 9,088
I don't know enough to comment about other printers. I wasn't that interested in 3D printers, a couple of my mates are right into it. Decided one day while I was over at one of their places looking at what they could do "yeah I better get one. Which one should I get?" mate pulls out one of the two spare new in box Ender 3Ds he had sitting around "this one", sent me home with a roll of PLA+ and a you tube link for tips on how to assemble. Took me a while to work out how to work the slicer but the printer has just worked. He says ABS really needs an enclosure so the jobs I have lined up for that will be emailed to him lol
Upgraded to glass bed and added Octoprint+ a few other little things. As said above lots to print on thingy and so many mods I cant keep up. Though I would like to do the one that makes the steppers quieter I don't I will every get around to it.
Its about a 235mm cube if I remember rightly.
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25th Jul 2020, 01:54 AM #28I break stuff...
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
- Location
- Toorloo Arm, VIC
- Age
- 39
- Posts
- 1,292
Which mod did you have in mind? I've seen people trying to shut them up in various ways with dampers etc, but the best way to shut the steppers up on most printers is to change over to TMC2208 or 2209 drivers. The usual A4988s and DRV8825s make the motors scream like hell on slow speed parts like tight radiuses. Couldn't believe just how quiet mine was after changing from the A4988s to TMC2208s - it's in the same room as my computer, right behind me, and sometimes I have to turn around and see if it's still going. The difference isn't so great when you have fast sections of print, but that's usually more of a quiet hum anyway, not the ear piercing squeal of the low speed bits. The drivers are cheap as chips too.
With mine it was basically plug them in, a quick tweak in the Marlin firmware, and off I went, but some of the other common printers are varying levels of difficult (and some impossible I think), so if anyone wants to do it, you'll have to read up on doing it with your particular model. Well worth it if you can though. Well, except that next you'll start looking at Noctua fans for the hotend because that is now the loudest thing....
As a side note, if I remember correctly the Prusas run TMCs - just one of the little details that makes them a bit of a nicer executed package for someone who doesn't want to fiddle too much.
*EDIT* Forgot to note, you might get confused reading up on TMCs by UART and SPI controls, but if you're only after noise reduction, they work fine in standalone mode.
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25th Jul 2020, 10:27 AM #29Most Valued Member
- Join Date
- Jul 2010
- Location
- Melbourne
- Posts
- 9,088
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25th Jul 2020, 11:14 AM #30Diamond Member
- Join Date
- Oct 2011
- Location
- Sydney, NSW
- Posts
- 1,249
Hi,
These are my efforts from work. Not really machining related but they kept the kids happy over the holiday (modern arts and crafts). We still have a way to go to finish them off - painting etc and mounting.
All printing from Thingaverse and on Creator 3's.
My work bought 3 3D printers for R&D but didn't get any CAD software or a training package so we are just learning as we go. What software is everyone using? I'm thinking of doing some designing at home but that means I have to use my laptop. I'm also thinking of buying my own printer (but it makes more sense to use the work ones).
XWing.jpg
StarWars.jpg
Sonic.jpg
Ben.
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