Fabrication catch-all (CNC, 3D printing, machining, welding, etc.)

The thing about Tinkercad that bothers me is the online only aspect of it. Also, the free account only allows you to store one object. No thanks!

TigerBill wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:

...There are several chapters that walk through the basics of modeling in various enthusiast level CAM/CAD programs.

Do you happen to have a list of those programs? I would like to see how they stack up to the big boys I use everyday at work. I would like to find something cheap and similar for home use. I just can't afford a license of Solidworks or CATIA and, I hate Google Sketch Up.

Blender is free, but I tend to think along the lines of organic modeling and architectural 3d. These are all probably the things you hate about SketchUp.

Any info out there on blender's ability with 3d printing?

Incidentally, my AutoCAD/Revit suite of software now includes MAX. Yay.

One day I'll see if I can model a printable mini.

Ghostship wrote:

Blender is free, but I tend to think along the lines of organic modeling and architectural 3d. These are all probably the things you hate about SketchUp.

Nailed it in one.

Well I have to resend my offer of free CAD services for now; due to the fact I was laid off today and, they didn't let me keep the laptop with Solidworks and CATIA installed on it.

Understandable considering that is tens of thousands of dollars of software alone! (I think Solidworks is around $5k and Catia sits at $20k+?) I know Catia has outrageous service contract requirements too.

fangblackbone wrote:

Understandable considering that is tens of thousands of dollars of software alone! (I think Solidworks is around $5k and Catia sits at $20k+?) I know Catia has outrageous service contract requirements too.

Yeah we were a VAR for CATIA, so we had all the goodies too. $20K I think is a little low, I was always under the impression the base package was closer to $50K.

Bummer man! Too bad you can't stand architecture. We have a bubble boom going on. The capital is kind of insulated, and a lot of american and international firms are opening offices here.

How is your industry's health? Is it manufacturing, or mechanical engineering?

Ghostship wrote:

Bummer man! Too bad you can't stand architecture. We have a bubble boom going on. The capital is kind of insulated, and a lot of american and international firms are opening offices here.

How is your industry's health? Is it manufacturing, or mechanical engineering?

I was at a Mechanical Engineering firm, we did contract work primarily for the aerospace and automotive manufacturing industries. We had several long term contracts, where they just don't have the files from their customers yet for us to work on.

Your first print wasn't a wang? WTF?

Behold.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Your first print wasn't a wang? WTF?

I tried printing the model you sent me, but it was too small. I'll scan my own, thank you.

Can you post print resolution macro shots? This is not a wang joke, believe it or not.

Ghostship wrote:

Can you post print resolution macro shots? This is not a wang joke, believe it or not.

What do you want a photo of exactly?

I'd love to see someone combine the glassesless 3d screen of a 3DS with a 3d mouse/pen. Well and an art program like zbrush or maya/lightwave/3dsmax.

Make is happen people, I know 3d pointing devices have been around since the 1980's. And stereoscopic 3d has been around decades longer than that.

How's everyone's printer doing? Still getting some good use out of it?

I'm considering getting one. Partly for mini figs and other projects, but mostly because it just seems awesome.

IMAGE(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5079/5795634568_12caeac939.jpg)

Going to be looking into this guy's work

http://www.dezeen.com/2013/01/31/fos...

and

boo this guy hasn't updated in a year
http://3dhomemade.blogspot.ca/

University project similar
http://www.3ders.org/articles/201303...

I'm most interested in DLP resin printers for resolution.

For later reading
http://garyhodgson.com/reprap/2012/0...

Also worth noting is that the David Laser Scanner page I linked before, thinking is was just cheap home laser scannin, has moved on to patterned light scanning which is very high res.

If you are looking at dlp's, check out http://b9creator.com ; he already had a successful Kickstarter last year and shipped units. I was looking at getting one real hard until my layoff; there are others out there but, his seems to be the best middle ground between quality/price.

I've had little time to work on my printer, but Aetius and I recently removed the kapton tape from the heated bed. We had trouble with ABS printing where the plastic was just not sticking to the bed.

I'm still unsure of the physical properties of ABS when heated. Does heat make it more or less sticky?

Yeah, I've been hobby-jumping and busy with work preparations for relocation so haven't been doing anything with the printer lately.

Supposedly the tape is better for ABS than bare glass. Have you tried wiping some acetone on the bed before starting the print? I've had good luck doing that with a cotton ball on some stray ABS threads to make something of a slurry to pre-coat the bed.

Just came across a couple of articles on using a 3D printer or laser cutter to make 33rpm records out of MP3's. While the precision to get vinyl level sound quality isn't quite there yet I still find this cool as hell. Hopefully one day I'll be able to print out homebrew LP's.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Yeah, I've been hobby-jumping and busy with work preparations for relocation so haven't been doing anything with the printer lately.

Supposedly the tape is better for ABS than bare glass. Have you tried wiping some acetone on the bed before starting the print? I've had good luck doing that with a cotton ball on some stray ABS threads to make something of a slurry to pre-coat the bed.

My bed is not glass. It's an aluminium block. And without the tape, it seems to hold the print better without it peeling off as the head pulls away during printing.

BadMojo wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:

Yeah, I've been hobby-jumping and busy with work preparations for relocation so haven't been doing anything with the printer lately.

Supposedly the tape is better for ABS than bare glass. Have you tried wiping some acetone on the bed before starting the print? I've had good luck doing that with a cotton ball on some stray ABS threads to make something of a slurry to pre-coat the bed.

My bed is not glass. It's an aluminium block. And without the tape, it seems to hold the print better without it peeling off as the head pulls away during printing.

We've had very little trouble removing the last few ABS prints - with the bed a little warmer, we actually have to wait for the print to cool a bit before removing it, or it will deform.

Have either of you (or anyone else) tried printing from a clear spool? Im curious what it looks like and if there's any finishing that can be done to make it clearer.

polypusher wrote:

Have either of you (or anyone else) tried printing from a clear spool? Im curious what it looks like and if there's any finishing that can be done to make it clearer.

If you really need clear or translucent, depending on what you're making, I think you need to cast acrylic.

You could easily trim, sand, smooth, a 3d printed piece, make a mould and cast endless copies.
Of course, that's almost a whole different hobby. Now you're into vibration tables, and vacuum pumps (not those kind) to get bubbles out of the casting.

Major TinkerCAD news. They had basically closed shop, but now AutoDesk is buying the site. As part of the resurrection they're really empowering the free accounts.

The shutdown plan has been rolled back and effective immediately new users are again able to sign up for the site. Even better, at the request of Autodesk, we have supercharged the free plan. You can now create unlimited designs, all import and export functionality is enabled and ShapeScripts are turned on for free accounts. We have automatically upgraded all existing free accounts to this new powerful plan. This account will be offered for a limited time only so make sure you sign up as soon as possible.

Complete announcement

That certainly IS Autodesk's M.O.

Interesting to see them investing in 3d printing.
They have a lot of clout, to drive things forward.

Random question: Does 3d printing stink, AKA are there any toxic fumes to be worried about?

I've heard that ABS printing has some fumes you should worry about, but PLA isn't as bad.