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Tell me everything about 3D Printing

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Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
Lets talk about 3D Printing! :D

Information thread galore.

Going to start compiling the information up top in my free time.


A lot of this is butchered for now, I will find more resources and references to support the information posted up.

3D Printers

Selecting a printer http://www.makershed.com/products/make-magazine-volume-42

Calibrate your printer! [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/150mm-ELECTRONIC-DIGITAL-CALIPERS-VERNIER/dp/B007K7F04C/"]150mm ELECTRONIC DIGITAL CALIPERS VERNIER WITH LCD INC: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics[/ame]

Good Printer Practices

"Enclosing your printer will also help with warping and delaminating. We added some perspex panels to the older Makerbot we had for a while to help keep the heat in and stop the air conditioning from messing things up. It's less of an issue on the newer ones but probably still worth considering if you it's pretty cold or draughty where you've got your machines set up." - Steven Schulze

"You shouldn't have too much issues with excessive warping if you have heated beds already but adding panels is a must. It's cheap and cost effective way to improve your success rate." - Lazerus Reborn


Safety

Ventilate! http://phys.org/news/2013-07-3d-printers-shown-emit-potentially.html#jCp
(Could also be fear mongering)

One time cookie cutters! http://rasterweb.net/raster/2013/05/16/printing-violations-part-iii/

"Let it be known anything food based should only every be used once, and then thrown out. The process of printing creates thousands of tiny crevasses that are perfect for bacteria and mold build up. It doesn't matter how well you wash them. the crevasses are too small to get in and clean." - Slipsius

Use PLA for all foodstuffs!


Readying a model

Various Tutorials on 3D Printing + Online Classes
http://www.mold3d.com/

Blender 3D Printing Training DVD
http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/product_info_n.php?products_id=160&PHPSESSID=18ec72991f0016ee3817c2ea858faced

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hh8HwLCexc[/ame]



"I guess something else to think about when you're first starting out is how your models are going to print. Ideally you want to find an angle that's going to require the least amount of support material as the surface that the material attaches to is always a little rougher.

If you're printing something with fine, protruding parts, it's also worth thinking about the direction that the striations of plastic run in. If you've got loops running around a thin part, it's going to be far weaker and liable to break than if the lines run along it from end to end. For Example if you were going to print a tall thin cylinder, printing it horizontally will be far stronger than vertically." - Steve Schulze


Printing

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3V90i8vo_k[/ame]


Materials

"Material matters! There are countless horror stories on selecting the right material for the job and the right brand. The original M3D PLA/ABS was a joke, fail rate of 50%. I then shopped around for a while and found, NusNus PLA on amazon for about £21, personal fail rate 10%." - Lazerus Reborn

Standard Filament Comparison
https://www.matterhackers.com/3d-printer-filament-compare

Websites to purchase filament

http://www.faberdashery.co.uk/

http://rigid.ink/


Cleaning a model

Acetone

Acetone Alternative

http://www.toybuilderlabs.com/collections/best-selling/products/xtc-3d


Epoxy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g0TGL6Cb2KY

Car Body Filler

"I use an old can of car (spray) filler I had lying around. After that prime it with some exterior use SupaDec (spray) primer. Acetone baths were my go to for ABS since I have a hotplate and everything else needed already so i suppose it was out of convenience.
For painted PLA i've opted for Liquitex (bottle, which i usually use on canvases) for the final coat. Adds that nice a nice 'medium gloss varnish' to the piece and protects the paint from fading." - Lazerus Reborn


Huge thanks to everyone who has provided information so far!

Replies

  • PyrZern
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    PyrZern polycounter lvl 12
    I wanna know of this too :P

    Hey, can you do loads of "experiments" there ? You know, for fine tuning and stuff ?
  • littleclaude
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    littleclaude quad damage
    Nice idea for a subject! "STICKY PLEASE!" :thumbup:

    I want to know more about this. I know a couple of contacts that I will point them to this thread.

    I made a piece for an artist this summer, I'll post it when I am clear to do so. I know wall thickness was important in my case as I was printing large objects around 12X12cm so no less then 1.5 mil was asked for. Apart from that I just had fun in ZBrush exported to 3DSmax and changed it into the various formats they wanted, normally Stereolithography was asked for (.STL files). I had to keep the files down to around 5 million, they first said there was no limit but they soon found 20 million was tipping it over the edge.

    To make wall thickness in ZBrush I used this tutorial. It was really useful as I just put the detail on the model shell then made a group and stored a morph to bring back the outside shell detail, the inside did not mater so a smooth shell was all I needed.
    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hh8HwLCexc[/ame]

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3V90i8vo_k[/ame]

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiRqJYPgQ6E[/ame]

    Also my work mate built this over the summer, he hopes to add servos and go on to build the rest of the suit and paint it all up. I will point him to this thread as well and see what he has to say.

    uA1QZej.jpg
    kf3PzWZ.jpg
  • littleclaude
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    littleclaude quad damage
    Just thought I would drop this off as well

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LOGF3hFxHU[/ame]
  • Mr.Moose
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    Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
    PyrZern wrote: »
    I wanna know of this too :P

    Hey, can you do loads of "experiments" there ? You know, for fine tuning and stuff ?

    YES! One of the best parts about this is they said we're going to shut down the lab sometimes and "Just do cool shit" and push limits of the printers and stuff! Super pumped!

    and thanks @littleclaude I'll check all that out! Good to know about density. I'll have to see whats too much, then teach all the students how to use decimation stuff :D
  • myclay
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    What's your budget for this little venture? You can pick up consumer grade printers for under $1000 (Though a bit more for a decent one), but the fancier ones like the laser sintering machine that Littleclaude posted is up around the $200,000 mark.

    You materials also vary in price considerably. With the standard ABS or PLA plastics used by most consumer machines you might use $5-$10 worth of plastic for say, an action figure. On the Stratsys Objet printer we used to have at CTC that would have been more like $300 For a considerably higher resolution but quite brittle print.

    This here is a good guide on 3d printers. It'll cost you $10 but if you're serious about this, it's well checking out.
    http://www.makershed.com/products/make-ultimate-guide-to-3d-printing-2014
    There should be a 2015 edition coming out sometime but this should still be most relevant.
  • Mr.Moose
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    Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
    We have 2 makerbots in there, and 2 fancier printers..that I can't remember the name of, but they print nicer metals and I believe even wood? If I heard correctly. Then we've also got a handheld 3d Scanner. Not sure we'll purchase anything new.
  • kolayamit
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    kolayamit polycounter lvl 13
    Thank you Mr.Moose for creating this thread, and thank you to all for sharing. Yessss, i would also like to know everything about 3D printing :).
  • littleclaude
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    littleclaude quad damage
    http://inside3dprinting.com/

    The Largest 3D Printing Event Worldwide

    Inside 3D Printing is the largest professional 3D printing and additive manufacturing event worldwide. As a conference attendee, you’ll explore the business applications of 3D printing through conference sessions led by industry experts, demonstrations of the latest 3D printers and services, and programming for designers, professionals, and makers. Join us on our world tour and see how 3D printing is revolutionizing industries including manufacturing, medicine, architecture, aerospace, and more.

    f206f1650d91b6f57f5f3e5d70657a98.png
  • Joost
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    Joost polycount sponsor
    Some good info in this thread already! I created a quick page on the wiki http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/3d_printing

    If anyone feels like adding some of the resources from this thread (or other resources) to it, that would be awesome. Having it on a wiki page is a bit more permanent and accessible than a single thread imo?
  • RaptorCWS
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    RaptorCWS polycounter lvl 11
    https://www.google.com/#q=3d+printing

    ok now that i gave the troll answer ill give a real answer. the way you model things to be printed depends a lot on what kind of printer you are using. you can get away with not modeling supports on to your model for a zprinter with no problems but that same model would not print on a makerbot. and when printing with a makerbot make sure you can control the temperature around it and keep it away from the ac. if it starts to cool too quickly it will not stick to the layer beneath it and just make a rats nest out of your model. I believe the new makerbots have solved this problem by closing off the build platform with a case but I have never got to use one. and printing with rafts and supports can make getting the model off the build platform easier on a makerbot.

    This is all really basic stuff buts its been over a year since I worked in my schools print lab and i dont remember everything i had to do to get prints to come out right other than trial and error.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Enclosing your printer will also help with warping and delaminating. We added some perspex panels to the older Makerbot we had for a while to help keep the heat in and stop the air conditioning from messing things up. It's less of an issue on the newer ones but probably still worth considering if you it's pretty cold or draughty where you've got your machines set up.

    I guess something else to think about when you're first starting out is how your models are going to print. Ideally you want to find an angle that's going to require the least amount of support material as the surface that the material attaches to is always a little rougher.

    If you're printing something with fine, protruding parts, it's also worth thinking about the direction that the striations of plastic run in. If you've got loops running around a thin part, it's going to be far weaker and liable to break than if the lines run along it from end to end. For Example if you were going to print a tall thin cylinder, printing it horizontally will be far stronger than vertically.
  • Lazerus Reborn
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    Lazerus Reborn polycounter lvl 8
    Scale is everything, remember that!

    I currently use a M3D at home and have abused the thing finding out any niche habit's it has.

    Get it calibrated! [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/150mm-ELECTRONIC-DIGITAL-CALIPERS-VERNIER/dp/B007K7F04C/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1441097221&sr=1-1"]Callipers[/ame] are a must! Something [ame="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:704409"]like this[/ame] is also excellent after your initial test prints.


    You shouldn't have too much issues with excessive warping if you have heated beds already but adding panels is a must. It's cheap and cost effective way to improve your success rate.

    If you are in a closed lab space, ventilation is a must. This 'study' could be considered scare mongering and I'd rather that UFPs didn't turn out like Asbestos so some cautionary steps aren't harmful. Simple carbon filters do most of the work and if you are putting perspex on it then it becomes all the more simpler.

    Material matters! There are countless horror stories on selecting the right material for the job and the right brand. The original M3D PLA/ABS was a joke, fail rate of 50%. I then shopped around for a while and found, NusNus PLA on amazon for about £21, personal fail rate 10%.
    -Recently ordered RigidInk PLA, £25 but i've heard good things about it and the colors rival Faberdashery. I would have prefered to try out faberdasherys architects stone but it's out of stock haha.

    ABS? Don't skimp on the cleanup, Acetone baths are pretty important step to get the polished look. Dozens of guides to do this and everyone of them will tell you to do it outside. Listen to them.
    JWE_0468.jpg

    Not sure what else to cover atm. People have covered a lot of it now.
  • littleclaude
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    littleclaude quad damage
    /\Happy finish :)

    Effective and Safer 3D Print Smoothing with Epoxy not Acetone 3DBurn Ep 4

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0TGL6Cb2KY[/ame]


    Cold Casting your 3D Prints and adding a rust look

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBVU3FNt-s[/ame]


    How To Make Resin Copies of 3D-Printed Figures
    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1jDaZX6PCk[/ame]
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    I'm not a great fan of the acetone technique. It tends to take a bit too much detail with it.

    A friend of mine works with a spray on car body filler which not only fills in the ridges but gives a nice matte finish to work with. Tends to require a bit of sanding to get optimal results, but having that fine tuning option is better than the uniform dissolved look, I think.
  • littleclaude
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    littleclaude quad damage
    [vv]43442146[/vv]

    600018a29110fd5bee993ab1b7ada0e1.jpg

    bbccf26170b76c78c61b82602315eb96.jpg
  • slipsius
    Ive seen printed cooking cutters online. like, literal cookie cutters. Let it be known anything food based should only every be used once, and then thrown out. The process of printing creates thousands of tiny crevasses that are perfect for bacteria and mold build up. It doesnt matter how well you wash them. the crevasses are too small to get in and clean.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    You'd want to hope they're made from PLA. ABS isn't super dangerous but it's not something you'd want to be using as a cooking utensil.

    I just noticed that the Make 2015 3d Printer Roundup is out (and has been for a while)
    http://www.makershed.com/products/make-magazine-volume-42
    Better option than the year and a half old one I linked earlier.
  • Mr.Moose
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    Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
    @slipsius and @Steve Schulze, Is there more info on those? I have a feeling this might be something students would do. Would like to provide references to back my standing when I explain it to them.

    Found this : http://rasterweb.net/raster/2013/05/16/printing-violations-part-iii/

    I'll need to start editing the first post with all these links and information XD
  • OrganizedChaos
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    OrganizedChaos polycounter lvl 17
    Doesn't seem like anyone's mentioned this, but there's also this site which has a ton of information in their news and video tutorials
    http://www.mold3d.com/

    Oh, and this stuff as an alternative to acetone.
    http://www.toybuilderlabs.com/collections/best-selling/products/xtc-3d
  • Lazerus Reborn
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    Lazerus Reborn polycounter lvl 8
    To remove confusion, the owl i put up is just a googled image ^__"

    @ Steve I use the same method as your friend for PLA though. I use an old can of car (spray) filler I had lying around. After that prime it with some exterior use SupaDec (spray) primer. Acetone baths were my go to for ABS since I have a hotplate and everything else needed already so i suppose it was out of convenience. The Epoxy looks pretty slick though so i may give that a go when i next run out of coating stuff.

    For painted PLA i've opted for Liquitex (bottle, which i usually use on canvases) for the final coat. Adds that nice a nice 'medium gloss varnish' to the piece and protects the paint from fading.
  • Mr.Moose
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    Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
    haha even google brought up a couple different ways to clean up the model. Going to have to compile them all for options!
  • Mr.Moose
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    Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
    slipsius wrote: »
    Ive seen printed cooking cutters online. like, literal cookie cutters. Let it be known anything food based should only every be used once, and then thrown out. The process of printing creates thousands of tiny crevasses that are perfect for bacteria and mold build up. It doesnt matter how well you wash them. the crevasses are too small to get in and clean.

    What about the printers that pull up to material rather than layering it?
  • Neox
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    Neox veteran polycounter
    Mr.Moose wrote: »
    What about the printers that pull up to material rather than layering it?

    they still layer it as far as i know, it's ub light cast in resin to harden it.

    the powder stuff is also working layer by layer
  • kolayamit
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    kolayamit polycounter lvl 13
    Thanks OrganizedChaos.
    Doesn't seem like anyone's mentioned this, but there's also this site which has a ton of information in their news and video tutorials
    http://www.mold3d.com/

    Oh, and this stuff as an alternative to acetone.
    http://www.toybuilderlabs.com/collections/best-selling/products/xtc-3d
  • AlecMoody
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    AlecMoody ngon master


    bbccf26170b76c78c61b82602315eb96.jpg

    I have only done a little with photogrammetry (and a lot more with laser scan data) but I have generally struggled to get really accurate scale. Based on the way his prints fit back into the real world, it seems like he has scale dead on accurate.


    I have been using 3d printing to develop intake parts for my auto-x/track car:
    design.jpg

    Best surface quality has come from a combination of acetone vapor baths, block sanding, body filler, and surfacing primers:
    GrmhdGM.jpg
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Neox wrote: »
    they still layer it as far as i know, it's ub light cast in resin to harden it.

    the powder stuff is also working layer by layer
    They're typically much higher resolution though, so the ridges would be less of a factor. The material, on the other hand, might not be terribly suitable for cooking with.
  • Mr.Moose
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    Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
    AlecMoody wrote: »
    I have only done a little with photogrammetry (and a lot more with laser scan data) but I have generally struggled to get really accurate scale. Based on the way his prints fit back into the real world, it seems like he has scale dead on accurate.


    I have been using 3d printing to develop intake parts for my auto-x/track car:
    design.jpg

    Best surface quality has come from a combination of acetone vapor baths, block sanding, body filler, and surfacing primers:
    GrmhdGM.jpg


    Dayum dude, thats some fancy stuff! Makes me wonder if I could print some missing parts for my dads Trans Am project..
  • Mr.Moose
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    Mr.Moose polycounter lvl 7
    Finally started today, Learned a lot about 3D printing. Started to test the various filaments we had, and making density cubes. (pretty neat, I didn't realize how the inside was filled on most "solid" models. Saves a lot of materials,

    One filament that actually turned out to have completely clogged a tip to where we had to replace it was the wood filament (Once the tip cooled down it would no longer extrude, new filaments or even if we tried to print the wood again). Which took forever to get the settings right just to print. (It either went all spaghetti or came out as this goo) Does anyone have any experience with printing wood? I can get the specifics of what we're using tomorrow, I forgot to write it down for this post :P
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