Official 3D printing thread.

[FAT$TACKS]

I know a few of us here have gotten into 3D printing so, time for an official thread.


I've been doing some 3D printing as of late and switched over to using Overture PLA Filament.

I've had the best prints to date, using the stock profile for it in Prusa Slicer.

The stuff is on sale at the moment and I loaded up on it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PGZNM34/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Aside from that bit of news, I was thinking about getting in on the pre order for the Bambu Lab X1-Carbon.

They delivered the Kickstarter units and it looks the hardware issues were all taken care of and most of the software ones as well.

I was curious if anyone here had already gotten in on that.

Also, what kind of printers are you running.

Right now I'm running a Prusa i3 MK3S+ and an Elegoo Mars 3 Pro.

 

[basic]

About | The Retro Frog Story

So it was late summer 2016.

I bought my first 3D printer. A Robo 3D R1+ from my local Micro Center. I think I paid $500 or $600 for it. I

I was intoxicated by the idea of printing out designs in plastic. However it didn't receive a lot of usage as I had frequent issues with it. Usually jamming or clogging related. Seemed like every time I wanted to use it there was a hoop to jump through just to get a print out of it. Late 2018 I got rid of it (and by got rid of, I meant tossed in the trash).

Fast forward about 2 years later. Fall of 2020 I decided to pick up another printer. This time a Creality Ender 3 Pro. Also purchased from my local Micro Center for a much more reasonable $189. Picked up several spools of PLA and started printing like a madman. I installed several upgrades to the printer like a autobed leveling sensor and spring steel build sheets from TH3D Studio , silent Noctua fans and a SKR mini e3 board and printed off other parts like modified cooling ducts and replacement LCD housing. The Ender 3 truly is the Honda Civic of 3D printers!

Shortly after buying it, I decided to start learning CAD (computer aided design). Not content with printing out other peoples designs from Thingiverse, I wanted to design my own projects.

I piddled around in Tinkercad and came up with a few things. However I quickly moved over to Fusion 360 and my mind was blown with how much more design freedom and precision it allows for.

One of the first things I released was the Gamecube 40mm Fan adapter plate. I honestly didn't think many people would be interested in it. I received a bunch of retweets and some comments on Twitter, and that was about it. Fast forward about 2 weeks later and I found someone selling them on eBay UK! And they even left a comment on my Thingiverse listing saying they were selling them. And not just a couple of them. They had sold nearly 60 in that time. I was appalled and frankly mad. I gave this away freely and someone else was profiting off of it.

A day later the realization set in: People that don't own 3d printers are either going to send the STL file to some online printing service to get it printed or buy from some random eBayer. So Retro Frog was born.

My goal with Retro Frog is to provide the community with 3d printed parts and components that I designed at reasonable costs.

- Todd

 

[NexusX]

I have been Resin printing for a number of years now. Mostly for tabletop gaming.

 

[Hattori Hanzo]

Don't need an own one but peeps in a German forum printed me some spare parts I needed. Pretty neat and a good way to repair stuff.

 

[Lagduf]

I know a few of us here have gotten into 3D printing so, time for an official thread.


I've been doing some 3D printing as of late and switched over to using Overture PLA Filament.

I've had the best prints to date, using the stock profile for it in Prusa Slicer.

The stuff is on sale at the moment and I loaded up on it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PGZNM34/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Aside from that bit of news, I was thinking about getting in on the pre order for the Bambu Lab X1-Carbon.

They delivered the Kickstarter units and it looks the hardware issues were all taken care of and most of the software ones as well.

I was curious if anyone here had already gotten in on that.

Also, what kind of printers are you running.

Right now I'm running a Prusa i3 MK3S+ and an Elegoo Mars 3 Pro.

The Bambu Carbon looks seriously incredible - it appears the closest to a consumer product I’ve seen. Would love to have one.

I have an Creality Ender 3 V2 and an Elegoo Mars 3.

I too mostly print tabletop stuff. Need to learn a modeling program to start printing parts with my FDM printer.

 

[Lagduf]

What slicers is everyone using?

I have been using Cura for FDM stuff and Chitubox Pro for resin printing (since I got a free year of the pro version when I bought my printer.)

Chitubox seems like a POS - I get a lot of crashes, freezes, failures to slice, failures to save.

 

[FAT$TACKS]

At the moment I'm using Lychee slicer for resin. The pro version has a monthly sub but it's pretty cheap. There are some good features and you can get a free month trial of it. I think that if I were going to do a lot of printing I would sign up for a month for some of the features if needed but otherwise wouldn't bother as I don't print a lot of things where I need those features.

I use Chitubox sometimes, but not often anymore.

As for FDM I've been using Prusa Slicer for a while and am pretty happy with that.

 

[NeoSneth]

Mostly FDM.
I am currently running a Artillery Sidewinder X2. Some really convenient features and a large build area.
I'm close to pulling the trigger on a Resin Printer, but I think my backlog of painting is just fine where it is without one.

Overall, I've had good luck with almost all filaments. I'm currently using Polyterra PLA because it's very flat with a matte finish. Also cheap.
I have Hatchbox wood filament that I'm using for some furniture accessories right now. I stain with Danish Oil after sanding with 200 grit.

 

[Lagduf]

Couple things I use for my resin printer:

Flexible Build System for Resin

The Original Resin Flexi Kit

whambam3d.com

I really, really, really like these flexible/magnetic build plates. I have two of them. I remove the flexible build plate, pop on my second flexible build plate, and then immediately start another print. I have only been using this printer about 3 months and I've had these on since day 1, and haven't had to re-level/tram the actual build plate since I never remove it from the printer.

I also use the same companies silicon mats to process all my prints on, makes for very easy cleanup:

Slap Mat

The Slap Mat is made of pure 100% first-grade silicone and will not be harmed by printer resins, most chemicals, or most glues! Stop working with resin on cardboard and paper towels, throwing away a toxic gooey mess after every clean-up or resin transfer. Use to protect your work surface, spill...

whambam3d.com

I see a common thing people process their prints on is just a generic tray like you'd get a cafeteria.

 

[Lagduf]

Well after months I finally got off my ass and starting learning how to do some stuff in Fusion 360. I initially downloaded it to do 3D modeling for my printer but I didn't really have anything in mind I wanted to create so I didn't bother.

I've been doing some very poor woodworking lately and wanted to draw up some proper plans for a project I found online. In another universe I used to be able to whip around AutoCAD to do 2D mechanical style plans and architecture stuff (and then I decided to get a degree in Education HAHAHAHAHA,)

Yeah, Fusion was kind of infuriating coming from that paradigm but I left typed "fusion 360 tutorial for woodworkers" and lo and behold I found an excellent tutorial series called "Fusion 360 for Woodworkers."

So now I've successfully modeled some furniture in 3D, created plans, including exploding views and animation of it coming apart. This program is wild. I probably sound like "old man discovered technology" but hey - everyone learns something new each day (cue relevant XKCD cartoon.)

Blender is probably better for organic stuff but I've seen enough Makers on the youtoobs use Fusion 360 to know it will work great for the type of parts I would make.

@FAT$TACKS how's the Carbon holding up?

 

[Lagduf]

Slightly related: software as a service is the fucking worst thing ever for an individual consumer.

 

[FAT$TACKS]

I still like the carbon.

There was a software update recently that helped with some issues, however it screwed up all my settings and some things either moved or changed in the software so that was a pain.

I think it will continue to get better with more updates.

I need to learn some digital sculpting. I've been doing pretty basic stuff to make bits I need but can't really make complex things yet.

 

[Lagduf]

Fusion 360 is like cheating. Not sure what I was expecting but it’s stupid easy to bang out an .STL to print. I guess I thought it would be harder?

I followed some tutorials and made a couple gears. Hadn’t used my FDM printer in a minute. Results not perfect but good enough.

Not really sure what I want to design and print next but figure I’ll make something. Maybe some more gears lol.

 

[madmanjox]

I thought only sophisticated French artists knew how to create 3D printed items.

 

[NeoSneth]

Fusion 360 is like cheating. Not sure what I was expecting but it’s stupid easy to bang out an .STL to print. I guess I thought it would be harder?

I followed some tutorials and made a couple gears. Hadn’t used my FDM printer in a minute. Results not perfect but good enough.

Not really sure what I want to design and print next but figure I’ll make something. Maybe some more gears lol.

View attachment 61873

Which tutorial did you start with? I'm over here using Tinkercad to make my mockups, but I need to add things like chamfers.

 

[Lagduf]

The most helpful for me getting started was a fusion 360 woodworking series on a YouTube channel called The Fusion Essentials. He has other tutorials too which seem good.

Once I got the hang of it I’ll either just mess around in the program or simply search “how to do xyz in Fusion 360.” There is a ton of content on YouTube.

 

[Lagduf]

I made a robot toy in the style of old space robots and cheap injection molded Chinese toys from flea markets of my youth. Arms, Legs, Head, and the Waist can move. All just friction fit. Looking forward to experimenting with some different ideas for joint articulation. I think I had the most fun modeling his blaster. I’m not sure why I gave him a cloud strife-sequels sword.

I might glue on some bitz and I think I will paint him.

 

[Lagduf]

Looks like Bambu has made a reduced feature version of the Carbon, called the P1P.

Bambu Lab P1P | Your one of a kind 3D printer - Bambu Lab

P1P is the Bambu Lab latest 3D printer for both beginners and professionals.

bambulab.com

 

[Lagduf]

Terrible lighting, sorry. Painted up my robot. Mostly wanted to try messing around with a Vallejo rust paint set I got. Probably should have added some more bits on the robot but I really only had some sheet styrene and Gaslands bits.

 

[@M]

Nice paint job!

 

[Lagduf]

I still have some work to do on his eye and then the sword and gun I made for him. Then I’ll work on a V2 with some more articulation.

 

[@M]

Should be relatively easy to add elbow, knee, and wrist movement.

 

[Lagduf]

Yeah I just have to model it then print it. I already made a pelvis that can support 4 legs lol.

 

[Lagduf]

Whipped this out tonight. Pretty happy with the articulation. I have I think 1/32” built in between the two halves and it’s perfect, especially once I put in the rod the pieces pivot on.

I just used 1/4” dowel because I was too lazy to design a part. I think I will design a piece to connect the to parts next.

Also I think the proportion on the legs is off (in terms of where a knee should be) - I guess I need to study some anatomy.

dowel

 

[Lagduf]

Still making stupid robots. Need to tweak the arm sections ever so slightly as the tolerances were too tight and required more sanding then I’d like.

After I do that and print his other arm I’ll paint this guy up. I added a backpack type feature like the old GI Joe backpacks. This was supposed to be a rocket pack…looks like a scuba tank, lol.

Thinking about doing a bot with wheels before I do some more iterating on the articulation.