Show us your 3D printer/ CNC machine!!!

[KingRahl]

You still need to filler and sand printed parts. There is a "step size" to anything printed. Even on high def it's going to be 0.1mm for FDM printers. It's not horrible to smooth, but it does need to be done...

This can be quickly avoided using the "vapor bath" method. With enough experience, after putting 2 parts together you can get the seam to disappear as well. (But only for ABS plastic)

... I found it was just full of bubbles which would effect the volume of material and the print...

The bubble problem is usually a moisture problem in the plastic. Drying it can help. Unless the filament DID have bubbles in it. Then, I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[Katsu]

I actually did a vapor bath the other day. It works well on smaller ABS parts, but I am not sure how you would safely vapor bath a full sized helmet or something, as sealing a glass container is an important part of the vapor bath process from what I've read. The vapor needs to get to the top of the container and then have heat reduced to bathe it down on top of the piece, and the cap is also to prevent the vapor from escaping and getting into the heating element you're using and catch on fire. I'd be nervous heating up a 12"x12" glass jar personally, never tried it but I get images of shattering glass.

 

[KingRahl]

Some of the tutorials say the acetone should boil. I don't let it get that hot. I use an aluminum pot on my heat bed at 80c. I haven't felt in danger of it getting on my electronics yet. But if you don't feel safe, then DEFINITELY DON'T do it. The vapor doesn't quite get to the top so I have to put my prints down low into the pot. Just don't leave it in there too long. You'll start to lose some of the finer details and sharper edges. I keep a fan running to help dry the parts to prevent sagging. And since it softens the outer layers you can pinch together any open seams and put it back in the vapor to smooth what you just pinched. I just recently had to do that on my sippy cup model http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:171401.

 

[big red frog]

That's extremely impressive. From the looks of the material it wouldn't be especially viable for wearing, even hardened up with resin, but that looks really great as a base for smoothing and casting. How much does all of this cost, from start to finish, if you don't mind me asking?

Hi there,

The material is actually impressively stable, its pla, and can be painted with standard car primer / paint. These are easily wearable, though I cant say they have had much day to day wear and tear yet.

Its less than a single roll of plastic all told.

 

[Katsu]

Some of the tutorials say the acetone should boil. I don't let it get that hot. I use an aluminum pot on my heat bed at 80c. I haven't felt in danger of it getting on my electronics yet. But if you don't feel safe, then DEFINITELY DON'T do it. The vapor doesn't quite get to the top so I have to put my prints down low into the pot. Just don't leave it in there too long. You'll start to lose some of the finer details and sharper edges. I keep a fan running to help dry the parts to prevent sagging. And since it softens the outer layers you can pinch together any open seams and put it back in the vapor to smooth what you just pinched. I just recently had to do that on my sippy cup model http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:171401.

The reason to boil and keep a lid on it is mostly because the idea is you get it hot enough it goes to the top of the jar, then cool the jar and it "settles" on the top of the piece to get better coverage over the whole thing.

I also got a chance to play with a 3Doodle the other day. It was less impressive than I was expecting. The build quality was fairly low (cheap plastic body that creaks when held, cruddy fan that rattled and hissed the entire time, trouble keeping hot enough, and it only takes 3mm plastic which is hard to come by, painfully slow) It does have interesting use for patching up other 3d prints though. I may buy one so I can spot fix a lot of the problem prints I've been getting lately.. (Pictures later)

Here is what I did with the 3doodle though, I feel like I was in preschool art:

 

[Serin]

My impatient waiting for the arrival of my printer has actually been quite productive.

Been working on making WMHunterTLS's Battle rifle models printable.
After giving up on the high-res model I found his low-def one and cut it in half.

Not quite perfect yet, but should be printable at a small-ish size.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:174602

Thoughts?

Anyone got any tips for cutting up models for printing at full sized dimensions?

 

[KingRahl]

The reason to boil and keep a lid on it is mostly because the idea is you get it hot enough it goes to the top of the jar, then cool the jar and it "settles" on the top of the piece to get better coverage over the whole thing.

Yeah. I know WHY they do it. I'm just saying it's not necessary.

Anyone got any tips for cutting up models for printing at full sized dimensions?

In Blender there is a "Modifier" called "Boolean". Add a "Plane" where you want the cut and add the Boolean to your object (make sure all sides of your plane go past the size of your object your cutting). Change operation to "difference" and set object: to plane. To get the opposite side just rotate your plane 180 degrees, or "flip normals".

Alternatively, you can split the model into functional parts. I was able to print my scope for the battle rifle since it's "UN-Peppable".

 

[big red frog]

I have been looking at options on the Hi Res model, it's an unnecessary beats but would still prefer to go from this down to something manageable.

About time I learnt my way around mesh lab anyway, but it keeps puking on what should be straightforward decimation, so likely the original is just too heavyweight.

 

[Serin]

Yeah. I know WHY they do it. I'm just saying it's not necessary.


In Blender there is a "Modifier" called "Boolean". Add a "Plane" where you want the cut and add the Boolean to your object (make sure all sides of your plane go past the size of your object your cutting). Change operation to "difference" and set object: to plane. To get the opposite side just rotate your plane 180 degrees, or "flip normals".

Alternatively, you can split the model into functional parts. I was able to print my scope for the battle rifle since it's "UN-Peppable".

Mmm! Thanks Rahl.
I'll give that a shot and see what I get.
Still stumbling my way around learning blender

@Big Red
Yeah, I've been trying to get the high res version printable for about 2 weeks now... Even cutting down the faces to under a million is still seemingly enough to make most printer software suites die horribly.
It'd be doable if I could work out how to effectively delete all the inner intersects and faces without having to manually cut them out.

 

[KingRahl]

...It'd be doable if I could work out how to effectively delete all the inner intersects and faces without having to manually cut them out.

Try running the file through Netfabb. http://cloud.netfabb.com/

 

[big red frog]

It's not cleaning the file that is the problem. Netfabb fixes, it doesn't simplify.

Mesh lab will try to simplify but it soon breaks down.

I can get some of it into a solid for rework, but not enough. And the solid models are unmanageable with the implied face count. Why the flat faces are so dense in faces in the first place I just don't know, seems so unnecessary. However you have to respect the work that went into the original model, even if I don't like the face count.

I have another few tricks to try before I nuke this path.

 

[Serin]

Try running the file through Netfabb. http://cloud.netfabb.com/

No joy unfortunately, fails every time even with heavy decimation.

 

[KingRahl]

If your main problem is just too many vertices on an edge where there doesn't need any, you can select the vertices in Blender and select merge vertices. Or if you're just trying to have lots of it removed try the "decimate" modifier in Blender. Ratio 1.000000 means 100%. So dropping it to .5000000 would be 50%.

 

[Serin]

Yeah like Big Red' said, the decimate function isn't really helpful in this regard.
The high res model is pretty much unworkable, hence me using the low res version.

The scope turned out fairly nice though, once separated and run through both free Netfabb services.

 

[KingRahl]

I'm working on the BR_MKII_Updated file for you. I've decimated it 50% and now I'm merging vertices. And I also removed the flat side, so I'll mirror it and make the full rifle.

 

[Serin]

I'm working on the BR_MKII_Updated file for you. I've decimated it 50% and now I'm merging vertices. And I also removed the flat side, so I'll mirror it and make the full rifle.

*strokes imaginary beard*
Why thank you kind sir! I look forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[big red frog]

Sounds like I will have to take another run at blender if it is capable of semi interactive simplification.

Just about any other tool I can work with, but there is something in the blender approach I find impenetrable :-(

 

[KingRahl]

Here's the simplified version of the BR http://www.4shared.com/file/YNXXbLRt/BR_MKII_Updated_by_Serin_Decim.html (to scale)

The lens for the scope is removed so you can add your own glass. (especially if 3d printing)

 

[Serin]

Did you run that through a slicer Rahl?
Repetiers Slic3r kinda botched the model fairly well, blocks etc etc.

Running it through Netfabb basic once does help correct the problems somewhat.

 

[KingRahl]

No. I only cleaned the model up for ya. I wasn't going for printability.