3D Printing Thread

matt3o

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jun 29, 2017
113
268
@Matt3D @matt3o this is not confusing at all :D

mmh Okay. Let's start over.

PLA is the easiest material to 3D print. It has a low melting point (I print at 205-210°C) and it flows very well through the extruder. That means that you can keep a fairly high printing speed, I can go 60mm/s with my Prusa with no visible impact on printing quality. Also PLA sticks to the print-bed, it doesn't shrink (very important) and it doesn't warp.

All of the above make PLA the perfect material for prototyping and for not-structural parts. PLA breaks before it bends, it's not good to make gears for example and it's not good at high temperatures. That being said, it can been treated afterward to make it more durable. I use long curing time epoxy or polyurethane resins to reinforce the 3d printed model that becomes as hard as rock.

ABS (the material of LEGO) is pretty strong, it bends a little before it breaks, it has a good resistance to heat but it has to be extruded at 250°C with the heatbed at 100°C. It shrinks a little while curing and it warps. It's ideal to print structural parts like gears but in recent years has been mostly replaced by copolyester plastics like PET and PETG.

PET has (almost) the strength of ABS and ease of printing of PLA. It prints at around 240°C with the heatbed at 80°C (YMMV). Problem being it is generally more expensive and it's very sensitive to humidity, reason why I still prefer to prototype with PLA.

Hope it makes sense.
 

entropy

Caliper Novice
May 17, 2017
33
19
Good input, I haven't considered PET so I will look into that. I have PLA ordered for testing. The higher strength materials seem more expensive. I am worried about ABS fumes because I won't be able to install a permanent vent in my garage. Polycarbonate seems like it might be the strongest one that is somewhat reasonably priced, but I would have to wait until I am done with my printer upgrades before considering that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Biowarejak

Colinreay

Cable-Tie Ninja
Aug 28, 2016
198
490
Sorry I'm late to the party, but...

Could I ask what 3d printers you guys are using (sorry if this has been answered earlier :()?

I'm really digging the Creality CR-10 for its large build volume, and the MK2S for its raw reliability and quality. Anyways, man 3d printing just opens up so many doors. I was just messing around in Fusion 360 today and I think something like this would totally be doable, provided you had enough motivation for sanding + finishing.



BTW, the front is lowered like that to fit a 240mm radiator :D. The back then raises it up a bit to get airflow for the Mobo/GPU.
 

Biowarejak

Maker of Awesome | User 1615
Original poster
Platinum Supporter
Mar 6, 2017
1,744
2,262
Sorry I'm late to the party, but...

Could I ask what 3d printers you guys are using (sorry if this has been answered earlier :()?

I'm really digging the Creality CR-10 for its large build volume, and the MK2S for its raw reliability and quality. Anyways, man 3d printing just opens up so many doors. I was just messing around in Fusion 360 today and I think something like this would totally be doable, provided you had enough motivation for sanding + finishing.



BTW, the front is lowered like that to fit a 240mm radiator :D. The back then raises it up a bit to get airflow for the Mobo/GPU.
I use a Duplicator i3 :) awesome case!
 

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Aug 18, 2016
1,949
2,619
Is it okay to ask about printing services here? Looking to do a print but kinda need to temper with my expectations on accuracy. There's a 2.5mm screw hole on each corner and I worry the positions of those holes might inch closer if the model shrinks too much while cooling. kinda looking at shapeways at the moment

(the last time I mentioned checking out the printer in the library: they only do PLA and print runs cannot exceed 45 mins ._.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Biowarejak

Biowarejak

Maker of Awesome | User 1615
Original poster
Platinum Supporter
Mar 6, 2017
1,744
2,262
Is it okay to ask about printing services here? Looking to do a print but kinda need to temper with my expectations on accuracy. There's a 2.5mm screw hole on each corner and I worry the positions of those holes might inch closer if the model shrinks too much while cooling. kinda looking at shapeways at the moment

(the last time I mentioned checking out the printer in the library: they only do PLA and print runs cannot exceed 45 mins ._.)
It's totally fine to ask about that :) I'm sure many of us would be happy to print it for you on some kind of commission too. I've done that in the past for @zovc . Getting quick prototypes with FDM is great for ensuring accurate dimensions imo
 

matt3o

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jun 29, 2017
113
268
my rule of thumb with screw holes and 3d printing

Say you need an M3.

Making it 3 mm won't fit, it's often too small even for auto-threading screws.

3.1mm is a safe bet, good for auto-threading with very little risk of breakage.

3.2mm perfect fit (very loose auto-threading)

3.3mm slightly loose, it can be useful so you get some margin of error in case the hole is not 101% spot-on.

YMMV
 

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Aug 18, 2016
1,949
2,619
Yeah I'm back. didn't make enough progress, so here's the tidiest (but still incomplete) plan of what I'm shooting for so far


would this work? >_<

EDIT: previous post i said 2.5mm and in the pic it said 2.4mm: I bought a caliper and the hole (not the actual threaded one) I referenced from is actually 2.2mm and not 2.5mm
 
Last edited:

Biowarejak

Maker of Awesome | User 1615
Original poster
Platinum Supporter
Mar 6, 2017
1,744
2,262
I personally haven't encountered any warping issues on my printer :) aside from a slightly wider-than-spec base anyway. So it might be feasible to print if it's modestly sized
 

Matt3D

Cable-Tie Ninja
Modivio
Mar 2, 2017
177
444
@slimjim is mostly right this part is best suited to be cut from a sheet of plastic or metal. But it doesn't mean it can't be printed. I have printed a couple of parts similar to yours and warping wasn't the problem. Keep in mind that those 1mm thick tabs are going to be very delicate and they'll break off pretty easily unless you make that part out of metal.
 

jØrd

S̳C̳S̳I̳ ̳f̳o̳r̳ ̳l̳i̳f̳e̳
sudocide.dev
SFFn Staff
Gold Supporter
LOSIAS
Jul 19, 2015
818
1,359
build area apparently a bit under 1ft cubed
 
  • Like
Reactions: Biowarejak