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3D Printing Thread
- Thread starter Biowarejak
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- 3d printing
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.
I appreciate the detailed explanation, but what I meant was that your usernames are so similar that I often mix them up 
I appreciate the detailed explanation, but what I meant was that your usernames are so similar that I often mix them up
LOL! oh okay
Yes, that is totally my fault, I didn't notice there was a @Matt3D when I registered... but in all fairness I've always been matt3o (http://matt3o.com). Just make sure we don't use similar avatars, huh, @Matt3D
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.
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. The back then raises it up a bit to get airflow for the Mobo/GPU.
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
. The back then raises it up a bit to get airflow for the Mobo/GPU.
I use a Duplicator i3Sorry 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
awesome case!
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 ._.)
(the last time I mentioned checking out the printer in the library: they only do PLA and print runs cannot exceed 45 mins ._.)
I can vouch for Shapeways quality. All prints I've received from them are top notch.
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
Oh totally. I've used them once and it was accurate (although I did use the wrong scale factor. *Facepalm*)
Yeah shapeways is great, i.materialise has never disappointed me either. Though when talking about holes, their diameter might be a little smaller than what you specified, keep that in mind. The position will be on-point, though.
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
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
ahh, got it. Thanks everyone! @Kmpkt @Biowarejak @iFreilicht @matt3o
Managed to get a day with the (as of unprinted) model, I'll post it as soon as I can for follow up
Managed to get a day with the (as of unprinted) model, I'll post it as soon as I can for follow up
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
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
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i wouldnt even bother tryin to print that. Laser cut it out of acrylic or plasma cut it out of aluminum.
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
aside from a slightly wider-than-spec base anyway. So it might be feasible to print if it's modestly sized
@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.
- Jul 19, 2015
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That's actually pretty cool! Could print practically an entire case's worth of components with that build area.
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