Goal is to stick while printing, then release when finished. Hairspray keeps getting tacky each time I heat it up. Then when cools it becomes a bit more stiff and allows the part to pop free. My next test is to etch or sandblast the glass.
So here's the project I've been toying with for the last week or so. Been experimenting with Sketchup and all of the cool plugins- taught myself how to skin shapes, joint push/pull, and a few other tricks I scrounged up to make this work. Also have become a lot more proficient at understanding the Netfabb software and repairing exports .stl's. Getting the printer set up and running now has become a breeze, although I am still playing with Slic3r settings trying to get things more better-er. Helicopter time. There was honestly no real thought put into this effort, and it shows a bit but I think it turned out nice. Started with a blade, printed it, made the next part, printed it, saw how it fit, made changes if necessary, and here's the final product. Sketchup files: Printed parts. I made a different tail than the one pictured here... Get a tube of crazy glue and start assembling. Plan on printing something to replace the screw, but for now... Again, I've got a different tail now. And fully assembled with the old tail. Learning all sorts of things. Need to keep the bed temps up higher to prevent warping- very noticeable on the body halves. Tolerances aren't quite what I'd like- sometimes printing a 2mm hole the hole turns out more like .5mm if the z-axis isn't set just right for the first layer. More my problem, probably should set up some endstops. All in all, I'm still very impressed with the capabilities of the Mendelmax 2.0. The quality I think is great, but I don't have any other prints from other printers to compare it to. Speed is very adequate, reliability for me so far has been a non-issue. I have had a few bugs to sort out, but they have all been solely electronics related. The worst problem I've encountered so far with the hardware end of the printer is the belts- the printed tensioner on the y axis tends to twist a bit and the belt started to rub on the side of the frame. Adjusted it once and it's been fine ever since. Still need to install my updated z-axis parts too. My students are working on their Sketchup projects right now, so I'm hoping to start running their prints by this time next week!
Very cool. I just realized how lame my sketchup skills are. When are you doing the sketchup tutorial thread?
Sketchucation. Have fun! Seriously though... Just keep piddling around with it. I'm lucky in that I have to show 7th and 8th graders how to use it, 3 times a year. You learn fast that way.
I've actually been using sketchup since it was first offered for free, quite a few years ago. . . but I just use it for architectural stuff and some furniture design. I've never used a plugin, don't know what I'm missing as far as that goes, and seeing you do the wireframe shells like that is pretty impressive. I'll look at that link . . . .
The wire frame was surprisingly easy- the hard part was giving it a "thickness". Took a fair bit of time to clean it up and make it manifold- no holes- so it would print. Have you ever played around on the google warehouse?
I've looked through there a few years ago, I think I used some standard stuff- sinks, chairs, appliances to flesh out some drawings, but that's it. Just what I need for work stuff. Also, my computer is a 5 year old basic laptop, so when I put too many textures in sketchup and try to rotate things, stuff goes south and I get frustrated.
I hear you... We've got computers that are at LEAST 5 years old at school- my students tend to get frustrated with the lock ups real easy. We put off textures / coloring to the very end, seems to help a little.
For those interested. http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-t...rlds-first-3d-printed-tonearm-for-turntables/
More experimenting... Tried my had at "Acetone Fuming". Basically, you let the fumes from acetone melt the printed part a little bit to smooth things out. First attempt involved a tupperware container, some acetone, and a few hours of soak time. Didn't work out so well- the part was fairly thin walled and it just crumpled up. Second attempt I tried it again the same way on a thicker part... but gave up after about an hour. Part: Fuming set up: Did a little more research and learned a few more things. HEAT helps this process out a LOT. Speeds it up and seems to make the whole part flow out more evenly. First step was to build me a catch plate. Took an old hanger and a grass screen from a Briggs & Stratton lawnmower engine, and bent 'em up. Theory being the part will sit on a piece of pipe up out of the acetone, the catch tray will sit in the acetone until I'm ready to take the part out, like so. Found an old #10 can, put maybe half an inch of acetone in the bottom, and put the whole thing on my printer bed. Turned the bed heater on and set it to 90 degrees C. Once it was warmed up, I set the pipe, catch tray, and part in there. Quick cover out of tin foil. It was weird, you can't see anything but when you stick your hand in there you can feel instantly where the fumes are- they condense on your skin and your skin gets cold. 10 minutes in. I probably should have heated it up more before I put the part in. Eventually it got warm enough that the acetone started to "boil". About 20 minutes in. Short vid of the fuming: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6B1pk9ivMdA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Part out, after roughly 25 minutes of cooking and 15 minutes of "cooling down" in the can. Another 10 minutes and the part has started to get harder again. Still soft enough that if I squished it it would leave finger prints. Bottom, where it sat on the pipe. I have an idea for this I'll show you in a bit... Finished part on the right, first attempt on the left. Came out pretty nice! The part is MUCH smoother and a whole lot shinier. I think it would work a lot better if I had let the acetone heat up more before I put the part in- the bottom half looks really good, the top half didn't get as much exposure and it's not as smooth.
Students have finished up their projects for the most part so I started printing a few of their cars. 4 down, 33 to go. :huh Not bad though for a bunch of grade 7's!
You can usually just dip them quickly. Weld-On 3 is what we use but it might be even nastier than acetone. As Acetone is highly flammable (let alone a carcinogen) we have no plans to try it as a heated vapor.
Don't know if it been on here before but there are some free 3D models on there. I like the BMW bike myself. http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/free-3d-models-10121127
Ran the Mendelmax 2.0 just about 8 hours straight today. Students have finished their projects so it's time to get them printed! Just running 4 at a time so far. Takes between 2 1/2 to 3 hrs for 4 cars. Speeds are about midrange to get a little better quality but still knock 'em out fast(ish). 16 down, 17 to go.
Our school district PR guy came to my class last week to take pics... Heres the scoop. Students finishing up their Sketchup projects. The printer... Y'all have seen it before it here it is in it's "home". The heli's final resting place. Edumication. Walked them through the process of exporting the file from Sketchup as an .stl, repairing it in Netfabb, and finally loading and positioning in Repetier. Explained to them how Slic3r worked and showed them a few of the basic settings, then we sliced. They were pretty impressed that we generated 18,000 lines of code for one simple car. It was fun to make them think math for a bit- vectors / coordinates on an X/Y grid, and explain to them a few different g-codes and how the computer interpreted them the same way they do in their math classes. Business end of the printer all set up and ready to go. One of my most useful tools- a webcam, duct taped to a light arm. I can point it anywhere (including my monitor) so they can see what I'm doing up close on the screen without having to crowd around me. What they see on the screen: Annndd..... PRINT! Not real great quality because I had the speeds cranked way up so they could see it finished during class. Got a bunch more done- up to 26. Have just a few to finish up and then we start printing wheels. The students love watching the printer run... We had a test on sketchup / printers on Friday, which I haven't had a chance to look through yet but one of the questions was about what they thought the future would bring to the 3D printing scene. Kind of excited to see what they think!
Two more pics of my ugly mug. Explain some of the capabilities- manufacturing custom parts for Hotwheels. Yeah, this pic... "BEHAVE, or I shall turn you into this vile blue goo!"
this thread needs merged into The Thread of Awesome. No, got that wrong, this IS the The Thread of Awesome!
We have a very expensive (but effective) commercial system that smooths parts. We also bought one of these on Kickstarter to see how it works. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1809448130/3d-refiner-by-3dprintsexpresscom