3D Printed Things?

[Fluffinator]

Hey, I haven't seen a thread like this yet but I wanted to see how many people actually own 3D printers and regularly print from it and to post what you think is really cool that you've printed from it.

[AustinKZombie]

I dont own one but my friends does and he and I once printed butt plugs for shits and giggles

[antoainb]

I dont own one but my friends does and he and I once printed butt plugs for shits and giggles

 

u wot m8?

 

I don't own a 3D printer but I'd also like to see what people print.

[Fluffinator]

I dont own one but my friends does and he and I once printed butt plugs for shits and giggles

well that's one way to utilize technology I guess.

[Real_PhillBert]

I personally dont own one but the company I work for has a couple of them. I have printed a few things in the past. Unfortunately nothing I have printed has been released to production yet so I cannot post any photos.

[NerdNinja]

My school has one and I'm in the class that uses it It's really cool but takes a long time for more complex stuff. So far we printed a wheel, spoiler, and a windshield. We are using it to print toy cars as a project so that's why there all car parts

[darkspeedy26]

i own one

 

here is a video of mine printing a filter to put before a microphone:

 

as long as you think about physics and dimensions, almost everything is possible

 

check http://www.thingiverse.com/ for examples of things

 

edit: i personaly use it to make adapters for the most weird things, i am in the process of making a 3D printed case for a coilgun (not harmfull), gears for electronic projects, pieces for schoolwork, pieces for toys,...

[darkspeedy26]

this topic could help: What to 3D Print??

[Fluffinator]

this topic could help: What to 3D Print??

I'm thinking of getting a 3D printer why did you but the one that you did and can you recommend any for 400 US dollars just enough to get ones feet wet with 3D printing. Thanks

[darkspeedy26]

I'm thinking of getting a 3D printer why did you but the one that you did and can you recommend any for 400 US dollars just enough to get ones feet wet with 3D printing. Thanks

i got the printrbot LC kit version 1: i got it because it was the cheapest one at the time. (but i didn't see the 150 dollars tax to import it in Belgium... Belgium is really expensive ) i have put in a lot of time with problem solving (it were my faults, but still), and i didn't receive enough nuts & bolts (imperial nuts & bolts) (they have great custumer support. they mailed it immidiately to me)

 

if you really want to stay below 400$, i guess one of your few options is the printrbot simple makers kit @ 350$ (excl shipping, tax, filament): http://printrbot.com/shop/printrbot-simple/ you will need to have good skills to put it togetter, and a lot of time to tweak it. It really is not the most accurate quality, its not a speed king, and it isn't big either. the quality will really depend on your skills. you might want to upgrade a thing or two.

i can't really recommend cheaping out on these kind of things. if you calculate your own hours of assembling and tweaking and if you convert those hours into workhours, you could be cheaper off with a pre assembled one for 100$ more (then you are sure it would work)

 

if you built it yourself you would have more of an understanding about how it works tho

 

be sure to not forget filament (40 - 50 $ per killo plastic )

 

personaly i am drooling at the newest ultimaker and the new makerbot replicator gen5 (both with multiple extruders please :rolleyes: ) (i would not be able to justify the cost )

[Fluffinator]

@darkspeedy26 thank you for all that! I'm probably gonna build it myself to get a better understanding of how things work, and that printer looks great you starters. Approximately how much do you buy 3D printed material for yours with those 40-50 dollar rolls do they last a while?

[darkspeedy26]

@Fluffinator i think i bought 2 killos in total together with my printer ( red, blue, green, black, two times white). currently i am through my black, and im to lazy to buy more black. i still have loads of white. it can be quite a big hassle to change colors. i am half through my first batch of filament and im doing 1,5 years with it. i have to admit that i didn't use my printer that much. if prices would be cheaper i would print 24/7 (but now only once a month or so).

it also depends on how "hollow" (or how much "infill") your models are. this also partialy defines how strong your models are.

example of infill:

 

 

edit for prices: the raw cost of these plastics are only 5$ /killo, but a lot of companies make money with multiplying the price *10. there are recycling options such as the http://www.filabot.com/ but this is another investment of 700$

 

edit2: another option would be to make a 3D printer from scratch (a lot of the well known companies, such as the makerbot replicator and printrbot started with the http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap project. you could try to make a mendelprusa/... from scratch (some of the repraps need some 3D printed parts), but a lot of people stop their build halfway, because they underestimate the time + they need to find every specific part themselves

Edited May 22, 2014 by darkspeedy26