3D printing, the future?

Sarah,  The ONLY way I will catch up with you, is if they come out with the Star Trek replicator! Bravo!

ECI

Very nice!  Great to see someone from Austria, I spent 4 years there a while back.

Nicely done. Looks solid. I could think of lots of uses for a 3D printer. I’m also interested in those conversion bolsters, never seen them before.

Sarah, You continue to develop new model building skills with each of your projects as well as well refining existing skills. You are an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your work.

Lee Gustafson

Excellent work! You’re pushing the limits of what we thought possible and it’s really inspiring.

ETA: Greg, this is a great time to get a basic 3D printer to learn on. You won’t get a really fancy resin one for cheap, but there are a lot of good, usable models for well under $200.

Is the tugboat Proto48?

Always a joy reading about your adventures!  Look at the resin printers as they can print with higher resolution.

Jan

"Look at the resin printers as they can print with higher resolution."

Yes, and no. Resin printers will indeed print at a higher resolution, but there are lots of things that you make for which resin is not as good an alternative as the FDM printers and for which you don't NEED a high rez for.  The things that she is making is a good example, quick and easy print, made out of strong plastic. Resin printers are frankly, a pain in the ***. They are great for some things, no doubt, but it is sort of like cooking. You pour the liquid in the vat, don't breathe it if you can help it, then you start your print. IF all goes well, you then open the machine and have a dripping wet item and whatever liquid is left over in the vat. You take the plate off the machine that your print is stuck to and either get your rubber gloves on and take it off the build plate or else leave it attached and open up your Iso alcohol and swish the item around in it for 5 minutes or so. Then you blow off the excess with an air hose and rewash it in soapy water. Then, still wearing gloves so you don't get it on your skin, you have to set it with UV light. This is usually best down while your part is submerged in water, so you need a glass container large enough to hold whatever you print.  Oh yea, you have to remove the item at some point from the build plate. It will be stuck pretty good, sometimes you ruin your part unsticking it. Anyway, once the UV light has cured the part, you can safely touch it now with your bare hands. But don't let the cat or dog chew on it, it is still toxic. Now, if you cured it while in water, it probably has not warped any. Otherwise, you got to decide if slight warping matters.  Let it sit for a week and it may warp more, you just never know. Oh, and while you are waiting, you need to get a bottle and run the left over liquid in the vat through a very fine filter.  You NEVER put used resin back into the virgin resin bottle. And you can dunk you vat into your alchy and clean it too after draining it.

OR, you can buy a roll of plastic of whatever kind you want to use, print it on the FDM printer and it is ready to use, no washing, curing, blah, blah, blah. Whoops, you say the dog got ahold of it and chewed it, no problem, dog will be fine, just print a new one...

An aside, but I just got done last week taking a 6 hours continuing education course on the 2021 International Residential Code as part of my mandatory education for renewal of my architectural licenses.  There is a new code section related specifically to 3D printed homes. 

3D printing is no longer the future.  It is here. 

Resin printers are frankly, a pain in the ***.

not if you have a nice one like a FormLabs3 that auto-fills the tank and has resin cartridges. I rarely have an issue with my prints.

also resin prints are isotropic meaning strong in all directions. FDM or rather tube printers print objects that are inherently weak in the Z-direction. Warping rarely occurs if your print is properly designed. Certain resins used by dentists is not toxic.

True, Formlabs machines are nicer than most, and REALLY expensive.

Other companies are catching up with Formlabs.  Elegoo Jupiter launches tomorrow.  Unlike Formlabs it uses a built plate to keep costs down.  They will have a build volume compatible build volumes and resolutions (10.9" x 6.6" x 11.8" and 0.002" respectively) .

I don't have any experience with the water soluble resins so I can't comment on the smell or toxicity.

Jan

Other companies are catching up with Formlabs.  Not really unless they infringe on its patents.

the Elegoos don't come close to the FormLabs 2s.  at this point the FL3s really surpasses their  FL2s with the FL3's Low Force Stereolithography printing; meaning the support points are so small they easily breakaway from the print without leaving a mark.

Here's an example of a PRR flat car that we printed on an Elegoo Saturn.  We first printed it flat but printing it inclined produce a better model.

Jan

Before you spend 15-20 times more on a Form Labs, do some research.  The resin for these are 3-4 time more than for most of the cheaper ones, but a bigger problem seems to be poor customer service and slow shipment of supplies.   They could be easier to use, more bells and whistles, and less tweaking needed for good prints, but a side by side comparison of prints with the $200 printer I use,  will show no difference.

@AlanRail posted:

Resin printers are frankly, a pain in the ***.

not if you have a nice one like a FormLabs3 that auto-fills the tank and has resin cartridges. I rarely have an issue with my prints.

also resin prints are isotropic meaning strong in all directions. FDM or rather tube printers print objects that are inherently weak in the Z-direction. Warping rarely occurs if your print is properly designed. Certain resins used by dentists is not toxic.

Aren't resin printers old technology?  My brother did his aerospace engineering master's thesis using resin printing technology in 1996.

So is FDM printing.  It is the engineering that goes into the printers.  The low-cost resin printers use LCD panels like in your TV and phone to mask each layer.  Mono LCD panels are used now instead of color which results in faster printing and longer panel life.  An array of UV LEDs instead of scanning lasers set the resin.  That's why you can get a small printer for under $200.  The build area is limited by the size of the LCD panel.

Mechanical techniques like the traveling laser in the Formlabs printers make for a larger build area.

The resolutions of the printers in comparable.i

Jan

Got a new design: I'm experimenting with getting a Union Pacific O-50-6 tank car printed and by now I feel up to designing the model. Fusion 360 is really very intuitive and with some tutorials it turns more and more into a handy tool for modelling bigger projects. The turret's rivet rows were really tricky, though.

nice design.

I have noticed that very small details look great in the 3D modeling programs;

but not so much when printed on a low resolution printer.

you might want to test this before you spend time on details that don't actually show up as detailed in the print.

details smaller than 0.03" (1/32")  will likely breakoff after you remove the supports.

@Jan posted:

Other companies are catching up with Formlabs.  Elegoo Jupiter launches tomorrow.  Unlike Formlabs it uses a built plate to keep costs down.  They will have a build volume compatible build volumes and resolutions (10.9" x 6.6" x 11.8" and 0.002" respectively) .

I don't have any experience with the water soluble resins so I can't comment on the smell or toxicity.

Jan

I've got an order in for a Jupiter ($600 kickstarter price). Hate having to wait until early next year for it to ship, but the price can't be beat, and the self-refilling vat is especially great for large items (as is the extendable Z axis modules). Currently have a Qidi Shadow 5.5s, works great, but the small build size really limits its usability to detail parts for the most part.

I exclusively use water washable resin (have a bottle of the regular stuff lying around, but alcohol was ridiculously hard to come by during the beginning of the pandemic). It's not as versatile, as most tend to be rather fragile when cured, but the ease of cleanup makes it worthwhile for most of the stuff I print.