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Badrien
Posts: 2118
Location: Netherlands
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 Posted: Thu, 11th Jun 2015 13:14 Post subject: 3d Printers |
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Does anyone here have one? What model and how are you liking/hating it?
Been itching to get one of them kits for a year or 2 now. Got a pretty decent deal on a reprap prusa i3 today and am trying my best to justify NOT purchasing it, the only real reason Ive been able to come up with so far is the maintenance and repair it (might) require(hard to begin with harder since I didnt build it myself)
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dsergei
Posts: 4062
Location: Moscow, Russia
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| Posted: Thu, 11th Jun 2015 14:32 Post subject: |
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Nui
VIP Member
Posts: 5720
Location: in a place with fluffy towels
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| Posted: Thu, 11th Jun 2015 14:45 Post subject: |
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I would only buy a 3D printer if it enables me to print a better 3D printer.
kogel mogel
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| Posted: Thu, 11th Jun 2015 15:11 Post subject: |
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wonder how safe these things are, that plastic heated shit is toxic as hell
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Waargh
Posts: 6997
Location: hell on earth
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Il_Padrino
Posts: 7581
Location: Greece by the North Sea
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| Posted: Thu, 11th Jun 2015 17:41 Post subject: Re: 3d Printers |
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| Badrien wrote: | Does anyone here have one? What model and how are you liking/hating it?
Been itching to get one of them kits for a year or 2 now. Got a pretty decent deal on a reprap prusa i3 today and am trying my best to justify NOT purchasing it, the only real reason Ive been able to come up with so far is the maintenance and repair it (might) require(hard to begin with harder since I didnt build it myself) |
I've done a LOT of research about 3D printers over the past few years and right now, it's not worth it for consumers - unless you have a great use for it but even then, you have to keep the limitations in mind. (if you know about all this, ignore the rest of this post  but this is more a general info thing for others to read)
First of all, only the best (read: expensive and professional) printers print detailed enough that you won't need to do a lot of after-work to get it presentable. The detail is frankly, pretty poor for smaller stuff.
Second of all, it takes fucking AGES to print something - people often don't realize that the work it takes to get a single item printed properly, far outstrips their patience. If the base isn't 100% perfectly flat and the printer not 100% perfectly calibrated, it will cause problems and it often takes a lot of tinkering (especially with the cheaper models) to get a good model out of it.
Third of all, you're stuck with the colour of the plastics used - I've seen people printing their own 3D miniatures for board games (which was my main interest) but the detail is shoddy and painting them won't work out well since these printed models look like they're made out miniature bricks so they're not smooth at all up close:
And of course, the kind of designs you can print has a lot of limitations. Say you have a statue of a man holding his arm downwards - that won't work because the printer would have to start printing the hand in mid-air which it can't. You'd need to add a block in the 3D model to anchor the hand to the floor and then later remove it with a knife.
These were the 4 huge stumbling blocks that put me off 3D printing for now. It's a slow process of getting stuff printed, even slower making a design that CAN be printed and the end result isn't all that great.
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Badrien
Posts: 2118
Location: Netherlands
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| Posted: Thu, 11th Jun 2015 22:55 Post subject: |
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About the toxicity; Id probably be using PLA not ABS. Does it come with the same toxicity? would assume not reading this article.
Thanks for the detailed post Red_avatar. I can see where you're coming from with these problems, and you are certainly correct in your assessment. The purchase as said doesnt come light and its something ive been looking into since basicly the first 3d printer kickstarter went up.
The stuff i'd be printing certainly wouldnt be in that small quarter detail range, but I from what ive seen the nozzle widht and layer height on the i3 do produce somewhat better results than what is seen in that picture. Then again its hard to judge, im not too familiar with US currency so there might as well have been a tree for scale xD
as for the time to print this is not an issue at all, I know its slow and loud as hell, but nothing a decent game and good headphones dont fix.
with the plastic colors I have to disagree somewhat. There is a huge assortment available to suit any base need, layer of primer and some decent paint(but more importantly the modeling paint skills to go with it) and you can make it looks very very good. But again this might be down to size as the stuff I'd be printing wouldnt be like 1 / 2 cm tall like what this looks to be. Mostly try and mess around with making some custom figurines, some custom transformer parts. print some lifehack stuff etc
as for people saying its useless, i obviously disagree lol. Wether its usefull outside of hobbyist endeavors I dont know, but this technology being in the consumers hands, infantile as it may be, is certainly not useless.
RTX ON
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vurt
Posts: 13875
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Sun, 14th Jun 2015 20:03 Post subject: |
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Morphineus
VIP Member
Posts: 24883
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Sun, 14th Jun 2015 22:21 Post subject: |
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Can't you smooth'n it out or just use filler and sandblast it before you paint?
I did some renovating in my previous work, I don't think the process would be much different just because it is on a miniature scale.
I have no experience in your hobby, but to me it sounds a bit 'easy' to expect a finished product out of such devices. I would always think it would require more work than just: create and paint.
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vurt
Posts: 13875
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Sun, 14th Jun 2015 22:30 Post subject: |
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Quite obviously the detail also depends on the skill of who ever does the modelling and printing (and the printer). It does takes practice when it comes to for example materials and also the 3D program and firmware is of importance, and how you decide to print it (a whole model or printing it in parts)..
The first prints i saw from that Swede i'm following, they were awful..he's gotten a ton better, i'd say the look at least twice as good now as when he started, that's totally down to his skills, material and of ZORTRAX firmware..
The model above have good quality since it's extemely tiny.. i bet it looks totally smooth to the human eye (which is good enough for me). and yes, you can smooth them with different techniques too..
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| Posted: Sun, 14th Jun 2015 23:00 Post subject: |
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Let's just agree that it's not for miniatures.
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Waargh
Posts: 6997
Location: hell on earth
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| Posted: Mon, 15th Jun 2015 02:31 Post subject: |
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Yes, after printing you put your stuff into some special liquid (don't remember exactly) which removes all that dust and rough spots. I think it basically dissolves the micro bad spots.
For a shooting gallery Kinect project I did 2 years ago we ordered a custom made fullsize laser pistol/blaster (Mass Effect style). When the parts were printed it looked like shit with all those bits and carvings etc. Then the guys did something with it and on the next day I received my perfectly smooth pistol and the client loved it too. Maybe I'll find some photos.
Today I didn't even need to use my AK. I gotta say it was a good day. (c) - Ice Cube
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so i think it's getting to point where i will buy one this year.. would be really cool to print out some bigger dioramas.. really like that lego castle above..
