Author Topic: New 3D Printer  (Read 2557 times)

Offline maury

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New 3D Printer
« on: December 27, 2020, 02:33:01 PM »
Folks, after several years of being on the fence about getting a 3d printer I finally pulled the trigger. I have a friend who has a Ender 5 that he is happy with, so not knowing anything about 3D printing, I chose that one. I have to say the workmanship and functionality is top notch. It has a nice print envelope, although i have already found a project I want to do that won't fit. It took a couple of hours to assemble, and came up working first try. The learning curve went quickly too. My first print was an owl which came with the printer as an .STL file.
I used the CURA slicer, which, after being used to Solidworks and BobCam software, I found to be a bit akward and cheesy. But its also free and after learning how to use it, I find it to be more or less exactly what is needed.

maury

"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

Offline maury

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2020, 03:56:31 PM »
So, one of the things I have been wanting in my shop is a flashlight holder. While assembling some of my projects I find I need 3 hands, one for a light.
I designed this holder in Solidworks based on a similar project a friend has printed to hold his iPhone. The base and post are brass.
maury
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

Online cnr6400

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2020, 04:42:13 PM »
Nice one Maury!  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:
"I've cut that stock three times, and it's still too short!"

Offline Pete49

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2020, 03:42:47 AM »
Can't go wrong with the Ender. I have the 3 V2 and love the almost silence, the cooling fan being the only noise. Enjoy you new life as a hobby machinist nerd  :lolb:
I used to have a friend.....but the rope broke and he ran away :(....Good news everybody I have another friend...I used chain this time :)

Offline JC54

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2020, 02:05:35 PM »
I have also now got an Ender 5 Plus. so much better than my old "cheap as chips". Have fun now that you have come down the "rabbit hole".   :old: :DrinkPint: :DrinkPint: John
When the Fun Stops,, Stop!

Offline maury

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2021, 07:45:25 PM »
Yall, I've been busy with my new toy. Hope Y'all had A good Holiday and stayed healthy.

My shop is a bit dusty and dirty, so I decided to build an enclosure for my Ender 5. I had some plexiglas laying around from a previous life, and I decided to go ahead and use it. It should protect my machine for as long as I'll need it.

So, I decided to take a short break from building engines, and build a clock. I had built clocks back in my woodworking days, but I always bought the movements. This time the movement is the main part of the project. I have a nice start on the project, and I want to say the download from Thingiverse is surprisingly well engineered. I am most impressed.

So I included some pics of the back part of the frame.

maury
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

Offline Allen Smithee

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2021, 11:50:25 AM »
I used the CURA slicer, which, after being used to Solidworks and BobCam software, I found to be a bit akward and cheesy. But its also free and after learning how to use it, I find it to be more or less exactly what is needed.

I know what you mean about CURA! I've tried several slicers and the one I seem to prefer is PrusaSlicer (also free) which in "expert mode" gives access to all the settings, many of which can be saved in individual profiles. So for example you can have a profile for a particular brand/colour of PLA+ filament that defines temperatures, cooling options, speeds, retraction settings etc that you just load for the current part - you can then thing "well for this part I think it might want to go a bit slower" and tweak that one setting for this one print without over-writing the profile.

It also seems to produce better G-code files in that the files from CURA seemed to do things less efficiently. For example when running a G-code file from CURA it would heat the bed, and then when the bed was up to temperature it would heat the extruder and only then start printing. The files from Prusa would heat both the bed and the nozzle at the same time which could easily knock 2 minutes off the delay before the print starts.

€0.0007 supplied (YMMV),

AS
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Offline maury

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2021, 04:25:54 PM »
Allen, thanks for tuning in.

Also thanks for the tip on the Prusa slicer. I downloaded it, and found a few things I already like. It runs on my 32 bit shop computer for one, a big advantage for me. It seems at first glance to be a bit more mature software, but since I'm used to the cura slicer I'll have to do a project with it to find where everything is. I'm too new to 3D printing to know how to use the nuances between each to decide which one is better for an individual project.

Still working on the clock.

maury
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

Offline Admiral_dk

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2021, 05:01:02 PM »
Nice looking clock - are the printed pieces done more than one filament in one go, or are they glued together to get the result ?

Offline maury

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Re: New 3D Printer
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2021, 05:41:09 PM »
DK, thanks for the compliment.
The Cura slicer has the ability to add a filament change macro to the G-code. You can add multiple macros. What happens is you program what layer you want the new color on, and the printer pauses there. You change the filament and continue. no glue.

maury
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

 

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