Merry Christmas to me!

[Kim]

Over in my Pennsy A3 Switcher build thread, I talked about another project that was taking my time.  It just happens that this isn’t a domestic project, but building my new Christmas present!

My wife asked me what I wanted this year and I told her I wanted a 3d printer!  So she ordered one (using me as the conduit to select the printer and actually place the order  ).

We ordered it early since I’ve heard the lead time can be long. I was ordering directly from Prusa, which is in Prague, so I was worried the shipping could be quite long – not to mention, they have a fairly significant backlog of orders apparently.  Anyway, we ordered in early October and 3 weeks later it arrived (that would be, on Monday of this week).


How cool is that?

And you can’t just let it sit for 2 months in the box, now can you?  What if there’s a problem of some kind, right?  So, clearly, I had to assemble it!

Here are all the parts that come in the kit.  I ordered the kit version – you can order it fully assembled for additional money, but why would I want to do that?  And let someone else have the fun of building it?!?


And a few days later, here’s the completed printer.  It wasn’t too difficult to assemble, but there is a lot to it. The instructions are quite good.  Very complete.  And they have an online version of the instructions (which is what I used) that have comments from many people who have assembled the kit.  By the issues in the comments, it’s clear that many people building this printer have had very little to no experience in building things.  But there is good help there.  And by looking at the comments I could tell where some of the more troublesome spots were and get people’s input before running into that same problem.  So all in all, it was quite a good experience.  I would highly recommend it!


And after completing the printer I had to print some things.  The printer works great!


Here are the three things I’ve printed so far.  The first one was the Prusa logo below. And the other two are “Benchy” which anyone who’s done any 3d printing probably knows about.  The one on the right was my first attempt.  It was going great till the very end when it detached from the bed and the smokestack became a little bird nest blob.  After diagnosing my issue (I didn’t clean the bed! ) I re-ran Benchy and he came out great the second time.


I’m quite excited about the new addition to my shop.  I don’t have any specific plans for it, but I’ve always wanted one.  And the more I see what people do with their printers on this forum, the more it was clear to me that I needed one too

Thus begins a journey down another rabbit hole!
Kim

[Dave Otto]

Nice present Kim, I'm sure that you will enjoy, it and now that you have it you will find lots of things to print.
I don't have one at home, but do have pretty much unlimited access to the ones at work, FDM, MJF and SLA. If that wasn't the case I would be shopping. 

Dave

[crueby]

Nice present!!




I got the same one a year or so ago, am printing some RC model parts as we speak. Well, type. Nice machine, I also learned early on to wipe down the print bed with alcohol, while its cold, before every use. So far only have used PLA, works great. Also did the kit, fun to assemble, the printhead was tricky. I was impressed with the diagnostic it ran first power up, it detected and told me about two swapped connectors. Their most recent slicer app now takes  .step files from the CAD, no need to save meshes anymore.




Enjoy your new toy, try and keep your shop elves away or they'll print their own pub (trust me, I know)

[Jo]

Nice present  You will learn a lot when you are allowed to use it... after Christmas 


My cheap as chips is still sitting there in case I need a quick jig or something printed 

Jo

[simplyloco]

I bought a Prusa a few years ago now. After learning some Fusion 360 during an initial flurry of excitement, it now sits on the shelf akin to my vacuum cleaner: gathering dust!

[packmule]

Congratulations on your printer.

I bought the same one and its proved invaluable in the workshop, from making replacement gears to holdown clamps. It has also got me to use Fusion 360,something i had no experience of but a lot of playing around and the help of youtube and we're now producing parts i would only have dreamed of making.

[Admiral_dk]

Congratulation with your Prusa 3D Printer 

I got mine in 2019 and it has been a experience mixed with success  and despair   

Mine has been upgraded (MMU2) and slightly modified (added LED's to show Filament Status).
Most of the time it's not in use - but it do participate in Production (making Custom Washer/Spacers in PETG).

It worked almost perfect after assembly and very well a few days later after some adjustments - but some 6-7 weeks later it went downhill and got more and Printed more and more random .... 
First discovered Mistake - I had only turned one of the screw in till it touched during adjustment off the X-Belt and forgot to come back and tightnig it fully - IE. then reason I got more and more imprecise Prints 

The Printer was ordered with the MMU2 but that had longer delivery time, so when I recieved this - I had to disassemble the E-Axis - in order to modify it for the MMU2. This revealed my other mishap - again bad memory - another Screw / Nut - that now was loose      
As the last one explained why it got more and more problems with the Filament Feed - I thought that all my problems where a thing of the past - and they where for several months 

But Filament Feed and Layer Zero problems came back with a Vengance       - to the point off giving up -> six months off disgust + not using ......
When I 'came back' - I started by searching the Prusa - User Board. Here I found out about the Status LED additions. So I added a Red LED to the Printinghead to show the Filament Status and a Green LED to the MMU2. Both work Perfect - but the Colors should have been swapped, as the Red is on when All is Good and the Green lights up when I got a Problem 
With the LED in place, it was easy to Adjust the Tension on the Filament on the E-Axis - so I haven't had any of those problems since .... Knock on Wood etc.

Only real problem left is Layer Zero - and no Alcohol Wipe has solved that ....
But having the Printer print the whole Layer and just stopping here if it's bad - remove Layer Zero and Start from Start again usually works very well (a few times I have needed to do it more than once for the same print). The times where it has done Production Runs, I only had to do this first time and then it will do as many times as I need without any problems - they only reapear when the Printer hasn't been use for a while or I'm printion on an 'unused part of the plate'.

I have lost the 'Glue-Stick' long time ago - and often wondered if it would have solved these situations as no matter how much I rub the Plate with Alcohol (IsoPropyl) it doesn't make a difference - but printing a 'Lost Layer Zero' do ....

The latest Slicer rev. 2.5 has solved many of the other small niggles I had - except now I get a high number of tiny strings - I didn't have before .... Let's see what Revision 2.6 brings 

Per

[RReid]

You must have been a very good boy this year. How about an engineer and fireman for the A3? Whatever, I'm sure you'll have fun with it.

[crueby]

Per, thats why I've stuck with the PLA filament, it doesn't need anything special to adhere to the plate, and seems like a good all-round plastic. Unless there is a need for the properties of one of the others, I'll stay with that one. Fully understand that if there is a need for another, food-safe or extra strength or something, its well worth the extra steps.
 

[Kim]

Thanks, everyone!

Yes, I'm quite excited about it!  Per, sorry to hear of all your problems.  But as with any new tool, there's always a learning curve, and I think I'm up for it.  Guess we'll see!

And I believe an MMU2S is in my future too, though not for a while.  I figured I'd get to know the base machine and work with it for a while before I added the multi-color complications.

Dave, you have a lot of options available to you at work!  That's pretty cool.  I looked at SLA but the smell and messing with the resin just put me off. I figure FDM will do me for a while

Ron, good suggestions!  Now I need to see if Thingiverse has the appropriate models for an engineer and a fireman!

Kim

[A7er]

Per.
I had a lot of trouble with my Ender3 prints not sticking to the bed, until I raised the bed temp to 60 deg. One print I ws sent to try had been set to 50 and i didn't check before printing. It failed. I then reset the temp to 60 and it worked. My new filament is good stuff, (pla), but the print bed resembles an explosion in a string factory. I also have a "ghost" outline of almost everything I have printed with the new filament.
Lee

[Vixen]

This is my early Christmas present to myself. A Clarke 1 ton Press, to which I have added a 9" diameter hand wheel. The hand wheel was based on an idea from Chris (crueby).



Mike   

[crueby]

Nice present! I can't take any credit for the wheel - my press happened to come with one from the factory, and I have to say I never use the wheel, though all I've used the press for so far is broaching, which needs the extra power that the longer lever provides. For light work, the wheel would likely be useful. Your wheel is larger diameter, which will make it more useful too.

Now, get a handful of peanuts, a clean steel plate, and start making peanut butter!   

Chris

[Admiral_dk]

Nice Press Mike 

I didn't mean it as a complain (though I would have liked to had less problems with 3D printing) ....
More some of the things that can happen (at least to me) ....
I don't know about Temperature or Materials .... as I can't (usually) see any other relationship than time between prints - if it has been less than a day or two, I normally get a fine Layer Zero 
Several weeks and I often has First Time, Layer Zero trouble    though to be honest - PLA is often more problematic than PETG 

I have tried to experiment with temperature and I can't say that is has done much to Layer Zero in regard to sticking to the 'Bed' - but it has influence on other parts of the Print - including Warping ....

Regarding my Status LED Mod - I really wished that I had done it when I assembled the Printer the first time, as this could have saved me a LOT of hair on my head (too much scratching) over the years .... but I also get the impression that it is a very tiny amount of Prusa i3 Mk3S users that has these problems (or are aware of them).

Lastly - the MMU2 .... As it was my Boss that payed for the Printer (he oves me more) and he thought that some of the thing that I would be printing for the Company would be in two Colors and I thought that I would need it to Print in two or more different Materials .... But so far I have only 'used it' as a Selector before starting the Print as they ALL has been done with one Filament and no change during Print 
That might change if I start with Flexiables again - they withstand Oil and other agressive substances ....

Thank you all for your suggestions - apreciated - but @ this time in Life - I do have a good relation to my Prusa ....     

Per

[Kim]

Yeah, the MMU2S is a very interesting thing (at least to me).  I'm interested in the multi-color aspect for sure.  But another thing that sounds interesting is using a water-soluble filament for supports.  That seems like it would be really cool.  But then, I haven't done enough 3D printing to have earned the right to any real opinions yet.

Kim

[Admiral_dk]

Water-soluble filaments where one of the reasons why I wanted a MMU2S too 
But I have discovered that rather many things can be printet without them - it just takes longer time to plan yourself around difficulties ....

I have been working on an automatic MC Chain-Oiler System for quite some time - or should I say ; the Reservoir with Intergrated holder for the Pump and mounting to the Bike. Internal re-inforcements are made in such a way that they also are supports (Bridges) that help me 'Print in Free Air' 
Another thing is always to 'Heed 45⁰' if I try to have no support at all ....

This project is also why I mentioned Stringing - as I in all other ways finally had a complete and working version in the last Print - only to discover that one of the internal Oil-Channels are 'partly blocked' and the only difference between the previous version that didn't have that problem (but others) and this - is the latest Slicer 2.5 and it has a tendency to create a lot of very fine Strings, when it 'Jumps' from one segment to the next. I have thought abouth selecting the previous algorithm in Slicer 2.5 and see if all the is well .... 

Per

[crueby]

The stringing is usually a function of which plastic you are using, nozzle size, and temperature. Are you using the presets in the slicer for the filament type and nozzle size you have? I rarely get any with the PLA, other plastics are known for that problem when bridging gaps. Also, do you have supports turned on? If not, and its trying to span a horizontal gap, there is nothing to support the span and it sags down.

[ddmckee54]

I always used to get stringing.

You might want to check your retraction settings in your slicer.  I always felt the default retraction distances were a little too conservative, especially if you have a Bowden drive extruder.  On my direct drive extruder, I can get by with a retraction distance of 2-5mm.  On my Bowden drive I bump that up to 10-12mm.  You might also want to check when it will retract, some slicers give you the option to decide when retraction is required.  Less retractions mean a faster print since it does take a small amount of time to retract the filament each time it stops printing, then extend it again before starting printing.  I don't mind a longer print time if it means no stringing.  I've checked the estimated print times and increasing the retraction distance usually only adds a few minutes to a print time of several hours.

Also check to see if your slicer has a "wiping" setting, if it does then be sure it's enabled.  This will move the nozzle back over the print to break any string that may be forming.

Don

[Admiral_dk]

Just to be Clear - I had a perfect Oil-Line when Printed in Prusa Slicer 2.2x 2.3x 2.4x but Not in 2.5 and they are all Printed with Default settings, for and with Prusa PLA Filament.
Like the rest of you (that don't have a Bowden Extruder) - I almost never experinced Stringing with PLA for 3 years. BUT after the (otherwise great Improvement) - I have lots of (thinner that hair) Strings with 2.5 ...

Slicer 2.5's Great Improvement (Seriously it is) - is based on an adaptive and Dynamic change of a host of Settings for Every Single detail on Every Layer, in order to optimize print quality, Speed (time) and Filament use + apperance, strength etc. ...!!!.... and as mentioned - It does work really well (it was Invented by Cura).
One of the ways it does so, is by continuesly adjust the Filament Feed during print - to a whole new Level of complexity 

I agree, that it has to do with the Filament Feed, now having a very tiny amount off 'Slightly too Late Stop' - before any G0 Move (between print) .... I usually do not bother with changing the Default Settings (as it can take God knows how many attempts to get right) ....

Per

[Kim]

I'm certainly sticking with the default settings in the slicer for the moment.  It scares me to think of making changes to any of those options that show up in "Advanced" or "Expert"!  I can barely handle the "Simple" interface as it is!

I do notice a bit of stringiness, but I have no previous experience to compare it to.  All I've ever known is the latest 2.5 slicer.  For about for days!    I've got quite the learning journey ahead of me!

But today I printed my first items in PETG.  That's kind of an interesting material.  Not as forgiving as PLA, but it sure looks nice!

Kim

[Kim]

Well, I've spent many weeks playing with my new 3D printer!  And what fun! 

I had no idea I’d spend this much time bonding with my new toy, but I did!  I’ve printed piles of trinkets and dozens of fidgets.  But a few of the more serious things I’ve done (that aren’t relegated to the Top Secret file) are some 200:1 scale launch vehicles.

When I saw these on Printables.com I just knew I had to make them!  I’ve always been fascinated with the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo missions.  I remember watching those on our black-and-white TV.  I even got to stay up past my bedtime to watch the moon landing!  I was so excited!  (I was only 7 at the time).

Anyway, with that intro, here’s a picture of some of my work.  On the left is the Saturn V used in Apollo 11 and following moon missions. In the center is the Saturn 1B, used in the Apollo 7 mission and a few others (ones that didn’t go to the moon).  The last one is the Space Launch System Block 1 configuration.  This is the launch vehicle that was used 2 weeks ago to launch Artemis to the moon!  While it doesn’t hold the same spot in my heart as the Saturn launch vehicles, it’s pretty cool!


If  you’re interested, you can find these models on Printables.com here:
Saturn 1B
Saturn V
SLS Block 1

The guy who designed them, KmoBrain, has STL files for many other launch vehicles, all at 200:1 scale, which is pretty cool. click here to see his other modesl

I plan to build the Space Shuttle and Falcon 9, possibly others.  I haven’t found a good Mercury Redstone yet. If don’t find one I may design my own.

For now, I’m going to switch my attention back to my Pennsy and see if I can make some progress there!

But this has been a super fun diversion for me.  What a fun rabbit hole to fall into!
Kim

[RReid]

Those are very cool, Kim. Have you been to the Evergreen Air&Space museum in McMinnville? They don't have any Saturn rockets, but they do have a Titan II, which was the Gemini launch vehicle. Lot's of other interesting stuff as well.

[crueby]

Those are spectacular!  I remember as a kid, when Apollo program was going on, I built a plastic model (Revell?) of the Saturn 5 rocket. Back then if you wrote to NASA they would send you all sorts of pictures and brochures of the Apollo program, patches, all that sort of thing. Great fun!


When I visited the Dayton Air Museum (run by the Air Force) they had a Gemini capsule - was amazed how tiny it was! They really meant Spam In A Can, the astronauts were stuffed in pretty tight.

Very interesting to see the rockets side by side for comparison.

[Kim]

Ron,
Yes, I've been to the Evergreen Air Museum.  But it was ONLY an Air the last time I went.  They hadn't opened the Space part yet (it was under construction). I'll have to get back there sometime and see the space section!

Chris,
I've been to the Dayton Air Museum!  That's quite the place! So HUGE!  So much stuff it was almost mind-numbing.

I've also been to the Kennedy space center and seen the Saturn V laying on its side, all separated into stages so you can see the engines and everything.  Visiting Kennedy space center was a spiritual experience for me!

Kim

[RReid]

This one is also worth a visit, should you ever make it to Alamagordo.
https://www.nmspacemuseum.org/

We were just there last month.

[crueby]

Ron,
Yes, I've been to the Evergreen Air Museum.  But it was ONLY an Air the last time I went.  They hadn't opened the Space part yet (it was under construction). I'll have to get back there sometime and see the space section!

Chris,
I've been to the Dayton Air Museum!  That's quite the place! So HUGE!  So much stuff it was almost mind-numbing.

I've also been to the Kennedy space center and seen the Saturn V laying on its side, all separated into stages so you can see the engines and everything.  Visiting Kennedy space center was a spiritual experience for me!

Kim

I last went to the Dayton museum a few years ago, after they finished building the fourth hanger. The hangers are enormous  - hanger 4 has a B52, a 747, space shuttle mockup, and a Valkerie (among hundreds of other planes), and you can't see more than one at a time since they get lost in the distance! Spent a whole day there, and saw 3-1/2 of the hangers, need to go back and see the rest of the last one. Maybe next year on my way to Indianapolis...

[Kim]

I last went to the Dayton museum a few years ago, after they finished building the fourth hanger. The hangers are enormous  - hanger 4 has a B52, a 747, space shuttle mockup, and a Valkerie (among hundreds of other planes), and you can't see more than one at a time since they get lost in the distance! Spent a whole day there, and saw 3-1/2 of the hangers, need to go back and see the rest of the last one. Maybe next year on my way to Indianapolis...

Yeah, when I was there they had the fourth hangar.  It took my son and I all day to go through it!  That place is massive.  And I do remember seeing the space shuttle mock-up and the B52 and all.  Quite the place for sure.

This one is also worth a visit, should you ever make it to Alamagordo.
https://www.nmspacemuseum.org/

We were just there last month.

I don't often make it down to New Mexico, but next time I do, I'll make it a point to see it!  Looks impressive 

Kim

[Kim]

Earlier I'd mentioned that I had printed some stuff that was to be Christmas gifts, so wouldn't show those here. But, now that Christmas has passed, and the gifts have been given, there is no longer a surprise to spoil.  So I can share a few more things that I printed during my hiatus from my Pennsy build.

This is a print-in-place egg, that is hinged at the bottom and opens up:


To reveal this cool F-14 fighter jet!  I made a little one (about 1 ¼” long (30mm)) and a bigger version (3x larger, almost 4” long (100mm)).  The F14s are also print-in-place and the wings are internally geared so that as you swivel them out, they move out together.  I found that really cool!


This is a full-sized human skull.  The model was actually scanned from a real human skull, so it’s anatomically correct.  A Christmas present you ask in horror?  Well, I have a daughter who’s really into this kind of thing, and I can tell you, it was a real hit with her!    And it is actually quite cool.


This is a large (about 12” tall) statue of Mando and baby Yoda (or more properly, Grogu) from the Mandalorian.  Also, quite a hit with its recipient.


Anyway, Just wanted to share some of the things I printed. The skull is the longest print I’ve done so far – it printed in 2 parts, the lower jaw and everything else. The large part (everything else) took about 72 hours to print!  But it came out beautifully!

Kim

[Admiral_dk]

Cooool Prints Kim 

How did you do the two colored 'Baby' - was that a manual change of Filament Colors during Print ?

.... or have you got an MMU2S in the meantime 

Per

[Kim]

How did you do the two colored 'Baby' - was that a manual change of Filament Colors during Print ?

.... or have you got an MMU2S in the meantime 

No, I haven't gotten an MMU2S... yet anyway...

The baby Yoda head was a separate part, so I printed it in green. The hands were just a part of the hover cradle thing.  But I wanted the hands to be green too, so I spent a few days learning MeshMixer so I could cut the hands out of the hover cradle and make them independent parts. That way they could be printed in green and glued in later.  That was quite a challenge for my first MeshMixer project, but it worked out pretty well

Kim

[Kim]

For Christmas this year, my wife got me the Prusa Mk4 upgrade kit!  This includes new electronics, new stepper motors, and many, many other small updates to the printer.

Here are the contents of the kit spread out on my table, ready for assembly to begin. The first step of in making this was to print out many of the new plastic parts used for the upgrade.  They supplied a small spool each of black and orange PETG to make these with.  Since this is an upgrade, the assumption is that you have a Prusa Mk3 printer and can print these out.   It’s pretty important to remember to do that before you start taking the printer apart for the upgrade!  You can see all the parts I printed there (the pile of black and orange plastic gizmos).


Lots of work later, and here’s the assemble kit, back in the little ‘enclosure’ I keep it in (it’s a lightweight photo tent, and I use it to help keep the printed parts warmish while they are printing in my unheated shop.)  Here I’m printing one of the new Prusa test models.  The white ball-looking thing in the lower right corner of the picture is actually a WIFI baby monitor that I picked up on Amazon for cheap.  It is great for keeping an eye on the printer while I’m not in the shop.


Here’s the completed model.  It’s a fairly detailed model of a rocket engine!  Very cool!  And it prints quite fast!  Probably 2x faster than the older version that I upgraded from. (You weren’t kidding when you said it was fast, Chris!)


But I’ll have to say, my favorite feature on the new printer is the auto first layer height setting.  That is just super cool.  But there are many cool features with the new Mk4 printer.  Quite a fun process to build it and I’m looking forward to printing more cool things with it.

Kim

[steamer]

Cool!!!    That's a useful thing Kim!

Dave

[Dave Otto]

That is a nice looking print, great work!

Dave

[crueby]

Thats great!  I really like the Mk4 version, so much faster than before. The first firmware they put out was a little buggy for the nozzle cleaning part, but they fixed that about a month ago. The engine came out great - when will your elves be launching?      

[cnr6400]

  Sounds like a great printer upgrade Kim! Nice looking rocket engine print. Will you do the other 4 to build a scale model Sat-elf 5 ? I see Chris had a similar thought. 

[Kim]

Thanks!  Yes, I'm pleased with the upgrade for sure.

As for more rocket engines... probably not.  One's plenty.  And besides, if you tried to actually fire them up, you'd likely end up with a little puddle of PLA on the floor to clean up!

I have printed several 1:200 scale rockets in the past (Saturn V, Saturn 1b, SLS Block 1, Falcon Heavy and Star Ship) and I've got a few more that I want to print.  But that engine is a tad large for any of those! 

Kim

[Alex]

Hi Kim - thanks for posting this, and for the others for chiming in.

My first home printer was a Printrbot Simple back sometime 2013/2014 - wooden kit, Dremel sanding drums and fishing line to move the X/Y axes, wooden stepper/nozzle assembly. Never got it to work very well at all. I did purchase a metal printhead assembly from them, which was better, but.

(I did have a Stratasys one at work I could use, so it was like night and day...)

I'm still on the fence with a home printer, (once bitten twice shy) but you guys do make it look more useful than the olde Printrbot turned out to be!

JohnS Ottawa.

[Kim]

Alex,
I can't really compare the Prusa to other printers, since I haven't owned any, but I can tell you my experience with it.

This printer just works.  It prints what you ask it to, and it does it well.  You don't have to do a lot of fiddling with this and that because Prusa supplies presets for all major types and brands of filament.  It has auto-bed leveling, which removes a big issue people have with other printers. And now, with the Mk4, it has the auto first-layer height so you never have to do the first level Z adjust setting anymore - which wasn't terrible, once you figured it out, but now you don't have to anymore.  And it prints quite accurately. Online, I read about people having to adjust their prints by +/- some percentage factor to get them to come out the right size but I've never had to do that.  It just works.   And the PEI build plates work great too.  I have a smooth plate and a textured plate. I use the smooth for PLA and the textured for PETG.  Other than not getting the plates clean enough every once in a while, I've never had any bed adhesion problems.*

I can say that the Prusa printers, while a little more expensive than other options, just work.  I've never had to play with things any more than I wanted to. All settings are available for you to play with, and I've done my share of playing from time to time. But when I want to just print something, it always just works.  I've done very long prints before (30+ hours) without a problem and it just works.

This has been my experience.  I don't work for Prusa, don't get a kickback from them, and I paid my own money for the printer and upgrade kit (well, I let my wife do it for me  ).  YMMV and all that. But it's just been a dependable printer from my experience.  I don't think anyone could go wrong with the Prusa Mk4.

So if you wanna give it a go, I think you'd be pleased!
Kim

PS  And building the printer is quite a fun project too.  I found it fun and educational and all that.


*OK, one time I accidentally (stupidly?) printed PETG on the smooth plate and actually damaged the PEI on one side of the plate getting the print off the build plate because it adhered SO well (which I knew was a problem, duh you're supposed to use glue stick if you use the smooth plate).  Since then, I've stuck to using the textured plate for PETG.  It works quite well and I've never used stick glue or hairspray or anything. Just a good clean build plate!

[ddmckee54]

RE the 3D printed rocket.  I knew I'd seen one before, just couldn't remember where.  Integza has a YouTube channel and he has done it.  He used potassium permanganate and hydrogen peroxide as the fuel/oxidizer with a 3D printed nozzle - more of a restrictor.  (That's the same stuff they used to power the turbopumps on the V2.)

You get a very dirty steam as the exhaust, but it does work.  Maybe not well enough to lift off, but the elves could make a nifty rocket sled.  If you start to see purple stains around the shop/house, they didn't get the idea from me.

[Kim]

Well, of course, I had to go google that Integza guy and, well, that was pretty interesting stuff!  Some of it seemed a little scary to a non-chemist like me.  I worried about the fumes he was creating with that silver and all!  But really interesting nevertheless!  And his printed nozzle worked OK, but I think his rockets would have worked better if he had a smaller throat which would have built up higher pressure and thus higher velocity of the gas being expelled from the nozzle.  But hey, I'm no rocket scientist!  And his video was sure fascinating!

Kim

[ddmckee54]

With different nozzles he could have definitely gotten higher pressures.  But that probably would have exceeded the strength of the materials he used.

It's been a long time since I watched the video about the V2 turbo pumps, but I THINK they were getting a couple of hundred PSI out of their steam generators using the same chemicals Integza used.  Pressures like that would probably be more than the 3D printed nozzle or the acrylic tube could withstand.

[Kim]

Good point!  Have to think about that   

Kim

[Vixen]

OK,
So where does this Integza guy, legally obtain concentrated hydrogen peroxide from??? Things may be different in the 'Land of the Free' but in most parts of the world, concentrated Hydrogen Peroxide mixed with a well know solvent, are classified as components for terrorist bombs and therefore is strictly controlled. The 100ml rule for carry-on liquid on both domestic and international flights is a direct result of a failed H2O2/ solvent bomb plot.

Very dilute Hydrogen peroxide (3% to 6%)is readily available as a hair dressers bleach or as an antiseptic, but I am sure it is far too dilute to produce much (if any) reaction with a catalyst.

Just a rhetorical question, I have no desire to play with the stuff.   

Mike

[ddmckee54]

Don't know if it's legal or not, but one of his videos shows that he concentrates the dilute stuff.  Vacuum distillation maybe, not a chemist so I don't know, just guessing. 

[crueby]

Easy to find his house - follow the plume of smoke and the sound of sirens...

[Kim]

Easy to find his house - follow the plume of smoke and the sound of sirens...

[dudeface]

Well, of course, I had to go google that Integza guy and, well, that was pretty interesting stuff!  Some of it seemed a little scary to a non-chemist like me.  I worried about the fumes he was creating with that silver and all!  But really interesting nevertheless!  And his printed nozzle worked OK, but I think his rockets would have worked better if he had a smaller throat which would have built up higher pressure and thus higher velocity of the gas being expelled from the nozzle.  But hey, I'm no rocket scientist!  And his video was sure fascinating!

Kim

As he said, the fumes are just water vapor so it's probably one of the safer things he's done. 

Things may be different in the 'Land of the Free'

He's Portuguese. And it isn't any easier to get stuff like that in America than anywhere else, we may seem insane to you but we aren't really...