What's in the workshop? A 3D printer!

[MikkiJayne]

Desktop 3D printing does still look quite prototypey as the layers are pretty obvious even with the best materials. Some of the matte effect filaments (like this silver I've been using) are pretty good at hiding the layers, but you can't get an injection-moulded finish yet. For that you need the liquid resin type printer and they're still quite expensive for a good one. Creality do one for ~500 iirc but I have no idea how good it is. With FDM machines like the CR-10 if you want a gloss finish then you need to sand and paint the printed items. PLA filament takes acrylic paints very well so the usual method is filler primer then sand smooth and paint.

An S5 is quite a large machine which needs a lot of power to heat the bed so really only relevant if you will be printing large things often. Consider that it has very long belts (more stretch) and will have to move the large heavy bed quite slowly for good quality prints. If you'll be printing small stuff then the basic CR-10S is probably a better option, and for the larger stuff (my footrest for example) you can cut the model in half in Tinkercad etc and print it in two pieces.

The other option to printing in PLA is ABS which can be vapour-smoothed with acetone. That will give a gloss finish to printed parts, but you really need an enclosed machine like an Ultimaker for that since it needs to be very hot and thermally stable to print well. The CR-10 doesn't play well with ABS, or indeed PETG / Nylon etc.

There is also a filament called 'Polysmooth' by Polymaker which can be smoothed with alcohol. I've not tried this yet as its quite expensive (£40 a roll) but it's on my list of things to play with next year if I can get a sample.

[gninnam]

Thanks MK.

So - sounds like I may have to wait a bit longer then before I can get the type of finish I want to end up with - especially if I will be wanting to sell the items I make!
I will hold on to the money then for a while longer and see how the market moves - these things seem to move quickly regarding what can be done so hope the money doesn't burn a hole in my pocket

[MikkiJayne]

Knocked up the NLA door handle clip in Fusion360 this evening and printed a couple of prototypes:







Needs a bit of fettling but its a good start.

[steamship]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Knocked up the NLA door handle clip in Fusion360 this evening and printed a couple of prototypes:

And a lot more easier to spot when you drop them.

[HPsauce]

So true, I nearly lost mine (due to carelessness) when changing the window frame over recently after the lift mechanism broke!

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Knocked up the NLA door handle clip in Fusion360 this evening and printed a couple of prototypes:

Needs a bit of fettling but its a good start.

I can't now recall exactly how all the parts fit together, but I wonder if there's any way of changing it slightly so that it still does the job but is less likely to fall off?

A couple of little protrusions somewhere that mean it slightly clips in rather than slides in?

Partner that with some door clips that are more reusable and you could have a little repair kit that would sell profitably.

[MikkiJayne]

I was pondering that while drawing it actually. There's a tiny little nub which is supposed to hold it in to the handle, but given how loose it is, the nub obviously isn't enough. Its much more square on my printed version so that already holds it in better, but there is plenty of scope to make it larger and I'm also tweaking the design so the whole clip is a tighter fit in the handle. All of that should make them considerably less likely to fall out, and the choice of colour was quite deliberate

Replicating the door card clips with this type of technology is practically impossible (at the moment) due to the level of detail and the strength required for them to snap together. My thoughts on that are to actually redesign it using a flexible polyurethane 'grommet' in the door itself (reusable hopefully) and possibly the original pin on the door card. That will need quite a few design and test cycles, and I need to print a new printer which can handle polyurethane (since the CR-10S doesn't). Since I have 200+ door card clips in stock, that one is going to come along later

[MikkiJayne]

Argh! Printer down



A Raspberry Pi camera just arrived so I can keep an eye on the printer without having to sit in front of it so I went to change the filament to 'printer parts purple' and noticed the hotend was a bit loose (might explain why my ASA print last night was so ugle). Dismantled it to tighten the screws, but its actually the two threaded nutsert things which are loose in the X-carriage That doesn't appear to available as a spare part either.

Poop.

[gninnam]

Bad news
I'm sure with your skills you will be able to get it sorted soon.
Regards the PI camera - on my list of things to do once I have the printer working good (like the idea of time-lapse so you can see the print 'grow'!!)

[steamship]

Originally Posted by gninnam

(like the idea of time-lapse so you can see the print 'grow'!!)

I've been watching this thread since the start and am fascinated by what has been talked about. It's all been over my head, but the thought of seeing time-lapse videos of D2 parts being produced (in technicolor) is even more intriguing. Can't wait.