Well, I do have to admit that I came from the world of woodworking before coming to the Glowforge.
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Ended up getting one!
Whole machine costs only slightly more than a single L of resin for the Form2ā¦ be nice to have something with a bigger bed and not so high Op costs for parts that donāt need high resolution.
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Exactly this. The time aspect is unforgiving.
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Not only that part of it (which is a very good point), but the time it would take me to learn how to be good at it and not just make a bunch of plastic trash spiderwebs.
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Shouldnāt you spend 96 hours printing and another 96 hours using your print to make a mold and then spending a reasonable amount of time casting copies? I only know a little bit about making molds for injection molding, but with the proper design I would think it is doable for other types of casting.
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Many folks that Iāve seen do this; although, it takes some time to smooth over layer lines and artifacts to make a usable mold. I have not had a need to do this so far, but I have done some research into DIY injection molding out of curiosity more than anything else. I would probably send out any of that work to another shop if I ever needed it.
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I pretty much stick to PLA because I donāt need an enclosure and I donāt have to worry about filament moisture. I use glue stick on the PEI sheet of the Prusa and a piece of wide masking and glue stick on the glass plate of the Creality. I will make an enclosure and I have the parts to make a dry box for my PETG and other filaments.
Spend some time understanding first layer settings. Watch Makers Muse and Tom Sandladererās videos, along with above mentioned 3D printing nerd.
Single most important thing about getting the most out of your 3D printer is learning a 3D design software.
I use mine to make small plastic parts that are useful. Iām not concerned too much about the finished appearance, but you can design to take advantage of layers and lines.
If you want to make stronger things you will need to upgrade to a better nozzle to match the technical filaments, then think about hot ends.
Understanding slicing software is a bit of a challenge. Iām glad I learned using Prusaās fork of Slic3r so I could understand and build on that.
FDM printing has many domains of knowledge. Itās a bit of a challenge to map out the learning curve. There is materials science, 3D design, electronics, mechanical engineering issues, software installation, command and control stuff with gcode. All these things go into the experience and improvement in one might require changes in another thing. Troubleshooting is a challenge. I still have some over extruding issues that I havenāt solved. Itās really on the first layer and not always consistent. Could be some resonance issues. But itās mostly cosmetic and I just ignore it.
But it is so fun to print a part that fits and works as intended. Like the flange for the exhaust of the Glowforge. It makes dealing with the exhaust hose so much easier.
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To me it seems there are the make one of them, make a small amount of them and make many of them use cases. The first is obviously a strength of 3D printing. The second may or may not be ideal for 3D printing or for some type of casting. The last is best accomplished through a steel mold and injection molding: high up-front costs, with a lot of specialty knowledge, plus large runs to distribute setup charges. I would think the market for white walkers is in the first and second group. Especially as Mr. Martin and HBO are likely to have issues with someone producing enough to make injection molding practical.
It is also very possible the guy was trying to figure out if he could even sell one. The $200 may very well have been his small run, some type of casting price.
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I think I will pull the trigger on this one. I will do the self printed mods and wait an see about the dampening and leveling hardware.
But I canāt find the printer for $169 with a US plug.
It looks like theyāre sold out at that price now.
Well, I did it for $179 just now. Thanks for tip.
In a few weeks my wife would like to have a word with you.
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She can chat with mine. They can be annoyed with me together.
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Was holding out for a Prusa ā¦ but, guess that will have to be our second 3D printer ā¦ some time in the future! Had to go for it!
Appreciate the heads up!
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For anyone interested, Iāll post my modifications somewhere over the weekend; Iām not sure where yet.
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Looking forward to it!
That would be great! Mine shipped and now itās somewhere on its āfirst vessel.ā Itās supposed to take 8-19 business days to arrive, though, so Iāve got a lot of time left.
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This is impressive:
but I meanā¦ TEN DAYS. Thatās just not going to work for me.
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I need one.