Any 3D Printers here?
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Phils Arcade
Senior Member
I'd actually start with the free version of Fusion360. There are a ton of tutorials out there, and can be as easy or hard as you want it.
kingtreelo
Active member
this is EXACTLY what puts me off, the amount of people i have spoken to who have 3d printed extra parts and spent a ridiculous amount of time upgrading their kit to only sell it on to buy a better model shortly after and still had to mess about with that as well
i think resin printers kind of take that out of your hands because well...resin, but not sure they are suitable for some things
SketchUp is quite good: https://app.sketchup.com/
There's a free plan but they do their best to hide it.
With entry level printers you have to be into the tweaking side of the hobby as much as the printing side, if that kind of thing floats your boat then it's a fun hobby. That said some of the more expensive entry level machines are getting very user friendly and need less messing about with, check out the Bamboo labs range like the X1 Carbon, it's an amazing machine for the money.
With older printers there was more of a hobby aspect to them, but these days there's little to do, you can still tweak if you enjoy that side, but for me all I do is an auto calibration once in a while and adjust X axis, next to never seen a bad print, I have one of these https://uk.anycubic.com/products/kobra-2-pro not even that much to build on them either.
I got a Bambu Labs X1 Carbon last year. It enabled me to make a Lunar Lander controller for Vectrex. It’s still a work in progress but you can find the latest files (including circuit diagram/veroboard design) here: https://github.com/ferigan/vectrex-ll
This is the one shown on Vectrex fans unite!, is it? Very impressive work. 👍
Yes it is
and thanks! I’ve had a lot of fun making it.
kingtreelo
Active member
X1 Carbon....£1300..is that the one...jeeeeesus on a bike
Yeah, it’s a beautiful bit of kit tho. I wanted to focus on designing/making stuff and not on tweaking a 3d printer to make it work well. The x1c just works.
Opposite end of the scale for me was to buy something that was common enough if I had issues, there would be solutions, so I went for a creality CR6-SE, essentially an ender 3 variant as I see it but with a few things 'upgraded' on it and built ready to go out of the box.
It's done a decent number of hours over the last 2 years or so, and I've only this week had to buy my first replacement part for it which has cost me about £9 - outset initially was about £210-230 at the time iirc
It's done a decent number of hours over the last 2 years or so, and I've only this week had to buy my first replacement part for it which has cost me about £9 - outset initially was about £210-230 at the time iirc
Soon you'll be able to go in Mcdonald's and be served by AI and have ya food 3D printed right in front of you, The Futures Green, Soylent G.....
A few years ago, McDonald’s announced that it would print its Happy Meal toys in 3D, giving children the opportunity to choose directly what they really like. The American chain wants to go further and use 3D technologies directly in the kitchen: by offering a customisable burger that is easy to prepare and above all more durable. In fact, the 3D printed burger should have a longer shelf life to avoid being thrown away too quickly, as is unfortunately the case in many restaurants. The chain is very aware of this problem and often criticised on this subject. 3D printing could allow it to rethink the supply chain.
A few years ago, McDonald’s announced that it would print its Happy Meal toys in 3D, giving children the opportunity to choose directly what they really like. The American chain wants to go further and use 3D technologies directly in the kitchen: by offering a customisable burger that is easy to prepare and above all more durable. In fact, the 3D printed burger should have a longer shelf life to avoid being thrown away too quickly, as is unfortunately the case in many restaurants. The chain is very aware of this problem and often criticised on this subject. 3D printing could allow it to rethink the supply chain.
We just got one of the X1 carbon printers at work and the results are amazing. I have an Elegoo Mars 3 Pro resin printer at home. I think if I ever go the non-resin route I'd have to get a x1 carbon printer for stronger prints (resin is great for detail work but not very strong).
I can't believe how far they've come from a tech perspective in the last 2-3 years as well. I didn't think it'd end up being another potential money pit hobby if I didn't watch myself with it.
My wife is after some miniatures printing for a boardgame so I'll be experimenting with trying to get decent results via FDM and small layers, looking forward to that. I was tempted with a mini resin printer but it's just the smell, mess, space, materials etc. that has put me off.
My wife is after some miniatures printing for a boardgame so I'll be experimenting with trying to get decent results via FDM and small layers, looking forward to that. I was tempted with a mini resin printer but it's just the smell, mess, space, materials etc. that has put me off.
