Thread 106978886

Do any anons own a 3d printer? What do you use it for and how has your experience been so far? I am considering getting a mid range one

I kind of want to get a resin printer to print and figurines of anime girls and/or cool robots (and then paint them)
but I am fat and lazy and probably won't gitgud at painting anytime soon

>>106978886 (OP)
>What do you use it for
Nothing. It seems cool but I never have a reason to use it. I really like the idea of generating 3d models in openscad. Things that have been useful, I made some guides for a few of the sliding closet doors in my house. I tried making something for work related to a custom casing for a device. It worked but I think we scraped the project regardless it was always a quick and dirty test. I think I going to try to use it for a part of a cat door insert I want to put in my window. Put cat door in plywood sized to height of window. Use 3d printer to create a connector between the plywood and window frame.

>>106978927
>Nothing. It seems cool but I never have a reason to use it
>lists useful things he has made with it

>>106978909
Resin is a pain in the ass.

>>106978886 (OP)
I use mine to make custom sized containers generally. Boxes for microcontrollers, mounting points etc
Recently I printed a new lid and legs for a mini pc so it can fit a fan inside and got the temps down like 20-30c

>>106978945
yes but it has much higher print resolution and minimal layer lines which is all you really care about for nonfunctional aesthetic shit. especially at small scales like parts for plastic models

>>106978886 (OP)
It's extremely useful, you can print household things instantly instead of buying them online and waiting for days

>>106978939
I got it so many years ago and those are the two actual real things I've used it for and really just the closet guides. Which I obviously could have bought for stupid cheap anyway. Cat door will be cool if I actually manage to do it

>>106978969
Can you print different materials in resin? I switch from pla, petg and tpu95 regularly.

>>106979043
Actually my parents asked me to design some wine glass holders to keep the glasses stable in the dishwasher. They have been using those for years. I could not figure out how to print the special filament needed to withstand the dishwasher well though so the layers start falling off.

>>106978886 (OP)
They seem like too much of a hassle to own and maintain. I just use services like Shapeways and Xometry. If I do buy one it will be a resin printer.

>>106978950
>Recently I printed a new lid and legs for a mini pc so it can fit a fan inside and got the temps down like 20-30c
how often are you using it? 4-5 times a month?

>>106978886 (OP)
3D printers are cool toys but I use CNC machines for most projects.

>>106979153
>CNC machines for most projects.
which? what are your projects

>>106978909
Same. I am shit at painting, and have no use for minis since all my tabletop games take place online, but it is still fun.

I also tried printing things to make resin molds and do some basic metal casting with a low melting bismuth alloy. It worked and is really cool, but I don't know what to make now.

>>106979310
Try lost PLA casting.
>print object with sprues
>dip in plaster
>heat in kiln to burn out 3D print
>pour in metal

>>106978886 (OP)
I use mine to print parts for my shitbox and cases for shitty electronics projects
Got one of the cheapest printers available in my area, Ender 3V3 KE, I love that I don't need to fuck around with calibration, shit just works

>>106978886 (OP)
>got 3d printer for free, in unknown condition
>always thought about buying one, could never justify the cost for an uncertain usecase
>figure "well now if i can fix this one up and test to make sure it works then i have one and i can use it whenever
>new nozzle, tighten the belt, level the bed (as best as you fucking can on an ender 3 v1 fucking christ)
>test it, benchy comes out as good as it can
>"sweet! now we can do stuff with it"
>2 months and 4 rolls of filament i have never used later
>have done zero useful things with it as of today

what the fuck do i even do with this stupid shit beside print useless crap that clutters my home?

>>106978886 (OP)
>What do you use it for
I 3d print prototypes and parts I sell.
Makes about $20,000 a year as a nice side gig
3D printing is every engineer's dream.
Rapid prototyping in less than a day for pennies.

>>106979523
>I 3d print prototypes and parts I sell.
what do you print?

>>106978886 (OP)
i use it for making stamps, printing replacement parts for my headphones and printing parts for my RC-Plane
i want to get into firearms but I only have 20 rounds and don't know where to get more

experience has been quite good, 150 dollar printer works fine ... but you gotta watch out for the spool getting tangled up, putting a empty paper towel roll on the spool-mount has solved the problem for me though

>>106978886 (OP)
Got Bambu A1 mini and couple of cheap spools from aliexpress. It just works, no tweaking or anything needed, only reduced printing speed to 50% since it wants to tear my desk apart and I don't care about speed. I print all kind of stuff with it brackets, adapters, cases whatever. pic related, printing atx blanking plate for picopsu.

people who want to work with 3d printers are all mentally challenged.

i'm making this as a statement of fact after 20 years of professional work in IoT and robotics. anyone who actually wants to print out shells is retarded or batshit crazy.

>>106981372
wdym, why?

i know that some people argue that it should only be used for creating molds

>>106981435
i probably don't have the answers you're looking for, anon. my blanket statements are observations without any prescriptive elements. it's just what i've seen.

the sort of people who gravitate towards 3d printing are a bunch of weirdos. they want to print their girlfriends or guns. they swear up and down about personal freedoms and information etc, but that's their MO.

once you know this, you cringe when they are added to your team, you cringe when they speak up in meetings, and you cringe when their "contributions" are above the line in the coming quarter.

>>106981470
so?
why does gun-printing give you the ick?

if they print some weird anime or starwars-reddit stuff then I get it though

>>106981278
Car parts my guy.
Random shit from cosmetic to functional

>>106981372
I think you can apply that to any group.
3D printing is useful.
Quick and easy prototyping.

>>106978886 (OP)
I have a bambulabs P1S
I have used it to 3d print firearm parts (some i designed, some of the larger ones i found online), but mostly i use it to print thinks i designed in google sketchup, that are purely for functional purposes, like a custom outdoor housing box to hold a raspberry pi pico w and a 24v to 5v buck converter and 3 relay modules. Other random shit like a custom fish tank media filter but even after gassing it with acetone it started leaking a month in

>>106981500
>google sketchup
Shame google dropped it.

I use Blender to make my STLs

>>106981498
>Random shit from cosmetic to functional
Got IBM M keyboard missing one feet, someone made model of it and I just printed it and now my keyboard has prosthetic leg. How cool is that.

>>106981538
>Shame google dropped it.
i think i use the 2017 version. i think its pretty nice and easy for beginners to use. Its more for achetectural stuff, like where you want to specify a n exact length and shape. It can't make nice push/pull eyeballed geometry like blender

>>106981557
I started learning sketchup but dropped it because someone told me it's "dead end", ofc we're talking about last google version - 2017.
Switched to Fusion but yeah, way harder and complicated for retards like me. Actually I'm kinda depressed seeing how effortlessly and fast people are designing stuff despite not having any mechanical engineering background.

>>106979362
>sprues
I refuse.

>>106978886 (OP)
>Do any anons own a 3d printer?
yes
>What do you use it for
stop harassing me

>>106979018
>you can print household things instantly
consoomer 3d printers are pretty neat but the "instantly" definitely doesn't apply to them unless you spend a bunch

>>106981605
instantly as in not spending time on calibration and stuff like that. it does take hours to print big parts but you don't have to do anything anymore. just click print and you're done, you wake up in the morning and your part is magically there. even 5 years ago it was normal to spend hours on fine tuning and calibration.

>live in an apartment
>every time I print something it smells like I should call HAZMAT

>>106978886 (OP)
>Do any anons own a 3d printer?
no, but I have a friend who has one. he doesn't do anything with it, so he's always super stoked to print stuff for me when I ask him. it's very cost effective, kek.

>>106981545
nothing wrong with that

>>106978886 (OP)
I used it a lot when I first got it for printing literally anything I could, including useless decorative shit. It gets old fast, but nowadays I still use it like 4-5 times a year on something I actually need. It's worth the $240 I spent on it, but your mileage may wary. If I lived in the US where I can get same day Amazon delivery, it would probably be a lot less useful.

>>106981605
Modern printers can be pretty fast. I came from an old ender 3 and printing like a small box was a 20 hour print, now the same can be done in 4 hours on my new printer. I don't think we're gonna get significantly faster than that anytime soon, but most items you might need take between 1-4 hours to print, which is really not that bad.

>>106978886 (OP)
print everyday things like vases, trash bin, fly swatters, rockets...

>>106978886 (OP)
Dildos
Any shape and size

>>106978886 (OP)
Here's the only Venn diagram you need about consumer-grade 3D printing

>>106978886 (OP)
I have 3D printed protein structures for displays.
Also a couple things like stands and cases for lab consumables.

>>106982093
>too retarded to know about usecases

>>106982105
this looks very good

>>106982109
Those aren't my models, just a search result that looked similar.
It's a PITA waiting 3 days for a big (30cm long) model to print.

Pic rel is what we have. The software is absolutely terrible, 2/10.

>>106978886 (OP)
I bought a cheap 200 dollar one like 6 years ago no
>how has your experience been so far
I use it mostly for /tg/ related things, so in that regard it's saved me tons of cash on deckboxes, dividers, and containers for card games and board games.
I think a more modern one would be much more accurate but for what I use it for it works out.It's really handy if you have a small widget you need but would be a huge pain in the ass to get. Small things like plastic tabs to hold up cabinet shelves or picture frame holders or nail mounts are just really useful

>>106982128
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/h2d-pro

>>106982172
I wish

>>106978886 (OP)
>What do you use it for
Keeping myself from buying another 3d printer.

My CNC mill is cooler IMO.

>>106982266
>google it thinking it probably costs 5-10k
>cheap models for as little as 200-500 dollars
wtf

>>106978886 (OP)
Hey OP, because of your thread I started researching newer 3D printers and decided to buy a BambuLab P2S. So your thread made a man on the other side of the planet spend his hard earned money on something. Thought you would enjoy knowing I won't eat for the rest of the month.

>>106982093
basically this. even now that everything has been Le Enshittified, every time I'm like "i really wish i had X; maybe i should just 3d print it" i come to my senses and find one used somewhere or nigger-rig it through other means.

if i really truly need it one day, every public library has one now anyway. theyve officially gone the way of 2d printers

https://youtube.com/watch?v=GEHNijssAKc
Watch this
A simple 3d printed shape holding a literally ton

>>106978886 (OP)
Functional parts.
Small/medium plastic kitchen organizers.
Curiosities.
Little custom gifts with people's name on it.
TPU sleeve with my name and design on it for my expensive insulated water bottle.
Skinny can sleeves with a custom logo and decorated with glitter paint as coozie/gift
Electronics enclosures.
Cases for electronics with padded TPU inserts.
TPU cup holder mat
Phone mount for my car
ASA car parts

>>106979018
>instead of buying them online and waiting for days
They don't have overnight delivery where you live?
As long as I order before midnight I normally have it in the morning.

Some shops even have express delivery where they deliver the same day.
But that's more expensive and I'm too much of a cheapskate to pay to have something in 4 hours when I can wait a day.

>>106982632
Part of the appeal is the mental process to design and print the part yourself. It is a brain exercise even when you're just downloading a 3d model from the internet and slicing it for your printer.

Orientation of the part and print settings will change the qualities of the final part. As will filament selection.

Also post processing can be a fun art project.

>>106982663
That has nothing to do with the original claim.

>>106981372
You're just old and bitter, grandpa

>>106978909
resin prints feel chalky & heavier to the touch and they'll snap if you carry it around in your pocket, I like the aesthetic and layer lines and feel of normal pla prints. pla printers can print in multicolor now or different "materials" like wood. also if you're gonna print without supports, sla sticks to the bed with the force of a trillion suns and requires boiled water + razors to peel it off or a flexible magnetic plate.
it gets absolutely everywhere, you have to have newspapers everywhere and don't peel off the shipping plastic from your printer because it's guaranteed to get stained by resin and if you try to clean it off with ipa it reacts with the plastic casing and makes it cloudy. also sla can't print ball socket joints or hinge joints because even though it has high resolution, light bleeding makes it completely fuse together, most flexi models are meant for pla. sla prints much faster (3x) though and the printers tend to be cheaper and the prints are more novel/rare and people won't be able to tell its 3d printed. its toxic though even when cured & covered in tiny resin particles, don't give it to a kid, he might put it in his mouth, don't splash that shit in your eyes or you might go blind and keep the printer well ventilated but away from sunlight at all times

bigger or low detail sla prints don't look as impressive as pla, like an old game running on a crt vs an lcd display. the layer lines add texture and detailing

>>106982266
How are consumer CNC mills nowadays? Can they finally handle aluminium milling and not cost $10k+?

I hecking LOVE my $1000 toy printing machine! I love printing Funko pops and all my favorite Marvel™ superheroes!

>>106984662
if you live in burgerland 3d printing guns is pretty retarded when you can just buy them for a $100 dollars bucks from walmart.
if you need to be untraceable you can just buy a stolen handgun in cash, they're everywhere in cities

>>106984662
>3d printing the meme brace
Why? That thing literally only exists to skirt the law. If you're 3d printing shit just print it as a normal AR pistol or print a normal stock, why compromise like this

>>106984864
>3d printing guns is pretty retarded when you can just buy them for a $100 dollars bucks from walmart.
very true and why i hate le fgc liberator meme faggots. to boot they not only need regulated parts kits (or rather, parts that would be regulated anywhere where you NEEEED to 3d print a gun because you can't get one for 100$ at walmart) but even if they didn't they always insist on using the classic "milspec" plastic AR15 pistol grip. as if when you're in a cucked country you would be able to buy that. and they dont include it in the big package of filez. you have to go on thingiverse or whatever and find one and hope it wasnt made by a noguns and actually fits

>>106984662
you can give them to women or to children like your niece. bitches love the clown

>>106984864
>when you can just buy them for a $100 dollars bucks
not you still need a permit or tell the police about it?

when you 3d print something in your own basement no-one will know

>>106985033
>not
don't

;=;

>>106978886 (OP)
prototyping. once you have the shape you like, you send it to china to get a high quality print.

i don't have one, so i have to continuously send adjustments to china. can't be bothered with microplastics, fumes, etc. for now.

>>106978909
Resin printing is awesome

>>106983121
I only use it for through hole PCBs and milling wood but it's great for that. DESU that's all I really wanted a 3d printer for and 3d printers can't do those two things.

>>106985154
its good for figurenes, for everything else (practical things, fidget, flexi, big things), pla wins

>>106985185
100% this
I have some bases that I only print in PLA,but with high detail ones,like Thanos,resin is my go to

>>106978886 (OP)
>Do any anons own a 3d printer?
Yeah
>What do you use it for?
Prototyping, statues (like Guild Wars grenth monument), Warhammer 40K models for a friend, dildos for dildo moulds, replacement parts for those brittle classic macs, HDD to SDD brackets for servers
>How has your experience been so far?
Fucking awful. The person who has experience in using it has to use his abilities in all formats to even get it slightly working. 3D modeling to reduce triangles. 3 different programs to prep the model: one for structs, one for pathing, and one for exporting it correctly. Programming to change the software/OS to a different one. Then a shitload of research to figure out what each and every possible setting even means. Also, more research to figure out temps of each filament type. Making sure that the settings are set in every way for that filament type. Then the whole process of making sure the 3D printer is perfectly aligned and washed with rubbing alcohol just to find out your filament has too much water in it and is bubbling, even at the right temperature.
>I am considering getting a mid range one
If it were up to me, I'd buy high end one to reduce the amount of work and stress needed for each and every single print. If nothing else, at least a very modern one. Those older ones are a pain in the ass. TL;DR: 3D printing is an entire hobby, not plug n play (yet).

>>106981372
>anyone who actually wants to print out shells is retarded or batshit crazy.
yeah, i am crazy.

>>106985033
it helps if you read both sentences in a post before replying to it

>>106985154
that's fucking huge, damn

>>106985033
>not you still need a permit or tell the police about it?
in most states no actually, it's carrying it that needs a license (which is usually just a two day course and like 80 bucks in admin fees, it's literally cheaper than getting a driver's license even in canada let alone in most of the US)

>>106978886 (OP)
Yes
I've made a few things, nothing I've modelled myself though. I'm pretty bad at it and the waiting is killer (Have an Ender 3, very slow & loud).

>>106985423
That's what she said. I'll see myself out.

>>106986004
>That's what she said.
nah she's a ho. my XS dragon dildo is smaller than that, she didn't say that.

The only printer I have is a cheap $7 thermal printer that prints necessary stuff for me.

>>106986004
I have never heard any woman say that to me in my life or will I everjga8y

>>106981987
What printer are you using?

Yes
I have s bambulabs

I unironically have zero use cases for a 3D printer despite mulling over wanting one.

>>106981987
Ender 3 V3 KE. So far I had zero issues with it and it was cheap. It's about 4-5x faster than my old Ender 3 was and apparently the newer printers like BambuLabs and Creality K1/K2 are even faster than that, but I don't really need the extra speed that much.

>>106986564
Ender 3 V3 KE. So far I had zero issues with it and it was cheap. It's about 4-5x faster than my old Ender 3 was and apparently the newer printers like BambuLabs and Creality K1/K2 are even faster than that, but I don't really need the extra speed that much.
>>106986720
If you don't have a lack of space in your house, just get one. You can get a great printer used as cheap as $150, new for like $250. I say that's worth it even if you only print twice a year. Plus when society collapses you can print your own guns and lead a wasteland gang.

Don't print often enough to buy one. I just order off some chink website for a few bucks and wait a week. They can even print in metal for about 3x the price of plastic.

>>106978886 (OP)
I've lost count of all the things I've printed. It's true there's tons of 3d printer owners that look for reasons to print stuff and end up with a house full of junk.
I've printed speaker adapters for my car, fan shrouds, cases for little electronic builds, magazine speed loaders, knobs for my camping stove, broken headphone parts, etc.
There's some stuff I've printed that were a waste of time or money but my printer has definitely paid itself off by now. $150 brand new on a sale with all the features I could want from a bed slinger.

>>106978886 (OP)
How hard is it to set up, do i have to code any shit to get it to actually work and What's a good one for beginners?

>>106978886 (OP)
I make small specific boxes to hold shit in

>>106989875
With BambuLabs it's literally Apple-retard level. Just load filament, download a model and click print. The new creality K1/K2 level printers are also pretty simple, but a bit more tinkering might be required.

>>106978886 (OP)
Lots of little plastic doodads that collectively probably would have been less expensive to buy than the cost of the printer but it's nice to make thing when I need them. Looking around my office, I have an anti-tip base for my Yetri tumbler, a height wedge for a trackball, end caps for shelving units so it's not bare metal exposed that I could get cut on, cable channels and clips, and a bunch of fidget toys (if you know, you know). That's just in this one room. There are other items spread throughout the house. None of them all that valuable on their own.
I've also made gifts for my parents' hobbies.

>>106991912
Yeah the k1 was super duper “tinkering” with that piece if shit