3D printing?

[Bricksnbeatles]

Those of you who do it, show us what you’ve printed for pedals/guitar stuff!

Any advice for getting started? What equipment are y’all running and what do you recommend/what should be avoided?

I have some small parts that I need to 3D print, but my university shut down their 3D printing labs and all of the local libraries that have 3D printers are outside of my town, so I can’t use them. Thinking of picking up a cheapo 3D printer from microcenter in the near future since shapeways and all of the other online services are pretty expensive and take a really long time.

Anyway, this is the official 3D printing thread now, I guess. Discuss!

 

[flemming]

How much is your time worth? Cheaper printers tend to require more tinkering around to get good results. I have a Prusa MK3 and it's about as close to plug and play as you can get.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

How much is your time worth? Cheaper printers tend to require more tinkering around to get good results. I have a Prusa MK3 and it's about as close to plug and play as you can get.

Considering I’m an unemployed college student, my time is worth approximately -$15/h

The prusa looks rad, but pricey. I’ve heard that the Ender 3 goes on sale for $99 at microcenter sometimes, and that it’s a decent enough printer and that It’s a good platform for gradual upgrades. I also saw that they have a resin printer for $100 that has pretty decent reviews— not a fantastic machine for HQ pieces, but pretty good for making mid-detail parts nonetheless. Neither seems like something that would be a lifetime machine or anything, but maybe a decent intro into 3D printing nonetheless.

I’m an art major with a focus in sculpture so a nice 3D printer would be great, but at the moment that’s not in my budget. Right now, I just have a little ~80x40x5mm shim to print, so $700 seems especially tough to swallow

 

[benny_profane]

@dawson

 

[Robert]

I have a Monoprice Maker Ultimate....

I'd honestly rather whittle a stick than 3D print anything. I hate everything about it.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

I have a Monoprice Maker Ultimate....

I'd honestly rather whittle a stick than 3D print anything. I hate everything about it.

sounds like you really enjoy it

 

[Robert]

It's about like most anything else.....

No.

 

[peccary]

You're in college, @Bricksnbeatles right? Might want to check on your campus to see if you have access to 3D printers there. Especially if you have any kind of engineering programs at your school. Could be a way to get started without spending much money.

 

[dawson]

@dawson

Aw, thanks for thinking of me buddy but I'm no expert.
I've just been using the same machine and programs since I started in 2015, so while I sort-of know what I'm doing with my old dinosaur, I'm a bit behind the times to be dealing many tips or recommendations.

One thing I'll say though- if you're on a limited budget, I'd stay away from resin printing. Resin is way more expensive than filament and there are a bunch more operating costs I can't think of right now that add up quick.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

You're in college, @Bricksnbeatles right? Might want to check on your campus to see if you have access to 3D printers there. Especially if you have any kind of engineering programs at your school. Could be a way to get started without spending much money.

They used to have a few makerspaces on campus with 3D printing and laser cutters, but they shut them down at the beginning of the pandemic and decided to never reopen the program.

 

[peccary]

They used to have a few makerspaces on campus with 3D printing and laser cutters, but they shut them down at the beginning of the pandemic and decided to never reopen the program.

That's a bummer, dude.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Aw, thanks for thinking of me buddy but I'm no expert.
I've just been using the same machine and programs since I started in 2015, so while I sort-of know what I'm doing with my old dinosaur, I'm a bit behind the times to be dealing many tips or recommendations.

One thing I'll say though- if you're on a limited budget, I'd stay away from resin printing. Resin is way more expensive than filament and there are a bunch more operating costs I can't think of right now that add up quick.

Ah yeah, didn’t think about the other costs of resin. Like you need a whole ventilation system and a UV curing booth and all kinds of additional chemicals or something, right?

 

[Dan M]

I have an Ender 3. No music related projects, just Pokémon figures and hot wheels racetrack parts for my kids.

There’s a bit of a learning curve regarding bed leveling, nozzle and bed temperatures, slicer settings, etc. It took me about 4 weeks to figure it out and get prints to consistently stick to the bed and have decent quality.

10 hours into a 12 hour print and the #%@&$ thing releases from the @?$&%*# bed and starts shooting filament all over the place. . . I was ready to whittle a sharp stick and jam it through the control panel.

But once you fight through the initial learning curve, it’s a pretty capable machine. It was easy to build, but was missing 2 bolts which required a trip to the hardware store. Otherwise, the learning curve had nothing to do with the machine, it was all on my lack of knowledge. (Imagine looking in the troubleshooting forum at a pedal full of cold solder joints, melted caps, solder bridges, etc. And the author is blaming his soldering iron. It’s not the iron’s fault. Same idea with the Ender 3)

 

[justin23000]

I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately too. Is it anywhere near feasible to design a custom shaped knob, have it 3d printed a few times, and then use those to make a silicone mold to cast resin into?

I watched some youtubez about making dice that got me hankering to make my own knob shapes, but it seems like too much hassle to 3d print each one. I’ve got no resin experience though, so it’s likely that casting is an even bigger hassle.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately too. Is it anywhere near feasible to design a custom shaped knob, have it 3d printed a few times, and then use those to make a silicone mold to cast resin into?

I watched some youtubez about making dice that got me hankering to make my own knob shapes, but it seems like too much hassle to 3d print each one. I’ve got no resin experience though, so it’s likely that casting is an even bigger hassle.

Definitely feasible to do since I’ve seen that done before. I’ve been compelled by lost PLA casting for custom brass knobs, but that’s definitely a ways off. Check out the YouTube channel Robinson Foundry to see some really cool lost PLA metal castings from 3D prints.

 

[Robert]

Otherwise, the learning curve had nothing to do with the machine, it was all on my lack of knowledge.

In all seriousness this really sums up my experiences, for the most part.

I went into it all wrong. I had a specific project in mind and didn't care to learn the basics or spend the time dialing in the machine ahead of time.... Oh I still ended up doing it, after many (many) failures. Could have saved a lot of frustration and just done it right the first time.

The one thing I will say though, it is seems like when I finally get things flowing smoothly if I ever let the printer sit inactive for a few months I know it's going to be a real pain to get things going again. I can't just hit the power switch and expect everything to run like they did when I parked it.

It also doesn't help that I'm printing hundreds of jigs on a single little machine sized for hobby use.

 

[Deperduci]

some projects, like the knob you put on stomp switches, is ed zachary what I did, made 1-3 on the resin printer, putzed about getting the hole about even sizewise(hence the 3.. I break crap here and there on the drill press)with the 3pdt/sdpt button make silicone mold now instead of using up a $40+ bottle of printer resin I use this stuff costs like 10~15 from alumilite that's close to double volume.

I use a photo lcd printer becasue my non guitar projects need the finer resolution but the plastic spool setups are getting close! for making effects boxes and knobs, think you can get a FDM printer for well under 200 be it euros or the toilet paper the US uses for currency..

 

[Dan M]

The one thing I will say though, it is seems like when I finally get things flowing smoothly if I ever let the printer sit inactive for a few months I know it's going to be a real pain to get things going again. I can't just hit the power switch and expect everything to run like they did when I parked it.

Yes. When mine sits, the nozzle vertical home drifts like crazy. I suspect cats using it as a trampoline during the night.

 

[Robert]

I recently decided to outsource the 3D printed frames for the drill templates... I figured if I could stop wasting weeks on printing batches I could keep them in stock and possibly reduce the price a bit.

It seemed like a great idea, but the scaling is off on someone's machine (I suspect mine) because what I received is off by a few mm, so they're basically useless.

I haven't gotten the nerve to try again yet.... I knew I should have printed that stupid little boat.

 

[vigilante398]

I recently got rid of my Monoprice Maker Select Plus when I got my new printer, a Wizmaker P1. The Monoprice was $300 when I bought it, and I was able to get decent results out of it, but I bought it in 2018 and fancy features were expensive, so the learning curve took an embarrassingly long time to get over. The Wizmaker is amazing, all the features that were expensive 4 years ago are becoming standard, and the Wizmaker is completely plug and play. Auto bed-leveling, filament run-out detection, zone bed heating, and an array of sensors everywhere to make sure everything is coming out right. Right out of the box I got killer results, and it's been great, and is the same price I paid for my old printer in 2018.

I also have a resin printer that I got last year for Christmas, and it's really cool. The level of detail and the finish you can get with resin is amazing, and as long as you get the bed perfectly level (easier said than done, naturally) it's not hard to get a very good print. Resin is more expensive than PLA, but it's still only $20-30 for a decent size bottle. You do also need a washing and curing station, which is an extra expense, plus you'll need to start buying isopropyl in bulk for washing finished prints.

The main thing I print for pedal work is rocket sockets, I wear out a set every couple months so I've saved myself hundreds of dollars printing my own. I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I was working on SolidWorks certification at my old job so I'm getting better at 3D CAD, and I've designed a couple one-off tools like jigs for occasional work, as well as random stuff like tool organizers.

3D printing is fun, but you definitely need to treat it like a hobby all by itself. It takes time to get the hang of the workflow for it, you really need to put in the work to get it going. The good news is once you get it figured out there isn't a lot of maintenance required.