OT: Are desktop 3-D printers ready for prime time?

[Ricky C]

On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 5:33:04 PM UTC-4, Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote:

torsdag den 23. april 2020 kl. 23.23.17 UTC+2 skrev Ricky C:
On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 3:48:37 PM UTC-4, Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote:
torsdag den 23. april 2020 kl. 21.11.24 UTC+2 skrev Ricky C:
On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 2:54:32 PM UTC-4, Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote:
torsdag den 23. april 2020 kl. 20.13.18 UTC+2 skrev Ricky C:
On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 10:12:42 AM UTC-4, jla...@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote:
On Wed, 22 Apr 2020 23:40:17 -0000 (UTC), John Doe
always.look@message.header> wrote:

Seems many 3-D printers in the $500-$750 (US) range can do ABS plastic
now. Or not?

Thanks.

Aren't they slow? I've read of interesting shaped parts taking days to
print.

Not sure what you've heard. Something like the visor bracket would take some time, but not ridiculous amounts like days. For the most part construction time is related to the amount of material required.


I as far as I can tell it takes about an hour to print the visor bracket,
in contract to that I saw some factory with a single injection molding machine is making 5000 similar brackets a day

It seems mostly like a mental exercise, people like to feel they are doing
something

I do understand the intent. Gandhi encouraged Indians to make their own clothing to be free of the industrial might of England. So they bought and used millions of hand powered sewing machines and England got the message.

If enough people were to make them, this could help at the real crunch. But I think we are past that no?

LEGO has a factory here, they converted a few of their machines and are making 13000 visor a day, That factory normally makes ~120million lego bricks a day so if things very really desperate I'm sure they could easily ramp up

I think legos were the inspiration for the science fiction replicator creatures in Star Gate. I wonder what plans LEGO has for so many bricks!!!???


they sell them I think they sell something like 75billion bricks a year

That's a lot of replicators.

--

Rick C.

++ Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
++ Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

[John Doe]

Ricky C wrote:

John Doe wrote:

Seems many 3-D printers in the $500-$750 (US) range can do ABS
plastic now. Or not?

What would you like to make with a 3D printer?

I wanna make a Glock...

https://youtu.be/u_nyLGjab4s

 

[bitrex]

On 4/23/2020 5:23 PM, Ricky C wrote:

On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 3:48:37 PM UTC-4, Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote:
torsdag den 23. april 2020 kl. 21.11.24 UTC+2 skrev Ricky C:
On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 2:54:32 PM UTC-4, Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote:
torsdag den 23. april 2020 kl. 20.13.18 UTC+2 skrev Ricky C:
On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 10:12:42 AM UTC-4, jla...@highlandsniptechnology.com wrote:
On Wed, 22 Apr 2020 23:40:17 -0000 (UTC), John Doe
always.look@message.header> wrote:

Seems many 3-D printers in the $500-$750 (US) range can do ABS plastic
now. Or not?

Thanks.

Aren't they slow? I've read of interesting shaped parts taking days to
print.

Not sure what you've heard. Something like the visor bracket would take some time, but not ridiculous amounts like days. For the most part construction time is related to the amount of material required.


I as far as I can tell it takes about an hour to print the visor bracket,
in contract to that I saw some factory with a single injection molding machine is making 5000 similar brackets a day

It seems mostly like a mental exercise, people like to feel they are doing
something

I do understand the intent. Gandhi encouraged Indians to make their own clothing to be free of the industrial might of England. So they bought and used millions of hand powered sewing machines and England got the message.

If enough people were to make them, this could help at the real crunch. But I think we are past that no?

LEGO has a factory here, they converted a few of their machines and are making 13000 visor a day, That factory normally makes ~120million lego bricks a day so if things very really desperate I'm sure they could easily ramp up

I think legos were the inspiration for the science fiction replicator creatures in Star Gate. I wonder what plans LEGO has for so many bricks!!!???

The trouble with building a machine that can replicate itself is similar
to the trouble with building a machine that can "think."

Sort of a "systems integration"-problem. Yeah you can make machines that
can do bits and pieces of the tasks of self-replication in isolation, or
neural networks that can do similar things to things the brain does, in
isolation.

But how do you get from there to "The Whole Owl"

 

[bitrex]

On 4/23/2020 6:40 PM, bitrex wrote:

On 4/23/2020 6:35 PM, Ricky C wrote:
On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 5:46:28 PM UTC-4, bitrex wrote:

But how do you get from there to "The Whole Owl"

I don't remember any owls in Star Gate.  A lot of snakes and a few
space monster beast things, but no owls.


https://www.reddit.com/r/restofthefuckingowl/

a short-hand notation for "how-to guides" that are like "How to draw an
owl, step 1: a circle"

"step 2: picture of the whole owl! and you're done"

<https://www.reddit.com/r/restofthefuckingowl/comments/g6v3mx/how_to_solve_mathematical_proofs/>

You see here, it's clearly true that 1 + 1 = 2. therefore with a little
thought the Riemann hypothesis is also true

 

[bitrex]

On 4/23/2020 6:35 PM, Ricky C wrote:

On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 5:46:28 PM UTC-4, bitrex wrote:

But how do you get from there to "The Whole Owl"

I don't remember any owls in Star Gate. A lot of snakes and a few space monster beast things, but no owls.

<https://www.reddit.com/r/restofthefuckingowl/>

a short-hand notation for "how-to guides" that are like "How to draw an
owl, step 1: a circle"

"step 2: picture of the whole owl! and you're done"

 

[Ricky C]

On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 5:46:28 PM UTC-4, bitrex wrote:

But how do you get from there to "The Whole Owl"

I don't remember any owls in Star Gate. A lot of snakes and a few space monster beast things, but no owls.

--

Rick C.

--- Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
--- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

[John Doe]

Seems the affordable 3-D printers are all made in China, but the ASA
filament (UV resistant, outdoors use) is made by at least two different
companies in the USA... FilamentOne and 3DXMAX.

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2020-04-22, John Doe <always.look@message.header> wrote:

Seems many 3-D printers in the $500-$750 (US) range can do ABS plastic
now. Or not?

For ABS you need a heated bed, and the head needs to be able run slightly
hotter vs PLA. It's a faily common capability or a cheap upgrade.



--
Jasen.

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2020-04-23, jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com <jlarkin@highlandsniptechnology.com> wrote:

On Wed, 22 Apr 2020 23:40:17 -0000 (UTC), John Doe
always.look@message.header> wrote:

Seems many 3-D printers in the $500-$750 (US) range can do ABS plastic
now. Or not?

Thanks.

Aren't they slow?

Slow would be an understatement.

> I've read of interesting shaped parts taking days to print.

It's more the volume of the part than the shape.

--
Jasen.

 

[Tom Del Rosso]

Jasen Betts wrote:

On 2020-04-22, John Doe <always.look@message.header> wrote:
Seems many 3-D printers in the $500-$750 (US) range can do ABS
plastic now. Or not?

For ABS you need a heated bed, and the head needs to be able run
slightly hotter vs PLA. It's a faily common capability or a cheap
upgrade.

And tips from youtube say that ABS warps during printing if there are
slight air currents, so you have to enclose the print area.

 

John Doe <always.look@message.header> wrote in
news:r7vhja$e1v$1@dont-email.me:

Seems the affordable 3-D printers are all made in China, but the
ASA filament (UV resistant, outdoors use) is made by at least two
different companies in the USA... FilamentOne and 3DXMAX.

Go straight to the industrial level and get a made in the USA 3-D
METAL printing CNC workstation like GE and Boeing uses. Get the big
restart contracts.

Might have to take out a loan for that one though.

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2020-04-23, Ricky C <gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com> wrote:

On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 7:03:39 AM UTC-4, Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote:
torsdag den 23. april 2020 kl. 12.35.22 UTC+2 skrev Ricky C:
On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 4:51:08 AM UTC-4, TTman wrote:
On 23/04/2020 06:03, boB wrote:
On Wed, 22 Apr 2020 21:45:12 -0700 (PDT), Ricky C
gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 7:40:21 PM UTC-4, John Doe wrote:
Seems many 3-D printers in the $500-$750 (US) range can do ABS plastic
now. Or not?

Thanks.

What would you like to make with a 3D printer? I've considered having one, but I think it would sit 99.9% of the time. Kinda like having my own PCB assembly equipment.

Doesn't one of the shipping store companies have 3D printers for use now or did that not pan out? It sounded like a good idea, but I recall they charged by the time or weight of material and could not give you a price until it was done.


Some of the Maker places have these you can use. They're closed now
though I'd bet

Our company has had a few 3D printers over the years and they have
paid for theselves many times over I think.

I know that if I had one at home I would not get much else done.
Same would be if I had a drone so I guess I will just wait a while.

$500 is pretty cheap !


The UK is awash with people/schools/ etc. making face splash guards..
One guy on the Isle of Wight has made over 1000, materials being
crowdfunded.

I can't figure out how a 3D printer helps make splash guards. A kayak factory in Kentucky (Lightning I think) is making face guards. They are a flexible band with a sponge foam block attached at pivot points to a clear plastic sheet. What part of that can be printed? Seems like it is all pretty simple to make by standard means and a whole lot more cost effective and in much higher volumes.


this is one design, https://youtu.be/7tQUZfVYfbE

the shield itself I think is transparencies normally used for overhead projectors

I suppose the pink parts are 3D printed?

Yeah, that shield seemed like it was much thicker than a transparency foil and can you still buy those???

Clear plastic sheet is used for covers on some comb-bound documents.
https://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/W2215216.html#q=BINDING&start=1

> Who has overhead projectors???

I could sell you one.

I was thinking of putting a laptop LCD (with the backlight removed) on the image stage and
making a video projector. but it would probably cost more to run than
it's worth. (projector lamps are expensive)

the OHP foils I have here are 100 microns (ish) so the above covers at
150 are slightly thicker and about twice as stiff.

--
Jasen.

 

[John Doe]

"Tom Del Rosso" <fizzbintuesday@that-google-mail-domain.com> wrote:

Jasen Betts wrote:
John Doe wrote:

Seems many 3-D printers in the $500-$750 (US) range can do ABS
plastic now. Or not?

For ABS you need a heated bed, and the head needs to be able run
slightly hotter vs PLA. It's a faily common capability or a
cheap upgrade.

And tips from youtube say that ABS warps during printing if there
are slight air currents, so you have to enclose the print area.

Yes. Nearly everybody says it's better. Even open units have covers.

The warping thing, or just trying to make a decent part, is interesting.
People are all over the place on that stuff.

https://youtu.be/Xa5PxP5H9_E?t=909

He claims to have easily made some ABS parts, but who knows.
I would go with ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate) since it's UV
resistant. It's made by at least two companies in the USA (FilamentOne
and 3DXMAX). Need to find some experience with that (two measly reviews
on Amazon). Trying to find real information while the overlords keep
pushing me back into a box.

 

[Ricky C]

On Friday, April 24, 2020 at 10:02:46 PM UTC-4, Jasen Betts wrote:

On 2020-04-23, Ricky C <gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, that shield seemed like it was much thicker than a transparency foil and can you still buy those???

Clear plastic sheet is used for covers on some comb-bound documents.
https://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/W2215216.html#q=BINDING&start=1

Who has overhead projectors???

I could sell you one.

That's ok thanks. I already have some space heaters to blow out my fuses if I need it.

I was thinking of putting a laptop LCD (with the backlight removed) on the image stage and
making a video projector. but it would probably cost more to run than
it's worth. (projector lamps are expensive)

Heat might be an issue. That was the TI DLP thing basically right? Or the big screen TV thing they used football players to market. Those were just TV picture tubes with lenses that projected onto a screen... very dimly.

--

Rick C.

--+ Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
--+ Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2020-04-25, Ricky C <gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com> wrote:

On Friday, April 24, 2020 at 10:02:46 PM UTC-4, Jasen Betts wrote:
On 2020-04-23, Ricky C <gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com> wrote:

Yeah, that shield seemed like it was much thicker than a transparency foil and can you still buy those???

Clear plastic sheet is used for covers on some comb-bound documents.
https://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/W2215216.html#q=BINDING&start=1

Who has overhead projectors???

I could sell you one.

That's ok thanks. I already have some space heaters to blow out my fuses if I need it.

I was thinking of putting a laptop LCD (with the backlight removed) on the image stage and
making a video projector. but it would probably cost more to run than
it's worth. (projector lamps are expensive)

Heat might be an issue. That was the TI DLP thing basically right?

DLP is micromirrors, optically like a solid-state vesion of the old Ediophor system.

Or the big screen TV thing they used football players to market.
Those were just TV picture tubes with lenses that projected onto a screen... very dimly.

They used separate tubes for red green and blue so that eliminated energy
wasted sending current to the shadow mask, and the tubes had big
heatsinks.

trasmissive LCD projectors are different technology. many also use
separate red green and blue sources and combine them using dichroic
mirrors embedded in a glass block. some others used squential colour
filters.






--
Jasen.

 

[John Doe]

Ordered one. Can't wait!
Will be using ASA filament.
I have had zillions of uses for such a thing over the last many decades.
Unfortunately it was a bit before my time.

Dying to find out if strong parts can be made. Lots of people talk about
that, but there is no way to know without actually trying. Either that,
or the people who talk about it just don't give enough information.

For example... Can you make a spacer out of it, and how much crushing
force will it withstand. Will see!

 

[Ricky C]

On Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 8:36:35 PM UTC-4, John Doe wrote:

Ordered one. Can't wait!
Will be using ASA filament.
I have had zillions of uses for such a thing over the last many decades.
Unfortunately it was a bit before my time.

Dying to find out if strong parts can be made. Lots of people talk about
that, but there is no way to know without actually trying. Either that,
or the people who talk about it just don't give enough information.

For example... Can you make a spacer out of it, and how much crushing
force will it withstand. Will see!

What are you planning on spacing with them? Circuit boards or Buicks?

--

Rick C.

-+- Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
-+- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

 

Ricky C <gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com> wrote in
news:2404ecc2-2b02-47a8-b75f-632f62d631c3@googlegroups.com:

On Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 8:36:35 PM UTC-4, John Doe wrote:
Ordered one. Can't wait!
Will be using ASA filament.
I have had zillions of uses for such a thing over the last many
decades. Unfortunately it was a bit before my time.

Dying to find out if strong parts can be made. Lots of people
talk about that, but there is no way to know without actually
trying. Either that, or the people who talk about it just don't
give enough information.

For example... Can you make a spacer out of it, and how much
crushing force will it withstand. Will see!

What are you planning on spacing with them? Circuit boards or
Buicks?

Tiger tanks.

 

On Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 5:36:35 PM UTC-7, John Doe wrote:

Ordered one. Can't wait!
Will be using ASA filament.
I have had zillions of uses for such a thing over the last many decades.
Unfortunately it was a bit before my time.

Dying to find out if strong parts can be made. Lots of people talk about
that, but there is no way to know without actually trying. Either that,
or the people who talk about it just don't give enough information.

For example... Can you make a spacer out of it, and how much crushing
force will it withstand. Will see!

Well, it depends on the software. The software tends to save materials on the inside layer; so there are more air gaps inside. However, you can tell it to use more materials, less air gaps, and stronger parts.

Regarding crushing force, i would compare it to wood, but not steel.

 

John Doe <always.look@message.header> wrote in
news:r8fque$6ou$1@dont-email.me:

Ordered one. Can't wait!
Will be using ASA filament.
I have had zillions of uses for such a thing over the last many
decades. Unfortunately it was a bit before my time.

Dying to find out if strong parts can be made. Lots of people talk
about that, but there is no way to know without actually trying.
Either that, or the people who talk about it just don't give
enough information.

For example... Can you make a spacer out of it, and how much
crushing force will it withstand. Will see!

Well, it sounds like what you really mean is a thrust washer.

That will depend on that surface quality of the two surfaces it
will be doing the "washing" for. The surface and the material will
determine the coefficient of friction. It will also matter how much
rotating use it gets while it is "bearing" against the forces it is
sandwiched between.

You would be far better off gettinf sheet stock and cutting out a
washer.

If you refer to a "stanchion", then a lot of factors "weigh" in to
it.