I would like to get or make a 3d printer.
As I have no experience with them & I have seen them posted on here before I thought I would ask some advice from the experts.
What is the best?
What should I be avoiding ?.
I used to do cnc machining on 4 axis mills so I think that should help a bit . .
I have been thinking about printing in wax so I can do some lost wax casting in bronze.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated thank you .

if you are a hands on person who can build stuff and don't mind problem solving then you could get a kit and build one up. But I would recommend buying a low cost unit and learn from that first up. If you are not mechanical minded then get one that's all set up and you just plug it in. I purchased a Flashforge dual head unit for $1400 and while you need to do a bit of setup I find it works great.
Dual head units are great if you want to do desolvable filaments but I manage to not really need the dual head capabilities. Manual levelling of the build plate is a bit of a pain but once you work out a system it's done quickly and not that often.
The main problem you will have is in keeping the object stuck to the build platform and not warping or splitting and their are different techniques that are needed to do this. Again if you just want to buy a printer and print then some printers will have self levelling print plates and their own filaments that give you instant results.
What I have learned after a few years of printing is the most important part of the process is the model creation software you use and your comment any on it. I have inventor and AutoCAD mechanical to build model from and can design anything I want with ease. If you have some of the less powerful software then it limits your model design somewhat. The web has plenty of down loads of parts to start you of but eventually you want to design your own stuff and good software goes a long way.
I can think of something and build it in a few hours and that is very satisfying and can save you some cash around the house in some cases.

By lower cost kit I think Hard means $1000~$2000; and if the A$ keeps on devaluing $1500-$3000.

In that price bracket you should get:

1.- Heated bed
2.- Autolevel
3.- <200micron nossel

Have a look at http://www.thingiverse.com/ for prebuilt objects.

I like Delta arm 3D printers... they just make more sense to me:
Kossel + E3D hotend
Rostock Max V2

With Standard type, I like:
Lulzbot

The problem with looking at all the different models is everyone says they are great buy this its why I asked for advice which I appreciate . Thank you.

Whatchya goin' to make?

One project will be battery covers for remote controls . Ive got a kid who has lost very single one . don't ask me how .
I was thinking about casting chess pieces in bronze , pummels & quill-ions i got a couple of blades that need finishing off & i thought i might go fancy.

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FlySurfer said..
By lower cost kit I think Hard means $1000~$2000; and if the A$ keeps on devaluing $1500-$3000.

In that price bracket you should get:

1.- Heated bed
2.- Autolevel
3.- <200micron nossel

Have a look at http://www.thingiverse.com/ for prebuilt objects.

I like Delta arm 3D printers... they just make more sense to me:
Kossel + E3D hotend
Rostock Max V2

With Standard type, I like:
Lulzbot

Excellent post, thanks for the info

What are your thoughts on belt mechanisms for the three arms on those delta style printers? Do they get reasonable accuracy? I guess as the belt is supporting the printhead all the time you won't get slop/backlash.

They're fairly rigid, but you can still get some stray tracks, nothing a little acetone (ABS filament) vapour doesn't fix.
They're usually faster and equally accurate to standard, but they can take a long time to calibrate... part of the fun?

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nebbian said..

FlySurfer said..
By lower cost kit I think Hard means $1000~$2000; and if the A$ keeps on devaluing $1500-$3000.

In that price bracket you should get:

1.- Heated bed
2.- Autolevel
3.- <200micron nossel

Have a look at http://www.thingiverse.com/ for prebuilt objects.

I like Delta arm 3D printers... they just make more sense to me:
Kossel + E3D hotend
Rostock Max V2

With Standard type, I like:
Lulzbot

Excellent post, thanks for the info

What are your thoughts on belt mechanisms for the three arms on those delta style printers? Do they get reasonable accuracy? I guess as the belt is supporting the printhead all the time you won't get slop/backlash.

When it comes to accuracy one thing I have noticed is the temperature you print at and I mean room temperature not bed can play a big part. I do not enclose my unit and have to be careful that when I print two separate parts that I do so in the same temperate, that way I get the same dimensional size when finished.
So if you buy an enclosed unit that most likely will not have this problem but some units are not covered. Easy to build a cover though.

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actiomax said..
One project will be battery covers for remote controls . Ive got a kid who has lost very single one . don't ask me how .
I was thinking about casting chess pieces in bronze , pummels & quill-ions i got a couple of blades that need finishing off & i thought i might go fancy.

WEAPONS! OF COURSE!!

NOT weapons so much as historical replicas .
The renenactors who buy them off me want them blunt ,
Used to be good coin in it but its pretty hard to compete with the indian imports now so i am sort of just finishing off a couple of projects that have been already started .

I got one off ebay made buy a guy in brisbane i think its a mendal 90 it cost around $700 , my logic was to get a second hand one so it was set up i think i got lucky and he was one of those engineer types that liked everything perfect . ive been using it for over a year now not maintaining it or anything and it still works fine , i only use it for functional prototypes and dont get carried away with getting a perfect finish though .The main thing you have to remember is that in abs atleast long parts will warp from the cooling so you have to design them with holes and stuff so it wont .The acuracey on them is unbeleivable for something so cheap . Can you print in wax or would you be better off just printing in plastic then molding the wax off that

I'm thinking if the plastic melts at 245 deg I should be able to plaster or clay the outside & melt it out again in oven. Unless its some special plastic that can only melt once .

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Hardcarve1 said..
The main problem you will have is in keeping the object stuck to the build platform and not warping or splitting and their are different techniques that are needed to do this. Again if you just want to buy a printer and print then some printers will have self levelling print plates and their own filaments that give you instant results.

We have a more expensive Zortrax M200 unit at work and we to have struggled with this. If we are doing a thin part or a large part that takes up lots of the plate we prep it with a light sand and a coat of glue from a glue stick, it definitely makes a difference. We have also had to upgrade the unit to enclose it, I think that this helps the model retain it's heat and allows it cool more evenly.
My biggest issue is the lack of maintenance/cleaning from other users and people who set it up and walk away.

The plastic used 90% of the time is the same as lego plastic. But because its not injected moulded as a whole and is laid up layer by layer, it is far more brittle than what you get with lego.

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Lbracer said..

Hardcarve1 said..
The main problem you will have is in keeping the object stuck to the build platform and not warping or splitting and their are different techniques that are needed to do this. Again if you just want to buy a printer and print then some printers will have self levelling print plates and their own filaments that give you instant results.

We have a more expensive Zortrax M200 unit at work and we to have struggled with this. If we are doing a thin part or a large part that takes up lots of the plate we prep it with a light sand and a coat of glue from a glue stick, it definitely makes a difference. We have also had to upgrade the unit to enclose it, I think that this helps the model retain it's heat and allows it cool more evenly.
My biggest issue is the lack of maintenance/cleaning from other users and people who set it up and walk away.

First of I use a 3mm borosilicate glass build plate that I had cut to size and this gives a very level surface.
For PLA I use 3M blue painters tape with a 80 deg bed temp and for ABS I use kapton tape with a coating of goo made from desolved ABS filament in acetone. To make sure the build plate is dead level after the initial levelling process I have the printer do a large circle and see how much the thickness of the filament varies and do micro adjustments to correct any variations.
Once this is done I get lots of use before needing any more levelling. Remember the first layer is the most critical in the whole process.

Just went to jay car and saw they had half price on one of the 3D printers, didn't have a look as I was in a rush but it was $1300 to $650 or something? potentially a good buy unless its getting a bit old in design

What jay car branch was that blacktown have 3d printer $1300 listed as $350 off

We have a few Ultimaker 2's at work - 1 for personal jobs & the other for work. Highly recommended but $$$.

The personal one is literally printing 20 hours a day with all of our personal projects etc - it has been doing so for close to 8mths with little issues.

The CURA software (converts STL files to gcode) is very easy to use and we generally use the Ultimaker filaments which seem pretty consistent.

3D printers are a great prototyping tool, we have saved months in waiting for external suppliers to provide parts only to do a design review and find you have issues.