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Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2022 6:52 pm
by Herr Dr. Professor
This may seem off topic and even waggish, Conor, but is that iced tea I see in the glass by the blood red placemats? :P If that is iced tea (I have been addicted to the stuff since the 1960s) I have a word of caution: after a few uses, paint brush cleaners turn a perfect iced tea color. Pay careful attention from which glass you sip; it's a nasty surprise. 8O

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2022 10:46 pm
by Conor
Herr Dr. Professor wrote:This may seem off topic and even waggish, Conor, but is that iced tea I see in the glass by the blood red placemats? :P If that is iced tea (I have been addicted to the stuff since the 1960s) I have a word of caution: after a few uses, paint brush cleaners turn a perfect iced tea color. Pay careful attention from which glass you sip; it's a nasty surprise. 8O
Of course it is iced tea. Tea is a versatile drink. I'll bear this in mind though we dispose brushes in this household instead of cleaning them after a nasty turpentine self-combustion some years back.

I come bearing more pictures. Here's the wheels. Printed them in PLA for now, because I feel the extra hardness vs PETG will help. Plus, if they do wilt spectacularely in sunlight they are fairly easy to replace and I can print a TPU/PETG replacement (so with an actual rubber tyre)

Image

PETG has now arrived and I'm calibrating the printer for the next big prints.

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 9:53 pm
by Conor
Project has hit a tiny snag - I can't get PETG to stick to my printer's blasted build surface. Spent the best part of five hours trying to calibrate the bloody device, then caved and ordered a PEI build sheet, so everything else will have to wait till that's here.

Also ordered a bunch of Heng Long electronics. I originally wanted to go with something more sophisticated but many dollars. If the Merkava works out I have another one I want to print, and I may migrate electroncis around.

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 2:33 am
by tankme
Haven't tried PETG yet. Since ABS works pretty well on my printer I'm going down the ASA route to print my tank parts with. Bed adhesion is something my printer has never had an issue with.

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 7:42 am
by Conor
tankme wrote:Haven't tried PETG yet. Since ABS works pretty well on my printer I'm going down the ASA route to print my tank parts with. Bed adhesion is something my printer has never had an issue with.
Do you print with an enclosure?

I'm re-starting printing rn, Printing removable parts (e.g. sprockets, Idler and Tracks) in PLA. Might actually benefit fromt he materials' hardness, and if it liquifies in the sun I can always, once the PETG machine is running, print something more solid.

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 8:39 am
by tankme
Yes, my printer has an enclosure. Bought it like two weeks ago...Qidi iMates.

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 9:19 am
by Conor
tankme wrote:Yes, my printer has an enclosure. Bought it like two weeks ago...Qidi iMates.
Ah, nice. Mine doesn't, and it sits in the living room, so no ABS for me.

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2022 4:40 pm
by Conor
Got the original bed to print PETG

one of the panels half-detatched, and I managed to damage another while trial fitting so two will have to be re-printed. Need a set of small files to optimize the fit then glue them together.

Image

Getting a PEI bed now. Printers are stupid.

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2022 5:26 pm
by john1970
a glue stick might help with sticking to the print bed something like prit stick

Re: 3D - printed Merkava tank

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2022 8:40 pm
by midlife306
https://youtu.be/oX4up29xUuw


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