cheap 3D printer

[971wright]

Hi Has anyone seen (or bought one of these ) http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... _230V.html

Looks a cheap way of getting into 3D printing ready to use out of the box, no need to build your own, comes with software (which could be a good thing or a bad one )

regards pete

[ausf]

I paid $300 for mine with a 200mm cube size. I built it from a kit, but that was really helpful in getting good results since I understood how it worked.

When I was looking, I went back and forth between a kit and premade, but almost all the ready made ones under $1000 had issues and support problems.

At the cheap level, there's a lot of tweaking and adjusting to get any results, so being able to is really important.

That HK printer uses the same hardware/software as the bigger ones, and I'm a huge fan of Hobbyking, so I'd trust their quality. The only thing that would keep me from going with it would be the size 80mm is kind of small and theres no heated bed or access for adjusting (and parts). Shipping might be rough on that thing too.

I've been using mine almost daily and getting results beyond my wildest expectations, but there was a good amount of messing around and experimentation to get there. No matter what you read from manufacturers, there is no real plug and go, unless you know what you're doing and spend a lot of scratch on it.

All that said, with some playing around, I've printed out rack and pinions, reduction gearboxes, working ballast tanks for RC subs, etc.

[971wright]

Hi The print area is small 70mm x 70mm x 80mm (it says 80x80x80 but one of the videos on you tube says 70x70x80) ,should be big enough for most jobs hatches and such like ,heated plate would mean having to buy a more expensive type, I just thought it might be a good way to get into 3D printing.


regards pete

[RobW]

Check the comments too - might be an issue with Win10 and the software? No experience with 3D printing at this scale - the last one I had a proper look at had a resin bath about 3x2x4m!

[ausf]

A heated bed is necessary for ABS or styrene and really helps with everything else. It helps keep down warpage and prevents slipping. Nothing sucks more than an hour into a print and it breaks loose or an edge peels up, ruining the whole thing.

Again, my kit was $300 with a heated bed and everything you need plus extras and all the parts are replaceable. They also provided excellent support. I bought if off Amazon, they can be found cheaper too. The $180 from HK doesn't include shipping, I know when I went to buy anything heavier than a servos, etc, shipping became ridiculous. I was going to buy an Orange Tx, but shipping to NY cost as much as a DX6i locally. I'm sure the printer is a lot heavier than a transmitter.

If it ends up being $50 cheaper and doesn't have a heated bed and is hard to work on, it's not worth it.

Also, it terms of size, you'll find that when you print, you set a brim that starts the extrusion and lays out a perimeter around the object. You can see the amount of passes, layers and distance from, but it's an intricate part of the process. So if you're trying to print a 70mm hatch, you'll need more space.

I currently print with a 8mm offset, .4mm first layer, .1mm after that. With a 70 mm bed, since the end stops would be triggered, I wouldn't try to print anything larger than a 50mm square (50+16 with a 2mm bumper). That less than 2 inches.

[Swamprat33]

Hi Ausf, can you please drop a link for the printer that you use.
I looked on Amazon in UK, and this one seems to be close to the spec you mentioned.

Wanhao i3 V2 3D printer

Tim

[ausf]

This is what I bought, but you don't have to go with this company.



Reprap and Prusa are open source designs that have entire communities that support them. You can but all the parts and assemble or just order a kit from someone, which should have all the parts, instructions and be there to help if you have any questions. I went with these guys because they had good reviews regarding support and they also sold all the parts separately. As it was, they sent me a replacement part I broke and a roll of filament free.

In terms of a kit, there was nothing to it harder than assembling a Tamiya, just a bunch of bolts and threaded rod with some motors and electronics, no soldering, etc.

I built mine in a few hours and had a question regarding something so I emailed them around 10PM when I was working on it. I didn't expect an answer until the next day, but within minutes I not only got an answer, but they were sending me the new part.

[tomhugill]

Would love to see your 3D printed ballast tanks ausf

[wibblywobbly]

You don't need a heated bed when you print with pla. It sticks to the print bed with a wipe of a Pritt stick. As has been explained on the 3D printer thread, it isn't the printer that is the challenge, it's designing the parts. Personally I would buy a printer from somewhere other than a chain store, they are often rebadged printers that can be obtained elsewhere at a cheaper price. Mine prints 200x200x100 from what I recall.

To anyone who is thinking of buying a 3D printer I would say, see if you can design parts before you buy one, because if you can't you are going to have a very expensive ornament on your hands.

Coding Openscad for instance takes a long while, you might like to take a look at the tutorials on YouTube to get an idea of what is involved. There are others for Blender etc.

There are lots of ways to design parts, lots of ways to print them, and lots of ways to get it all horribly wrong.

[ausf]

Would love to see your 3D printed ballast tanks ausf

Hey Tom,

Here ya go. This was the proof of concept I did to check for watertightness, etc. It's two pieces epoxied together with an insert to key it. The real one will have the exact dimensions of each section of the Revell kit, I'll add a system to secure it to the lower hull and will have a cutout for a small WTC that will house the lipo, APG and Rx. I'll also have a watertight housing for the valve/pump control servo in the design and the detail for the top of the pressure hull.

This has been filled with water for over a week without leaking.

I'll print it in sections and build it like a modular home. That's what's so cool about 3D printing, everything is square and matching. I did this as a test of material. It's printed in PETT, the same material water bottles are made of. I wanted to make sure it was sturdy, paintable and I could texture it with dents and 'oil canning' that the U-boats were subject to at depth.

ballast2.jpg (85.66 KiB) Viewed 667 times

ballast3.jpg (61.18 KiB) Viewed 667 times

ballast4.jpg (60.04 KiB) Viewed 667 times

ballast5.jpg (50.58 KiB) Viewed 667 times

Yes, PLA doesn't need a heated bed, but it sure helps. And any material past it like ABS, HIPS, etc does, so why waste the money on a printer that you may outgrow in a short while? I print directly on a sheet of PEI, no glue, tape or anything, the bed is always on, just different temps for different materials.