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I Just took delivery of a 3d printer
Hi everyone.
I have been reading about 3d printers for some time now, and decided to go for it and order a Makerbot Replicator 2x at christmas.
Well, it arrived this morning. I set it up, loaded it with ABS plastic from a spool, and after a few false starts, I am happily making the trinkets supplied on file with the machine, and downloading various mostly useless parts from the "Thingiverse".
Now for the million dollar question.
What on earth do I do with it? What can I design and make that might be useful to me or others in the sign industry?
Bear in mind one kilo of ABS filament is nearly 40 dollars, and a miniature road cone about 3 centimeters high took 42 minutes to construct.
Does anyone else have a 3d printer on this forum? What are they making that is useful?
It is a really cool little thing, and can make things up to the size of a brick, in ABS and PLA plastic. I am not sure that either of these plastics will last much time outside, but ABS is very strong, and is used a lot in various industries.
I am quite adept in Sketchup, so I could make most things.
Meanwhile, having fun with it!
Simon.
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12 Replies
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Woo hoo! I’m a mug for buying things and then wondering what I’m goint to do with them, so that part I understand. 🙂
I guess there must be uses in POS, but of course the printer will only create the model and it will still presumably need to be decorated? More time there so could be expensive for POS.
I would think making the digital 3D models might be the biggest time consummer, but that’s only a guess from what i’ve messed about with in 3D. I haven’t used Sketchup since the early days, but it seemed fairly fast and effective back then. I would expect it’s improved a lot since then too. Is it possible to print direct from Sketchup to the printer?
3D company logos for the MD’s desk? Presentations and awards? Trophies? 😀
The world’s your oyser Simon!
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Wow – a 3d printer, I want one I want one (hot)
My daughter uses a 3d print trade service to produce her jewelery designs which are then used to create a mould to cast her designs in silver. I’ve played around with the design software she uses (Rhino) to create 3d models of my own company logo. You can see some examples here:-
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/rightsigns
Can you post some pictures of your new machine and the models you have made with it?
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Phil.
Here is a pic of the machine in action, making the mini traffic cone. It has two extruder heads, so it can do two colours on one model.
Im off to Brisbane tomorrow morning, so I can only dream of making things for the next week.
I like the pendants!
Ill post some pics of things Ive made after I get back.
I bought Rhino a few years back, before sketchup blew it out of the water for ease of use. I have never looked back.
Neil
you have to save from Sketchup into an stl file, which you import into Makerware for printing. So its not quite direct. Pretty simple though.Simon.
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quote Phill Fenton:Wow – a 3d printer, I want one I want one (hot)My daughter uses a 3d print trade service to produce her jewelery designs which are then used to create a mould to cast her designs in silver. I’ve played around with the design software she uses (Rhino) to create 3d models of my own company logo. You can see some examples here:-
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/rightsigns
Can you post some pictures of your new machine and the models you have made with it?
Is it expensive to get done Phill?
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i think these types of printers will boom in the not so distant future.
i would love one just to play around with like you are doing now.
im guessing that the only profitable use you could make from one running at the speed and cost just now is probably prototyping of some sort in a small scale.i wonder if you could create 3d shapes / logos that could be used for very small scale vacuum forming… then again maybe not. just thinking out loud here :lol1:
like has been said, would be great to see what you come up with….
i came across this a week ago which i think will make a fortune… in schools, art shops, toy shops etc…
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/135 … inting-pen
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quote Robert Lambie:i think these types of printers will boom in the not so distant future.
i would love one just to play around with like you are doing now.
im guessing that the only profitable use you could make from one running at the speed and cost just now is probably prototyping of some sort in a small scale.i wonder if you could create 3d shapes / logos that could be used for very small scale vacuum forming… then again maybe not. just thinking out loud here :lol1:
like has been said, would be great to see what you come up with….
i came across this a week ago which i think will make a fortune… in schools, art shops, toy shops etc…
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/135 … inting-pen
.You’ve just GOT to get excited by watching that! 😀 😀
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I saw a 3d printer working at Sign UK last year………fantastic bit of kit but at £15,000 it was an expensive piece of kit.
The Makerbot with its open source architecture makes much more sense……love the look of them as well when the plywood is replaced by laser cut acrylic panels then illuminated with leds.
very jealous.
John
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quote Robert Lambie:i think these types of printers will boom in the not so distant future.
i would love one just to play around with like you are doing now.
im guessing that the only profitable use you could make from one running at the speed and cost just now is probably prototyping of some sort in a small scale.i wonder if you could create 3d shapes / logos that could be used for very small scale vacuum forming… then again maybe not. just thinking out loud here :lol1:
like has been said, would be great to see what you come up with….
i came across this a week ago which i think will make a fortune… in schools, art shops, toy shops etc…
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/135 … inting-pen
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I see that Doodle pen on the news a few weeks back I think it looks great & agree it will work great in schools.
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I think I’ll get one, you seem to be able to pick up some interesting work with one (hot)
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/03/07/3d-pri … s-bitonti/
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You would need a lot of spools of PVC to make one of them 😀
John
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quote John Thomson:You would need a lot of spools of PVC to make one of them 😀
John
Would it take much to make both of them? (oogle) -googleye-
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Good to hear that you’re having fun with 3D printing. If you want a more reasonable ABS filament prices, I suggest you order them at bulk or by packs. This is what I did when I ordered at 3d2print, I had the saver pack promo- ABS Saver-Pack – Super Rainbow 12 spools. You can check other great deals here: http://www.3d2print.net/shop/filament/saver-packs/
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