Is there a 3D Print section on the forums?

[Iain George]

The is a firm called Echo House in Surbiton that have a walk-in 3D printer.

[Beej Curtis]

quote Iain George:

The is a firm called Echo House in Surbiton that have a walk-in 3D printer.

Hi Mate,

Thanks for your reply.

I actually called them today and emailed them last night – seems they no longer do 3D print? The lady I spoke to said, ‘Yeah, we should really take that off our website.’

I thought they would be perfect. Still looking . . .

Beej

[Iain George]

Oh well sorry, I worked for them about 5 years ago so that was the only reason I knew about them.

[Alex Crosbie]

Robocarv.co.uk do this kind of thing but it’s not printed, tends to be carved out of blocks of material.

Never used them but their work looks epic!

[Phil Davies]

That is a humongous size to 3D print, I assume money is no object. Would be interesting to find if there is anyone doing those sort of sizes…. And what the eye watering cost is likely to be!

[Chris Wool]

having just got a 3d printer and learning fast, the size took me back a bit, from what i have seen so far is the machines capable of that size are very rough and ready in the finish and would require considerable work before painting.

pipex px in Plymouth have a very large cnc machine and make lots of big plastic things
for making several of the smaller ones the latest silicone molding techniques could be used
alan harper composites saltash a leader in that sort of thing
composite integration saltash may be of help.

[Beej Curtis]

quote Iain George:

Oh well sorry, I worked for them about 5 years ago so that was the only reason I knew about them.

Thanks for the input :thumbsup: was quite shocked to see they no longer do it?

Beej

[Beej Curtis]

quote Alex Crosbie:

Robocarv.co.uk do this kind of thing but it’s not printed, tends to be carved out of blocks of material.

Never used them but their work looks epic!

Thanks Alex, looked over their site, really interesting, not only for this difficult project but certainly for future things We have got planned :smiles: :thumbsup:

Appreciate the feedback..

Beej

[Beej Curtis]

quote Phil P Davies:

That is a humongous size to 3D print, I assume money is no object. Would be interesting to find if there is anyone doing those sort of sizes…. And what the eye watering cost is likely to be!

Hi Phil,

3D print for props is something that I too am only just discovering and its a very interesting world! The biggest machine I have discovered in my homework is the Massivit 1800 3D system, so looking for anyone who uses this in UK. I was blown away at some of the props that have been created from .stl files. Ive done 3d in the past and I am immersing myself back into it and having the most fun learning!

Check some of these giant 3D printed props…

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[Beej Curtis]

quote Chris Wool:

having just got a 3d printer and learning fast, the size took me back a bit, from what i have seen so far is the machines capable of that size are very rough and ready in the finish and would require considerable work before painting.

pipex px in Plymouth have a very large cnc machine and make lots of big plastic things
for making several of the smaller ones the latest silicone molding techniques could be used
alan harper composites saltash a leader in that sort of thing
composite integration saltash may be of help.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your suggestions, really appreciated.

On your comments re the large format 3D Print quality & finishing.. it’s weird that isn’t it, because I have to agree with you that I have heard this too – that the product coming out of the machine is a bit ‘scraggy’!? . I think (as someone who some of you know has painted motorcycles and airbrushed them in a paint-shop/spray-booth environment), I’m familiar with finishing and prep for paint. But I have NO idea how these come out of the machine? That is something I would like to find more out about . .

And it confuses me? Because I would love to hear more from you on what type of size you do etc? How come the smaller machines (my children’s school have a desktop 3D printer and of course there be large-ish ones, not this Massivit 1800 for example) where folks print VERY detailed 3D models from .stl files, even get mini versions of yourself!

So what gives with the worse quality on a larger size?

The biggest problem for us (well me, as Im creating the file! 😉 ) is that this Very First job of delving into 3D Printing as an option to add to our workflow for props, and I have to produce something that has VERY flat facets and lots of them! In the model in Blender, it reads over 1100, so it CAN be printed as some files would be much more complex, but on this model as it’s a crystal-looking object, that FLAT facet is part of the design and of course, a more ‘organic’-looking model, head etc.. wouldn’t have such flat facets..

I think that is where the issue will come in on this as Phil mentioned, the finishing for the Alsa Chrome Paint has to be pretty dead flat! So lots of priming and sanding I would think? That is why I am confused tbh? Why on earth at even 1100mm high, doesn’t this come out of a machine perfectly flat? 3D print is used in all types of industries and you dont see a drone body for example with little nibs and scraggs??

Anyways . . any info very much appreciated :smiles:

Beej

[Colin Crabb]

quote :

hy on earth at even 1100mm high, doesn’t this come out of a machine perfectly flat?

When printing the lower the micron ‘step’ between layers the smoother finish. Small desk top machines can be as low as 25microns, there is also some post print smoothing on some higher enmd machines.

But can you imagine the time it would take to print 4metres high in 25micron layers…….

[Beej Curtis]

quote Colin Crabb:

quote :

hy on earth at even 1100mm high, doesn’t this come out of a machine perfectly flat?

When printing the lower the micron ‘step’ between layers the smoother finish. Small desk top machines can be as low as 25microns, there is also some post print smoothing on some higher enmd machines.

But can you imagine the time it would take to print 4metres high in 25micron layers…….

I am assuming that for a 4m high product, it would be in sections anyways?
It is looking very much to me that something at 1100mm high is do-able – in costs and of course quality of finish – but anything over that . . I need to go see them I guess, take a look at something first hand…

Beej

[Beej Curtis]

quote Colin Crabb:

quote :

hy on earth at even 1100mm high, doesn’t this come out of a machine perfectly flat?

When printing the lower the micron ‘step’ between layers the smoother finish. Small desk top machines can be as low as 25microns, there is also some post print smoothing on some higher enmd machines.

But can you imagine the time it would take to print 4metres high in 25micron layers…….

Hi Colin,

I think it’s a matter of ‘learning’ a bit more about how 3D Printing works! Of course, it’s all very new to me, but the scope and potential I see for creating things from my 3D files is huge and very exciting.

Like I said, I reckon (I assume anyways?) that things which are more ‘organic’-looking would work much better and would be much easier to sand any nibs and imperfections (like the props in the photos I posted above) But my design HAS to be FLAT facets and that I think is the issue.

Originally, we were going to try to make this from cut sections of mirror Dibond! :shocked: and so the design I did was VERY simple compared to this, like a ‘basic’ crystal shape tbh. But that’s not really what the client wants, they insisted on something more like the pic I posted of my design up top (original message) so imagine cutting and piecing 0ver 1100 facet pieces of material!!!

We ended up at looking into 3D Printing because we needed to find a way to make something that needed to be replicated 8 x times at around 1m high but the 4m chandelier prop is looking like it’s not do-able – well, not for their budget anway!

Beej

[Phil Davies]

quote Colin Crabb:

quote :

hy on earth at even 1100mm high, doesn’t this come out of a machine perfectly flat?

When printing the lower the micron ‘step’ between layers the smoother finish. Small desk top machines can be as low as 25microns, there is also some post print smoothing on some higher enmd machines.

But can you imagine the time it would take to print 4metres high in 25micron layers…….

This is it in a nutshell. We printed a 150-100mm custom extractor port (offset) and it took 36 hours on a CEL Robox at draft speed….

[Steve Morgan]

You could try this chap as an alternative to 3D print, his work is very very good and he’s not that far away from London. https://www.sculpturestudios.co.uk/.

Steve

[Robert Lambie]

Hi Beej

good to see you posting on the boards again mate, always great to see what your up to!

I know its not the same thing, but a possible option?

UKSB member Henry Barker does 3D routering and creates 3d displays, he did this one last month in polystyrene.
he does lots of stuff like this and has a monster-sized router. :smiles:

there is also UKSB member Fran Hollywood who does 3D polystyrene, like henry, he does some amazing work.

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[Beej Curtis]

quote Robert Lambie:

Hi Beej

good to see you posting on the boards again mate, always great to see what your up to!

I know its not the same thing, but a possible option?

UKSB member Henry Barker does 3D routering and creates 3d displays, he did this one last month in polystyrene.
he does lots of stuff like this and has a monster-sized router. :smiles:

there is also UKSB member Fran Hollywood who does 3D polystyrene, like henry, he does some amazing work.

Hi Rob,

Great to hear from you mate :smiles:

This looks incredible! Can you tell me where he is exactly and some website info etc? I have sent the pics onto the guys who own the company because I think there may be a chance we could do something here..

Thanks mate :thumbsup:

Beej

[Beej Curtis]

quote Steve Morgan:

You could try this chap as an alternative to 3D print, his work is very very good and he’s not that far away from London. https://www.sculpturestudios.co.uk/.

Steve

Hi Steve,

I have seen Aden’s work on youtube before, he is just a real master and tbh, I was considering dropping him a line as he’s not a million miles away from the workshop in Harlow :thumbsup: Because I think that the idea of 3D print for a 4m high chandelier is basically a no-go now!

It’s all about getting info I guess as I knew nothing about 3D printing this time last week! :rollseyes:

Beej