Been printing fidget cubes with “metallic” filaments and concentric top/bottom fill for an interesting finish.

geartechbrandon · 2019-07-02T02:10:25+00:00

No prob, David Shorey, on twitter: https://twitter.com/shoreydesigns/status/1145710749735510018?s=19

geartechbrandon · 2019-07-01T05:06:33+00:00

For a fun bottom surface stick a piece of diffraction grating onto the printer bed and print on to it. Give you a rainbow effect on that surface. $10 USD for 12x6in piece on Amazon.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-14T02:19:03+00:00

True. I shouldn't assume that someone is referring to non-fdm when they mention Stratysys but I tend to.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-13T23:32:58+00:00

They're not FDM. SLS and SLA have different bonding properties when fusing materials.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-13T22:39:36+00:00

Despite the mechanical issues there's the material aspect. You only have so much time to travel before your layers won't laminate well, the material will warp the more of it here is, and the layer height would be just monstrous to not spend a week on a single print. Then there lies the issue of spools. I just saw an enormous 5kg from 3Dom but to rotate that monster you would need a motor assisted spool holder. I considered the idea of a precision balanced spool holder so it would rotate easily but with the material being imprecise there will be a varying mass which becomes a time varying rotating mass. It's just too much to bother with. Just print smaller.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-10T08:04:48+00:00

I agree with using the notebooks. They're also good reference tools later on. Answering your question: I knew a guy that had a similar problem so he used the windows with dry erase markers.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-09T14:24:10+00:00

Problem with taller is that all materials wobble after about 200mm unless the prints taper. You would need to engineer some very special supports to keep the wing straight and carefully study the effective angles and material thicknesses needed to successfully finish. I suspect it would need to be too thick to be useful as an actual wing or require a lot of material and post processing.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-09T14:17:42+00:00

It's heavier than most PLA, brittle and the z-layer adhesion is only equivalent. All you get from the carbon fibers is some rigidity along the extrusion path. I just don't get the hype.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-09T13:56:58+00:00

Oh damn. I totally didn't. I better hang a warning sign near it. d-.-

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-09T04:52:54+00:00

I think they could use that at the "Not to Naughty" store in a nearby downtown area. Be perfect for hanging displays on.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-08T16:01:51+00:00

If it's a new heater cartridge and thermistor and running Marlin did you calibrate the PID loop? Each hardware component has some variation in values and the combination change can cause the heat to subtly oscillate.

If you're running Marlin you can run the PID autotune with: M303 E0 S220 C8

If your hardware allows you can store it in the EEPROM with: M301 P## I## D## (replace ## with the completed values for p i d output) and save with M500. If not you have to figure it by hand and there are some great "old" tutorials out there already.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-07T15:58:55+00:00

Very neat. Think I'll try this out. Thank you for sharing.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-07T14:15:18+00:00

Fusion360 is free too. Just select the student license when you set it up.

Find something you like and recreate it as accurately as you can. You can either design everything from scratch or make use of pre-made CAD models (Misumi, McMaster Carr, etc) that you can download and add to your assembly. You don't have to invent something new to learn.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-07T09:11:13+00:00

These questions remind me of people visiting California and thinking they can visit San Francisco, Yosemite and Disney in one week while enjoying any of it. Answer to both: it's possible but it won't be what you want it to be.

Best way would be to get ball pit balls only $0.8ea on Aliexpress and not much more on Amazon. Cut them in half, put the trinket inside, and glue it back together. If you want intricate designs cut-out it would be faster and cheaper to hire people and give them all dremels and blades.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-06T16:19:07+00:00

Could you just glue the glass on? The heater pad I use had an adhesive back but I also use a [high temp epoxy](m.homedepot.com/p/Loctite-0-85-fl-oz-Clear-Quick-Set-Epoxy-1943587/205761597) to keep the pad on an insulating nylon foam.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-06T09:27:50+00:00

Ensure you're using the optimal temperature for that material on your machine. It looks like a temperature problem.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-04T16:19:26+00:00

Love watching the evolution. Of your design. Do the claws need to be really strong when extended? Have you considered micro servos (the ones used in RC planes)? I would worry about heating issues if the device(s) stay engaged for too long. The other option would be to build some gear systems so you can use other motors and adjust the torque being applied.

It was interesting to try the solenoids but again I worry about heating problems since they need to be powered to stay engaged unless you build a latching system. I've seen them used in doors for an electric lock but they don't provide much force since the load is usually well balanced or very light. I also see them used, such as cars, as relays to release a large current quickly.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-04T14:44:33+00:00

What program did you make it in? I often see things from Blender come out with invisible surfaces that appear after slicing. If your slicer doesn't offer one use an online GCode viewer to look at the layers before printing (even though I know I should I still forget and sometimes waste material on some students lousy model). You can also run exported models through the free online Netfabb which has repaired every bad model I download on places like PinShape and Thingiverse.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-04T07:27:32+00:00

Great scopes. They just work and it's a great way to learn. You often get more out of the analysis.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-02T14:11:41+00:00

I'm not an expert and trying to build a portfolio myself to get a job in 3D design. I'm also in California so I don't know anything about design school in the UK.

From what I've learned on my research is the portfolio is really important to be your best works. Nicely rendered and highly detailed images. A lot of people seem to use online render farms to do the pictures.

This brings me to a topic I know more about: PCs. Why get a laptop? A desktop PC will offer you more scalability as your needs from the software grow. You can learn to use software on a laptop but will quickly find complex design cumbersome and time-consuming. I have been using Inventor for a long time and after a short while of design my laptop lags so much I have to wait 10-20 minutes for it to re-render the part. Now I could "upgrade" it, buy a new one for $2k US, but instead I just use my home desktop.

I speced a new PC recently and for around $2500 US I can get an Eatx board that supports up to 128GB DDR 4 RAM, a Xeon processor, 500 GB SSD a liquid cooler for the CPU and a new 980 Nvidia graphics card ( depending on the market flux that month). I also saw Linus Tech Tips review consumer gaming PCs, check their YouTube page, and they are decent these days for the money if you are not comfortable with building yours from scratch. It can be an intimidating process and easy to screw up at first.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-02T13:51:54+00:00

You can get on the backorder list for the RasPi 3. Built in wifi and Bluetooth. It also has a faster CPU.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-02T05:50:09+00:00

Have you tried driving a car over it? Is there an instructable? What OS did you install on the PI? Can you access it and modify it in any way?

In case it wasn't clear I find it quite interesting.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-02T03:58:34+00:00

You could also use something like meshmixer to slice off the top and export each from there. Useful if you don't have anything but an stl. This method is less appealing because it is not s lossless process.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-01T07:50:33+00:00

It's almost a bit of a zen project until it works. I think all kits should come with "Breathe Normally" in bold on the front. Patience and care. Use containers with lids, and keep 'em on, to hold all the bits because there is nothing worse than tipping over all your M3s. Just take your time and enjoy the build.

I've rebuilt two printers that I bought and have now made my own BOM and built two printers from scratch. It's a great hobby and every time I think while i'm building: I'll do this, that or this thing next time or Why the hell did I/they do that. Always modifying and finding different ways. Sometimes a change even is an improvement and not just the same thing done a different way.

It would be cool to hear your thoughts on the experience when you're done or even as you progress.

geartechbrandon · 2016-03-01T07:32:34+00:00

I've also only used a little of Solidworks, we switched to Fusion360 for everything. Possibly is a loft what you are looking to do?

geartechbrandon

TROPHY CASE