3D Printers??

[[Ca...]]

I'm trying to push for a 3d printer.

So, who has what for makes and models? Any likes or dislikes would also be great.

[[Er...]]

Plastic crap or real ones?

Well for SLM we use EOS. Think we have about 15. We are the leaders of this technology in Europe according to management... 🙄 I do work for a very big company tough..

Toys and prototypes is makerbots i think.

The sad part about it is that the awsome and most brutal idéas of clever engineers turned in to real parts rarely end up in the cmms.
They force them thru the 3d-scanners instead. And that means less fixturing, wich leads to less play with the printers for me. So I can't say if they are good or bad. Iv'e only playd with them a handfull of times.

Last but not least, why do you post this topic in software/calypso?

[[Ca...]]

I should have clarified, It's primarily being used for fixturing, prototyping, and of course, some people will probably play with it.

[[Me...]]

Casey what is your budget?

[[La...]]

I have a Prusa MK2 that my husband uses for his business. It's great. We have only had 1 issue where the thermistor came out from under the plate and we had to tape it back on. But other than that it's a workhorse, the 0.3mm prints come out beautifully.

It's a great starter machine if you're just breaking into using this, and it's also cheap, like $1000.

[[Ca...]]

I don't have a specific budget, but I'm trying to gather enough information to warrant arguing that we (I) need one.

I think a couple grand is doable, if I had some really shiny information.

[[Ca...]]

....and how the heck do you all have high(er) resolution avatar images??? The 90x90 pixels and 20kb make images worthless.

[[To...]]

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Have you tried starting with a lower resolution picture to start with? I tried starting with a higher res picture and it got worse. I may find out that I should have kept my mouth shut. 🤣

[[Ch...]]

We have a Makerbot replicator. The tall 18" one. Even though I know there are a lot of better brands out there, this one gets the job done. The parts are not the best quality and it is extremely slow; However, it is budget friendly and it works.

It has been handy. In situations where I don't have an actual part yet, I've used it to print the part and I use it to setup fixtures and test my cmm programs for navigation. Have made several CMM fixtures for smaller parts and it is especially nice for prototype parts where I don't want to spend $$$ on a custom hard fixture. Seriously, I use less than 5 bucks worth of material and do all of the designing myself in solid works. You're not going to find anything custom for 5 bucks anywhere. That's how I justified mine, just get a couple quotes for some one-off custom plastic parts, and a couple more for some hard CMM fixtures and you've paid for your 3d printer right there.

[[Ro...]]

We have a Uprint SE+ and a Systrays F370.
Both are very good and very fast compared to "Home" machines, but the difference is reflected in the price.
The Syatrays is many years younger, so it has an advantage in speed.
Both are dual nozzle and both use H2O soluble support material, so we also have a hot water + lye bath right next to those machines.
The problem i see with the Expensive machines is that they require you to use their brand filament rolls, which are in the case of Uprint governed by a little red micro chip to prevent you from respooling cheap material onto their rolls. I can buy a 1kg roll of filament for under 30 bucks, uprint offers a similar sized roll for 182 bucks.
AT home i have a QIDI X1, which is a single nozzle machine with no soluble support.

Not only are 3d printers great for fixtures, i will print out cad models of parts in order to prove out my programs.
This is especially great when programming a family of parts where i may have 60-70 programs finished before the first production part is run, i can print a couple sample parts and check my programs as i go (they won't check in tolerance, resolution is generally .010-.015 inch)