I haven't messed with it. The design element is what's holding me back. I think it would take a fair bit of engineering expertise that I don't have and don't have time to really gain at the moment.

It would probably have some value in my life, but probably not any more value than any other engineering/fabrication I could get into (electrical, metal, wood), so I haven't done it.
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Printed a little SB trophy for my dad for Christmas. Turned out decent except for a couple tiny spots. First pic is with the auto-generated organic supports. Second pic is semi cleaned up.




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That's really cool!


I kind forgot I made this thread just because there are so many dedicated outlets I've been taking part. I'll post some pics because I have one or two items that I'm proud of creating.

Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Watching. Not that I need any expensive hobbies, but I'm intrigued.

I'll probably never make any guns like the rebels are doing. LOL

Unless you want to go high, high end it's actually not an expensive hobby believe it or not. The printer I posted is selling for $169 to get started but like all good hobbies that's just getting started.


https://formlabs.com/blog/3d-printing-materials/
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We have 3 top tier printers where i work
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Now I'm curious.

What printer media can you use to actually make these objects usable? I mean, what would I have to buy to actually print a plumbing part or cog for my coffee maker? See what I'm getting at?

I'd think getting the 3D model would be the pain. The cameras or scanner to get the model rendered is the hurdle, right?
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Even a cheap printer can make high quality stuff. It's just dependent on the size of the base plate and what type of filament you use.

There is a wide range of different filament types. The cheap stuff is quite hard, but fairly brittle. There's slightly more expensive filaments like PETG, which are very hard and very durable. That's what you'd use for a part that would get actual use. I just recently picked up 1KG of PETG+ for $25. That will last a long time. There's also filament like TPU, which is really soft and spongy meant to be super flexible.

Getting the 3D models is generally the easiest part. There are multiple websites available with hundreds of thousands of models available for download. Most likely, someone has already rendered it and it's ready to be downloaded and sent directly to your printer. You can also use slicer software to easily edit the model, like a Photoshop file. You can resize it, etc. If you really want to get creative, you can download a copy of Autodesk Fusion 360(free Autocad for personal use) and design your own models from scratch.

I think the toughest part of getting into it is really getting your printer calibrated correctly. That can be a struggle for beginners. I highly recommend searching out a detailed guide for calibrating your model printer when you start. There are benchmark print models called Benchies, that are meant to be printed specifically to test your printer calibration.

But once calibrated, it's as simple as searching for the model you want, and sending it to your printer. My Prusa model has a feature where I can click a model on the website, and it will load directly to my slicer software.

Model downloads:

https://www.printables.com/
https://www.thingiverse.com/
https://cults3d.com/en
https://thangs.com/
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That's cool as hell. What is the trophy made of exactly?

My knowledge of 3D printing all comes from "Office Christmas Party", where some guy is trying to 3D print his junk at the party.
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I go to Microcenter and buy a 1KG spool of filament, like this:



That filament is thread into the printer, and pushed through a little .4mm nozzle that's at 220°C. It spits out a tiny string of filament onto the heated base plate, making layer upon layer until your entire project is done from bottom to top.


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The filament is some type of plastic, or is it more like solder? The trophy looks metallic.
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It's polylactic Acid (PLA) filament. A thermoplastic polyester. Feels like hard plastic. It comes in all different colors and shades. Including metallic silver.
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Anyone know about the carbon fiber printing? Is that way more expensive? All the stuff I seen printed seemed to be black. Is that the only option for carbon fiber?
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I got some rolls of glow-in-the-dark PLA for Christmas. :-)
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Well the home machines don't print actual traditional weaved carbon fiber, it's PLA with embedded carbon fibers.



Generally, I'd say that the carbon fiber filament is about 1.5x the cost of the common standard PLA. Yeah, it's more expensive, but one of those 2kg spools can print a lot so the cost is actually relatively negligible.


There are other colors available, but they are all dark shades (black, brown, green, gray, maroon, etc)


https://www.amazon.com/s?k=carbon+fi...f=nb_sb_noss_2
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Been printing a lot of cat toy balls with my Bambu Labs P1P.
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Made some woodworking wedgies for my old man, to use for segmented wood turning.


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