[Closed] 3D Printing

the material on some IS ABS. ie. makerbot 2x.

we have 2off makerbot 2 building in pla and one makerbot 2x that did build in abs but we've converted to pla only as abs made a mess of the original extruder assy.

pla is way easier to build with, and abs is more experimental but you can drill and tap. it's very dependent thing like draughts, temperature of extruder nozzle, size and density of build. lots of failed prints in abs, whereas pla works most of the time.

pla softens when warm so can be tricky to drill. but you can print reliably in 0.1 mm vertical resolution.

use them loads, made bike bits like map board holder, chain guide etc.. and loads for work - very good for cheap fixtures, used loads for intricately shaped covers and some fluid dynamic development.

great things. every Engineer and wannabee should have access to one.

Thanks PLA is new to me, is it pretty tough? taperble sounds good!
what kind of wall thickness are you using for map boards and stuff?

I'm looking for something close to nylon/ABS if possible.

Sometimes I come on here and read a thread like this then think. "**** me! I'm a complete retard!."

whilst you can tap abs it's still just threads in plastic so easy to strip if get carried away. holds the map board well though.

I find it better to make a nut shaped recess slightly undersized and push a nut in.

you learn the quirks but they are very powerful things.

pla is pretty tough actually, at the end of the day it's just a material and you design the parts knowing you'll be printing it rather than machining or whatever from a metal so you can design in some pretty intricate strengthening ribs and the like.

you can infill what would otherwise be solids with honeycomb so can produce rigid lightweight parts that don't use much material.

the map board holders were two layers of solid outer with something like 15% density honeycomb infill. they don't weigh much!

it's a mega learning curve you go through. you can't just buy one and start making gun parts, bit more it!

Thanks! Whats the surface finish like? is it anywhere near polished?

Haha Gears suck! Apologies for my geekery!

nothing like polished, but you can sand smooth and paint.

Thanks, I was hoping it'd be a bit more SLA than SLS in that respect,
cool, cheers for your help, I'll have a look around at kit

I've used a makerbot to print a couple of spare Ay up lighting mounts in PLA after I snapped my original and didn't want to pay the postage to get one from Australia.

I printed a few in different qualities. A couple with 3 shells and a 6% infill with a 0.3mm layer resolution (to keep the print time down). These ones are very brittle and break pretty easily. I've also printed a couple with a 0.2mm resolution and a 10% infill and so far they've been fine with regular use.

Surface finish is ok. As cp says - great things to play around with.

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Top tip for ABS printed part finishing - brush or better still spray with a fine mist the printed component with acetone. With a bit of patience you can get a pretty clean finish.

One of the key things you learn is that printing orientation makes a big difference to both finish and strength in varying planes. It's like working with wood with a grain. Eventually you start to take advantage or at the very least minimise issues.

Tegi, the second process, how long did it take to produce the mount?

Around 40mins