It's time I got a 3D printer, yes?

I'm a complete noob.  I have a tiny bit of experience with a laser engraver, but that's 2D.

At the theater, there are often things that I have to source for props.  Example:  For our current show, I needed a 6' lightning bolt.  If I had been in charge of props, I would have likely welded some square steel tube in a zig zag, or cut it out of foam and covered with fiberglass/resin.  The props person who IS in charge just found someone on Etsy who could make it for us, and it's so brilliant.  It is WAY better than I could have done.

Is there a "3D printing for dummies?"  I think it's time I get in on this, because I think I would use it constantly at work.

Just get a Bambu Labs printer. Get the largest build volume you can budget. YouTube will teach you how to model in CAD.

www.thingaverse.com will have ready-to-print models. 

Have fun!

3D printers are great. I quite like my Bambu P1S but, given their recent chicanery, I don't think I'd recommend a Bambu printer right now. Based on other recommendations on GRM, if I were buying new right now I'd probably go with a Qidi Plus 4. 

brandonsmash said:

3D printers are great. I quite like my Bambu P1S but, given their recent chicanery, I don't think I'd recommend a Bambu printer right now. Based on other recommendations on GRM, if I were buying new right now I'd probably go with a Qidi Plus 4. 

 

This.

Long story short, they pushed an update that basically did away with any local access and required everything to be done through the cloud.

Burned 90% of their good will.

Happily, they did it several years after showing everyone how good an out-of-the-box printer could be, and the majority of the other manufacturers that were agile enough got off their ass and got to damn near that level of quality.  So you definitely dont need a Bambu to knock out good prints.

You can teach yourself with my Highschool Fusion 360 course - it will teach you enough to design pretty much whatever you need printed.  Free, no catches, no strings.  Free.

Bambu is on a lot of people's E36 M3list now.  You can read more about it in this thread:  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/what-did-you-3d-print-today/272662/page1/  They make a solid product, but are leaning heavily into trying control the entire pipeline/forcing cloud connection/restricting user freedom, etc.

I'm curious what your typical needs are for prop work.  Its likely a fantastic tool for it, so long as you can easily run the CAD for it.  Half of my day job involves model-making, and we have a ton of 3D printers for a reason.  They all have their pros and cons.

There are a billion 3D printing for dummies articles out there, but 3D printing is very nuanced, so it really depends on application.  Thankfully we are finally at the point where you don't need to be an expert on 3D printers to have one - a big difference from 5-10 years ago.

I saw a video the other day where a guy was 3d printing press-brake dies. That's f-ing awesome. He was pretty coy about how long they'd last, but it was working nicely on 16 gauge mild steel.

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

maschinenbau has done it for aluminum louvers, I've been poking at it as well but need to play with clearances more

SkinnyG said:

You can teach yourself with my Highschool Fusion 360 course - it will teach you enough to design pretty much whatever you need printed.  Free, no catches, no strings.  Free.

Thanks for putting this out there, I am looking to getting a 3D printer as well. I will definitely check out your course. 

From the looks of things, there are some that increase in cost as size goes up, and others that seem to all be in the 300x300x200mm range.  What really separates the higher cost from the lower?

Corexy vs bedslinger, heated chamber, nozzle design, auto leveling / other auto calibration, noise, speed, material switching, etc etc.

In general the more pricey models are a huge step up in reliability and are much more hands off.  As a bonus they usually print significantly faster and quieter. 

I have one at the office you can have. My daughter upgraded (wanted something faster), and I saw no reason to just toss it. 

Presenting Curtis brand sustainably sourced polymer gentlemen's sausages. If it's not Curtis brand, your berkeleying the earth.

TravisTheHuman said:

Bambu is on a lot of people's E36 M3list now.  You can read more about it in this thread:  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/what-did-you-3d-print-today/272662/page1/  They make a solid product, but are leaning heavily into trying control the entire pipeline/forcing cloud connection/restricting user freedom, etc.

I have a Bambu.  Curious to read this (I tend to ignore a lot of what's going on).

I did a bit of digging just to confirm/deny this, and found (among others), this article, which includes Bambu's response:

Bambu Lab reacts after community dismay and Rossman video highlights firmware update issue

I love my P1S, which was formerly a P1P that I upgraded using the kit from Bambu. I don't love closed ecosystems, but I must admit I've always just used their slicer because it was easier, and I'm not making anything sensitive, so I don't really care that it's going through their cloud. That said, I can see why it bothers a lot of people.

SkinnyG said:

TravisTheHuman said:

Bambu is on a lot of people's E36 M3list now.  You can read more about it in this thread:  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/what-did-you-3d-print-today/272662/page1/  They make a solid product, but are leaning heavily into trying control the entire pipeline/forcing cloud connection/restricting user freedom, etc.

I have a Bambu.  Curious to read this (I tend to ignore a lot of what's going on).

I did a bit of digging just to confirm/deny this, and found (among others), this article, which includes Bambu's response:

Bambu Lab reacts after community dismay and Rossman video highlights firmware update issue

 

Yeah, they've responded and tried to backpedal a little bit.  But this is still posted on their site:

https://blog.bambulab.com/firmware-update-introducing-new-authorization-control-system-2/

Critical Operations That Require Authorization

The following printer operations will require authorization controls:

• Binding and unbinding the printer.
• Initiating remote video access.
• Performing firmware upgrades.
• Initiating a print job (via LAN or cloud mode).
• Controlling motion system, temperature, fans, AMS settings, calibrations, etc.

Someone please tell me how LAN only mode requires a connection to the cloud.

Yeah, for most consumers, its not going to make a large impact.  For businesses and power users, it sucks.  Possibly even more concerning is the indication of the direction things will move in the future.

I'm not against the concept of what they are trying to do, but to roll out such a change long after people have purchased and put their printers into operation is pretty berkeleying douchey.

Anyway, as I mentioned in the other thread, there are now printers that exceed the Bambu P1S capabilities for the same money without any of the closed-ecosystem crap so I can't recommend one in good conscience.

In reply to SkinnyG :

They almost have to say that, though.  Because of this backlash there might be a genuine change of heart amongst their C-Suite, but... when someone tells you who they are you should believe them.

Oh man. OK... so can you run the thing without connecting it to your LAN? Or, perhaps without connecting it to the internet? It's really weird that they think you might need to authenticate anything at all to use it on your own LAN. 

I'm no theater expert, but I would have assumed that most of the props and set pieces that need to be custom made would be much larger than the print volume of typical consumer grade 3D printers. Sure, you could model/print it in sections and assemble it, but in the example of the 6' lightning bolt, that seems like a really tedious way to make it.

That being said, I bought my 3D printer last year and have really enjoyed making my own custom creations. With that in mind, I would say that learning 3D CAD modeling is a huge advantage and precursor to using a 3D printer, because although there are some cool ready to print designs available on sites like thingiverse and printables, the real fun is creating your own desings from scratch and printing them.

TravisTheHuman said:

Corexy vs bedslinger, heated chamber, nozzle design, auto leveling / other auto calibration, noise, speed, material switching, etc etc.

In general the more pricey models are a huge step up in reliability and are much more hands off.  As a bonus they usually print significantly faster and quieter. 

I don't have a proper use for a 3D printer like Curtis or many do, but I've been getting curious about them later. 

Of the features you mention here, could you suggest which ones (and others) would be important for complete newbies to help make their first 3D printer a good experience?

In reply to z31maniac :

Any of the "auto-______" abilities for sure.  Lessened noise, then increased speed.  Beyond that it depends on what specifically you mean by a good first experience and the use case of the printer

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

What kind of props do you usually make or are thinking of 3D printing?

Even if you're not familiar with 3D modeling software, there are sites with models for download, some of them for free.

z31maniac said:

TravisTheHuman said:

Corexy vs bedslinger, heated chamber, nozzle design, auto leveling / other auto calibration, noise, speed, material switching, etc etc.

In general the more pricey models are a huge step up in reliability and are much more hands off.  As a bonus they usually print significantly faster and quieter. 

I don't have a proper use for a 3D printer like Curtis or many do, but I've been getting curious about them later. 

Of the features you mention here, could you suggest which ones (and others) would be important for complete newbies to help make their first 3D printer a good experience?

Auto bed leveling for sure.  Nozzle wiping, etc.  Flow calibration, spagheti detection, etc.  Are all things that just make your life easier.  IMO the first is the most handy, because beds will go out of level very quickly, especially if they require messing with to detach and clean.  Other calibrations are usually only required if you change part of the system - nozzle, filament type/brand, hot end, etc.  If you do change one of those things you can perform a calibration and lock it in again.

Corexy vs. bedslinger is a different in design.  A bedslinger moves the nozzle in X and Z, and moves the entire bed back and forth for Y.  Think Ender3.  This almost doubles the footprint needed for the machine.  Often it makes them harder to enclose, and it also slows down printing speeds as now you are moving the entire bed and part around vs. just the printer head.

Higher temp nozzles/ heated chambers/hardened steel nozzles enable higher temp & carbon filled materials to be run.  Think Nylon, PET-CF, etc.  These are substantially stronger than PLA or PETG.  Good if you want your printed part to be load bearing, survive an automotive environment, etc.  But those filaments come with their own complications, so even with a high temp nozze/chamber, it doesn't guarantee smooth sailing.

Speed and noise are obvious.

Material switching depends on the way its executed.  Bambu's AMS takes so long to switch its not incredibly useful, but it is a really handy drybox :)

Prusa printers are generally considered to be the W124 benz of the printer world. Might seem a bit out dated, but they just work, work, and work some more. They aren't cheap, but you get what you pay for.  

BTW, Josef Prusa is the dude that invented 3D printing and intentionally let everyone use his work for free (open source).  

If you have the coin, I'd get a Prusa that fits your size and budget, then go on youtube and search for TeachingTech. He has an amazing series of videos.  

A note about size. Most decent slicers (prusaslicer is the best in my opinion) allows you to cut a print where you want it, and will even print alignment dowels to reassemble. 
This print is a two part print that was glued together.  

In reply to TravisTheHuman :

I ended up buying the AMS not because I'm super keen on fast switching speed, but rather it being automated. That, and being able to load several types of filaments and being able to switch a new print to a different roll without having to manually unload/load.

With BL's backpedaling that gives me a little more comfort that users have some sway over the company but I still don't think I'd buy another one of their printers, nor would I recommend it. If Qidi had their Qidi Box available I'd probably have bought an altogether new printer recently (sometimes the 250 x 250 x 250 build volume of the P1S is limiting)

Also, I just bought a 3D scanner and that kind of sucked some of the discretionary budget down. At first I bought an Einstar Shining 3D but then realized that A) it wouldn't work with any of my laptops (which meant I'd have to buy yet another laptop or keep it desktop-only) and B) it wasn't great with small parts and C) the cabling was obtrusive. Given all those things I elected to return it and bite the bullet and buy a Vega, which is self-contained and will work with small parts. It was only 3x the cost so why not, right?