Homebrew IDT Steerable Riser Block

[aquaratza]

No worries, I'm glad it's interesting

 

This is probably not really the place for an intro to 3D printing. An intro to 3D printing is a bit like an intro to computers haha, but here goes:

 

3D printers can be roughly divided up into the technology they use to create an object. The main kinds fall into additive and subtractive manufacturing. A laser cutter is an example of a subtractive printer; the machine takes away material to create the "print". Additive is like what I'm using, where the printer deposits plastic onto a level surface.

 

Within the additive category you have FDM (fused deposition modeling), which is what I'm using and SLA (Stereolithography), among many others. FDM works by depositing a material (plastic generally, but there are many variants) repeatedly on a flat build surface in layers. SLA uses resin (UV curing, super cool, great for high precision parts).

 

I'm using a printer from Prusa, which is based on an open-source project (anyone can make a printer, modify the plans and contribute improvements). The project is called the RepRap project. I built my first printer in 2007 from a kit made out of wood. It was horrible. I built another printer in ~2014 using locally made laser cut metal parts, it was okay, but also fairly terrible. Then I decided I wanted something better, so I got a Prusa printer. My Prusa (the MK3), retailed for $900 in kit form when I bought it. It was around R 14 to the USD at the time I think, so about R 15k including taxes and shipping. There are are local variants which are much cheaper, like from Netram (R5200) (there "Creality" machine looks very similar to mine). The printer itself is really just a frame, some plastic parts (which can be printed), 5 stepper motors, a power supply, a micro controller (Arduino 8-bit) and a TTL UART LCD display.

 

Once you have the printer you need some filamenet, which can be sourced locally at very reasonable prices. I've had success with filaments from Netram and 3dprintingstore.co.za. The main types of filament are ABS, PLA (biodegradeable) and PETG (used for making softdrink bottles). They each have their pros and cons. There's also Nylon and some exotic filaments.

 

3D printing is a lot like computing in general where buying the machine is fairly easy, learning to use the machine is a bit more difficult and takes practice and finally creating models for the machine to print (like programming) is relatively difficult, nuanced and a broad field in itself. I'm slowly teaching myself to model objects.

Above is an example of a procedurally generated model using free (and open source) software (running on Linux, also free).

 

Another application, called Blender, also running on Linux, more suited to computer graphics than 3D printing. Also free and open source software.

 

There are repositories online now with lots of models that others have created. A quick search for "bicycle" on Thingiverse is a good example.

 

There have been big advances made in recent years that have made it easier to model objects for printing. TinkerCAD is a great example of this - where you can edit models in your browser.

Edited April 6, 2020 by aquaratza

[madmarc]

No worries, I'm glad it's interesting

 

This is probably not really the place for an intro to 3D printing. An intro to 3D printing is a bit like an intro to computers haha, but here goes:

 

3D printers can be roughly divided up into the technology they use to create an object. The main kinds fall into additive and subtractive manufacturing. A laser cutter is an example of a subtractive printer; the machine takes away material to create the "print". Additive is like what I'm using, where the printer deposits plastic onto a level surface.

 

Within the additive category you have FDM (fused deposition modeling), which is what I'm using and SLA (Stereolithography), among many others. FDM works by depositing a material (plastic generally, but there are many variants) repeatedly on a flat build surface in layers. SLA uses resin (UV curing, super cool, great for high precision parts).

 

I'm using a printer from Prusa, which is based on an open-source project (anyone can make a printer, modify the plans and contribute improvements). The project is called the RepRap project. I built my first printer in 2007 from a kit made out of wood. It was horrible. I built another printer in ~2014 using locally made laser cut metal parts, it was okay, but also fairly terrible. Then I decided I wanted something better, so I got a Prusa printer. My Prusa (the MK3), retailed for $900 in kit form when I bought it. It was around R 14 to the USD at the time I think, so about R 15k including taxes and shipping. There are are local variants which are much cheaper, like from Netram (R5200) (there "Creality" machine looks very similar to mine). The printer itself is really just a frame, some plastic parts (which can be printed), 5 stepper motors, a power supply, a micro controller (Arduino 8-bit) and a TTL UART LCD display.

 

Once you have the printer you need some filamenet, which can be sourced locally at very reasonable prices. I've had success with filaments from Netram and 3dprintingstore.co.za. The main types of filament are ABS, PLA (biodegradeable) and PETG (used for making softdrink bottles). They each have their pros and cons. There's also Nylon and some exotic filaments.

 

3D printing is a lot like computing in general where buying the machine is fairly easy, learning to use the machine is a bit more difficult and takes practice and finally creating models for the machine to print (like programming) is relatively difficult, nuanced and a broad field in itself. I'm slowly teaching myself to model objects.

Screenshot from 2020-04-06 10-45-45.png

Above is an example of a procedurally generated model using free (and open source) software (running on Linux, also free).

 

Screenshot from 2020-04-06 10-52-42.png

Another application, called Blender, also running on Linux, more suited to computer graphics than 3D printing. Also free and open source software.

 

There are repositories online now with lots of models that others have created. A quick search for "bicycle" on Thingiverse is a good example.

 

There have been big advances made in recent years that have made it easier to model objects for printing. TinkerCAD is a great example of this - where you can edit models in your browser.

 

Excellent - thanks for the info, i be researching this further would be a cool hobby to have me thinks