3D Printing Do you have a 3d printer?

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Do you have a 3D printer?

  • Yes

    Votes: 23 56.1%

  • No

    Votes: 11 26.8%

  • a lot of them…

    Votes: 7 17.1%
  • Total voters
    41
NTP2

NTP2

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It’s looking like everyone now a days has a 3d printer (I am in the process of jumping on this boat) and I was wondering if that is actually true or not I know that asking in the 3d printing section isn’t representative but where else to put it?
 
Blast it Tom! said:
How's that working out for you? I have a nose cone to print and am looking to get a printer myself! But so many questions!


My dearly beloved wife would flat-out murder me.
Click to expand...
It's great for big volume stuff - like nose cones. When I saw the prices of nose cones for 6" and 7.5" tubes and the lack of supply, I knew that a $470 printer was the right direction for me. It's also amazing how 5 years of technology advances make 3d printing civil (like loading new filiment, run out sensors and wifi to the printer).
 
NTP2 said:
Why on earth do you need that many???????????? :questions:

Edit I know you have that many that’s why I put the “a lot” opinion it’s for you :)
Click to expand...

I use them for more than personal use.

I have three resin printers. Filament printers: 2 Bambus, 2 Creality, 2 Anycubics, 1 BIQU BX, and 9 Prusas. Wait - That is 20.

I do not use the Crealities often. The Anycubics are used for specific projects, but I use them only when I need a big project and my Prusa XL is tied up with something else. The resin printers are used only for small projects.

My workhorses are a Bambu P1P (soon to be P1S), Bambu X1C, 4 Prusa Minis, 3 Prusa Mk3S+, and 1 Prusa MK4. They will print 90% of what I need printed and have nearly 90% uptime.

When you own one, you will discover why you need more than one. They will be down for repair or maintenance a portion of the time. With 8, I can rotate maintenance. You can choose not to lubricate them monthly, and they will not last as long.

My oldest printer is a Prusa MK3 that will soon be upgraded to MK4. It is 6 years old and running strong. It prints as well today as it did 6 years ago. I have only had to lubricate it every 1-2 months and replace some hotend parts. It has over 60K meters of filament printed.
 
cwbullet said:
My oldest printer is a Prusa MK3 that will soon be upgraded to MK4. It is 6 years old and running strong. It prints as well today as it did 6 years ago. I have only had to lubricate it every 1-2 months and replace some hotend parts. It has over 60K meters of filament printed.
Click to expand...
What are you going to do with the old one? Trash? Sold to the highest bidder?
 
I have a Prusa MK3 and a MK4. They're great for many hobbies - RC crowd loves them too. I think it's not fun to print the whole rocket, but I do print parts like baffles, twist on motor mounts, fin jigs, nose cones (some just to use painting), the roads....

You get to think you can print anything! I didn't want more printers, but I did/do want the latest and greatest. Print speeds are getting pretty fast now-a-days. "Guarantied" first layers are making 3d printing more science then art too.

Find you a good printer, then get the next step ABOVE it - get the auto bed leveler, get the direct drive... You will wished you had! :p

Please keep us posted on what you get.
 
COSTransplant said:
I think Chuck has probably 3D printed a version of himself! :)
Click to expand...
We can take a slight derail for a good story. Back in the day, my grandfather ran the foundry at the local steel mill. And they had a fellow who liked to sneak back in an equipment alleyway and take a snooze on night shift. So one night, they took granddad's face and pressed it into a sand mold. Now old grandpa said he'd never been born; they found him in the field and had to de-horn him before they brought him in the house, so I can tell you he had the face for this. They added a few bumps and poured it full of pig iron. So figure a couple of inches of the front of someone's head... with the eyes looking pretty much like a death mask. They carefully set this down in the dust of the floor next to this fellow and waited.... he was known to be a bit superstitious.

And they were not disappointed! When he woke up he hollered like Satan himself had him by the throat, and came out of that alley all a**holes and elbows, eyes like silver dollars, said stay out of there it's the most ungodly thing you ever saw, a dead face coming up out of the floor! They, of course, could hardly stop laughing. He never went back there again.

Early 3D printing...
 
0011001100 said:
I own one (potentially 2 soon), but I have access to another ~20 printers that I can use. This includes multiple resin, one SLS, and one metal printer.
Click to expand...
you work in a maker lab, so I think that's not a printer you have, but still impressive. (I met you at last launch BTW)
 
Last edited:
Calling all expert 3D printer experts !

I want to learn more about materials and methods before I take the leap ( :) I don't think I could rationalize 19 different printers with my wife :) ) ...

I've been reading as much as I can about 3D printing but I am not quite sure where to begin ...

Does anyone recommend any online resources to learn about the materials and methods for home printing rocket parts ?

I would be interested in starting with fins, nose cones and av-bays on a budget ...

Thanks !

-- kjh
 
kjhambrick said:
Calling all expert 3D printer experts !

I want to learn more about materials and methods before I take the leap ( :) I don't think I could rationalize 19 different printers with my wife :) ) ...

I've been reading as much as I can about 3D printing but I am not quite sure where to begin ...

Does anyone recommend any online resources to learn about the materials and methods for home printing rocket parts ?

I would be interested in starting with fins, nose cones and av-bays on a budget ...

Thanks !

-- kjh
Click to expand...
What size rockets are you building now - and what will you be building in a year? Build volume is a critical component of that. What is your price point?
For example, I'm working on a 1/26 scale of the Space Shuttle stack - and that requires me to print molds that are roughly in the 450x450x500 mm volume - that immediately put me in a specific category. If you are working on smaller rockets, then volume is less important and convenience (filament loading, wifi, etc.) may be more important. There's a lot of expertise in this forum - let us know what your intentions are with the size.
 
kjhambrick said:
Does anyone recommend any online resources to learn about the materials and methods for home printing rocket parts ?

I would be interested in starting with fins, nose cones and av-bays on a budget ...

Thanks !

-- kjh
Click to expand...
The one thing that is true about buying a printer. Buy the best printer with as many features as possible. Filament runout and auto-leveling are essential in my book, and I prefer the auto-leveling without knobs.

Size? Most items you might print can be pieced together.

Materials:

https://www.simplify3d.com/resources/materials-guide/properties-table/
It is not rocket-specific, but you can get a good idea of what is available and the best ones for rockets.
 
I bought a Creality Ender 3 V2 Neo back in March. The only thing that I have upgraded was the print bed. Since then, I have designed and printed both full rockets and lots of parts. For me, designing is a great thrill. Waiting for the print to finish is like waiting for Christmas as a kid. Ahhhh but to come down to my office to see my work in completion is great joy. It also makes horrible-tasting spaghetti ;)

For rocketry, it's been invaluable to me. I can make parts that no longer exist or would be cost/time prohibitive to make otherwise. I would say that the 3D Printer has enhanced the hobby and opened new opportunities, for me.
 
cwbullet said:
The one thing that is true about buying a printer. Buy the best printer with as many features as possible. Filament runout and auto-leveling are essential in my book, and I prefer the auto-leveling without knobs.

Size? Most items you might print can be pieced together.

Materials:

https://www.simplify3d.com/resources/materials-guide/properties-table/
It is not rocket-specific, but you can get a good idea of what is available and the best ones for rockets.
Click to expand...
Thanks @cwbullet

Yes, I found and bookmarked the same Filament Properties Table about a month ago and was surprised at the variety of materials available.

Just a bit overwhelmed but still studying ...

Have you ever played with printing Carbon Fiber Filled parts ?


@sambatterman --

I want to fly a flight recorder / computer when ever I can.

Back in the day, the smallest airframe that I could fit an accelerometer in was built around the AT 1.9 inch tubing.

Now I should be able to miniturize my rockets down to BT-50 size and still fly a Blue Raven.

For the forseeable future, I'll be building 24mm - 38mm rockets and my next rocket will be a 38mm min diameter LOC Vulcanite scale model.

I want to explore av-bays and fins and maybe nose cones -- either flyable parts or to make molds for layups.

@frogglicker: Please post pictures !

@thzero: yes, that page is bookmarked :)

Thanks all'Y'all !

-- kjh
 
kjhambrick said:
Thanks @cwbullet

Yes, I found and bookmarked the same Filament Properties Table about a month ago and was surprised at the variety of materials available.

Just a bit overwhelmed but still studying ...

Have you ever played with printing Carbon Fiber Filled parts ?
Click to expand...

I'd start with PLA to get at least familiar with printing. Then use PETG, its slightly better than PLA for model rocketry. ABS/ASA is also used by others; seems ASA may be easier to print, but both have issues with fumes and potential warping.

Sure, printed PETG/CF and Nylon/CF - to me at least the former was easier than the later, haven't become very proficient at the latter (corners, etc. still are sorta crappy). PETG/CF doesn't bring much more heat resistance that PETG, but its certainly stiffer Nylon/CF seems to do both, but its harder to print. Both are quite a bit more expensive than PLA/PETG

All suffer of course from the weakness being at the layers.
 
kjhambrick said:
Thanks @cwbullet

Yes, I found and bookmarked the same Filament Properties Table about a month ago and was surprised at the variety of materials available.

Just a bit overwhelmed but still studying ...

Have you ever played with printing Carbon Fiber Filled parts ?
Click to expand...

Yes. I absolute love to make parts out of ABS, PC, PC Blend, PETG, and Nylon that each contain CF. You need a pretty hot horned and most work better with an enclosure and heated bed.

If you have questions about filament, ask. I increase filament infill and alter the type and direction of the infill design to make parts stronger. I learn something new every day and with every mistake.
 
cwbullet said:
Yes. I absolute love to make parts out of ABS, PC, PC Blend, PETG, and Nylon that each contain CF. You need a pretty hot horned and most work better with an enclosure and heated bed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, hotends that can go up to 300C without Bowden tubes are best And enclosure for sure, and most printers have a heated bed.
 

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