3D Printers

[LiftyK]

Here's an example of how even the simplest of designs can be very useful when you have a 3D printer. I have a plotter that lives in the cabin when the boat is berthed and it comes out to a coachroof mount when we are underway. The problem I wanted to solve was eliminating pressure on the sockets on the back of the plotter when the weight of the cables is pulling on them. I used velcro on grab rails to take most of the cables weight off the plotter sockets but thought there must be a better way.

Now I made (it's almost too simple to say designed) a strain relief bracket. It's an "L" shape. The base has holes to accommodate the bolts that already attach the plotter to my mount. The back has keyhole slots to take and hold the cables straight.

 

[Hurricane]

Here's an example of how even the simplest of designs can be very useful when you have a 3D printer. I have a plotter that lives in the cabin when the boat is berthed and it comes out to a coachroof mount when we are underway. The problem I wanted to solve was eliminating pressure on the sockets on the back of the plotter when the weight of the cables is pulling on them. I used velcro on grab rails to take most of the cables weight off the plotter sockets but thought there must be a better way.

Now I made (it's almost too simple to say designed) a strain relief bracket. It's an "L" shape. The base has holes to accommodate the bolts that already attach the plotter to my mount. The back has keyhole slots to take and hold the cables straight.

Looks great and, obviously works.
What material did you use?
I see that you also included a small fillet - presumably to make the joint between the base and the vertical section as strong as possible.
What software did you use to make it?

 

[vas]

Now I made (it's almost too simple to say designed) a strain relief bracket. It's an "L" shape. The base has holes to accommodate the bolts that already attach the plotter to my mount. The back has keyhole slots to take and hold the cables straight.

nice,

intrigued on how you managed to get a series of tiny "holes" on the back of the bracket. Must be a feature of the 3D printer plate or what? (first attachment)

V.

 

[LiftyK]

Looks great and, obviously works.
What material did you use?
I see that you also included a small fillet - presumably to make the joint between the base and the vertical section as strong as possible.
What software did you use to make it?

Hi. The material is cheap PLA. It seems to be strong enough when I test it in my hands. The vertical plate is tick so the keyhole supports the cables over a reasonably large area. The horizontal base plate is thin to save on plastic and seems to be strong enough.

The fillet is there mainly because it is so easy to add a fillet in the software, which is FreeCAD.

 

[LiftyK]

nice,

intrigued on how you managed to get a series of tiny "holes" on the back of the bracket. Must be a feature of the 3D printer plate or what? (first attachment)

V.

Hi. There are two sets of holes. Four in the baseplate, aligned with existing bolts, are pockets in FreeCAD. Very simple to do.

The two keyhole shapes on the backplate guide and support the power and NMEA cables into the back of the plotter. To make a keyhole in FreeCAD, as advised by a friend as I’m no expert, use the multi line drawing tool to make the rectangle portion then press M for Mode to get it to draw the radius for the keyhole.

 

[Bigplumbs]

I have been using 3D printers for several years now and made several little things for boating use. I am sure I did a few threads on here about it. My items were generally for open boats so in a much more harsh environment than here. Although there are several different materials available now it is easy to get carried away with what you can make and many of the materials are not that robust or suitable in a boating situation over the long term. I am not in any way saying don't do it but just remember what you have made and keep an eye on it and be careful in 3d printing anything that is dare I say critical

 

[Hurricane]

Hi. The material is cheap PLA. It seems to be strong enough when I test it in my hands. The vertical plate is tick so the keyhole supports the cables over a reasonably large area. The horizontal base plate is thin to save on plastic and seems to be strong enough.

The fillet is there mainly because it is so easy to add a fillet in the software, which is FreeCAD.

I have been using 3D printers for several years now and made several little things for boating use. I am sure I did a few threads on here about it. My items were generally for open boats so in a much more harsh environment than here. Although there are several different materials available now it is easy to get carried away with what you can make and many of the materials are not that robust or suitable in a boating situation over the long term. I am not in any way saying don't do it but just remember what you have made and keep an eye on it and be careful in 3d printing anything that is dare I say critical

I'm, by no means, an expert in this field.
But I've done lots of reading and it seems that ASA is the material to use for our kind of external use.
So thats what I've used for mt solar panels glands
This one


I will install them next month and we will see how good it is.
They will, of course, be very exposed to the strong Med sun.


BTW
These days, there are other materials that are sold at much the same price as PLA.
I tend to use PLA for most stuff, mainly because I have lots of it.
But PETG and ABS are much the same price.

I was surprised how well ABS and ASA print on the Bambu Lab X1C printer.
Back to default settings again - the printer does it all for you - just load the filament spool into the AMS and all the temperatures are set up automatically.
You can set all the other parameters but you only really need to set the layer profile to the quality/speed you want.
Layer profiles are:
0.08mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Extra Fine"
0.-8mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "High Quality"
0.12mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Fine"
0.12mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "High Quality"
0.16mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "High Quality"
0.16mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Optimal"
0.20mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Standard"
0.20mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Strength"
0.24mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Draft"
0.28mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Extra Draft"

The one I use most of the time is:-
0.20mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Standard"
And for really quality stuff, I have been using
0.08mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Extra Fine"
I haven't tried any of the others yet
The difference in print time is significant.

 

[Hurricane]

The fillet is there mainly because it is so easy to add a fillet in the software, which is FreeCAD.

Good to see another FreeCAD user.
I've been using the pre-release versions of the new 1.0
I'm watching the progress of the new release - last week there were 31 issues to fix before the release.
This week it is up 4 to 35 but I'm sure there is progress.
The Toponaming problem seems to be well under the way to be fixed - certainly seems fixed in the pre-releases.

Personally, I've been using the pre-release versions which work faultlessly for me.
You can get the weekly builds from here
Release weekly-builds · FreeCAD/FreeCAD-Bundle

Of course, FreeCAD won't have the polish of other applications like Fusion 360 but we have to remember that it is totally free.
And, it does a great job for anything I would ever want.
I don't think I will be "eating my words"

 

[LiftyK]

Good to see another FreeCAD user.
I've been using the pre-release versions of the new 1.0
I'm watching the progress of the new release - last week there were 31 issues to fix before the release.
This week it is up 4 to 35 but I'm sure there is progress.
The Toponaming problem seems to be well under the way to be fixed - certainly seems fixed in the pre-releases.

Personally, I've been using the pre-release versions which work faultlessly for me.
You can get the weekly builds from here
Release weekly-builds · FreeCAD/FreeCAD-Bundle

Of course, FreeCAD won't have the polish of other applications like Fusion 360 but we have to remember that it is totally free.
And, it does a great job for anything I would ever want.
I don't think I will be "eating my words"

That’s interesting. Thank you for the alert. I did know that FreeCad has been version 0.nn for a while. I had not appreciated that 1.0 is near.

To anyone contemplating trying FreeCAD, if you take some lessons from the many tutorials on YouTube you will soon learn enough to be productive.

 

[LiftyK]

I'm, by no means, an expert in this field.
But I've done lots of reading and it seems that ASA is the material to use for our kind of external use.
So thats what I've used for mt solar panels glands
This one
View attachment 180851

I will install them next month and we will see how good it is.
They will, of course, be very exposed to the strong Med sun.


BTW
These days, there are other materials that are sold at much the same price as PLA.
I tend to use PLA for most stuff, mainly because I have lots of it.
But PETG and ABS are much the same price.

I was surprised how well ABS and ASA print on the Bambu Lab X1C printer.
Back to default settings again - the printer does it all for you - just load the filament spool into the AMS and all the temperatures are set up automatically.
You can set all the other parameters but you only really need to set the layer profile to the quality/speed you want.
Layer profiles are:
0.08mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Extra Fine"
0.-8mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "High Quality"
0.12mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Fine"
0.12mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "High Quality"
0.16mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "High Quality"
0.16mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Optimal"
0.20mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Standard"
0.20mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Strength"
0.24mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Draft"
0.28mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Extra Draft"

The one I use most of the time is:-
0.20mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Standard"
And for really quality stuff, I have been using
0.08mm Layer Height - Bambu call this mode "Extra Fine"
I haven't tried any of the others yet
The difference in print time is significant.

I’ve just switched printers and can try ASA. Thank you for the idea. I’m not worried about my strain relief plate’s strength as it is not critical and if it breaks I can make another in two efforts by doing an easy reprint.

 

[vas]

some of the materials release not v.healthy fumes apparently, I'm stuck with PLA atm but interesting of what you think/how you protect yourselves.

 

[Hurricane]

some of the materials release not v.healthy fumes apparently, I'm stuck with PLA atm but interesting of what you think/how you protect yourselves.

Not sure exactly what to expect.
I'm still a newbie
Over 200 hours printing of PLA and PETG seem to be odourless.

I've done about 50 hours of ASA and ABS and there is a smell but it isn't very pungent.
My printer is in my study so no specific ventilation.
I don't feel that the fumes from ASA and ABS are cause for concern.

 

[vas]

I vaguely remember some colleagues mentioning that they wont use PET in the room they are working and keep the 3dprinter in a different well ventilated room (but that was over a year ago, haven't bothered asking recently)

 

[Refueler]

Not sure exactly what to expect.
I'm still a newbie
Over 200 hours printing of PLA and PETG seem to be odourless.

I've done about 50 hours of ASA and ABS and there is a smell but it isn't very pungent.
My printer is in my study so no specific ventilation.
I don't feel that the fumes from ASA and ABS are cause for concern.

Sorry but they are ....

There are many forums / posts that talk about this and peoples solutions of cabinets / ventilation etc.

ABS as example : As the material is heated in a 3D printer, it creates gas and microscopic particles during the process. This exudes fumes that can cause physical discomfort such as drowsiness, eye irritation, nausea and headaches.

On the subject of 'smell' .... some potent harmful agents have no smell at all .....

Some actually deaden sense of smell ..... it may not be 3D print material - but Hydrogen Sulphide - that bad egg smell stuff .... actually below threshold will kill the sense of smell completely quickly ... not long after you will be out on the floor .... shortly after respiratory failure occurs.
I know from my own experience ..... luckily I was with another Officer on ship and he immediately recognised the event and threw me across deck into clean air.

My point is Do Not Trust Your Nose !!

I have a Laser machine and I cut Vinyl lettering for models etc. The vapour is poisonous and I make sure my extraction system is venting outside ... laser cutting produces : toxic chlorine gas and hydrochloric acid,

 

[Daydream believer]

I have Freecad ....

I also had the simple free version that was developed from Autocad - but then Autocad decided to end it ...

Fusion 360 is the version of autocad that can be obtained free. Personally I disliked it. I also disliked freecad so bought Alibre, along with the support package. Having someone on the end of a phone makes a big difference

 

[Refueler]

Fusion 360 is the version of autocad that can be obtained free. Personally I disliked it. I also disliked freecad so bought Alibre, along with the support package. Having someone on the end of a phone makes a big difference

One day I might try again.

I keep saying I will recalibrate my 3D scanner ... yeh well !!

 

[Hurricane]

It seems to me that Fusion 360 is probably the best and does seem to be the industry standard.
But I don't want to get "succored in" to a package only to find that the price becomes an un-necessary addition.
Indeed, Fusion has already started down that track with their web based version.
I've cut/pasted this from the Autodesk website.

Who can use browser access to Fusion?
Commercial subscribers
Startups
TokenFlex users
Product Design & Manufacturing Collection subscribers with an active Fusion entitlement
Students
Educators
School IT Administrators
Design competition mentors who obtained a Fusion educational subscription through the Autodesk Education Community.

Not for DIY enthusiasts then.
The other versions of Fusion do have a free package but it is limited.
OTOH, FreeCAD is totally free and seems to do everything I want.
Importantly, FreeCAD stores my designs on my computer and not in the cloud.
Like all software, you need to learn it and newbies have to get their heads round 3D design as well - which isn't easy either.
To begin with, I was struggling but I think I've got there now and the new version of FreeCAD has significant improvements.
I will probably still struggle with complex designs - I've kept away from the FreeCAD Curves Workbench by using their simpler Lofting techniques.
Sometime, I will explore the Curves Workbench - I've only watched Youtube videos so far.
Most models that I've tackled are easy - you just have to spend some time deciding on which technique to use.
This was one that I made a couple of months ago
Once I had decided on the technique, it was dead easy to make
It is a top for a salt pot that broke.
This is a pic of the final print

This is it the FreeCAD software


So you don't have to spend a lot of money on software when this kind of thing is available.

 

[jakew009]

This was one that I made a couple of months ago
Once I had decided on the technique, it was dead easy to make
It is a top for a salt pot that broke.
This is a pic of the final print
View attachment 181024
This is it the FreeCAD software
View attachment 181025

So you don't have to spend a lot of money on software when this kind of thing is available.

Sketch on the axis and then a revolve?

 

[Hurricane]

Sketch on the axis and then a revolve?

Yep - but for a newbie - that was a revelation.

 

[DavidJ]

Sketch on the axis and then a revolve?

That’s firstly clever then obvious afterwards