3D Printers

[markc]

I need to make a small jig to hold a part in place.

Can anyone recommend a cheap 3d printing service?

If you have a 3mf / STL / CAD file, I'm sure I could print it out for you and post it

 

[Hurricane]

I need to make a small jig to hold a part in place.

Can anyone recommend a cheap 3d printing service?

I did a fun job for free for someone on this forum. I did the CAD bit and printed the design was very small. The end result was a very close likeness (within 0.1 mm) however the plastic wasn't strong enough for that particular job. We tried several different plastics and print orientations. I enjoyed making it though. PM me, Pete if you would like me to do the same for you.

 

[petem]

I use this company out of China. One of their other businesses makes PCB's for me.
Quality, delivery and price is very good in my opinion. If you do use them make sure you use the "Global Standard Direct Line" shipping option - it's the cheapest and takes 7-10 day, rather than DHL
Online 3D Printing Service | Custom 3D Printed Parts - JLC3DP

I had these remote control holders made recently. $15 and $17 (included shipping and VAT)

Thanks, that looks great, noted for future reference.

 

[petem]

If you have a 3mf / STL / CAD file, I'm sure I could print it out for you and post it

Hi Mark, that's super kind of you. Hurricane says he's happy to help me with the CAD file so taken up his offer.

 

[petem]

I did a fun job for free for someone on this forum. I did the CAD bit and printed the design was very small. The end result was a very close likeness (within 0.1 mm) however the plastic wasn't strong enough for that particular job. We tried several different plastics and print orientations. I enjoyed making it though. PM me, Pete if you would like me to do the same for you.

Thanks Mike, all hand holding much appreciated!

 

[Hurricane]

Last week, I made some of these for a friend's catamaran. His A/C drain runs into a locker before discharging to sea (all above the water level). This part isn't designed to be waterproof - just tidies up. But with a smear of Sikaflex, it will provide a reasonable seal.
I made it in two parts with studs that enable the two halves to be clipped together. A nice snug fit so that when it is clipped together, it won't slide down the pipe.

 

[Bigplumbs]

I went a bit mad this year and I bought 2 no Creality K2 Combos with the CFS and a Creality hi printer which was only £119 delivered by 3d Prima to sit along side my ender 3 v3 Ke for the last few days all 4 printers have been going day and night like a little print farm lol

 

[Bigplumbs]

I have designed quite a bit of stuff using just tinker cad but in the past days this is generally what I have been printing as give always. The quality of cheap printers is now incredible

 

[Bigplumbs]

If any one is interested in having a go at 3d printing the Creality Hi is a good option it is like the Bambo labs A1 it was only £119 but is now £199 which is still a very good price. Below is my unboxing and first set up video that might be helpful. These machines are great fun and also a very good way to design and make bits for your boat as has been demonstrated in this thread. Happy Christmas to all

 

[Bigplumbs]

Another good use for a 3D printer is to print labels for lockers or in my case drawers. I tend not to use drawers if I dont know what is in them and this sort of thing is neat and a great help. You simply design them in tinker cad and print in 2 colour. You can customise them quite a lot

 

[petem]

Quick follow up post. @Hurricane has made me a perfect printing jig. There's enough friction to keep it in place and we added the slots on each side for easy removal.

Thanks Mike!

 

[Dino]

I don’t suppose anyone has designed a 3D model of these window drain covers

 

[Hurricane]

Where do those covers go - should I have them?

 

[Bigplumbs]

I don’t suppose anyone has designed a 3D model of these window drain covers

View attachment 205727

That is a very easy model to design on Tinkercad

 

[Dino]

Where do those covers go - should I have them?

The fit over the aluminium window frame drains. There are two holes that they slot into and then there’s a slotted hole to allow water to drain.

 

[Dino]

That is a very easy model to design on Tinkercad

Yes, I’ve been tinkering with Tinkercad lately. I just designed an angled mount for a Scanstrut Nano phone charger.
I’ll get the verniers out tomorrow night and try designing it.

 

[Refueler]

I am always amazed at the price of bits of plastic ... !!

 

[Hurricane]

Yes, I’ve been tinkering with Tinkercad lately. I just designed an angled mount for a Scanstrut Nano phone charger.
I’ll get the verniers out tomorrow night and try designing it.

I played with Tinkercad a couple of years ago and found it a bit "clunky" and difficult to make accurate designs. I'm not sure that a web based design system is for me. I make lots of designs which I like to store locally on my own systems. Software like Tinkercad seems to be dependant on the internet and is therefore subject to uncontrollable changes etc. It may have changed now but I prefer FreeCAD which is free and Open Source and runs LOCALLY on any computer system. Critics of FreeCAD often say that it is complicated but I actually find it easy and it is really good at making complex designs.

BTW - FreeCAD's next version is very close to full release - already in the late stages of Release Candidates so I am expecting an iminent anouncement. As with all FreeCAD's development, the new versions are available for testing. Lots of new stuff in this next release.

 

[Bigplumbs]

I played with Tinkercad a couple of years ago and found it a bit "clunky" and difficult to make accurate designs. I'm not sure that a web based design system is for me. I make lots of designs which I like to store locally on my own systems. Software like Tinkercad seems to be dependant on the internet and is therefore subject to uncontrollable changes etc. It may have changed now but I prefer FreeCAD which is free and Open Source and runs LOCALLY on any computer system. Critics of FreeCAD often say that it is complicated but I actually find it easy and it is really good at making complex designs.

BTW - FreeCAD's next version is very close to full release - already in the late stages of Release Candidates so I am expecting an iminent anouncement. As with all FreeCAD's development, the new versions are available for testing. Lots of new stuff in this next release.

You can save all your Tinker Cad designs locally you just download the STL Files. Web based software is how most things are done these days. Tinker cad can also be used for quite complex designs and is very intuitive

 

[Hurricane]

You can save all your Tinker Cad designs locally you just download the STL Files. Web based software is how most things are done these days. Tinker cad can also be used for quite complex designs and is very intuitive

Best not to rely on your STL files if you want to make any future changes. STL files are the interim files that are used to transfer the designs to the slicer software. STL files are just loads of small triangles joined together to enable you to print a design. You need to keep (in your case the Timkercad source files), (in my case the FreeCAD FCStd files). So that you can change your designs in the future. You can modify STL files but they don't have all the design information. As I say, I prefer to have my design files on my local disk and that includes all my software - photos, letters etc - even my emails are stored locally - I don't trust anyone with my data.