I got me 3D printer, awesome!

Question for those with 3D printers:
I'm looking to get a small adaptor made, to fit a handle to a potentiometer.

Essentially, what I've designed is a cylinder 1.5cm x 1.5cm x 3cm with a rectangular hole in one end, and a D in the other.

What I don't know is exactly how strong a 3D printed variant is likely to be, and whether this will work OK.
I've got the space to increase the cylinder upto ~3cm diameter if required, but smaller is probably better.

The other option is to find someone with a lathe and get it done in metal, but that's likely to be far more expensive than getting it printed in plastic, which seems to be coming out at ~£15 inc. delivery on 3DHubs etc.

Anyone tried this sort of thing?

-Leezer-
 
Post a link to the file and we can give you a better answer :)
From what you've said, it shouldn't have any problem with strength depending on what material it's printed with.
 
Shouldn't do (I don't think, but that's part of the reason I'm asking :)

The handle assembly is bolted to the base (ply), and the pot will be mounted through the ply with a standard panel mount nut.
Hence, my hope is that this can essentially just sit in the middle, with a dab of epoxy if necessary to hold it together.

Trying to build a railway cab controller for PC, and I have the appropriate handle, just need to get the pot attached.

If nothing else, will get this one printed and see what happens :)

-Leezer-
 
Okey dokes.
Well, out of curiosity, I decided to print one in Nylforce filament and it should be done in about 15 mins.
It's looking good so far, so if you want it, chuck us your addy and I'll pass it along.
Don't worry about money, it's only a 1st class stamp.

Here you go

6ivRtWa.jpg

Looks rougher than it actually is.
 
Hey guys, I came across the printer last night "XYZprinting da Vinci Mini Wireless 3D Printer" for £160.. The first time I had ever looked into 3d printers as the price got me looking, but the da Vinci isnt that great and other printers are a tad too much... Maybe look again in another 5yrs:(
 
I know DaVinci used to lock you in to their consumables, worth checking out if that's the case.

Personally (and I may have said this once or twice :D) but I'd get a kit and build the printer yourself, very satisfying and what you learn along the way will set you up for diagnosing, calibrating and tweaking.
 
randal;30497493 said:
I know DaVinci used to lock you in to their consumables, worth checking out if that's the case.

Personally (and I may have said this once or twice :D) but I'd get a kit and build the printer yourself, very satisfying and what you learn along the way will set you up for diagnosing, calibrating and tweaking.
Click to expand...

da Vinci 3d printers still lock their consumables, so it looks like their filaments are £20 or more... How long does a reel last roughly anyway, as it might be still worth considering? Also it hasn't a heated plate, and people say small objects move around as they dont stick to the plate?

I have seen these diy 3d printers you get in weekly magazines that you build from scratch. Can you buy a diy 3d printer with all the bits straight in the box and how much cheaper would this make it? Also are they any good.
 
How long does a reel last roughly
It depends on what you do with it :) It's more about you getting less freedom of choice in the variety/quality of filament types to choose from, as well as possibly inflated prices.


Also it hasn't a heated plate, and people say small objects move around as they don't stick to the plate?
It depends on what kind of filament you want to use.
A heated bed is something that opens up your options.

Can you buy a diy 3d printer with all the bits straight in the box
Depends on what you define as DIY. Are we talking about having to build it from scratch, or a partial assembly job like with a lot of Prusa i3 variants for example?

how much cheaper would this make it?
Cheaper than a fully assembled version of the same printer, yes.
By how much depends on the printer kit in question, and if it's offered as a fully built option

Also are they any good.
Some of them are. Check out the D-Bot for example, as well the OP links in our own D-Bot thread on here.
You could buy the rails in a kit from here and source the rest of the parts using the bill of materials in the previous links. People here would be happy to help if needed.
You'd also need to get the plastic bits printed via a place like 3DHubs, which is what I did.

I don't know what your budget is, or what kind of things you want to make.
Do you expect to have a hassle free experience with a minimum of tweaking and trouble shooting? Whatever you buy, that isn't going to happen :D

Maybe you should look at one of the various Prusa i3 printers on ebay to get you into it?
Which one is a good one, I don't know.
 
Phil2008;30497471 said:
Hey guys, I came across the printer last night "XYZprinting da Vinci Mini Wireless 3D Printer" for £160.. The first time I had ever looked into 3d printers as the price got me looking, but the da Vinci isnt that great and other printers are a tad too much... Maybe look again in another 5yrs:(
Click to expand...



Hi. Do you live anywhere near Solihull?
 
So here it is my full review of the Prometheus System (Nearly an hour long, time jumps in the description :-p)

Let me no what you think or if you have any questions


James.
 
Well I got my 3D Printer At Christmas And i've been printing things.



























I've been busy printing and designing.

There doesn't seem to be a great deal of interest on these forums for 3D printing but the web is a wonderful place to be.
 
Here's my first cool 3d printer that deuse has very kindly given me that I am extremely grateful for, but I haven't been able to use it yet as the X motor is dead for some reason. Everything seems to be connected in the motor and main board at the rear of the printer. So the next action of call, is to strip it down this weekend with my mate and fingers crossed I'll will be able todo some printing with it soon. It's huge compared with my normal printer and that isn't exactly small, wowzers.

DSCF06481.jpg
 
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Guy's I have just had a thought, can I unconnect the dead motor from the main board and plug it into 1 of the other sockets that work the other 2 motors? Then I'll know if the board is screwed or not.
 
indyskyz said:
Well I got my 3D Printer At Christmas And i've been printing things.



























I've been busy printing and designing.

There doesn't seem to be a great deal of interest on these forums for 3D printing but the web is a wonderful place to be.
Click to expand...

Some nice prints there mate.
 
Depends what board the printer uses, if its the stepper driver, it wouldn't affected anything else. Problem comes if the drivers are integrated rather than drop in type. But test it first and report back, we'll get you printing ;).
 
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