That's...sadly very familiar
3d printing
- Thread starter Tinwhistler
- Start date
Well, at least it's only spaghetti and not a fat blob of death.
Count your blessings.
figmentPez
Staff member
This is SLS printing, not the more common FDM, but I think it's really interesting:
TL;DW by mixing copper chromate in with the nylon being sintered in the SLS printer, then using a pulsed laser to create traces on the printed part, and finally using a chemical bath to plate copper onto those paths, he was able to create circuits, with the goal of making circuits on curved surfaces, trying to mimic the industrial process of "metalized interconnect devices".
TL;DW by mixing copper chromate in with the nylon being sintered in the SLS printer, then using a pulsed laser to create traces on the printed part, and finally using a chemical bath to plate copper onto those paths, he was able to create circuits, with the goal of making circuits on curved surfaces, trying to mimic the industrial process of "metalized interconnect devices".
Classic failed print lol
Working on making a "mini" line that I can sell in little bundles
And finding more uses for 'waste' PLA
And finding more uses for 'waste' PLA
I've often lamented at the poor showing of Cthulhu among fidget toys. Plenty of non-fidget stuff, sure. But not too many good fidgets.
Yesterday, all that changed
Articulated tentacles, wings, arms, legs and tail, and he doesn't look stupid!
Yesterday, all that changed
Articulated tentacles, wings, arms, legs and tail, and he doesn't look stupid!
Here's praying he consumes people's impulse buying resistance
I sold six nearly instantly.
Mimaki 3DUJ-2207 Full Color 3D Printer with Install
The Mimaki 3DUJ-2207 3D Printer is a compact, full color 3D printer that is capable of producing photorealistic models with more than 10 million possible color combinations. It has a 203mm x 203mm x 76mm print volume, 1200 x 1200 DPI resolution, and 28μm layer thickness. The printer also...
Years ago, my mom and I were spitballing about what the next truly disruptive technology would be. Kind of like how personal computers went from maybe a half dozen in a neighborhood to several in every home (if you count smart phones etc). I told her 3d printing.
I had never yet played with one, and the state of the technology was abysmal then, but I could foresee that if you could just press a button and create any plastic thing you needed, cheap items from China and making a trip to Walmart for 70-80% of your household needs would just...disappear.
There's already so much that I'd normally buy that I just print these days. Usually because it's faster, cheaper, or easier than me making a trip to the store. Especially at night, when the store is closed. Once, I would've said "I'll make a trip to Walmart in the morning to buy shelf brackets". Now, I'm like "I'll wake up in the morning, and have as many shelf brackets as I need at about a penny per."
When this technology gets as widely spread as early home computing, it'll be a huge societal game changer.
Couple of new cuties
my Fusion skills are improving.
(If you know, you know..)
(If you know, you know..)
another practical print
I vape. And I get my vape juice from a company in California because it's cheap and they have the flavors I like. The problem: California has some rules about flavored vapes and nicotine, so this company ships them separately (for you to mix yourself) in order to comply with the letter of the law.
The annoyance: nic juice is thick and syrupy, and the nic bottles are considerably smaller than the vape juice bottles, so you can't just rest one atop the other while the syrup all comes out. The solution: A quick-and-dirty measurement with calipers and a 5 minute print later:
Now the one bottle can sit up there as long as it needs to in order to fully drain into the other without my clumsy ass inevitably dropping one (which i manage to do every time I get a new order of this stuff in)
I vape. And I get my vape juice from a company in California because it's cheap and they have the flavors I like. The problem: California has some rules about flavored vapes and nicotine, so this company ships them separately (for you to mix yourself) in order to comply with the letter of the law.
The annoyance: nic juice is thick and syrupy, and the nic bottles are considerably smaller than the vape juice bottles, so you can't just rest one atop the other while the syrup all comes out. The solution: A quick-and-dirty measurement with calipers and a 5 minute print later:
Now the one bottle can sit up there as long as it needs to in order to fully drain into the other without my clumsy ass inevitably dropping one (which i manage to do every time I get a new order of this stuff in)
viscosity...the nic juice is syrupy. The jig isn't air tight, so vapor-lock is not a problem. the problem is I get like 3 or 4 or these at a time, and I get tired of holding the nic juice up for a couple minutes for each one to make the transfer, so i made the little jig to take my arms out of the equation.
Now do the restaurant ketchup thing! But also for shampoo, hand lotion, conditioner, hand soap, etc.
--Patrick
I could, if i had the need for such things...or if someone was willing to pay me to do it
I'm hoping to have some neat stuff to show here fairly soon once I finish my 3D printing room. Having to clean up, reorganize, run power and add a direct exhaust fan into this room has been exhausting... lol.
BTW the threads look good Tinwhistler. I just had to make some special parts for my rain barrel setup (clone the threads and make custom fittings and hose barbs so I can get the rain diverter working the way I want it to) so I can appreciate how annoying making functional threads is.
I also may have picked up a Bambulab P1S. I can barely believe how fast this thing prints compared to my ancient Prusa Mk3. It's blowing my mind.
BTW the threads look good Tinwhistler. I just had to make some special parts for my rain barrel setup (clone the threads and make custom fittings and hose barbs so I can get the rain diverter working the way I want it to) so I can appreciate how annoying making functional threads is.
I also may have picked up a Bambulab P1S. I can barely believe how fast this thing prints compared to my ancient Prusa Mk3. It's blowing my mind.
DOOOOO ITTTTT!!!!!
Let me come back and talk a bit more about the biz.I try to pick models that require minimal post processing
for things with big curves, I try to use adaptive layer heights to minimize layer lines.
The folks in my area won't pay a lot for stuff, generally. So I try not to make things that will take a lot of my time once it comes off the print bed, because I can't justify the time spent versus the money I can get. My biggest sellers are $10.00 items.
I have a *ton* of varieties of items. Here's the layout of the pop-up market I did yesterday.
For me, the table in the front with the small items are the biggest sellers. They're the $5 and $10 minis/babies. East Texas is not as economically strong as some larger cities, so the large $20/30/40 dragons don't sell very well.
You'll notice that *everything* is multicolored. I've had events where I had competing 3d print vendors, but most folks buy an Ender 3 or other cheap single-color printer, and print everything in the same gradients. Which seems cool, until you come across my booth and see everything in multiple vibrant colors. I have always way outsold any competitors at the same events I'm at. The multi-color thing is super important, at least here in my market. Even something as simple as painting the eyes on a mini, where everything else is a single color, makes the model pop.
That said, as mentioned previously, multi-color creates waste. Since it's a purge at each layer, the purge amounts are the same if you print one model, or 12 on the same plate. So it's more economical to print a dozen items and average the waste costs across each item.
Printing 8 of these cherry blossom dragons at a time means they cost me $.69 apiece in materials. I sell them for $10, and they're a popular seller. Printing a single one costs me almost $2.00.
Since the slicer knows how much filament you use, and you can input the cost of that filament, it will calculate costs for you, which is convenient. Still profitable, but I'd rather put that extra $1.31 in my pocket, and not in the trash bin. I try to price things at even price points: $5, 10, 20, 30, 40. I mark up my costs between 7 and 12 times to meet those price points. This accounts for things like taxes, wear and tear on the machines, electricity, my time spent on the business, etc. It also means that I can give discounts, cut a break to a kid that only has $4.00, or wholesale for half-price to retail establishments (which I'm doing at a gaming store in my town) and not kill the business.
At the average in-person 5-hour event, I'll usually take home $500-600 in gross sales.
Since the slicer knows how much filament you use, and you can input the cost of that filament, it will calculate costs for you, which is convenient. Still profitable, but I'd rather put that extra $1.31 in my pocket, and not in the trash bin. I try to price things at even price points: $5, 10, 20, 30, 40. I mark up my costs between 7 and 12 times to meet those price points. This accounts for things like taxes, wear and tear on the machines, electricity, my time spent on the business, etc. It also means that I can give discounts, cut a break to a kid that only has $4.00, or wholesale for half-price to retail establishments (which I'm doing at a gaming store in my town) and not kill the business.
At the average in-person 5-hour event, I'll usually take home $500-600 in gross sales.
Since a large amount of time is spent on color purging, printing multiples also works in your favor as adding more prints to the bed does not scale the print time linearly. A single cherry blossom baby is a 7 hour print on a P1S. Printing 8 at a time is a 19 hour print--on a P1S. It'd probably be 4-5 times as long on an Ender 3.
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3d printed curved wine bottle display/holder in gradient wood-infused PLA
Monitoring electrical use is Serious Business™ in this household.
Got an order almost immediately for a dozen of these in various colors from the local game shop. One more color (deep blue with black shading similar to the others shown) to go!
And, since I had flexible TPU left over, I decided to make myself a cheap case for my new phone.
And, since I had flexible TPU left over, I decided to make myself a cheap case for my new phone.
TinWhistler, that is very cool! And yes all your math about slicer optimizations with regards to colour makes sense.
For me though, I'm in Calgary Canada and everyone here doing what you're doing is using the Bambu multi colour printers already so I have to figure out some other way to distinguish myself. I feel I'm going to have to come up with my own custom stuff or maybe go the resin printing customizable route to offer different products. I'm probably also going to have to go mail order which may be a necessary evil for me.
The info on colour optimization is super helpful to remember though. I will be getting the Multi colour AMS in the future.
For me though, I'm in Calgary Canada and everyone here doing what you're doing is using the Bambu multi colour printers already so I have to figure out some other way to distinguish myself. I feel I'm going to have to come up with my own custom stuff or maybe go the resin printing customizable route to offer different products. I'm probably also going to have to go mail order which may be a necessary evil for me.
The info on colour optimization is super helpful to remember though. I will be getting the Multi colour AMS in the future.
no job is too small! lol
Replacement button on a motorized scooter. I'm getting decent at Fusion. It actually took less time to measure with calipers and design than it took to print.
Replacement button on a motorized scooter. I'm getting decent at Fusion. It actually took less time to measure with calipers and design than it took to print.
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Nice, I love repairing broken things with my 3D printer. It's honestly my favorite use case for it.
MOAR TOYS!!!!!