3D Printer prep - ideas for plastic parts you wish they made?

Printer finally arrived. Got its software configured and after a couple false starts have the print head moving in X and Y freely and the table in Z. Haven't calibrated table to extruder distance yet.

The downside - no filament to print with! My order is backordered. Will probably put in an order from somewhere else this weekend so I can get started sometime next week.

Google/Trimble Sketchup may not be a very functional 3D modeler. Watching the how to videos it seems great, but in action, trying to do things like produce a conical hole in a solid seem to result in a lot of missing faces or other errors. Perhaps clean-able, but I'm looking for other 3D modeling options. Found links for a couple other inexpensive 3D cad tools...well, relatively. AutoDesk has 123D, which is (or appears to be) free, so far just downloaded and watched one of the videos but haven't installed yet. Not sure I like what I see, its another 'easy peezy sexed up fast interface' (why does all modern software UI seem crafted for the computer gamer or touchscreen / tablet set, and sacrifice precision and utility??) but might have some of the same issues I'm having with Sketchup. Alibre personal-edition looks like a really well-rounded parametric 3D modeling suite...but at $200 it better be, I really didn't want to spend that much. They do offer a trial so I'll probably download and get myself hooked.

Open to other suggestions. "Real" CAD suites like AutoCAD Inventor, Solidworks, Pro/E, etc. are just out of my price range for home use.

First project will probably be something simple (after a couple calibration parts): a tamp stand for our espresso maker portafilter and handle. Basically a small table with a conical and half-cylindrical depression cut out the top and thru-hole for the nozzle so you can tamp the puck without it rocking all over the place. Shouldn't require much precision. After that , start thinking my way thru camera-related parts I want.

For 2D CAD work try DraftSight, its free.

http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/overview/

For 3D CAD, I use Freecad open source software, its also free, but lacks good documentation.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/free-cad/

For what its worth, I tried Alibre Personel edition. You do not get the sheet metal section with the personal edition, it is an upgrade from the $200 you just paid for the personal edition.

I had a Windows Vista Business crash on me during a Winodws Update.(Go figure!) Anyway, Alibre will not start now because of the operating system re-install and customer support has failed to respond to my inquiries for the last two weeks, even though thier website promises a reply in 24 hours.

That's just my personal experience, your mileage may vary.

Personally, if I had to do it all over again, I would keep my $200 in my pocket and just download FreeCad.

I am starting to like open source software more and more these days.

Whoa - thanks for the link to FreeCAD. That looks like it just might be the ticket.

EDIT - Ouch, man that code looks good, but is buggy and clunky. Probably took me 3-4 tries to figure out the right sequence to not have 'holes' in my resulting solid, but I think I finally got the tamp stand designed. Thanks again for the suggestion though - I'm sure I'll slowly ramp up on the learning curve and it does seem like a very capable product for free. Some unreliability is the price you pay for not paying a price.

Wow, looks like you're a pretty quick study to get that far.

Glad you like the program.

As you said, a little buginess is a small price to pay for the program.

I just found a shared open work space in a neighbouring city that features a 3D printer (Reprap), cutting laser, and I believe, cnc machine, so I will be accelerating my learning curve very soon.

I do electromagnetics for a living, using a program called HFSS (High Frequency Structure Simulator). Front end is a 3d CAD package that uses solid primitives, Booleans, revolutions and extrustions, etc. to generate the model, and its all parametric with a 'history' tree as well. So I'm familiar with the concepts, just have to adjust to another modeler's way of doing things, and avoid automatic habits. You should hear me cursing going between HFSS and AutoCAD at work (and yes, I considered using those, but doing too much 'personal modeling' at work is a good recipe for getting into trouble.) Usually the 3D view manipulation shortcuts are the hardest habits to switch back and forth between, FreeCAD's middle-wheel-down then leftclick and drag is a bit of a pain compared to to the Alt-Leftclick-drag rotation I'm used to for example.

Still, thanks again, very much, Paul.

And in another touch of irony, I put in an order for ABS filament from a second source on Friday, got shipping notice, and then got the shipping notice for the backordered filament from Solidoodle today. Hah. So next week might have first part pix to show, then on to pertinent (camera/dive related) designs!

Why not to print an underwater housing? Has anyone tried?

There are some 3D printers that use a laser to selectively sinter titanium or brass powders into a solid metal of any shape, and then let you shake off the excess powder that wasn't sintered. Those would probably be interesting for camera housings, since the sintered metal is strong and watertight.

The main issue is that 3D printing doesn't leave smooth surfaces, there are voxels (the 3D equivalent to pixels) around 0.1mm or .004". For many uses those voxels are OK, but that sort of rough surface tends to cause problems with o-rings and sealing-- think of lots of sand on every o-ring surface, and what that would do to seals over time.

Well, it took some dialing in but the printer is finally functional. Made my first 'real' part (by which I mean, not just a part to improve the functioning of the machine itself, like a filament guide arm, hubs for the filament spindles to hold skate bearings and improve the filament feed, flange-mount end pieces for the PVC filament spool support piping, dial plunge-gauge mounting to the print head...) today.

It's pretty simple - just a contoured slipcover for a Manfrotto/Gitzo tripod QR plate so you can leave the QR plate on the camera and not suffer the pains of those wedge points in the webbing between your thumb and forefinger, should you like to use your left hand to support under the body as you finger the lens zoom rings. (Out of housing, obviously.)

http://www.thingiver.../thing:35316 - Unfortunately I printed in a rather Canonesque red. I have a nice high visibility Sony-like orange spool, but the red was already all rigged up so I just went with it.

EDIT LOL that link above is bad, but it's so funny I left it in there. Correct link here:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35316

I'll probably more or less retire from posting in this thread and let it fade into the memory hole, but will post new DIY threads with specific subjects as I start churning out parts to try and make photographic life easier.

The 3d printing technique is becoming more popular day by day in the personalized in gift industries with various 3d toys. The 3d printing technology is used in communication . automotive industry is making use of slm , dlm technology to get their prototypes tested for utmost safety and performance.

Weiry:

I'll probably use Google (now Trimble) Sketchup for the most part - because I can't afford a personal copy of Solidworks and can't use my work's software for personal use (legally).

gobidion:

Most 3D printed parts are pretty swiss cheesey (the 'infill' for the middle volumes is done as a network of hexagons or grids vs. solid, to save plastic and speed up print time) and delamination of the 3D printed 'raster layers' is an issue since the plastic is deposited molten, layer by layer, and firms up somewhat before the next layer comes around. Proper orientation of the part because of that is necessary if they're going to be under any strain in use (e.g. printing a wrench you print it 'flat' since the within-layer bond is much stronger than the between-layer bond). Unlike injection molding, I would NOT trust a plastic part made by FFF or FDM to be even remotely watertight, much less under significant external pressure!

I suppose you could 3D print a housing 'mandrel' and use it as a forming tool of sorts - insert metal posts for control penetrations and then overlay it all with fiberglass or carbon fiber for the actual pressure shell - but at that point just milling an aluminum blank to tool up on isn't going to cost much more in non-recurring expense terms.

Definitely planning to use it only for fittings of one sort or another, either entirely inside or entirely outside of the housing's seal. And for those outside, it'll probably 'bubble' a bit as air seeps out of all the little pockets (that, or implode on descent! )

The 3d printing technique is becoming more popular day by day in the personalized in gift industries with various 3d toys. The 3d printing technology is used in communication . automotive industry is making use of slm , dlm technology to get their prototypes tested for utmost safety and performance. To be more updated you can look at http://www.atlanticprecision.com/.

@rtrski: It has been a while since I looked into this issue, but you may want to verify your company's Solidworks license terms. A lot of software vendors, instead of fighting the illegal copies, have moved to a model that specifically allows home use of a properly licensed work/office software. In particular, I believe that Microsoft has allowed this for their MS Office for several years.

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Just curious if there are other parts out there that people wish they had or the manufacturers made, that could be 3D printed in plastic? (...)

 

Open question...any other idears?

Threaded filter adapter for Panasonic 7-14mm that still fits in the Nauticam 6" dome please

Anyone has successfully printed threaded mount for lenses? I have been trying.. But not much success with fine threads.

Couple with the fact that lenses are typically aluminum... And the pla or abs material will sooner or later cause problem

Anyone has successfully printed threaded mount for lenses? I have been trying.. But not much success with fine threads.

Couple with the fact that lenses are typically aluminum... And the pla or abs material will sooner or later cause problem

http://pvgear.com/collections/all-products/products/pvgear-filter-adapter-for-panasonic-7-14mm?ref=cheesycam

this one looks like it could be printed, though the version above has indeed a metal ring for thread....I wouldn't mind ordering from them but shipping from US + customs fees would make it rather expensive :S

Also no clue if it would fit in the 6" port....

Alternatively there is this one, but it does not cover the full 7-14 spectrum..

http://dfocussystem.com/adapter-714

Hm.. I wouldn't buy that if it for underwater...

And yes I also seen mostly using an aluminum ring. Ive seen some made where they pause the print.. The drop in the threaded piece.. Then let it continue print. Works well.. But too much of a bother..

I seen some use some epoxy and glue the aluminum on to the pla/abs.. But. I still think... Over time.. It will wear out..

I am beginning to think the usual lens threads are too small for the printer to get it right....

I have an Aquatica 5D MII uw housing. The problem I have is the engagement of the rubber wheels that engage the dials. The rubber wheels in the housing tend to slip and/or not engage the camera controls properly. I wish there was a way to replace the rubber wheels in the uw housing with something that more firmly engages the dials and switches on the camera. This may be a combination of making a piece that goes over the camera dials (e.g. mode dial) and also replaces the uw housing rubber wheel that engages the these dials and switches. The camera dials can be tough to turn some times and the rubber wheels tend to slip/wear out over time.

The Meltdownman